Tapes that kill

[Seshmeister]

And put them on stage. A stadium stage with old farts on it is a big space to fill anyway, stop being cheapskates and pay people to sing backup and play keyboards and rhythm guitar upstage.

[Nickdfresh]

It's official

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/motley-crue-john-5-mick-mars/

Motley Crue has announced that guitarist John 5 will replace Mick Mars in the band's touring lineup.

"While change is never easy, we accept Mick's decision to retire from the band due to the challenges with his health," Motley Crue wrote in a statement. "No doubt will it take an absolutely outstanding musician to fill Mick's shoes, so we are grateful that our good friend John 5 has agreed to come on board and join us moving forward." Mars, a co-founding member who had been in the group for 41 years, recently announced he was retiring from touring "due to his ongoing painful struggle with Ankylosing Spondylitis."

A statement from the band clarified that "Mick will continue as a member of the band, but can no longer handle the rigors of the road."

"To say 'enough is enough' is the ultimate act of courage," Motley Crue continued. "Mick's sound helped define Motley Crue from the minute he plugged in his guitar at our very first rehearsal together. The rest, as they say, is history."

Stepping in for Mars will be John 5, a guitarist with a long resume that includes work with David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie. He also has an extensive history in Motley Crue’s orbit. John 5 co-wrote three of the songs for the soundtrack to The Dirt: "Crash and Burn,” "Ride With the Devil" and "The Dirt (Est. 1981)." He also shared a writing credit on the 2011 Sixx:A.M. single "Lies of the Beautiful People.” In 2021, John 5 joined Nikki Sixx, Zombie and drummer Tommy Clufetos in the supergroup L.A. Rats.

John 5 had served as Zombie's guitarist since 2005, but he was noticeably absent from the singer's recent performance. During an Oct. 6 set at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, John 5 was replaced by Mike Riggs, who previously served in Zombie’s band from 1997 to 2003. No reason for the change was given at the time. "I'm honored to carry on Mick's legacy and am looking forward to playing these songs," John 5 noted in a statement.

Mars' departure from Motley Crue's touring lineup leaves Sixx as the only constant member of the group since its formation. The band recently announced plans for a 2023 world tour alongside Def Leppard, who co-headlined alongside Motley Crue for the successful 2022 Stadium Tour.

Who's replacing the other three posers?

[Terry]

There's a big difference in doing something like The Who did with Baba O'Riley.... if you're doing a set list that only has one or two songs with keyboard parts ("Won't Get Fooled Again" being the other one) then it makes sense to use a track for those two songs, rather than hiring a keyboard player & having extra instruments & equipment to haul around all over the planet for what amounts to a very minor portion of the show. Of course even with technology, these things can sometimes go very bad, if the tracks don't sync up with the live instruments....

On the other hand, Queen has been playing the "opera" section of Bohemian Rhapsody from tape for years, even when Freddie was alive, and they always seemed to pull it off. With all the multi-tracked vocals in that part of the song, it's not hard to guess why. Couldn't reproduce that live... and certainly not with an inferior singer like LAMEbert.

But there's a big difference between that, and doing what Motley Crue & Kiss are doing with their tapes.... which is covering up for the fact that the old farts simply can't play their own songs anymore.

Personally, certainly when it comes to rock music, I prefer what I'm hearing at a concert to be exclusively produced live by the musicians onstage at the time of the performance.

Realistically, those days are over when it comes to a lot of these aging bands.

Doesn't really matter too much from my vantage point, because my concert going days are pretty much behind me. There aren't any 'living legends' out there touring that I feel I HAVE to see going forward. I've either already seen them or will be fine never seeing them.

[Terry]

And put them on stage. A stadium stage with old farts on it is a big space to fill anyway, stop being cheapskates and pay people to sing backup and play keyboards and rhythm guitar upstage.

It's interesting, because the most memorable shows I've seen over the last 15 years were Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett and Garth Brooks.

All of those guys had a lot of musicians onstage with them, but all four of those guys made sure the musicians onstage with them got a bit of spotlight time, introduced them by name, etc.

