New DS Live Box Set, 3rd November 2023!

[dmg]

That was my point. He was still experimenting with PONO, rather than repeating the solo formula like he did with Sultan's, Telegraph etc...

Pretty sure I've mentioned that before myself about PONO.  It's certainly a fan favourite and one he should've persisted with but I never thought he really sounded comfortable with the solo and it was well out of his comfort zone until the sax comes in and the smile comes on his face because he's back inside it again.  Don't get me wrong, it's still one of my favourites and it's also a very interesting track musically for that reason.

It was a long time ago and I was only young but I seem to recall it being well received in Glasgow.  Strange that he chose to play stuff like Fade to Black and When it Comes to You in stadiums instead of this.

[iorch82]

That was my point. He was still experimenting with PONO, rather than repeating the solo formula like he did with Sultan's, Telegraph etc...

Pretty sure I've mentioned that before myself about PONO.  It's certainly a fan favourite and one he should've persisted with but I never thought he really sounded comfortable with the solo and it was well out of his comfort zone until the sax comes in and the smile comes on his face because he's back inside it again.  Don't get me wrong, it's still one of my favourites and it's also a very interesting track musically for that reason.

It was a long time ago and I was only young but I seem to recall it being well received in Glasgow.  Strange that he chose to play stuff like Fade to Black and When it Comes to You in stadiums instead of this.

 Yeah, or even the super bland Heavy Fuel which for some reason they never stopped playing. In any case both FTB and WITCY are songs far easier for him to execute.

Besides, totally agree with your observation on his confort zone, though it led to really unique brilliant moments at the expense a bunch of tiny mistakes here and there.

[hunter v2.0]

I dunno.
He seemed to me a very cerebral, calculating kind of guy. Solos seemed constructed rather than off the cuff.
Nothing wrong with gradually working your way towards the perfect solo.
The older songs with long solos had evolved over many years and several tours. The OES song solos started based on the studio solos and only slightly evolved from there (in my opinion).

Not the case with PONO solo IMO, much faster, having a much wider variety of licks and sophisticated phrasings that were not to be found in any other song of the repertorie:



I mean, compare that crazy Worcester solo with the recording one.

I don't care for Mark's solos during PONO. At that time, he certainly had chops and speed, but he doesn't have the jazz language to pull off long, fast and fluid lines over the many quirky chord changes. It sounds like a rocker attempting to play jazz, which, in essence, is what was the case.

[ds1984]

I dunno.
He seemed to me a very cerebral, calculating kind of guy. Solos seemed constructed rather than off the cuff.
Nothing wrong with gradually working your way towards the perfect solo.
The older songs with long solos had evolved over many years and several tours. The OES song solos started based on the studio solos and only slightly evolved from there (in my opinion).

Not the case with PONO solo IMO, much faster, having a much wider variety of licks and sophisticated phrasings that were not to be found in any other song of the repertorie:



I mean, compare that crazy Worcester solo with the recording one.

I don't care for Mark's solos during PONO. At that time, he certainly had chops and speed, but he doesn't have the jazz language to pull off long, fast and fluid lines over the many quirky chord changes. It sounds like a rocker attempting to play jazz, which, in essence, is what was the case.

The buesy-jazzy influence is even more evident on Fade to Black.

PONO has its own atmosphere, it is not pure rock.
It is my fave track from OES and YAYF come second.

[Chris W]

Strange that he chose to play stuff like Fade to Black and When it Comes to You in stadiums instead of this.

Well neither were set staples.

[Chris W]

 Yeah, or even the super bland Heavy Fuel which for some reason they never stopped playing.

It went down incredibly well at every show. PONO didn't from my memory.
I would have LOVED to play When It Comes To You the whole tour, also So Far Away.

[ds1984]

PONO was too much challenging from your side.

But the fans obviously loved it.

What about the general audience, the normal people.

How did you receive the public reaction?

I guess you could feel how the audience would appreciate a song, what song was more popular and what one had quiter response.

I could have lived without getting Heavy Fuel, and TYL also, to give room to other stuff.

[Matchstickman]

PONO has always seemed a bit long, slow and overblown to me. It feels like a long wait to get to the impressive outro.

Fade to Black was placed elsewhere in the set. Was it not used as a breather after SOS, the showstopper?

[Chris W]

Fade To Black wasn't played often either.
It seemed to me many of the songs off OES (studio album) were tried and didn't find a permanent place in the set if they weren't as good as or better than an older song in that spot. 'As good as' meaning - they were fun to play and went down well with the audience.

[Matchstickman]

Chris, did Mark use a teleprompter for the lyrics on the tour?

[Chris W]

No.
It was before people started to do that.
Paul McC had lyric sheets when he played the piano songs, but he'd also never played some of those songs live before. I think it was a comfort blanket. Mark obviously knew his songs and the lyrics.

[Matchstickman]

OK, thanks.

I recall Guy saying that he used no prompter on the solo tours either, at least up till then.

I know some artists used to use lyric sheets, and yet Mark seems incredibly good at getting the lines right, especially considering that he often played lead guitar simultaneosly.

[Matchstickman]

I just stumbled across the bootleg from Syracuse 1992. It's interesting for several reasons.

First, they played Iron Hand and ITILYTM.

Second, Mark mentions that he made "a little demo tape" of ITILYTM in London which he "sent out", and which got recorded by Jeff Healey. Did this demo include a band? Do you know, Chris?

Third, they must have changed the order of the soloing at the end, perhaps between the US and Europe legs. In the box set version, Phil is playing the final solo bit, but in Syracuse it's Mark (note the final typical descending scale run).

[dustyvalentino]

According to Wiki, Hell to Pay by Jeff Healy was recorded Jan-Feb 1990 which was before Chris joined up with DS I believe? Also, it was played on the NHB tour in 1990, so maybe the band worked on it for the Missing... album but didn't use it, and that formed the "demo"?

[Rolo]

According to Wiki, Hell to Pay by Jeff Healy was recorded Jan-Feb 1990 which was before Chris joined up with DS I believe? Also, it was played on the NHB tour in 1990, so maybe the band worked on it for the Missing... album but didn't use it, and that formed the "demo"?

I always thought that the OES album is an extension of the NHB album.
Well, YTYLTM and WICTY have been performed during the NHB tour in 1990. So, in my mind, songs like Calling Elvis, Iron Hand, Ticket To Heaven, How Long, The Bug and Fade to Black were planned for the NHB album or even a second NHB album.

Maybe MK chaged his mind and choosed to change these songs a little bit and made them into the OES album.