we pay shitloads of money to go watch him and buy his cd's and sticks, and even though we all love him, even when he farts the telephone book live on stage, we are allowed to post our dissapointment, i see no issue with that.
Pottel, I am a HUGE freedom of speech fanatic. If you know French philosopher Voltaire: "I hate your ideas, but I will fight to death for you to be able to express them". I never said that anyone should not be allowed to express his or her disappointement, nor did I say that Mark was above criticisim. I merely pointed out that jumping at Guy's jugular on the very night of the very first show, from people who did not even attend the show, some even claming to represent 90% of fans without evidence whatsoever, whereras the tour has yet to developp, was excessive and counterproductive. Ingrid herself seems to agree with me on that now, as she apologized to Guy in a very classy manner...
A few criticisms after watching the vids, so that you see that I am also capable of complaining
1) TR is still rather slow and in "Karaoke mode" after "rolling river". This has now been the same pattern since 2008. I had high hopes for a come back of the 2005 style, but I don't believe it will change now. Still I find it slightly better than in 2010. Is it the (slighty) more prominent synth ? Jim's piano playing, a bit more convoluted than Matt's and quite recognizable ? I don't know... I like it, but it's nowhere near the 1996/2001/2005 golden era of TR IMHO.
2) Crows is good, but I still find that Saskatoon version was better, especially for the final solo. Sometimes it is irrational, you just have a crush on a concert where everything is so perfect, Saskatoon did this for me last year; maybe the excellent soomlos recording played a role in that...
3) Going Home is great, definitely better than in 2008, but pales in comparaison to Vaison'96 where the guitar playing was so much more energetic...
4) Why not both Crows and KOG ??! This one is a really valid criticism. I can only go to one show this year (Paris) and I already know I won't get both, this sadens me because there are the only two new songs that were really reworked - the others are pretty similar to the album version, if not inferior (IUTC without Harmonica is just... strange I think).
5) I really hope Border and Piper will be back, these two gems from the GL album were the best open and closer in ages !
6) Let's strangle Sonny Liston !
Still, happy to have the great core DS subset (Sultans, TR, BIA), I don't miss SFA and I could do without overplayed R&J; I think a MK concert without them would be... well, like "On the night" is without Sultans and TR ! I'm also happy to have those solo gems that are WII, SAN, HFB, MT, they are real classics now.
