I'm of the belief that that is none of anyone's business apart from his wife and kids. Before anyone jumps in with 'it's my business if it's in the venue and i've to breathe that air too', hear me out. Ed's voice is going to be a bit rough at this stage anyway with 20+ years of growling/wailing. In fairness to Cornell, yes his voice is currently in great shape but off the top of my head I imagine that he's done nowhere near the amount of touring/shows that Ed has done over the years, and when CC's voice was bad a few years ago it was baaaad. As well as that PJ play at least 2 hours at a gig, the only break Eddie really gets is during a wandering Mike solo, he NEVER holds the mic out to the crowd prompting them to 'sing along' on a vocally difficult chorus, he goes for everything himself. (And that's the crowd hijacking Betterman, not Ed pleading for a break :nono: )
Yes in ideal world we'd have full control over our main man Eddie, and keep him in a secure padded case between shows, but the man is human and has his vices like the rest of us. PJ are obviously still doing this because (apart from earning some bucks) they really enjoy it. If there was a strict set of rules in place for touring where Ed couldn't smoke for 2 weeks before a tour, where Matt couldn't wear his favourite shorts, where Mike had to stand still for the entire gig; I'm sure they wouldn't be the band that they are today. The man has written some of the greatest songs I've (we've) ever heard so if he wants to have a smoke after all that he has my blessing.
But what about us as the paying consumers? Where we pay our hard-earned money to come and hear a band in its prime? For me the problem on this tour wasn't with the quality of Ed's voice, but the level at which it was coming through the speakers. The sound on this tour, for me, was not good and that's me being a bit reserved on the matter. I mean, I KNOW Stone played a few solos at the shows I was at but only because I could see his fingers move on the fretboard of his guitar. Boom may as well have not been there sonically speaking (until they release the boots and then Boom is there and then a whole lot more!). Mike's guitar was really loud for some solos, and then not there for others. That's not right, some of the best quality sound I've heard in the past has been at Pearl Jam gigs. But the riddle for me was solved in Berlin 1, when for encore 1 and 2 the sound engineer was nowhere to be seen behind the desk*, I'm sure the guys make it a very relaxed working environment for their crew but something needs to be addressed when the only time I could really hear Ed was during an acoustic tune or two. Anyway I'm gonna stop now, bottom line is I did really enjoy myself and the 6 guys on stage couldn't do anymore for me.
*Techie talk: PJ use a digital mixing console, it can be controlled from anywhere in the building with an Ipad and the correct app. I'm sure this is what the engineer was doing while the sound desk was vacant, at least that's what I hope he was doing! But the 'sound' did bother me to the point of distraction in Amsterdam and more so Berlin. Yes it was great to be in the same room watching the guys rock out and do their thing, but most of the time I was hearing a wall of noise which as it turns out I'm not the biggest fan of!
Sorry OP, I wasn't directing that at you, as you said you just asked! It's just that every tour that comes up there is almost just as often a new thread started about 'Ed smoking'. Ideally no one would smoke in the world and/or Ed wouldn't smoke during shows/tours but it could be worse, at least he's not a divil for the booze and drugs
Peace.
I've been to 10 shows this tour, and he sounded fine, except for some instances in Oslo where you could see that he was really sick. Give the guy a break.
I'm of the belief that that is none of anyone's business apart from his wife and kids. Before anyone jumps in with 'it's my business if it's in the venue and i've to breathe that air too', hear me out. Ed's voice is going to be a bit rough at this stage anyway with 20+ years of growling/wailing. In fairness to Cornell, yes his voice is currently in great shape but off the top of my head I imagine that he's done nowhere near the amount of touring/shows that Ed has done over the years, and when CC's voice was bad a few years ago it was baaaad. As well as that PJ play at least 2 hours at a gig, the only break Eddie really gets is during a wandering Mike solo, he NEVER holds the mic out to the crowd prompting them to 'sing along' on a vocally difficult chorus, he goes for everything himself. (And that's the crowd hijacking Betterman, not Ed pleading for a break :nono: )
Yes in ideal world we'd have full control over our main man Eddie, and keep him in a secure padded case between shows, but the man is human and has his vices like the rest of us. PJ are obviously still doing this because (apart from earning some bucks) they really enjoy it. If there was a strict set of rules in place for touring where Ed couldn't smoke for 2 weeks before a tour, where Matt couldn't wear his favourite shorts, where Mike had to stand still for the entire gig; I'm sure they wouldn't be the band that they are today. The man has written some of the greatest songs I've (we've) ever heard so if he wants to have a smoke after all that he has my blessing.
