"More music coming your way"

[2manyguitars]

Why do some people have such a problem facing up to age. He's not ill (other than what you would expect for a 70 year old plus). He's better looked after than any of us on here. He's just getting old, growing and changing as all of us will.

I know we all long for the vibrant energy that youth brings but this is the real world, our hero is growing older, and one very sad day he will no longer be here.

Lets enjoy the music while we can.

[hunter]

Something changed pretty drastically between 2015 and 2019, though. He was a lot more vibrant and moved much more freely in 2015. It's not just age.

[quizzaciously]

Why do some people have such a problem facing up to age. He's not ill (other than what you would expect for a 70 year old plus). He's better looked after than any of us on here. He's just getting old, growing and changing as all of us will.

I know we all long for the vibrant energy that youth brings but this is the real world, our hero is growing older, and one very sad day he will no longer be here.

Lets enjoy the music while we can.

All I can say is that Mark himself pushes all these discussions about his health by going on these long tours, again and again, tour after tour, always bragging how young folks don't even know what it's like to do a 100 shows tour. That idea in itself is already too old, we already knew that Mark is a badass a long time ago. Add to this the visible frustration... Then he says this is a goodbye tour, and then mid-tour he changes the opinion and says he'll play until he falls over. I really hope he's OK because all that is extremely terrifying. Looks like panic to me.

Now he's silently recording something, nobody knows what, and maybe preparing another tour. If that's another year-long endeavor I think it may actually kill him. So we're just collectively hoping for a new album and a bunch of healthy, well-prepared shows instead of his regular epic journey.

[superval99]

Why do some people have such a problem facing up to age. He's not ill (other than what you would expect for a 70 year old plus). He's better looked after than any of us on here. He's just getting old, growing and changing as all of us will.

I know we all long for the vibrant energy that youth brings but this is the real world, our hero is growing older, and one very sad day he will no longer be here.

Lets enjoy the music while we can.

All I can say is that Mark himself pushes all these discussions about his health by going on these long tours, again and again, tour after tour, always bragging how young folks don't even know what it's like to do a 100 shows tour. That idea in itself is already too old, we already knew that Mark is a badass a long time ago. Add to this the visible frustration... Then he says this is a goodbye tour, and then mid-tour he changes the opinion and says he'll play until he falls over. I really hope he's OK because all that is extremely terrifying. Looks like panic to me.

Now he's silently recording something, nobody knows what, and maybe preparing another tour. If that's another year-long endeavor I think it may actually kill him. So we're just collectively hoping for a new album and a bunch of healthy, well-prepared shows instead of his regular epic journey.

I agree.   I really hope he doesn't embark on another long tour. If he tours the latest album he will be almost 74 yrs old, so I hope he just makes a few more albums with, maybe, a handful of intimate concerts.   I would like him to retire gracefully before he becomes something like BD!

[dmg]

I'm afraid I don't agree about him playing better seated.  Perhaps the slower songs may be unaffected but the faster tunes certainly are.  You can see him visibly struggling into a variety of different uncomfortable looking positions when playing the faster ones.  He was clearly restricted.

Telegraph road Paris 2010 has one of the best end solos I've ever heard... The song lasted the full 14 minutes... and yet he was seated

You can't make an assessment based on one version.

[herlock]

I'm afraid I don't agree about him playing better seated.  Perhaps the slower songs may be unaffected but the faster tunes certainly are.  You can see him visibly struggling into a variety of different uncomfortable looking positions when playing the faster ones.  He was clearly restricted.

Telegraph road Paris 2010 has one of the best end solos I've ever heard... The song lasted the full 14 minutes... and yet he was seated

You can't make an assessment based on one version.

Why not ? That's a version I had a chance to see live, and I really enjoyed it.
I never said that the whole tour was equally perfect. But the simple fact that some versions were good demonstrates that is not impossible to be seated and play well...

[dmg]

Something changed pretty drastically between 2015 and 2019, though. He was a lot more vibrant and moved much more freely in 2015. It's not just age.

I tend to agree.  Even between 2013 and 2015 there was a notable difference.  In the recent Goodwood video it was frightening and I would be very nervous about him playing a full concert now. 

An interesting point to note is when you compare him to other people at a similar age and sadly he does seem older and slower than his years.

[dmg]

I'm afraid I don't agree about him playing better seated.  Perhaps the slower songs may be unaffected but the faster tunes certainly are.  You can see him visibly struggling into a variety of different uncomfortable looking positions when playing the faster ones.  He was clearly restricted.

Telegraph road Paris 2010 has one of the best end solos I've ever heard... The song lasted the full 14 minutes... and yet he was seated

You can't make an assessment based on one version.

Why not ? That's a version I had a chance to see live, and I really enjoyed it.
I never said that the whole tour was equally perfect. But the simple fact that some versions were good demonstrates that is not impossible to be seated and play well...

Well BIA from Brussels, May '85 wasn't a good version (due to that note) but it doesn't mean that the entire tour was poor because he was standing.

Didn't he comment about only playing the slower songs seated at the Hurlingham show? 

[herlock]

Indeed Pavel, it has to be done good.
For me a concert will always be about the music, I’m there above all to enjoy hearing good songs played well. It makes me sad to applaud for a performance solely out of respect for the artists oeuvre instead of for the actual perfomance. For example, I was at the MK concert in Antwerp in 2019 where he played Brothers in arms, a favourite of mine I hoped he would play, but sadly I just could not enjoy it. The emotion and message that got through in this performance was the immense struggle for MK himself to actually play the song, keeping up with the alternation between the words and guitar fills, resulting in inaccurate timing, failed licks, frightened looks etc. At that moment that struggle/discomfort gets transferred to me, I really feel it, instead of the emotion, meaning and beauty of the this fantastic song itself.

