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crholmstrom
I've written about this before but I saw one show early on ABB (Seattle, day before Halloween) where Ronnie partied too hearty with openers Motley Crue & couldn't play. After a very avant garde solo on Tumbling Dice he got turned way down & Keith & Blondie handled the guitars. Keith did all the heavy lifting & it was awesome. Mick was visibly angry at the situation as Ronnie ran around the stage doing goofy Ronnie stuff. By the next show in Portland, Ronnie was in much better shape. He must've had a talking to.

Hey CR, I mentioned back in 06 about the opening song in Vancouver JJFlash, I was on the floor row 17 to the far left and I could see Blondie sitting behind the speakers near Chuck playing guitar hidden from the vast majority of the crowd. I was surprised on how many songs he played guitar on.

Keith plays better now(?) compared to 2006 -ish but some songs sure sound like they have an added guitar or keyboards with a prerecorded guitar. Just speculating based on a few videos.

Btw isnt Keiths guitar sound better these days? A bit more distortion?

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Redhotcarpet
Keith plays better now(?) compared to 2006 -ish but some songs sure sound like they have an added guitar or keyboards with a prerecorded guitar. Just speculating based on a few videos.

Can you post a video of the keyboard with a pre recorded guitar?

In 1965 they used an off stage Stu and some horns for this Ready Steady Go recording of That's How Strong My Love Is.

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Redhotcarpet
Keith plays better now(?) compared to 2006 -ish but some songs sure sound like they have an added guitar or keyboards with a prerecorded guitar. Just speculating based on a few videos.

Can you post a video of the keyboard with a pre recorded guitar?

I have zero proof of anything but I remember watching a more recent video of JJF. Ill see if I can find it.

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The Joker
BS...

Damn, Mick! You ruined a promising sounding new, cool version of "Midnight Rambler"...

What exactly happened? They supposed to play "Paint It Black", but Keith started playing "Midnight Rambler" in a wrong key instead?

But these kinds of occasional fvck ups are just so charming. Accidents happen. Love ya, guys!

- Doxa

A girl I used to work with in the 90's was friends with one of the guys from Living Colour. He told her that Keith had a guitar player under the stage playing with him when they toured together in '89.

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CindyC
A girl I used to work with in the 90's was friends with one of the guys from Living Colour. He told her that Keith had a guitar player under the stage playing with him when they toured together in '89.

And what parts did he play? Did anybody ever hear Keiths guitar sound coming out of the PA when keith didnt have his hands on the neck? Nope. Never. They are under a micrscope on stage. It'snot true.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023-02-21 19:45 by More Hot Rocks.

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CindyC
A girl I used to work with in the 90's was friends with one of the guys from Living Colour. He told her that Keith had a guitar player under the stage playing with him when they toured together in '89.

And what parts did he play? Did anybody ever hear Keiths guitar sound coming out of the PA when keith didnt have his hands on the neck? Nope. Never. They are under a micrscope on stage. It'snot true.

just telling you what I heard.

If I remember correctly, the same guy or other guy from the same pathetic band (that's my opinion about TS), a few years ago said the Stones SHOULD use more musicians, "as Pink Floyd did", because they are old (he also said that Led Zeppelin was a nauseus live band in 1975). Now he says that the Stones ALREADY use backing guitarist. Great, the Stones followed his advice...

In the music business, some guys seem to be desperate for attention...

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CindyC

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CindyC
A girl I used to work with in the 90's was friends with one of the guys from Living Colour. He told her that Keith had a guitar player under the stage playing with him when they toured together in '89.

And what parts did he play? Did anybody ever hear Keiths guitar sound coming out of the PA when keith didnt have his hands on the neck? Nope. Never. They are under a micrscope on stage. It'snot true.

just telling you what I heard.

Well this was 1989-90 so no cell phones and with a huge stadium tour, no one could really see up close.

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DGA35

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CindyC

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More Hot Rocks

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CindyC
A girl I used to work with in the 90's was friends with one of the guys from Living Colour. He told her that Keith had a guitar player under the stage playing with him when they toured together in '89.

And what parts did he play? Did anybody ever hear Keiths guitar sound coming out of the PA when keith didnt have his hands on the neck? Nope. Never. They are under a micrscope on stage. It'snot true.

just telling you what I heard.

Well this was 1989-90 so no cell phones and with a huge stadium tour, no one could really see up close.

Ahh cut it out. BV time to put a stop to this nonsense

When you're at the concert they screw up so often that any ghost players would be pretty lame of they were there. But below the stage there is only scaffolding.

I finally read this article by that dude from Twisted Sister (to me about the crappiest shit among the horrible 80's theatric and childish 'heavy rock' scene, and had no idea they have existed since then). It looks like the dude is just talking from the base of some hazy recollection and rumours. That Keith has an arthritis is now applied to both guitarists. Then he says "I understand that they use backing guitarists blah blah..." The expression "I understand" is a very loose way to make conclusions from something he has no direct knowledge of. An exaggaration for sure, but not totally bullshit.

