However, I was watching Bruce Springsteen's London Calling concert on Blu Ray (new toy, awesomeness, especially with the concert film experience), and first noticed one attached to Max Weinberg's drum set, then noticed it on the front speaker in front of Bruce's mmicrophone. Not that I am calling them out for cheating or anything, but I have never noticed this at any concert I had been to.
Surely, I would have seen this at one of the Pearl Jam shows I have been to in the last 3 years, as I sat sidestage view, Mike McCready's side, 5th row, with full view of the stage and equipment on two occasions at Madison Square Garden.
How widespread are the use of teleprompters at shows? Anyone know?
-- Edited by liebzz on Thursday 4th of November 2010 08:40:55 AM
When I saw Lucinda Williams last year she was reading from a lyric sheet for practically every song. At first I thought it ruined the mystique....here's an artist I admire, reading the words to her own songs, that I can sing unaided myself? Then I just thought oh well, cracking voice, great show.
i had decent seats on stone's side... as the show wore on, i moved closer to the stage and ended up almost directly next to stone, maybe 20ish feet away... from that angle, i got a good look at eddie's pedals and 'stuff' he carries with him... i woul bet $50ish bux he had a teleprompter...
I thought I saw a teleprompter at the Dave Matthews show I went to on Friday night (FYI, mediocre show...can't get why they are so hit or miss), but I did not see it on the entire show.
Something makes me think it is a similar scenario for pearl jam...I mean, Eddie screws up too many lyrics to be reading them, right? Or maybe he's jsut a bad reader.
I remember Ed throwing the TV in 1994 or something on stage railing against the idea of teleprompters.
However, and dtrain will like this, I'm very sure that he doesn't use a teleprompter. However, in lieu of his traditional notebook, he did have a shiny new giant binder this past tour, and I know he's read lyrics off of it (like he did with the notebook), especially on covers. When he looks like he's really getting into it? That's him making sure he doesn't mess up the words to "The American In Me" or something. Hell, I remember in Mansfield in 2003 he read along with a Yield booklet while singing "Low Light."
So, likely no on the teleprompter, but he does occasionally draft help.
__________________
"Just because you feel it doesn't mean it's there."
Yeah, that's been going on for a very long time. I remember him pulling up that girl at the Albany '03 show so she could hold the lyrics to "People Have the Power" during the encore.
I have seen him cheat with the sheets a lot...for some reason does not seem the same to me. Perhaps it is the use of technology that seems offensive at a pearl jam show. Especially since they seem to barely even use lights.
