Blue Pensa on telegraph road

[jakehadlee]

This is my favourite TR from 2013 and I have listened to a great many of them - some are very good and some are rather poor.    St Julien was very good indeed, but I prefer this version.   I especially like the way he sings "I've run every red light on memory lane" and runs it into the next line.  It's the little things that excite me about MK!   I know TR will disappear from the setlist before too long, but I will miss it immensely - it's such a great song and on the night it can still be wonderful!   It's one of the last real crowd-pleasers left in the set, so I hope it stays! 

That's surprisingly good - his vocals are shot, but as an overall piece of music it may not be his best version but is a lot better than a good few live versions from the DS days - his playing is less flashy, but better than, what I've heard from the OES tour for instance.

[Jarle]

Funny thing when you start to read "he played that one well at that particular show" that mean that it is really time to drop it.

TR has less degradation in his playing than SOS, I did not analyse why but that is how it sounds to my ears. First signs for SOS were 2005 with some erratic soli in Rotterdam...

In the olden days (before usb sticks and audience recordings) people went to a show and generally had a great experience, listening to music that sounded wonderful, then went home, felt euphoric and played their CDs to death to try to relive the concert.  I know I  did! 

That would probably still be the case, but these days we do have recordings and can hear the whole thing over and over again and have the time to scrutinise the performance -  wrong notes, timing not quite right, etc - have a post mortem in fact.   

Of course it's great to have usb sticks and audience recordings, but I do wonder if we nitpick over faults rather too much at the expense of the memory of a really enjoyable experience!   Most imperfections are not really that important or even noticeable when carried away by the general excitement of being there!   

Good point! To be honest, I nearly never listen to any of those USB recordings. I don't think they sound good enough. Not because of what comes out of stage, but the sound seems to "clean" in a way. Hard to describe, but those recordings do not capture the atmosphere that you experience at the venue... Not that any live recording ever does...

[Jules]

Happy new year to all forumers !
asked Doc : "Hi Doc, New Year begins, let us pray that it will be a year with new peace, new happiness, god bless you through out the New Year, again, thank you for your time on the forum and for sharing so much informations with us. Can you tell us if Mark tried the blue pensa on Telegraph road just to see how it sounds ? I really love this gem and wondering if it will be the special guest of next tour. Happy new year."

answer : It has been tried

I hope it will for the next tour

Guy should had added "...and failed"

Mk tried the blue Pensa for last tour in rehearsals but it didn't work. Someone involved with the rehearsals told me.

[dmg]

Funny thing when you start to read "he played that one well at that particular show" that mean that it is really time to drop it.

TR has less degradation in his playing than SOS, I did not analyse why but that is how it sounds to my ears. First signs for SOS were 2005 with some erratic soli in Rotterdam...

In the olden days (before usb sticks and audience recordings) people went to a show and generally had a great experience, listening to music that sounded wonderful, then went home, felt euphoric and played their CDs to death to try to relive the concert.  I know I  did! 

That would probably still be the case, but these days we do have recordings and can hear the whole thing over and over again and have the time to scrutinise the performance -  wrong notes, timing not quite right, etc - have a post mortem in fact.   

Of course it's great to have usb sticks and audience recordings, but I do wonder if we nitpick over faults rather too much at the expense of the memory of a really enjoyable experience!   Most imperfections are not really that important or even noticeable when carried away by the general excitement of being there!   

Doesn't sound like you were a collector of olde worlde bootleg tapes over the years.  I have hundreds of concerts before the USB's became available along with many other on this forum I'm sure so I've been nitpicking for years!    In other words I know the degradation having listened to the same concerts over and over again. 

[superval99]

Funny thing when you start to read "he played that one well at that particular show" that mean that it is really time to drop it.

TR has less degradation in his playing than SOS, I did not analyse why but that is how it sounds to my ears. First signs for SOS were 2005 with some erratic soli in Rotterdam...

In the olden days (before usb sticks and audience recordings) people went to a show and generally had a great experience, listening to music that sounded wonderful, then went home, felt euphoric and played their CDs to death to try to relive the concert.  I know I  did! 

That would probably still be the case, but these days we do have recordings and can hear the whole thing over and over again and have the time to scrutinise the performance -  wrong notes, timing not quite right, etc - have a post mortem in fact.   

Of course it's great to have usb sticks and audience recordings, but I do wonder if we nitpick over faults rather too much at the expense of the memory of a really enjoyable experience!   Most imperfections are not really that important or even noticeable when carried away by the general excitement of being there!   

Doesn't sound like you were a collector of olde worlde bootleg tapes over the years.  I have hundreds of concerts before the USB's became available along with many other on this forum I'm sure so I've been nitpicking for years!    In other words I know the degradation having listened to the same concerts over and over again. 

Why depress yourself comparing 1978, or whatever with now - it's futile!  Just enjoy what you hear on the night and leave it at that!       

I would never call myself a collector of old tapes, but I do have lots of old recordings going back to 1977/78 but I hardly ever listen to them - only when something is mentioned here and then I do, just for reference.  The truth is, I really enjoy the music that MK is making these days much more, with a few exceptions, of course.   However, I do love listening and watching  Alchemy, Rockpalast, Chorus  - those sort of things.  I agree with jakehadlee, he did make many mistakes in the early days, so he wasn't perfect, even then.       

