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Much ado has been made about Gwen Stefani's lyrical flub while singing "Wild Horses" with the Rolling Stones last Friday night (May 3, 2013). Most of the comments poked fun at her mishap, telling her to rehearse etc. They're exactly the sort of comments you'd expect directed at someone largely seen by people to be some pampered "it" girl and/or a person not worthy enough to step on stage with a "Rock N' Roll Institution" such as the Stones and her slip-up more than proves their point.



But as someone who's had the privilege to step onstage with musicians I've admired since I was a kid, I can completely empathize with Stefani. You try singing "Wild Horses" with The Stones and see how well you fair. My guess is most people, including those who sing for a living, wouldn't even be able to cough up the word "wild" without choking on their own saliva. The fact that Stefani made it onto the stage without having a heart attack is impressive enough to me. If I was in the same position, they'd need paramedics following me until breakfast the next day, so fast would my heart be palpitating before and after.

The high chances of me screwing up in front of the Rolling Stones are not because I'm unprofessional. Trust me, I've logged my fair share of shows in front of my fair share of crowds, it's because I am fanatical for the Rolling Stones. When Mick Jagger hosted SNL last year and played songs alongside the Arcade Fire and the Foo Fighters, watching him keep up with bands much younger was impressive, but what was more impressive was the fact the Fires or Foos didn't collapse from sheer fandom playing alongside Mick Jagger. I don't even know if my hand could hold my guitar pick if Mick saddled up next to me to finish the line "couldn't drag me away."

I know this from experience.

Last fall, when Jello Biafra was in Toronto to play with his band The Guantanamo Bay School Of Medicine, he asked me to join him on stage and sing the Dead Kennedys classic, "Too Drunk To @#$%&." Never one to pass up an opportunity to sing alongside the incredible Jello Biafra, whose distinct voice I've been listening to in my headphones for more than half my life, I jumped at the chance like a dog on Alpo. "Too Drunk..." was also a song that I had listened to a million times and with confident smugness believed I knew it like the "back of my hand."

I was wrong.

That evening when I hopped on stage, I drew a blank, froze like a statue and basically looked like a jackass. I couldn't get over the fact that this song I'd been listening to for years was now being sung by me beside the guy who sang it. It was a huge moment and I blew it 'cause it just meant too much to me.

As much as I wanted to disappear into the carpet, I bravely ambled backstage after the show, meekly thanked Jello for asking me on stage and apologized for messing up the song. To my surprise and great relief, he shrugged it off relaying a similar story of him forgetting the lyrics to a Black Sabbath song when he stepped on stage with Reverend Horton Heat. It was exactly what I needed to hear and helped me elude what would've been an anxiety-filled month of reliving that humiliating moment over and over again in my head.

In fact, I think Gwen shows how genuine a Stones fan she is by flubbing the lyrics. You have to wonder how anyone can step on stage with Jagger, Richards, Watts and Wood on the first night of their world tour without being a little discombobulated. Twenty bucks says Stefani can out-sing anyone at a party when "Black And Blue" gets thrown on the stereo, too.

Gwen, don't listen to the naysayers. They're just jealous. Hell, I'm even jealous of you. You sang with The Stones and you looked great doing it, if I do say so myself. Nobody, even wild horses, as hard as they might try, can take that away from you.

Bollox. Who is Danko Jones for gawdsake?

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Silver Dagger
Bollox. Who is Danko Jones for gawdsake?

lol! Rock band out of Canada.

I disagree with that article. Gwen should have been very prepared and her performance is musically embarrasing. Watching it on Youtube, is a big dissapointment. I believe she should have picked up a fast song instead of wild horses.
Rock and roll,
Mops

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JohnnyBGoode

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Silver Dagger
Bollox. Who is Danko Jones for gawdsake?

lol! Rock band out of Canada.

...and quite a good one, actually.

Danko jones are awesome. Chech it out.

what she could not look at the teleprompter ?

I am not under the impression that she 'forgot' the words....

She never had any clue what the heck they were!

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JohnnyBGoode

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Silver Dagger
Bollox. Who is Danko Jones for gawdsake?

lol! Rock band out of Canada.

Damn Canadians AGAIN!

i've forgotten the words to many stones songs over the years. but when i play the records, mick always seems to remember them. he's incredible.

"You sang with The Stones and you looked great doing it" Explains it all. Jagger stop with the nonsense .

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GRNRBITW
i've forgotten the words to many stones songs over the years. but when i play the records, mick always seems to remember them. he's incredible.

LOB!

