More bad news for AC/DC

[Pilgrim]

This would be a discussion of interest to me if I cared at all about AC/DC or any of the people involved.

But I don't. I'm amazed that this is a big deal.

For me - time to listen to more Blues Brothers and SRV tunes. Maybe Dick Dale for a boost.

[nofi]

it amazes me that people still listen to the blues brothers. i saw them as a novelty group at best. like sha na na.

[uwe]

I guess they were, but like The Rocky Horror Picture Show it developed a life of its own.

[Pilgrim]

Yup, like many blues musicians, they have a flavor of their own. And one heckuva backing band!

[uwe]

And now for the live test:





Not bad for a one-legged dog, looks like the kid from Indiana did his homework (he seems to have taken the challenge serious enough), never mind the naysayers. I'm emotionally disconnected to AC/DC, but IMHO Axl is doing a better job here than Brian Johnson did on the last two tours.

And having to perform with AC/DC sitting down certainly didn't make it easier for Axl either. Typical for the miserly Aussies though, no moveable seat with own laser light show and dry ice emissions was accorded to their disabled guest singer!

[gweimer]

I'm pleasantly surprised.  He even managed to bounce around in the chair.

[uwe]

It's awkward (let's not even talk about the breathing constraints for a high octane yelp like that) to sing like that fronting a hard rock band - especially if you have an Axl Rose stage mover reputation to live up to. He did not chicken out - using his hurt leg as an excuse to pull his commitment to the Aussies would have been easy -, that commands my respect.

And I do dig Chris Slade's drumming. It's just more fluid than Phil Rudd's.

[nofi]

i guess now that dick clark is dead you can assume the title of 'world's oldest teenager'.

[uwe]

Meaning Angus or Axl? Sitting down during concerts is surely middle age-befitting, short pants on public occasions not involving water or other sports certainly not. 

[Granny Gremlin]

It's awkward (let's not even talk about the breathing constraints for a high octane yelp like that) to sing like that fronting a hard rock band - especially if you have an Axl Rose stage mover reputation to live up to. He did not chicken out - using his hurt leg as an excuse to pull his commitment to the Aussies would have been easy -, that commands my respect.

And I do dig Chris Slade's drumming. It's just more fluid than Phil Rudd's.

Don't let yourself be fooled; he needs the money.

As for the drumming; there's barely any difference, and this is not a knock on the drummers so much as a comment on the fact that ACDC has a minimalist schtick when it comes to the rythmn section - they're not allowed to have any real fun.  Neither Chris nor Phil are any aspiring drummer's hero for their work with them.

[uwe]

He needs the money with a GnR reunion in his back? I doubt it. It was probably more a mix of vanity/hubris and childhood dream come true.

You're the drummer, Jake, but to me they differ quite a bit, Rudd is behind the beat, Slade slightly ahead.



And anybody reading my anti-Bonham sermons knows what I think of drummers behind the beat! 

Let's not even talk about the cymbal work here ... and Rudd sounds like he has issues keeping up with the tempo, but that is of course his style and there are people who appreciate this behind-the-beat thing, I know, but it drives me nuts as a bassist, Bonham and me would have never gotten along groove-wise ...

[Pekka]

When I heard the news about Axl jumping in I thought it was a bad joke. But he did a great job, especially with those old Bon Scott tracks. Now it seems funny how many people were almost certain about or even wishing for a total failure.

I never understood that Slade/Rudd feud either. Both are good and of course the Williams/Rudd axis of old was a great combo back then. I also don't buy the "not allowed to have any real fun" thing. To play straight eights with a good drummer and a brilliant rhythm guitarist is very fun, especially if you can make it work.

I'm also a bit like Uwe. I used to play alongside my The Police albums, that's how a got my pick playing in shape and that's why I usually play ahead of the beat. Bonham wouldn't have driven me mad 'though.

[uwe]

My feelings exactly, I would love to play alongside of Stewart Copeland! He is a drummer like Ginger Baker or Simon Phillips, they not so much provide a backbeat for you as a bassist, but have a lively discussion with you. I love that. Talking drums.

[godofthunder]

   Glad I didn't pay good money to see Axl bounce around in a chair.

[uwe]

Slightly low pc comment here of  "The Saw" about physically challenged people - tsk, tsk, tsk ... With Axle, certain mental impediments add to (or subtract from) the equation.