But what about us as the paying consumers? Where we pay our hard-earned money to come and hear a band in its prime? For me the problem on this tour wasn't with the quality of Ed's voice, but the level at which it was coming through the speakers. The sound on this tour, for me, was not good and that's me being a bit reserved on the matter. I mean, I KNOW Stone played a few solos at the shows I was at but only because I could see his fingers move on the fretboard of his guitar. Boom may as well have not been there sonically speaking (until they release the boots and then Boom is there and then a whole lot more!). Mike's guitar was really loud for some solos, and then not there for others. That's not right, some of the best quality sound I've heard in the past has been at Pearl Jam gigs. But the riddle for me was solved in Berlin 1, when for encore 1 and 2 the sound engineer was nowhere to be seen behind the desk*, I'm sure the guys make it a very relaxed working environment for their crew but something needs to be addressed when the only time I could really hear Ed was during an acoustic tune or two. Anyway I'm gonna stop now, bottom line is I did really enjoy myself and the 6 guys on stage couldn't do anymore for me.
*Techie talk: PJ use a digital mixing console, it can be controlled from anywhere in the building with an Ipad and the correct app. I'm sure this is what the engineer was doing while the sound desk was vacant, at least that's what I hope he was doing! But the 'sound' did bother me to the point of distraction in Amsterdam and more so Berlin. Yes it was great to be in the same room watching the guys rock out and do their thing, but most of the time I was hearing a wall of noise which as it turns out I'm not the biggest fan of!
Cornell's voice coincidentally started to sound incredible again after he quit smoking. Just saying.
Comments
I'm of the belief that that is none of anyone's business apart from his wife and kids. Before anyone jumps in with 'it's my business if it's in the venue and i've to breathe that air too', hear me out. Ed's voice is going to be a bit rough at this stage anyway with 20+ years of growling/wailing. In fairness to Cornell, yes his voice is currently in great shape but off the top of my head I imagine that he's done nowhere near the amount of touring/shows that Ed has done over the years, and when CC's voice was bad a few years ago it was baaaad. As well as that PJ play at least 2 hours at a gig, the only break Eddie really gets is during a wandering Mike solo, he NEVER holds the mic out to the crowd prompting them to 'sing along' on a vocally difficult chorus, he goes for everything himself. (And that's the crowd hijacking Betterman, not Ed pleading for a break :nono:
Yes in ideal world we'd have full control over our main man Eddie, and keep him in a secure padded case between shows, but the man is human and has his vices like the rest of us. PJ are obviously still doing this because (apart from earning some bucks) they really enjoy it. If there was a strict set of rules in place for touring where Ed couldn't smoke for 2 weeks before a tour, where Matt couldn't wear his favourite shorts, where Mike had to stand still for the entire gig; I'm sure they wouldn't be the band that they are today. The man has written some of the greatest songs I've (we've) ever heard so if he wants to have a smoke after all that he has my blessing.
But what about us as the paying consumers? Where we pay our hard-earned money to come and hear a band in its prime? For me the problem on this tour wasn't with the quality of Ed's voice, but the level at which it was coming through the speakers. The sound on this tour, for me, was not good and that's me being a bit reserved on the matter. I mean, I KNOW Stone played a few solos at the shows I was at but only because I could see his fingers move on the fretboard of his guitar. Boom may as well have not been there sonically speaking (until they release the boots and then Boom is there and then a whole lot more!). Mike's guitar was really loud for some solos, and then not there for others. That's not right, some of the best quality sound I've heard in the past has been at Pearl Jam gigs. But the riddle for me was solved in Berlin 1, when for encore 1 and 2 the sound engineer was nowhere to be seen behind the desk*, I'm sure the guys make it a very relaxed working environment for their crew but something needs to be addressed when the only time I could really hear Ed was during an acoustic tune or two. Anyway I'm gonna stop now, bottom line is I did really enjoy myself and the 6 guys on stage couldn't do anymore for me.
*Techie talk: PJ use a digital mixing console, it can be controlled from anywhere in the building with an Ipad and the correct app. I'm sure this is what the engineer was doing while the sound desk was vacant, at least that's what I hope he was doing! But the 'sound' did bother me to the point of distraction in Amsterdam and more so Berlin. Yes it was great to be in the same room watching the guys rock out and do their thing, but most of the time I was hearing a wall of noise which as it turns out I'm not the biggest fan of!
I dont care if he does or doesn't.
Thanks to the simple answer...of yes..
Peace
11-24-13 CA
EDDIE SOLO-7-8-11 LA
Peace.
Cornell's voice coincidentally started to sound incredible again after he quit smoking. Just saying.