This Live video completely shook me yesterday... Options

[edstipe]

Yesterday I swung over to bootlegheaven.com and downloaded a video of Live performing "Operation Spirit" on the Dennis Miller Show way back in 1992. As I watched it, a wave of emotion and realization swept over me. I came to realize why certain people on here continue to pine for the days of the old Live, the Live that existed in the early 1990's, a Live that was a totally different band than the Live of today. I have been one to be critical of those who can't let go of the old stuff and accept the fact that the band has grown and matured, but watching this video let me in to WHY it is so hard to let go of what used to be.

If you watch the video, there is an obvious passion and desperation to the band that simply isn't present today. Today, we rejoice over a Live performance if Ed's vocals hit the right pitch and sound pretty. Back then, it was all about the power and emotion of the whole of the music -- the way it hit you in the gut like a bowling bowl and refused to let you breathe. Back then Ed seemed to be concerned about nothing more than baring his mind and soul for his listeners, and strained with all his might to do so; now, he seems to be more of the typical "sexy" rock and roll star who struts on to the stage knowing that simply opening his mouth is adequate.

I'm not saying that I don't like and respect the new Live, because I do. I thoroughly enjoy SFBM and count their live performances as among the top in the entire music business. However, I have to wonder what the band thinks when they see an old performance like this one. Do they think that the old passion was silly? Or do they simply give in to the fact that they can’t summon that level of spirituality these days? Or, perhaps, do they look back fondly and recognize the old style as simply a stepping stone to their current selves?

I suppose that after you’ve sold millions of records, played hundreds of shows in front of hundreds of thousands of people, and made millions of dollars, it is inevitable that a certain amount of any band’s youthful energy and rawness is going to fade. However, I can’t help but wishing sometimes that there was a band still out there who could reach me in the same style as circa 1992 Live. I love the guys and their music now, but there’s something about the shock to the soul that I felt when watching the Dennis Miller video that would do me a world of good in my life right now.

For those of you who have felt what I feel, I invite your thoughts on this. For those who have not, I encourage you to check out the video I am referring to and share what you think. The video can be found on bootleg heaven.com for download, or you can view it on youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj-X6EO3GZk

[Heather]

the way it hit you in the gut like a bowling bowl and refused to let you breathe.

That's exactly it. That's EXACTLY the thing that I miss. When I sat down and watched the Awake dvd it actually made me cry. Not good tears but sad ones. To see the videos broken down that way from how they were back then to the last video, Run Away. That was it for me. I realized at that moment that Live would never move me the way that they used to. I'm not saying it's their fault, of course bands change over time but it really does bother me when people tell me to stop living in the past and longing for another Throwing Copper. I don't want another Throwing Copper I just want the band that I have loved for the past 12 years to give me what I know they are, or once were, capable of. It just makes me sad to know that I will never be hit in the gut by their music again. I think that anyone should be able to understand that. I miss everything that they used to be. To me they are a totally different band now. If SFBM was their first cd I never even would have noticed it much less bought it.