James' voice and setlist considerations

[wolfking]

Since I had full blown insomnia for the two nights a couple of days ago, I thought it would be a good chance to get some old DVD's old for my entertainment.  I watched Budokan, and I had some thoughts.

Obviously DT have always played most of their songs live and were always known for playing a varied setlist for their fans.  But after watching Budokan, I wondered if James and his voice problems over the years were ever taken into account when the band were devising setlits.  Obviously, Budokan is one of James' weakest performances on tape IMO, he has no power and struggles with higher stuff.

I thought perhaps the band may have taken James' struggles into account on this tour.  Playing SOC and the instrumedley, plus the extra long section during Beyond This Life, plus some more softer stuff like GK, HY and SS, it seemed the set might have slightly been catered to his voice at the current time, while giving him that extra break time during the concert.  Then I thought differently.  ITNOG is a perfect closer and you can see why the band would finish with this, but making James sing this song after a lenthy set with weaker vocals is just insane.  Too much higher stuff and there is no way he would make the final verse after a long night, even with his voice in perfect form.

These are just slight observations and a subject I thought would be worthy of bringing up.  What do you think?  Did James ever get a say, most likely not, but do you think his vocals were ever taken into consideration as far as setlists go?

[jingle.boy]

As I recall reading/hearing sometime in the past, that trip to Japan was rough on him, and he was a little sick during that show too.  I always assumed that was the reason for those three instrumental parts.  Didn't he get separated from the band on the way over, and just get tot he gig like a couple hours before the show?  Was that in the 2nd disc maybe?  Commentary?

[wolfking]

Not sure mate.  I'll have to go back and watch the documentry.  makes sense considering his performance.

[IdoSC]

Honestly, despite the fact that his voice *sounded* ridiculously weak at that night, if I remember correctly he actually hit all the notes pretty well and it was kinda better than, say, the last couple of hours of Metropolis 2000, or Reunite.

They definitely seemed to take it into consideration ever since Train of Thought's tour. At that tour, they actually played quite a lot of hard vocal sections, but at least they spread it all around the set. In Octavarium's tour, those crazy high songs were really sparse as far as I remember. In CiM there were the obvious abridged versions of a couple of songs, and in the current tour, besides the fact that his voice seems perfectly fine, the only rotating songs in setlists seem to be the harder ones.

[sfam2112]

As I recall reading/hearing sometime in the past, that trip to Japan was rough on him, and he was a little sick during that show too.  I always assumed that was the reason for those three instrumental parts.  Didn't he get separated from the band on the way over, and just get tot he gig like a couple hours before the show?  Was that in the 2nd disc maybe?  Commentary?

Are you sure you're not thinking of the Awake tour? He mentions on the commentary for 5YIAL that he arrived in Japan on that tour about two hours before the first show and got to the venue with 30 minutes to go.

[jingle.boy]

As I recall reading/hearing sometime in the past, that trip to Japan was rough on him, and he was a little sick during that show too.  I always assumed that was the reason for those three instrumental parts.  Didn't he get separated from the band on the way over, and just get tot he gig like a couple hours before the show?  Was that in the 2nd disc maybe?  Commentary?

Are you sure you're not thinking of the Awake tour? He mentions on the commentary for 5YIAL that he arrived in Japan on that tour about two hours before the first show and got to the venue with 30 minutes to go.

Oh, maybe not.  I'm all mixed up.   

[Implode]

Dry until they hit the swimming pool! 

[Marion Crane]

Look at LSFNY....closing the night with Voices, Learning to Live, and ACOS....that's much more difficult

[bosk1]

Look at LSFNY....closing the night with Voices, Learning to Live, and ACOS....that's much more difficult

Not really.  Voices is not really that difficult.  And James got a rest just before it when the played Erotomania and had the less-challenging The Silent Man immediately after.  Learning To Live isn't really difficult either, even if the F# itself is.  And while ACOS has a few difficult passages, the vocal melodies are extremely well written in that song to give a lot breathing space and logical build-ups that make the more challenging passages a bit easier for a well-trained vocalist like James.  It also has long instrumental passages that allow James to rest.  All in all, that's not an overly difficult string of songs to end a set with.