BTW When I said "olden days" I was thinking back further than 1977 - more like 1957 - seeing Paul Anka, Charlie Gracie, Bruce Chanelle  etc!   Bootleg tapes weren't around then - it was almost before gas & TV! 

Here's an example of what I mean.    I was at the NHB Ronnie Scott's concert on 10th July 1998.  Sure, there were some mistakes in that show, but it didn't matter - we were all having a great time and enjoying ourselves - there was lots of repartee, good humour and, of course, great music!    Then when I heard the recording a few years ago for the first time, I was quite shocked to hear just how many mistakes there had been that I hadn't noticed at the time.    So, would it have been best to have just saved the memory of a  great evening in my head ?   

[dmg]

I see what you're saying and agree with you SV but I can still analyse the recordings without beating myself up over the mistakes!  I just accept them and move on.

BTW I wouldn't say he made a whole lot more these days (if at all) but he doesn't take any risks in his playing or push himself which is quite sad.  His playing is also less accurate, which isn't really a mistake.  It appears quite clear to me that he doesn't enjoy playing nearly as much as he used to.

[superval99]

  It appears quite clear to me that he doesn't enjoy playing nearly as much as he used to.

That's why his songwriting is changing more to fit in with his abilities these days and that's fine with me.  I don't want him to play things he is obviously uncomfortable playing.   

[dmg]

  It appears quite clear to me that he doesn't enjoy playing nearly as much as he used to.

That's why his songwriting is changing more to fit in with his abilities these days and that's fine with me.  I don't want him to play things he is obviously uncomfortable playing.   

Yet he keeps telling us himself that he's not a singer so he must be uncomfortable doing that too! 

[superval99]

  It appears quite clear to me that he doesn't enjoy playing nearly as much as he used to.

That's why his songwriting is changing more to fit in with his abilities these days and that's fine with me.  I don't want him to play things he is obviously uncomfortable playing.   

Yet he keeps telling us himself that he's not a singer so he must be uncomfortable doing that too!

I love his voice, either singing or talking or singy-speaky!  His voice is probably just as important to me as his guitar-playing. 

[ds1984]

Funny thing when you start to read "he played that one well at that particular show" that mean that it is really time to drop it.

TR has less degradation in his playing than SOS, I did not analyse why but that is how it sounds to my ears. First signs for SOS were 2005 with some erratic soli in Rotterdam...

In the olden days (before usb sticks and audience recordings) people went to a show and generally had a great experience, listening to music that sounded wonderful, then went home, felt euphoric and played their CDs to death to try to relive the concert.  I know I  did! 

That would probably still be the case, but these days we do have recordings and can hear the whole thing over and over again and have the time to scrutinise the performance -  wrong notes, timing not quite right, etc - have a post mortem in fact.   

Of course it's great to have usb sticks and audience recordings, but I do wonder if we nitpick over faults rather too much at the expense of the memory of a really enjoyable experience!   Most imperfections are not really that important or even noticeable when carried away by the general excitement of being there!   

That may be true for some people but be assured that the USB recordings are not part of my analyse.

When I speak about Rotterdam this is a show that had never been released on USB.
Moreover when Mark dig HFB in 2008 I found the soli great on the few occasion I could witness it (and Paris was a really STRONG version but others were all great nights).

In 2010 well it seems that the magic was gone, I remember night after night hoping for a good solo that night and from the RAH run I think Tuesday or Thursday was good but others were not on the level I was hoping for. And this feeling is live from attending the shows itself not listening afterwards on recordings.

Last, in 2013 I attended both Turin and Milan show so I heard SOS and well wasn't missing too much when dropped later on the tour. Dropping SAN on some shows was more an issue as his playing on that one ages merely good.

[3Strats]

For a "fan site" I sometimes feel that as a group we are very critical.  as I approach 60 I find that my fingers are not as nimble as they used to be and that shows in my guitar playing. Although Guy has denied it in the past I'm sure that years of playing Sultans, TR & ToL (at breakneck speed) will have taken it's toll on Mark's fingers and as a result we don't get as many solos as we used to. There are some here who seem to expect what Mark may no longer be capable of providing & I think it's a bit unfair to be criticising him for something he may have no control over.   I also miss the more up-tempo (& longer) Sultans of the DS days, and prefer TR with an earlier switch to electric guitar, In fact I think Mark was at his best playing "rock music", but we get what we get and I'm happy that Mark is still touring & producing new albums. 

[Jules]

I won

[superval99]

I won

[superval99]

For a "fan site" I sometimes feel that as a group we are very critical.  as I approach 60 I find that my fingers are not as nimble as they used to be and that shows in my guitar playing. Although Guy has denied it in the past I'm sure that years of playing Sultans, TR & ToL (at breakneck speed) will have taken it's toll on Mark's fingers and as a result we don't get as many solos as we used to. There are some here who seem to expect what Mark may no longer be capable of providing & I think it's a bit unfair to be criticising him for something he may have no control over.   I also miss the more up-tempo (& longer) Sultans of the DS days, and prefer TR with an earlier switch to electric guitar, In fact I think Mark was at his best playing "rock music", but we get what we get and I'm happy that Mark is still touring & producing new albums.

Agree!     

[superval99]

@ ds1984     I enjoyed all four of the concerts I attended in 2010.   HFB was just one of the many highlights and I still listen with pleasure.  It was one of my favourite tours, but maybe I was just lucky.