I thought that the version I got in Bordeaux 2019 was the most beautiful BIA ever: not slow like 1996 and 2001, a Les Paul and not a Pensa like 1992, a real intro not like in 2005-2013. Sure, a few complex guitar licks missing comparered to 1985, but still very touching and enjoyable.

[herlock]

I'm afraid I don't agree about him playing better seated.  Perhaps the slower songs may be unaffected but the faster tunes certainly are.  You can see him visibly struggling into a variety of different uncomfortable looking positions when playing the faster ones.  He was clearly restricted.

Telegraph road Paris 2010 has one of the best end solos I've ever heard... The song lasted the full 14 minutes... and yet he was seated

You can't make an assessment based on one version.

Why not ? That's a version I had a chance to see live, and I really enjoyed it.
I never said that the whole tour was equally perfect. But the simple fact that some versions were good demonstrates that is not impossible to be seated and play well...

Well BIA from Brussels, May '85 wasn't a good version (due to that note) but it doesn't mean that the entire tour was poor because he was standing.

Sure, but I've never claimed anything like that

[quizzaciously]

I'm afraid I don't agree about him playing better seated.  Perhaps the slower songs may be unaffected but the faster tunes certainly are.  You can see him visibly struggling into a variety of different uncomfortable looking positions when playing the faster ones.  He was clearly restricted.

Telegraph road Paris 2010 has one of the best end solos I've ever heard... The song lasted the full 14 minutes... and yet he was seated

You can't make an assessment based on one version.

Why not ? That's a version I had a chance to see live, and I really enjoyed it.
I never said that the whole tour was equally perfect. But the simple fact that some versions were good demonstrates that is not impossible to be seated and play well...

Don't you think that this is an illusion? Some sort of placebo effect. I mean that playing standing is better. If anything, playing sitting is a hundred times more comfortable, less strain on your hands, on your back, playing in the "barstool" position may be the best way to play really. The standing position is really great for flashy solos with guitar faces, though. So it may explain your point. I acknowlege that playing while sitting is not a "rockstar" way to do it.

[dmg]

I'm afraid I don't agree about him playing better seated.  Perhaps the slower songs may be unaffected but the faster tunes certainly are.  You can see him visibly struggling into a variety of different uncomfortable looking positions when playing the faster ones.  He was clearly restricted.

Telegraph road Paris 2010 has one of the best end solos I've ever heard... The song lasted the full 14 minutes... and yet he was seated

You can't make an assessment based on one version.

Why not ? That's a version I had a chance to see live, and I really enjoyed it.
I never said that the whole tour was equally perfect. But the simple fact that some versions were good demonstrates that is not impossible to be seated and play well...

Don't you think that this is an illusion? Some sort of placebo effect. I mean that playing standing is better. If anything, playing sitting is a hundred times more comfortable, less strain on your hands, on your back, playing in the "barstool" position may be the best way to play really. The standing position is really great for flashy solos with guitar faces, though. So it may explain your point. I acknowlege that playing while sitting is not a "rockstar" way to do it.

If Mark played better seated then he would have been sitting down since the '70s.  He hasn't because he doesn't.

[Rolo]

To be clear, i never wrote that MK is dead inside. Just the opposite.
I believe that Mark never has written so many songs as he has written that over last 10 years. He is simply THE MAN.

Aging is part of life. We can never tell how we will be when during our 70's. Mark still do concerts, thats amazing.  It's such a joy for those who went to his concerts. I always looking foward to his music and i feel very happy to know that is a new album coming.

Yes, he is the happiest man on earth. But he is suffering from something that i can't confirm.

I wrote about it a time ago. And the replys was tottaly different.

It's life i suppose.


Sorry my poor english.
For those who felt that i am  a bit harsh, i don't mean to.
Is the way the Google Translate helps 

[superval99]

I'm afraid I don't agree about him playing better seated.  Perhaps the slower songs may be unaffected but the faster tunes certainly are.  You can see him visibly struggling into a variety of different uncomfortable looking positions when playing the faster ones.  He was clearly restricted.

Telegraph road Paris 2010 has one of the best end solos I've ever heard... The song lasted the full 14 minutes... and yet he was seated

You can't make an assessment based on one version.

I attended four shows and all of them were wonderful, including TR, SOS and Speedway at all of them.   I was seated on the first row, just slightly to the right of MK at three of the concerts, so I could see whether he was uncomfortable or not and he certainly didn't appear to be.   

Cordoba was a very good show from 2010 too.

[superval99]

I'm afraid I don't agree about him playing better seated.  Perhaps the slower songs may be unaffected but the faster tunes certainly are.  You can see him visibly struggling into a variety of different uncomfortable looking positions when playing the faster ones.  He was clearly restricted.

Telegraph road Paris 2010 has one of the best end solos I've ever heard... The song lasted the full 14 minutes... and yet he was seated

You can't make an assessment based on one version.

Why not ? That's a version I had a chance to see live, and I really enjoyed it.
I never said that the whole tour was equally perfect. But the simple fact that some versions were good demonstrates that is not impossible to be seated and play well...

Don't you think that this is an illusion? Some sort of placebo effect. I mean that playing standing is better. If anything, playing sitting is a hundred times more comfortable, less strain on your hands, on your back, playing in the "barstool" position may be the best way to play really. The standing position is really great for flashy solos with guitar faces, though. So it may explain your point. I acknowlege that playing while sitting is not a "rockstar" way to do it.

If Mark played better seated then he would have been sitting down since the '70s.  He hasn't because he doesn't.

He didn't have a bad back in the 70s and he was many years younger!