[Implode]

So you think James was just having an off night then?

[bosk1]

So you think James was just having an off night then?

Not sure what you mean.  I think he knocked those songs out of the park.  Yeah, it was obvious that his voice was tired at that stage of the game.  But it was a LONG set, and he was tired because it was a long set.  I don't thin he had an off night at all. 

My assessment of James' performance that night would basically be this:  He started off a little shakey.  But once they got a couple of songs in, he was tearing it up.  There were a few times throughout the set where he missed a note here and there, or his voice cracked, but nothing out of the ordinary, with a couple of exceptions.  The most notable is that he missed notes badly on Another Day.  But I completely give him a pass on that one.  Aside from being a long set, and the fact that James had trouble at times throughout that entire tour, I've often said that that song should never be attempted live because it is just way too difficult to sing properly in a live setting.  As the show the other night in TX demonstrated, even now that James is in top form, the vocal arrangement of that song is impossible.  As far as the rest of the set after that song, James performed it well.  I consider that to be definitely up in his top performances on official live releases.  People may say, "Oh, but he didn't even try for the F# in LTL!"  I say, good for him.  He didn't need to hit it.  And if he felt like he didn't have it in him to hit that note, good for him for going for a lower harmony instead of perhaps missing it badly.  That's not poor singing.  That's good decision making, and it made for what I consider the best live performance of that song I've heard.  Not to mention that James was an absolute BEAST on ACOS.  That more than makes up for anything else anyone can nitpick over throughout the rest of the show.

[wasteland]

So you think James was just having an off night then?

Not at all, it was quite good if compared with his average performance in that tour.

[Implode]

You guys are right. I supposed the only songs I wanted improvements on were Another Day and Voices. He sang pretty well on everything else.

Not to mention that James was an absolute BEAST on ACOS.

Definitely. Amazing vocal performance especially for the last song of the set.

[MoraWintersoul]

As for not trying for the F#, that's what I'd call a smart decision and that's what I'd like him to go for more. Not risking with the bizarre arrangements of the past, but just focusing on singing good, clean, strong verses throughout. Getting a couple of crazy things in there would be nice. But not going for the full thing every time because, even if he claims he's in top vocal form now (haven't seen enough new bootlegs so I can't judge), it's top form 20 years and a different voice later.

Of course they're probably considering his voice when putting setlists together because, as it's been said many times before, he's the only one with an organic instrument. But if he is the one making decisions, and if it comes down to his yay or nay, like in "do you think you can pull off this verse so we can go with this arrangement", that still doesn't guarantee he won't end up with something he really can't sing now, or can't sing because it's pushed too far back in the setlist, because there's only a couple of steps from happy & confident & riding on the wings of recent success, as they are now, to being overconfident and overestimating one's abilities. But they're wise old men and they've been on this tour for quite a long while, so hopefully that won't happen.

[MetropolisWatches]

I've always wondered if DT will start to transpose some of the songs that require James to use his upper register- their older material in particular.

[wolfking]

I agree with bosk, IMO, Metropolis 2000 is a very good performance by James, besides the missed F# which was actually a smart move and Another Day, he performs fine.  Even Metropolis sounds fantastic IMO.

[Furby]

Just as a note, I remembered reading this a while back, and though I'd link it, as it is relevant:

 http://www.jaimevendera.com/jameslabrie.html

Thats the full interview, a little way down James explains his annoyance at having an off night due to not having time off the evening before. Looking at the Luna Park dates though, it seems like he at least has one evening off before the 2 shows, so we can hope for a top performance. I've seen them 3 times in the last 12 months, and each time he has been fantastic, I;ve been thoroughly impressed, especially with some of his improvised high notes and the like which I haven't seen him do for a while.

