I have asked about this in the Telaviv thread already, but since there was no answer to the question, I thought I try again in a new thread. Did Keith during his set use a teleprompter for the lyrics in the past before this leg of the tour? I never realized it,but he obviously uses one now and it helps him with singing the right lyrics and keeping the pace of the song. Especially You Got the Silver benefits from it right now, compared to several videos I have seen from other concerts of the tour, where he often had problems with finding the lyrics at some points and with keeping the song flowing in consequence of that. For YGTS he only needs to take a look occasionally and I think it works well. For my taste he relies too much on the teleprompter still for Can't Be Seen, where he tends to glance somewhere to his left (teleprompter) for every second line, which shows his insecurity with the song. I guess this song wouldn't work without the teleprompter at all right now. But, to say something positive, I really like his vocals on this song, especially when he goes up with his voice ("I admit it anyway" etc.), which gives me a goosebump feeling, and I like, that he decided to perform this song. So, does anybody know? Is this maybe Mick's influence/suggestion, born from this rewarmed relationship of the two of them?

Some guy told me, that Mick Jagger used also a teleprompter during a concert of the A Bigger Bang Tour. He was standing in one of the stage balconys and saw this from his place. I hope this is not true, because I would be disappointed in some kind of way.

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Ladykiller
Some guy told me, that Mick Jagger used also a teleprompter during a concert of the A Bigger Bang Tour. He was standing in one of the stage balconys and saw this from his place. I hope this is not true, because I would be disappointed in some kind of way.

Sorry to disappoint, but he was definitely using one as far back as "Steel Wheels" in 1989.

From memory, I think they are glimpsed in "At The Max", or in one of the photo books of the tour(s).

It's not a big deal, lots of people use them. If it's working for Keith, I say good for him. A few years ago, Obama's reliance on teleprompters was a popular source of comedy in the press and with comedians like Jay Leno.

I have seen several videos, where Mick seemingly glances on a teleprompter once in a while, especially for rarer performed songs (and of course for his foreign language talk). So that's not unusual for me to see now, once I had noticed. Mostly he looks like not needing and using it at all (when he sings, I mean). But I never noticed Keith using a teleprompter until now, that's what I'm asking about. (And I wondered, if maybe Mick persuaded him to try this tool, because he himself uses it, too, which, of course, nobody can answer, unless he/she knows one of them personally).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-13 13:51 by StrawberriesBlueberries.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Brian Wilson needs a teleprompter to remember the chorus lyrics of Barbara Ann. Keith's a long way from that.

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ash
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Brian Wilson needs a teleprompter to remember the chorus lyrics of Barbara Ann. Keith's a long way from that.

I don't "worry" about it in general. I said, it works well for You Got the Silver! Which is because he almost knows all the lyrics and just needs a little support now and then. So it's a benefit for the song. It only bothers me a bit for Can't Be Seen, because he absolutely relies on the teleprompter there for most of the song, which adds to the impression, that he seems to be not quite comfortable yet with the whole song. But my original point was, that I was wondering, if it is something new in Stones history, that he uses a teleprompter for this leg of the tour. I didn't complain about his use of a teleprompter.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-13 14:08 by StrawberriesBlueberries.

Which show did you notice Keith looking to his left during Can't Be Seen?

To be honest, I have absolutely no issue with it. As far as I know, Paul McCartney uses it too - even for songs like Let It Be or Yesterday. It´s just standard part of stage setup for big bands since many years ago - its almost like monitors on stage (or earmonitors in case of Stones). These telepromters are visible even on B2B DVD from St. Louis - it would be suprising NOT to use them nearly 20 years after that. Usually all lyrics are broadcasted on these screens and it´s just decision of singer if he needs them to use.

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Ladykiller
Some guy told me, that Mick Jagger used also a teleprompter during a concert of the A Bigger Bang Tour. He was standing in one of the stage balconys and saw this from his place. I hope this is not true, because I would be disappointed in some kind of way.

why are you dissapointed? In my opinion everything is OK if it helps the guys onstage. There is or was a very important role in theatres called prompter. A real human prompter, not automatic. So if Sir Lawrence Olivier might have used a prompter onstage, then a telepprompter would fit the rock'n'roll bands nowadays, especially when you play in a stadium. Not that I've ever played music in a packed stadium....but I'd like to...

The Stones have used teleprompters since 1989.

JumpingKentFlash

A lot of bands seem to use them. Especially at larger concerts.

My guess is the teleprompter is used only some days and only for some tunes..... If Mick is having an off day then he will ask for it. But he will say "take it down for JJF, I know those words or I am not Mick Jagger!".

To avoid embarrassment my guess is it only put up when needed. Barack Obama uses one all the time if you want a comparison.

