A discussion a long time coming Options

[patrick W BURG]

Hello,

I've been browsing this board for a few years now, just to keep up with the latest on my favorite band, Live. Today, I finally decided to register, so I can actually contribute.

I read in the tour section a few differing opinions about something that may or may not even be that big of deal, but I have an opinion, so I figured I'd share, for sharing's sake.

I personally can't stand when Ed takes his shirt off at shows. I understand he is the artist, and his expression should ideally be unfettered, but still... I think he loses the connection with the audience. I know he's been doing this for years, but maybe we've just grown numb as to how lame he actually looks.

I've been an AVID Live fan since 94, and I still love the band, and I still love the shows. For me, this is something that I have just learned to tolerate. I recently took one of my buddies to a show, and when he started stripping, I couldn't help but cringe inside. Same thing when I took my girlfriend to a show. It just gets awkward. And both my friend and my girlfriend agreed that the stripping made the show much more cheezy and "gay" and much less cool.

You want to get into the songs wholeheartedly, but something just prevents you from doing so.

So, what do you guys think?

[LiveRoCkS77]

Maybe the guys lurk here and will hear your concerns. Frankly, I miss the LIVE too, but as long as they play some oldies as the concerts, I'm all good as far as that goes. I'm not the angst-ridden person I was in the 90s, either. People change.

But, I have to defend Ed. I know he gave himself last night. He smiled, he looked us fans in the eyes, he enjoyed himself, and he belted those songs clearly and in tune. The situation is not that bleak yet.

Yeah, I know people change....trust me, I of all people know this first hand.

But I look at it this way. When Ed is old and done with his performing days, days of writing music, I wonder what he'll look back and think of what he became after the turn of the 90's. Fact is, LIVE befuddled many by not being just a one hit wonder. They captivated a huge audience of people with some amazing writing and music.

Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people are now laughing at what they've become. The same people who once loved a band that had all the potential in the world. People who felt LIVE'S music in a real sense and people who related to it on a deeply personal level. People who feel that these guys have so much more to say, so much more to offer musically.

I can see that the underlying message is still there in the music. But it's become lazy and uninspiring as has the music being put to it. I'm not a fan of any musician criticizing the shit music out there today and then making music that fits right into the criteria he is belittling,

Fact is, the masses hate these last 3 albums, HATE them. So if LIVE continues to want music to be their livelihood, something has to give. Crowds are dwindling and so are record sales. Pretty soon, there is going to be nothing left.

I personally think this band needs a long hiatus of maybe 3 or 4 years. Take some personal time and then get back together and put their heads together for some real LIVE music. Continuing on with the way they are going is just embarassing. It's been 9 years since this band has released anything worth listening to really. NINE years. Nine years of subpar music by their standards.

All you diehards can argue all you want about BOP and SFBM being good. Fact is that for every one of you who says it is, there are 20 THOUSAND people who think it's a pile of garbage. You are in a severe minority. They have sold barely 500,00 records in NINE years, a span of 3 cd's. That is sad. Not only can the band not continue to put out music like this, they need to take a long hard look at why a vast majority of people think it sucks ass. They need to take a good hard listen to their first four records and compare them to the next three.

Then they need to ask themselves if they wanna go out like that. Because they are on their way out........