Same when I saw The Who and The Rolling Stones in 1989.

As opposed to when I saw Def Leppard in 2007 and Motley Crue in 2015, where the backing tapes were as important to the overall sound as anything the musicians onstage were doing.

[FORD]

Odd thing about Garth Brooks - at least back in his 90s heyday - was that he was working with two entirely different bands. One for the records & one for the road. I'm assuming the studio musicians were on the payroll of either the producer or Capitol Nashville records. His live band always recreated the songs as good or better than the album versions. You definitely knew Garth wasn't using tracks.... though his live album probably had a few overdubs on it, based on the fact that a few of the songs sounded considerably different than the actual live versions heard in concert.

[twonabomber]

[twonabomber]

WHY would Corabi sing a Crue song that he didn't have anything to do with? Yes, I know he was in Crue, and I kind of don't mind that record, but still.

[Nitro Express]

Who wants to hear Crue songs on an acoustic anyways? Never got the unplugged thing. Whenever I play an acoustic including nice ones it just feels like a box with strings on it. Strings are harder to bend, the action isn’t as good and all the sustain is gone. Everything that makes rock guitar exciting is gone. Playing rock through an acoustic is like trading your Porsche for a Model T Ford and trying to drive the same on the track.

I love the story of when Nancy Wilson asked Eddie Van Halen if he had an acoustic and he said why? Of course she didn’t like that answer and gave him one.

[twonabomber]

First show with John 5 was last night. They gave him a solo, I thought maybe it would be a shorter version of the riff medley. Kind of a medley, I guess.

Vince Neil is definitely the weak link.

[Seshmeister]

First show with John 5 was last night. They gave him a solo, I thought maybe it would be a shorter version of the riff medley. Kind of a medley, I guess.

Vince Neil is definitely the weak link.

Wait we're still ok doing covers of multiple child rapist Gary Glitter?

I'm not sure if that will wash when they tour the UK later in the year...

[Seshmeister]

Still piping in the backing vocals and some additional lead vocals.

I smiled at the comment that 'John5 makes it look easy', it is easy.

[ashstralia]

Nitro, yep acoustic guitars are hard to play well. It’s not a slab with thin strings 1/16” off the frets.
High end guitars hey?
I’ve played them all too, and I’ll put my $3k Takamines up against anything twice the price.

So if Ed didn’t have any acoustics laying around, what’s on spanish fly and could this be magic, in a simple rhyme etc?

[Von Halen]

I hope they are paying J5 well. I assume they are. He looks pretty happy.

Stephen Pearcy just came out and said they're piping in the bass guitar too!

[Terry]

Nitro, yep acoustic guitars are hard to play well. It’s not a slab with thin strings 1/16” off the frets.
High end guitars hey?
I’ve played them all too, and I’ll put my $3k Takamines up against anything twice the price.

So if Ed didn’t have any acoustics laying around, what’s on spanish fly and could this be magic, in a simple rhyme etc?

Ed clearly had a few lying around, although I seem to recall he had borrowed the one he used on Spanish Fly from Ted Templeman according to lore (if I'm remembering the story correctly).

[Terry]

There's a big difference in doing something like The Who did with Baba O'Riley.... if you're doing a set list that only has one or two songs with keyboard parts ("Won't Get Fooled Again" being the other one) then it makes sense to use a track for those two songs, rather than hiring a keyboard player & having extra instruments & equipment to haul around all over the planet for what amounts to a very minor portion of the show. Of course even with technology, these things can sometimes go very bad, if the tracks don't sync up with the live instruments....

On the other hand, Queen has been playing the "opera" section of Bohemian Rhapsody from tape for years, even when Freddie was alive, and they always seemed to pull it off. With all the multi-tracked vocals in that part of the song, it's not hard to guess why. Couldn't reproduce that live... and certainly not with an inferior singer like LAMEbert.

But there's a big difference between that, and doing what Motley Crue & Kiss are doing with their tapes.... which is covering up for the fact that the old farts simply can't play their own songs anymore.

Plus, Queen would walk offstage when the taped 'opera' section played, so there was no miming.