"James:    That’s my biggest tip. And you were talking about Live at Budokan. Well, unfortunately I would have loved to have gone in and re-sang that whole fuckin’ thing, cause that was one of my worst nights on that whole tour, and it was like, “What do I do? Do I cheat? Do I go into the studio and re-do it? Do I just leave what it is and that’s it?”


Jaime:   That’s the essence, though.

James:    Yeah, I mean, it was really unfortunate, because, usually when a band does something like that, a three-hour show, you usually have a day off before. We were jamming the night before-We did the three-hour show the night before. It was just trying to fit things in. And to a vocalist, it’s just completely unfair. But anyways, whatever…

[wolfking]

Good quote, thanks Furby and welcome. 

James is right though, they definitely should have had the night before off.

[bosk1]

I can't recall specifics, so I may be off on this.  But I seem to recall that Mike said somewhere in an interview, or on the documentary, or somewhere that he felt bad about that.  Can't remember whether he said he wanted to give more of a gap, but they couldn't because of something scheduling-wise, or if he said he just didn't think it through and felt bad afterwards, or something like that.  But I have a vague recollection that he expressed at one point in time that he also wished they could have given more time before the show.  Anyone know what I'm talking about, or am I just making that up?

[TAC]

I can't recall specifics, so I may be off on this.  But I seem to recall that Mike said somewhere in an interview, or on the documentary, or somewhere that he felt bad about that.  Can't remember whether he said he wanted to give more of a gap, but they couldn't because of something scheduling-wise, or if he said he just didn't think it through and felt bad afterwards, or something like that.  But I have a vague recollection that he expressed at one point in time that he also wished they could have given more time before the show.  Anyone know what I'm talking about, or am I just making that up?

I don't remember anything like that. I don't believe it's on the documentary, or on his MP at Budokan commentary. Not that I remember anyway.

[SeRoX]

In recent years, all I can see "self-confidence" in James' performance. Really. No need to tell he has improved his voice, hit all those high notes with less or no struggling. But there is something was missing that I can't explain really but especially during this ADTOE supporting world tour, he adds self confidence to his performance. You know, this is my thought from the view of observer.

[bosk1]

I agree.  And it's not just his singing either.  He just gives off a more confident presence in general and commands the stage when he is up there.

[TAC]

I said right off the bat that the biggest benefactor of MP leaving would be James.

[wolfking]

I believe James use to feel Mike's eyes burning into the back of his head when he was having an off night, therefore shattering his confidence and making his performance worse.

[TheGreatPretender]

I believe James use to feel Mike's eyes burning into the back of his head when he was having an off night, therefore shattering his confidence and making his performance worse.

Now, I'm not one to defend Mike's attitude by any means, but I don't know, I think this statement is justified at all. I mean, to say, "It's Mike's fault that on an off night James did worse than he could have," is a little unreasonable.

[KevShmev]

   Voices is not really that difficult.   

Huh?  The "Thought disorder..." verse would like a word with you.

[SeRoX]

Even with these lines Voices is not that challenging. Agreed it's hard on its own but James is capable singer. I know they cut this line during 08-09 tour but this was Mike's decision to fade it away and AFAIK, though James was all OK otherwise.

[MoraWintersoul]

And to a vocalist, it’s just completely unfair. But anyways, whatever…

This part speaks volumes, and it's very relevant to the thread.

[wolfking]

I believe James use to feel Mike's eyes burning into the back of his head when he was having an off night, therefore shattering his confidence and making his performance worse.

Now, I'm not one to defend Mike's attitude by any means, but I don't know, I think this statement is justified at all. I mean, to say, "It's Mike's fault that on an off night James did worse than he could have," is a little unreasonable.

That statement is just totally my opinion, but then theres this;

And to a vocalist, it’s just completely unfair. But anyways, whatever…

This part speaks volumes, and it's very relevant to the thread.