...oops, forgot the letters.

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1967fan
Danko jones are awesome. Chech it out.

lol yeah decent band

hey ya remember rusty - also from toronto?

them guys actually sounded rusty

she got all nervous I reckon. didn't they have the words on a prompter? it was clumsy and reminded me of open mic night at a bar.

What if Tom Waits had messed up a lyric? Would there have been a lynch mob after him, as well? I highly doubt it. What if he sang slightly flat at one point? Would we have said how much he sucks? I doubt it.

Gwen Stefani could have remembered the lyrics and sang on key but still she would have been crucified on here. I guess you can't win, Gwen.

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GumbootCloggeroo
Gwen Stefani could have remembered the lyrics and sang on key but still she would have been crucified on here.

No Doubt

Danko is crap.
If your professional - and Danko is not - you would remember the words to rock n roll classic, or you would improvise your own words on the spot - that's what professionals do, and clearly - Danko is not a professional, he sucks - and I have seen him on stage, so boring taht walked straight into bar - nothing more than an amateur on stage.

What if Tom Waits had messed up a lyric? - He would never do that, he's a professional, and he could have improvised. Like a true entertainer - you can improvise and take over, - like he did with Little Red Rooster - he made Mick Jagger pee in his pants with fear. But then again - Tom Waits is real singer, and truly great professional.

I dont blame the No Doubt singer - no, not at all - I blame Mick,
Mick Jagger should never let musicians on stage without having rehearsals with them. Mick should know better, he should know that Stefani is out of his league. she leaves us all in doubt - What's next - three year old kids with toys on stage - come on, Mick should sing all the songs himself and not let some blonde bimbos do half of his job poorly. Mick should work harder on stage - and sing all the songs, Lazy bastard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-05-08 22:27 by seitan.

Not only did she forget the lyrics, but she also sang it quite horribly.
I always thought she had a decent voice within the context of No Doubt,
but something went terribly wrong here with the Stones.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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duke richardson
she got all nervous I reckon. didn't they have the words on a prompter? it was clumsy and reminded me of open mic night at a bar.

..and that's where she belongs and that's where she should stay. amateur. I think there's better singers at my local bar.

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seitan

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duke richardson
she got all nervous I reckon. didn't they have the words on a prompter? it was clumsy and reminded me of open mic night at a bar.

..and that's where she belongs and that's where she should stay. amateur. I think there's better singers at my local bar.

there is a version of 'Sway' by Sheryl Crow and her band..she kind of didn't sing the right words but man the feel was all there..

can't search it up right now but i think its on youtube...

thats different than getting onstage with the Stones and singing a ballad all wrong..

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seitan


I dont blame the No Doubt singer - no, not at all - I blame Mick,

Here we go again! ><

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seitan
Danko is crap.
If your professional - and Danko is not - you would remember the words to rock n roll classic, or you would improvise your own words on the spot - that's what professionals do, and clearly - Danko is not a professional, he sucks - and I have seen him on stage, so boring taht walked straight into bar - nothing more than an amateur on stage.

Gwen Stefani has a career in music so therefore she is a professional.But it has nothing to do with being a professional. Sometimes minds slip. I'd bet money that out of the thousands and thousands of concerts The Stones have done there is at least one time where Mick screwed up the lyrics or forgot a line. And, according to you, professionals improvise? No. Not all of them. Plenty of artists forget the next verse and ask the audience "what's the line?". For example, I've seen Jeff Tweedy from Wilco do that. Does that make him unprofessional? No.

The point of your silly rant is you dislike Gwen Stefani no matter what. She could have given a perfect performance and you'd still criticize it to death. You hate her so much and the fact that she shared a stage with your hero Mick Jagger offends you highly.

Also, it's a bit hypocritical to criticize someone for making a mistake on stage when The Stones are notorious for making mistakes themselves. Have you not seen the She's So Cold video from the 80's? Are THEY not professionals?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-05-08 22:55 by GumbootCloggeroo.

I don't get where the nervous thing comes from. She's played with respected artists before, maybe not as big as the Stones, but it's not like they dragged her out of the Dairy Queen and put her up there. She's performed at the Super Bowl and on American Idol, millions of people watching her. When I saw No Doubt she was performing in front of 385,000 people in what was, at the time, the largest crowd ever for a single day concert. I'll swallow "she's only human", but I don't really see the nervous thing. She's always putting herself in the spotlight, if you roll out a red carpet in front of your house right now Gwen will probably magically show up in a designer dress posing for non-existent paparazzi. She's not a shy woman or anything. Taylor was probably more nervous than her.

