Won't end the debate

If the Big Macca is playing 50 year old songs in a stadium*, I don't have much of a problem with using a teleprompter to get the lyrics right, anymore than watching an old episode of Saturday Night Live, knowing full well that Belushi, Aykroyd, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray were relying on cue cards to get their dialog right.

* Next year, ideally.

 

If the only song I ever wrote was "Yesterday", I would consider myself a musical success. Why would anyone have a problem with his using a teleprompter or iPad or a hot chick telling him the lyrics as he goes? They know where the door is if that displeases them.

 

He gets an excuse for this, for sure.

 

They made mistakes or forgot lyrics in the past too. Nobody cared or noticed.

 

As far as I can tell it's been pretty standard for major acts to have discrete prompters on stage for quite a while. They look like floor monitors. Sometimes there's a small monitor up by the keyboards, as well (e.g. Geddy Lee). My take is that the audience is there to see a band as good as they can be, and the pros don't want to take the chance of forgetting the first line after a solo, etc., given all that can happen on stage, in the crowd, etc. Here's are a couple companies that make these.
https://www.stageprompter.co.uk/
https://stageprompter.com/

Here's an image from Mayer's 2008 LA concert on YT, on Gravity - a song he wrote and must have played a thousand times.

 

If the artist gets the city right then I would call it a success. Use of teleprompters, iPads etc is good in my books too. I also understand that some artists have someone tell them the next song through their in ears and in some cases a new click (for each song) for the tempo.

 

There's a HUGELY important difference between a teleprompter vs. a music stand or iPad....the audience doesn't see the teleprompter. That's a very important distinction to my mind. The TP is invisible ...it just looks like a floor monitor....the iPad and music stand appear as stage clutter and very visually apparent aids to remembering lyrics/chord changes. That being said I still don't care for seeing a performer glancing down at the teleprompter while singing. All of those things detract from 'being in the moment' with the performance. If it's an event where there are guest artists invited on stage to sing another bands stuff then yes, I can give that a pass. But a band doing their own material? Or a bar band doing covers? Nope. It looks amateurish and you need more rehearsal.

 

The whole history of SNL is the cast reading cue cards.

 

It's not the music stands and iPads that bother me specifically, it's the performers who stand there motionless, heads down and eyes glued to them, that screams "I am not ready to be doing this yet."

 

That tears it. I'm petitioning the mods for a forum devoted to music stands and clip-on tuners.

 

Don't forget relics!

 

Zeppelins manager used to hold up cards for Plant during Stairway. This discussion is pointless.

While I'm spoiling things, jazz isn't 100% improvised and stand up comedy is rehearsed.

 

I have only about 15 songs I can perform live without the lyrics in front of me.

The rest of them, I need the lyrics there on an iPad or the music stand.
Including my original songs.

My memory is that bad.

 

If you tell us that professional wrestling is fake, I'm going to be very upset.

 

Im with you on that!

 

How did guys like Springsteen and Dylan manage lyrics back in the day? All those words...

 

Teflon crosses the blood brain barrier. The older you get, the more that gets through.

They sometimes call it other things, but it's teflon.

I would be crankier about this ..... if I could remember what I was cranky about.

 

Was hoping for a clip-on tuner in the pic.

 

If you've ever played live, you've almost certainly forgotten some lyrics mid-song. It happens, and when you're up there doing it, it sucks. I've forgotten or sung the wrong lyrics many times on stage, and also on the radio in live performance. It always made me feel a sense of shame, like I was trying to fool the world that I deserve to be doing this, while I can't even get all the words. In truth, for me it was always an anxiety thing - I would get in my head when up on stage, and that panic can make you lose your way. And the fear of getting lyrics wrong, or forgetting whole verses, made the thought of performing that much more nerve-wracking. I don't have a problem with performers using whatever tech they need to feel comfortable on stage.

But not lip-syncing. That's a step too far.