I mean, if we look at the way the Stones work, they rest pretty strongly on the side players who are there not just to enrich the sound, but also literally back up, at least occasionally, the key players. In some document a while ago Bernard and Keith talked about Bernard's role to back up Mick's vocals, and sometimes him taking more role when Mick has an 'off-night'. I recall reading once that already in 1981/82 having two piano players on stage was Mick's suggestion to have a safe belt in the case of Keith and Ronnie having some problems, since our guitar heroes were not the most reliable players at the time...

Then the whole new, professional stage act from 1989 was based on having more firm hands on stage, and who had more contribution to the over-all sound of the band than ever before. From then on, we know that the Stones live act didn't rely so much on the guitar players any longer. Even the musical director would be found from behind the keyboards.

Then we have heard all those stories, some of them based on eye-wittnessing, that there are something happening in guitar department that cannot be totally explained by what Keith or Ronnie were actually doing there (I personally have once wittnessed a moment like that). Blondie behind the stage strumming, probably some pre-programmed stuff, etc. Nothing that big at all - no actual ghost players - but still something to do with their wish to make sure that things go right, or that certain songs need some beefing up to work.

In the end, what that Twister Sister bigmouth says about the business side of things - that the old performers just want to make sure the product their sell for a big dollar is good enough - isn't that far from truth I think. There is nothing morally wrong there, although probably some old rock myths about authenticity and purity are broken there. But you know, we are here talking about a band that has never seen any problem in over-dubbing live albums, so let us not be that naive or surprised in regard to their very big money live concerts.

- Doxa



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 2023-02-22 11:55 by Doxa.

That guy under the stage is amazing, when Keith starts playing in the wrong key or playing the wrong song he goes right with him, you can’t even tell there’s a second guitar!

Seriously, I think I know how this got started.
At the MGM in Vegas I bought those side-stage seats.
You know the ones that are cheaper but you’re really right next to the stage.

Ours were up a bit so you could see backstage.
During a couple of songs Pierre was tuning a guitar. He strummed it a couple of times and then played it for a minute.
This was during the show and it did look like he was playing with the band, he wasn’t of course.he handed the guitar to Keith for the next song.but if he did that the whole tour people could have gotten the wrong idea.

This needs to be cleared up though because I’m really concerned about what twisted sisters guitar player thinks.

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lem motlow

This needs to be cleared up though because I’m really concerned about what twisted sisters guitar player thinks.

He could use a guitar player under the stage himself...





[www.youtube.com]

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Whale
When you're at the concert they screw up so often that any ghost players would be pretty lame of they were there. But below the stage there is only scaffolding.

Maybe it was the ghost of Brian Jones he saw

they definitely use backup singers

My perspective on this old chestnut has always been quite simple.

The live arrangements in what we might call the "modern era" are such that Chuck's keys will cover enough to allow those two naughty boys with guitars sufficient leeway to play, or not play, whatever they like on the night



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-02-23 12:11 by Spud.

Please, I’ve never seen a fanbase concede so much as this one.

If some little hairband cretin ever opened his mouth about any of the other major rock and roll legends he’d be ground to dust.

But here we are , “ oh they have keyboards backing” ,they’re old , you can’t blame them”

Bullshit, they have lapses and mistakes because they actually play, that’s been the case for every band since the beginning of live rock and roll.
Ronnie and Keith are a couple of bad mthrfckrs,don’t believe me, go on you tube and randomly pick any version of Rambler from the last ten years and get back to me.

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lem motlow
... they have lapses and mistakes because they actually play, that’s been the case for every band since the beginning of live rock and roll.
Ronnie and Keith are a couple of bad mthrfckrs,don’t believe me, go on you tube and randomly pick any version of Rambler from the last ten years and get back to me.

Too right

...but they do tend to pay more attention to the music and to each other on this song, and some others.

certain other numbers sometimes seem to be vehicles for clowning about and "throwing shapes".

[Thankfully , over very recent tours, and as they're perhaps now getting a little old for too much jumping about, there seems to be a little less tom foolery going on...and a bit more playing the guitar]

Edited to add ...that I'm not a killjoy . When he was a little younger and fitter...there was no greater sight in Rock music than Keith Richards "throwing shapes".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-02-23 16:37 by Spud.

The guy in Twisted Sister might be an idiot on many levels, but many people have confirmed the same things he's saying for years now.
Just be thankful he's not friends with the Stones...he might have ended up as a guest on the new album!

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

Well we know who's twisted .....



ROCKMAN

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CindyC
A girl I used to work with in the 90's was friends with one of the guys from Living Colour. He told her that Keith had a guitar player under the stage playing with him when they toured together in '89.

Yeah, probably right.

You have to be one hell of a guitar player - under the stage - to keep up with Keith.

Not the version I was thing of (no hat, i was probably thinking of a version from 2014-2016(?), but here’s a short clip of JJF in which the actual sound doesn’t quite match what his right hand is doing. Maybe he uses very sensitive pick ups or it could just be a later overdub or something. It does sound a bit like the riff is enhanced on keys. Again, no proof.

video: [youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-02-25 13:01 by Redhotcarpet.

Like a lot of people said here earlier, almost all these concerts are filmed so you could see whether this is going on.And the playing is often sloppy and sometimes weak, but great for men their ages.So why would a guitar player covering for Keith or Ron play like that? Plus I think Keith is way too proud to put up with a scam like that. The only possibility is Chuck or Matt Clifford enhancing the guitar sound. But the primary music is by the two guitarists