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GumbootCloggeroo

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seitan
Danko is crap.
If your professional - and Danko is not - you would remember the words to rock n roll classic, or you would improvise your own words on the spot - that's what professionals do, and clearly - Danko is not a professional, he sucks - and I have seen him on stage, so boring taht walked straight into bar - nothing more than an amateur on stage.

Gwen Stefani has a career in music so therefore she is a professional.But it has nothing to do with being a professional. Sometimes minds slip. I'd bet money that out of the thousands and thousands of concerts The Stones have done there is at least one time where Mick screwed up the lyrics or forgot a line. And, according to you, professionals improvise? No. Not all of them. Plenty of artists forget the next verse and ask the audience "what's the line?". For example, I've seen Jeff Tweedy from Wilco do that. Does that make him unprofessional? No.

The point of your silly rant is you dislike Gwen Stefani no matter what. She could have given a perfect performance and you'd still criticize it to death. You hate her so much and the fact that she shared a stage with your hero Mick Jagger offends you highly.

Also, it's a bit hypocritical to criticize someone for making a mistake on stage when The Stones are notorious for making mistakes themselves. Have you not seen the She's So Cold video from the 80's? Are THEY not professionals?

I dont hate Stefani - but she's an amateur and out of her place. Mick should know better. Yes, Stones have been very bad at times, I agree - being high on drugs is what amateurs do on stage...well, I guess you could also say that addiction is an illness, but then junkies and drunks should be in hospital or rehab and not on stage. Professionals know their craft and professionals dont @#$%& up on stage..they can improvise if they forget the lyrics ( you should never forget a classic song) or dont know the song ( you shuld know what you play in front of millions if youre a professional)- professionals can improvise - they dont screw up on stage - at least not after 50 years of trying to get it right. - Mick should know better and not let this kind of behaviour happen on stage. Jeff Tweedy from Wilco is an amateur. Mick shouldnt let amateurs on stage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013-05-08 23:23 by seitan.

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GumbootCloggeroo
What if Tom Waits had messed up a lyric? Would there have been a lynch mob after him, as well? I highly doubt it. What if he sang slightly flat at one point? Would we have said how much he sucks? I doubt it.

Gwen Stefani could have remembered the lyrics and sang on key but still she would have been crucified on here. I guess you can't win, Gwen.

Tom Waits forgot about all lyrics, and srewed up a simple 12-bar blues.

I didn't hear anyone moan about it.

Mathijs

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Mathijs

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GumbootCloggeroo
What if Tom Waits had messed up a lyric? Would there have been a lynch mob after him, as well? I highly doubt it. What if he sang slightly flat at one point? Would we have said how much he sucks? I doubt it.

Gwen Stefani could have remembered the lyrics and sang on key but still she would have been crucified on here. I guess you can't win, Gwen.

Tom Waits forgot about all lyrics, and srewed up a simple 12-bar blues.

I didn't hear anyone moan about it.

Mathijs

I can never tell if Tom is screwing up, or supposed to sound that way. Every song of his I've heard it sounds like he comes in and stops whenever he feels like it. It sounded like classic Tom to me. Which probably sounds as bad as Tom screwing up. I respect the man, but I can't listen to him. But for those that did notice it, there probably wasn't as much stink because it was a cover song as opposed to screwing up one of a classic Jagger/Richards tune.

As for other comments about how people were going to criticize her where or not she did well. Quite a few people around here (myself included) were prepared to hate Lady Gaga but ended up enjoying her. There were some that didn't enjoy her obviously. I formed my opinion about Gwen after I had to sit through her singing (when she bothered to sing and not just do bullshit stream of consciousness baby talk while the band played) off key for an entire set back in '97.

The lack of preparation from GS was a disgrace... PLUS she sucked when she DID sing the correct lyrics.. sounded like she was on valium or something

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GRNRBITW

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GumbootCloggeroo
Gwen Stefani could have remembered the lyrics and sang on key but still she would have been crucified on here.

No Doubt

WAIT!

StonesTod, is that you!?!

But look at the bright side, it gives the whiners more to complain about, which they always seem to enjoy.

She came across not as someone who forgot the lyrics, but as someone who simply did not know the lyrics. Many times people in pop will just wing it and think "they'll never notice", which is an indication of how much they care about the artist. Contrast Gwen to GaGa and suddenly the PPV looks amazing. GaGa sang like a crazy woman. Her costume was rediculous, but atleast she sang. I am not a fan of either of them.