What's Going On? Is Live Over? Options

[Hoodstock]

If you missed it Ed went on Instagram basically stating that Live never was much of a band, that the reunion wasn't really a "reunion ", and that he's not in anyone's band.

Chad Gracey commented on this on Facebook:
"There is only one source of drama in LIVE. You guys figure it out. And obviously it’s not Ed."

Bill Hynes then replied to Chad "Chad Gracey and that person has small penis Napoleon narcissist syndrome." to which Chad liked with a laugh emoji.

Bill also said this on Facebook in the conversation:

"One thing is certain. Ed don’t need anyone. His talent and song writing ability is his. As it was seen before. He is irreplaceable. Others need him more than he needs them. When the band broke up the first time it was one person and only one persons fault and that person wasn’t Ed. It rhymes with Tad Chaylor."

and Bill in response to Ed's comments:

"That’s actually is NOT what he is saying. He’s saying he isn’t in someone’s band. He’s in HIS band. But someone has an ego and likes to tell everyone that he’s the band and it’s his band and take credit for songs that he didn’t write. So what ED is saying is that HE isn’t in someone else’s band."

There was also a comment about Chad being a successful insurance agent. Chad replied "I do insurance on the side with my partner George. Im also into a few other endeavors."

Quite a flurry of activity after little to no comments on the state of the band for a lengthy period of time.

[Starfield83]

So this is my first post after all the drama posted on IG. I Googled searched what was going on and landed here. 20 pages later, but wow.

I just wanted to say that I was a huge fan of live from the get - I remember my mom had the cassette tape but I was the one who really wanted it and I'd steal it from her car so I could play Shit Towne and the rest on repeat. Throwing Copper is an all-time album for me, and although I like plenty of other bands equally or more, TC is probably in my top10 or at least top20 albums of all time. I love Mental Jewelry and got into that more as it was still being played once they hit in 1994. Samadhi and Distance To Here were great, but then they coalesced into this cringey, corporate rock thing that supported such film tentpoles as The Scorpion King lol. I think the honest and emotional lyrical and musical content was gone - it's like Live went from indie alternative darlings to NASCAR schlock in a matter of a few albums.

Anyhow, I was a little too young at the time to see them Live when they first hit and during the Samadhi run, then they started to become unpopular in the general rock world in the 2000s, though I still appreciated them as a band. I was really hoping they'd do a TC Tour, but it ended up just being Ed and Zak Loy. I went all the way to Boston from PA since I had to miss the backyard Bethlehem show, but I really enjoyed hearing all the songs acoustic like that. The power was still all there and I actually got to meet Ed very easily. He signed that very cassette tape that my mom had bought and was geeking out over seeing something so analog. He even took a picture of it - so he was an all around cool guy.

Fast forward to their reunion - I was SO stoked to finally be seeing them and at Musikfest of all places right in Bethlehem where I had missed them before. Lo and hold, Gracey had broken his arm so he was Rick Alan for a night (any Def Leppard fans out there?) and they had some other guy playing a kit too. That was a letdown - as a fellow musician, I really love Chad's style on drums and Jerry Harrison's drum sound he got on TC was just epic. They are some of the finest recorded drums I've ever heard, right next to Stewart Copeland and Chad Smith. Also, seeing Zak Loy back on guitar was annoying. I HATE when bands add extraneous members that are pretty useless, yet there may have been more of a reason.

I know the Chad Stomp is a real thing, but I read an article that he was stomping so hard in the 90s for whatever reason - to feel the song, or to stand out, or to get attention, I don't know - but he had pinched a nerve or had a severe shoulder issue which made it really hard for him to play. I think it's well documented that he got surgery and it made his left hand weaker since all those ligaments end up connecting around the shoulder from the elbow. It makes sense, but that being said, I have a LIVE album from around 1994-95 that was some import CD from Rome I think that I got from Europe and his guitar solos are absolutely atrocious. They didn't sound like the album at all - and I do give Chad T a lot of credit for having such cool style of leads on the albums and solos on stuff like Shit Towne or Dolphin's Cry. It was never shred heavy and always more blues and feel oriented. My guess is Loy was brought in as a favor to Ed who holds a big sway in the band but also to kind of hide Chad's inefficiency. I went and rewatched the Paradiso DVD clips and he sounded decent there.

Seeing them recently (with Bush) on their reunion tour a second time it was hard to even hear Chad's distinct parts because Loy was playing all over them. I couldn't tell which was playing what at times, which got really annoying. They also inexplicably brought out the most annoying 2nd percussionist of all time with all sorts of hand drums and cymbal shit. I mean, realistically the only songs that would ever call for that are off Mental Jewelry and they BARELY played those songs. It was as if Ed or the management didn't trust the actual founding members to do their jobs. I think the best example of a live tour was The Police - they had NO backup singers, no dumb keyboards, no 2nd guitar player, no percussionist. It was Andy, Stewart and Sting and their sound was sublime - as rock intended it. Ditto to U2 as well, they never strayed from the original 4 guys.

I was cracking up because someone called them Loyve earlier, and I think that's so appropriate. I didn't really see Live those nights, it was edging more into a cover version of themselves. So honestly, unless LIVE, the original 4 guys wants to ever tour again, I probably won't be seeing them.I want to hear Gracey hit all those awesome beats BY HIMSELF, I want Chad's originals leads and Pat and Ed can do their thing. I have a lot of respect for Pat's basslines too! It seems like they shut all his fancy stuff down as they got more popular, but his playing is awesome so good for him being a gun for hire now. Anyhow, that's my two cents on this band as a whole, without any of the personal drama. I still wonder if Chad can play guitar well, or if his grip was always weaker on his left hand.