Maybe the back up singers, Bernard and Lisa need a glance at it sometimes

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chatoyancy
Which show did you notice Keith looking to his left during Can't Be Seen?

The one from Telaviv. You can see the teleprompter at about 2:55 on the screen, which convinced me, that there is really a teleprompter, he is looking at from time to time. Before that I had wondered, why he has this turn to the left and often looks into this direction. I have to say now, that in my memory, from the first time watching the video, he was more looking at it than I can see now, at my second time watching, but it's hard to tell, because in this video you can only see what is on the screen, which often shows something else and not Keith from the front. From what one can see, Keith needed the teleprompter more often towards the end here. Alltogether this Tel Aviv performance of the song is probably the one that I liked the most so far.





If you know, where the teleprompter is located, you can guess, when he is looking at it also in other videos:





During this truely beautiful (and beautifully filmed) performance of You Got the Silver I see him quickly look a few times on the teleprompter, often more like he wants to go sure that what he thinks comes next is really what comes next. Of course one can argue, if I'm right here, but that's how I see it. One time before "You got my heart", once before "Me feeling foolish" and a few times near the end. He often got confused with a few lines of the song during the recent years, but that doesn't happen now anymore, from what I have seen of the European gigs.





Sometimes it's a mixture of trying to remember on his own and stealing a glance like a cheating schoolboy. Quite charming in a way. As I said, I have never noticed this before this leg of the tour, which made me wonder, if his use of a teleprompter is new. I think one can argue, how often he uses it (not everyrhing that looks like a glance to the left infront of him might be atually directed to the teleprompter, but it happens quite frequently). And there is clearly one with something written on it in the first video I posted. Mind you, I know that Mick has been using a teleprompter for a while, but I wondered about Keith.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-13 16:38 by StrawberriesBlueberries.

As far back as the B2B tour I heard about how Keith refused to use the teleprompter for his sets. I don't know if this was true or not. Guess he finally gave in.

Far more distressing were the reports on Mick using a live choreographer to direct his every move at the very first O2 shows in 2012(?). Again, don't know if this is exactly true.

Thanks SharksWillCry, that's interesting and goes into the direction of what I was thinking. That he refused to use one before. So it could be the influence of his seemingly very good relationship with Mick right now. Same shoes, hugs, smiles, a shared teleprompter... it's so heartwarming.

The teleprompter is always there and has been for a long time.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-14 03:10 by bv.

That's Mick singing, not Keith's set.

I know. But it's the only picture I've seen. If Mick has one you know Keith does. Hell, just look at the videos.

The main reason for the teleprompters is first help to singer when he lose the focus during the song - its very easy to forget where in the song band currently is when you work with audience - and Mick is well-known showman.

When I saw Queen with Paul Rodgers I remember how much Paul relied on this equipment - it was striking, but I didnt care - its not easy to remember lyrics written by someone else.

Another case is my top fav band - Deep Purple. Ian Gillan never remembered his own lyrics well - he admitted that many times, he is used to improvise with lyrics during shows and also some songs are sung live slightly differently than original lyrics were, but he does it intentionally. When they are doing new songs you can see couple of sheets on stage floor and he checks the lyrics occasionally. When I saw Graham Bonnet´s show he even joked about that - he said with laughter that after years of drug and alcohol abuse his mind does not work properly anymore and he has to cheat lyrics - and showed us wide strip of papers with lyrics.

Millions of folks use teleprompters.

They call it Karaoke.

With so much material to know there's no issue with using a teleprompter. Hell, Michael Stipe used a music stand with sheet music on it so he could sing his own words.

This thread is hilarious

What about Ronnie's stratoprompter?

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triceratops
This thread is hilarious

Somehow, but quite unintentionally, I assure you... I think I will go to Youtube and sing some Karaoke Keith songs now.

Keith's whole life "persona' is off a tele-prompter so-to-speak. He's manufactured.

Well. The teleprompter is always on, during the entire show. It is up to the singer to use it or not. And the prompter has been on since 89.

Of course they use teleprompters and have been doing for many years. I can't see the problem, they are 70 year olds who have had to remember 1000's of lyircs. Sometimes I can be singing a song I've sung for 30 years and for some strange reason I just forget a line. I would imagine it would be a lot harder under the pressure of a live performance where 30,000 people are watching and listening to everything you do.

Dylan often did it and just made up words or mumbled or even repeated the same line, I think it happens to most performers. Solution - teleprinter. It doesn't mean you don't know the words (as maybe the case with younger bands) more a memory jogger or life raft if you have a complete blank out.

It's not really any different to when bands would sellotape lyrics on amps and nip over to check them. I don;t feel it decreases authenticity.