Unfortunately funds are scarce since being made redundant. Enjoy the show Tod! (Lucky bastard!)

i understand. next year is going to be a year of reckoning for me, i reckon....in fact, i may have to move with my job to texas, so i reckon i'll start talkin' like this more regularly....

I noticed one thing: Mick NEVER touches Keith or gets in his space to get closer to the mic. He could have put the hat on Keith's head, but he didn't. So obviously who the boss was onstage in those days!

"The wonder of Jimi Hendrix was that he could stand up at all he was so pumped full of drugs." Patsy, Patsy Stone

I think I saw a very strong and very classic Keith performance, 11/8/69, 2nd. IMO it is the best performance of SFTD, pre-Taylor solo. When it's all said and done and even more than the '72 tour, that is the Keith I want to remember. Musically, that tour was very sexy.

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GNAT
I feel that its time for some of us to confess. If you don't like the Stones, as they are now, then live in your time warp and quit trying to spoil the band for everyone else. Keith is Keith....young old or in between, he is Keith Richards. Except it or not. He is still the coolest guy there is.

GNAT - Don't you try to agree with me, that wouldn't be right, now!!!


the plexi

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GNAT

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Amsterdamned

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GNAT
I feel that its time for some of us to confess. If you don't like the Stones, as they are now, then live in your time warp and quit trying to spoil the band for everyone else. Keith is Keith....young old or in between, he is Keith Richards. Except it or not. He is still the coolest guy there is.

Rather egocentric remark Gnat,

If someone doesn't like the Stones like they are now ,why bother:You like them?OK!
Besides,the Stones started in '63 and are going on for more than 35 years now!
Many people like a certain area more than a different one and want to "share" their grieve or delight..
As long as it's not insulting or whatever,please keep on talking about anything!

Whats egocentric about it? Nothing that I can see. I simply stated that those who choose to live in a time warp do so without ruining the whole thing for the rest of us.

If you can show me where I was wrong I'll gladly offer an apology. Good Luck.

"going on for more than 35 years now?"......You think? Maybe thats why they called it 40 Licks......way back in 2002......its 2009 now......35?

Math skills are not your thing, I see.

and spelling/writing/ grammar skills are not yours. Excuse the poor boy, he is having a rough day!


the plexi

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More Hot Rocks
I saw 3 shows before the accedent and 3 after. I have boots of all six. by listening you can't tell by his playing if it was before or after. The Atlantic city show which was after he fell he played great. The Wash DC show which was before he was awlful. I guess it all depends just on how Keith feels that day.

very true. First shows of Europa 07, he was there, but not until Paris did he play well and you could really see the physical difference between him at that show and those previous. And some shows, he looked like he was a little out of it/asleep and others, good or great. And Lyon was better still which surprised me.

I really think that at least part of it had to do with his reaction to his prescription drugs for his head injury (and maybe the interaction between those and his "Keith drugs" on top of any the doctor prescribed).

I think time will tell how well he has recovered from it all and how that has affected his playing.

These things take time.


plex

So Keith cannot play the way he did in 1972. The question is can he play enough to support a major tour. Time, whiskey and arthritis have sapped the skills of this legendary guitarist, but his fans are some of the most forgiving in the business. I believe Jagger won't agree to a Stones' tour if Keith just cannot do it. It will never be 1972 for Keith or any of us ever again. Let us hope that he has one more round in him. He and the Stones can never be replaced - for me, they are rock 'n' roll.

is there any evidence that he cannot "play enough to support a major tour"?

Do u feel his skills degraded THAT much from, say, the Licks tour to the post-treefall incident portion of the Bang tour?

Now, this is getting focused and I would like to hear some not only opinions, but specific evidence/incidents/songs/shows from Licks and ABB to support your ideas. This is a focused, comparitive question and only deals with these two tours/points in time (note: does not go back to 72 or even 1999).


the plexi



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-04 19:25 by timbernardis.

One bit of " evidence" is the Stones' reliance on Blondie to help out in the guitar department. I can't give you the exact date that Blondie started helping out ( Gazza could supply this info), but I thought it was a turning point. If I were to guess, I'd say it began in earnest during the Licks Tour but it may have started quietly before that time. The fact that much of Blondie's playing took place from behind the stage makes me think that the Stones wanted to cover this up a bit. This is not to say that Keith doesn't play LIVE, it means he now has help. Can anyone illustrate this point by telling what parts Blondie plays....during which songs.

If Keith plays another tour like ABB, his reputation is ruined. And no, the solution should not: more side-men.

In my view there was a huge difference in the quality of his playing after the 40 Licks tour. The last show I saw in San Francisco in 2005 was except for a few highlights the worst I had ever hear Keith play and the shows I heard from that tour were not much better. Like I have said, I take no joy in any of this, but I can't deny what my ears tell me no matter how much I love Keith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-04-04 22:47 by ChrisM.

I Love Keith, but the honest criticism certainly has merit. But it should be remembered that even in their prime they had average shows and great shows, and it was Keith who would decide which it was. Mick and Charlie are astoundingly consistent as performers, Keith has always been a bit up and down. That was true of ABB as well. I saw three shows pre-accident in the space of a week, and one was a fantastic group effort, the other carried by Mick and Ronnie, and then the best of the lot when Keith captured his old magic and was loud grooving and riffing away. The accident and age have certainly made him less than he was once was, but as long as he keeps showing he can still capture the magic once in awhile, then the Stones are still worth seeing. We are the luckiest fans to have a band with such longevity, despite the down sides of weakening skills and watering down ones legacy, we still have a band to enjoy. And I do.

I agree, Doubledoor and I sure hope that when they do decide it's the " last time" they go out when they are still vital, still can do a great show, over all. Vital is a word that leaves a lot of leeway, a lot of room for interpretation. The shows that are sub-par may not be considered worth seeing by some. I know that I still get those butterflies just before the take the stage, that excitement, anticipating another Stones show. I never have taken it for granted that I was seeing them live, knowing it might be my last show. Who knows?? I may have already seen my last show, Sept of 2006, but I sure hope it wasn't.

doubledoor, that was a very fine statement which really captures how I sometimes feel and I bet that a lot of us do. Thank you.


p

Well,I JUST WANT MY STONES!! If it comes down to watching ron and keith playing banjos on the front porch bare-footed I'll be on the front row!

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scottkeef
Well,I JUST WANT MY STONES!! If it comes down to watching ron and keith playing banjos on the front porch bare-footed I'll be on the front row!

lol - me too but mick's gotta be there too - on the tambourine or something. and charlie with sticks on the porch.

for me,the presence of the PLEXIGLASS alone and solo would be sufficient


p

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scottkeef
Well,I JUST WANT MY STONES!! If it comes down to watching ron and keith playing banjos on the front porch bare-footed I'll be on the front row!

Mick and Bowie might enjoy another scene from Deliverance!

"No Anchovies, Please"

[thepowergoats.com]

That was pretty cool James. Can you say where it's from?

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Elmo Lewis

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scottkeef
Well,I JUST WANT MY STONES!! If it comes down to watching ron and keith playing banjos on the front porch bare-footed I'll be on the front row!

Mick and Bowie might enjoy another scene from Deliverance!

Disgusting!! Oh btw, elmo, didnt that scene take place in GA??!!

p

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ChrisM
That was pretty cool James. Can you say where it's from?

The clip is from a BBC music documentary, which was shown a couple of years back. I'm certain the snippet with Keith is slightly older though - maybe around the year 2000/2001.