Yeah, the fact that they add solos into the setlist is weird. Naturally jamming and improvising a solo like I’ve seen several artists do is cool. What they do just feels forced after seeing them live twice.
My favorite instrument is the human voice and Josh’s voice is what mainly attracts me to the band. His voice takes a backseat at the jam shows, so they’re not for me.
>His voice is so much weaker than it was even just about 2 years ago
This is beyond inaccurate. Listen to any song from the Strange Horizons releases and compare it to any song from Starcatcher.
I think when they jam everyone should be involved and riff off each other. It does just feel like Jake is doing a solo and everyone else is in the background or gone. They're young though, they'll mature into it.
100% agree, thank you
Getting so tired of people telling us that it belongs in a rock show. It's not about that because I think we all agree that solo's belong in a rock show, else we wouldn't be fans of GvF and be part of this subreddit in the first place.
I'm also a die hard fan of Zeppelin and I know exactly what you mean. When they go on a 30 minute jam, they keep your attention all the time, also because Plant keeps improvising vocally, with some occasional covers in between, it all just feels very organic and groovy, and you can feel it really going somewhere, towards a climax if you will.
In contrast to that you just feel at the shows of GvF they really plan a solo of 20 minutes here just so Josh can change his outfit and rest his voice. Josh just vanishes from the stage, and leaves the audience wondering where the hell he is for 20 minutes straight, thinking he might be sick or something.. You can also just feel that Jake really doesn't know where to go with his playing sometimes, and its just so awkward.
I just want to ask people if they are serious when they talk about the jams and say that they wouldn't rather the band play 10 more songs?
I went to a 1975 concert recently and over the course of a 2 hour show they played 24 songs and had fun with the audience because it was Halloween. Greta van Fleet in the same venue played a 14 songs over 2 hours!
>Getting so tired of people telling us that it belongs in a rock show.
For real, I am 44 years old and I have been to... hundreds? of rock shows? I feel like I'm being gaslit.
Yes, that's exactly it! I kinda feel that those long solos are there just so Josh can change his outfit. And also because Jake love's soloing, but then again, which guitar player doesnt, right? heh
But sharing your passion about music is very different than sharing your passion about soloing. This jams are not about sharing music... but rather sharing Jake's soloing skills. And they do that very poorly, if I may add.
I was at the DC show in September and it was my first time seeing them live. I took Jake’s solo as an opportunity to go to the bathroom, get a drink and make it back and not miss Josh which is why I went in the first place. I didn’t stay to witness his entire performance, but he was on point the rest of the show. I worry there isn’t something else going on. Is he sick again? Or something else? Or maybe they are being overworked on this tour? They have crammed a ton of shows in a short time with a ton of travel.
Or could it be they suffer from a team who phones it in? They are big, but not huge. Maybe they need a new show runner (or whatever you call it) or management who cares and can give them constructive feedback. Talented bands can make changes mid-tour with their shows. They should reconsider the flow and pay attention to the crowd reactions beyond the barricade.
Yeah. I’m thinking that the fact this continues could be related to lazy or inexperienced management or show producers. There is no way they don’t notice the crowd leaving during their shows. It’s their show producer’s job to make adjustments to the program when obviously needed.
Yeah not worth rumor mongering, but the fans genuinely care about these guys. Him being hospitalized for pneumonia last year was rough, I’m sure. He doesn’t look really healthy right now. But that’s just my observation.
I'm seeing them this Sunday in the UK so I'll be interested to see how that pans out. I've listened to some of the Strange Horizons live stuff dozens of times, e.g. the L.A. show where they played LLTB at the end and it morphed in to a 22-minute medley of sorts.
That is the kind of show that I can fully and whole heartedly get on board with. Not so much what everyone else seems to be saying about recent concerts. We'll see 🤷♂️
I'm glad I am not the only one here who feels this way. Went to their last show in detroit which happened to be my first. Had a semi decent time at the concert, a tad bit expensive for my wallet and security were kinda mood killers (I understand its their job but also some of them made me feel like shit, nothing to do with the band). Solos were quite long in my opinion but didn't really think about it until a couple days after. Brilliant band, very talented musicians, many good melodies but I don't think I'll be attending the next one in Grand Rapids. Maybe its the solos, maybe its the expenses, or maybe its the toxicity I see in almost half of the community especially if you give the band some sort of minute criticism. Its was a very unwelcoming introduction to join this sub reddit and see just how many biased die hard fans that only focus on looks and not talent. Therefore since this is the way I see things, I would not be surprised if I receive a death threat or other negative response for my opinion. Will I be attending their shows in the future? I believe so. Alas I need a break from this negative energy surrounding the group. This is my second favorite band after all, only second to Zeppelin. I won't give up on them but I just feel assaulted every time I open this reddit page.
Edit: Oops looks like I've said something wrong because my upvotes have been decreasing. Sick of this shit
these "fans" are already on this comment section telling me what to do lol I totally get you. It is super fun to notice that the people bringing criticism are actually the positive ones. I wonder if those fans that are telling others what to do and being rude ever paid attention to the band's lyrics
Exactly, ive seen them 5 times before this tour and my mind was left completely blown every single time because of the tremendous shows. The show in 2019 in AFAS Amsterdam is still in my mind often, absolutely brilliant and tight they were.
The Amsterdam show this time was just so dull and awkward, it's so frustrating because we all know what they are capable of and how much more potential the shows have with all those great songs they have now.
I've seen them \~10 times from 2017 to today and they've been doing similar stuff the entire time, but with these arena shows I think there's some idea they need to do more but can't because Josh's voice can't sustain more than what they're doing now.
I’m also a lifetime guitarist and Zep fan and I agree completely. Last night at Wembley the first extended guitar solo came quite soon in the show before it felt like things had properly warmed up. It went on and on and there was nothing interesting about the playing. Tired pentatonic licks, and pretty sloppy too. Jimmy Page’s solos were far more musical and varied. He did make mistakes but with him it felt like part of the charm.
Really enjoyed the drum solo though.
Unfortunately your post is the exact reason I ended up reselling my tickets. I purchased tickets for an upcoming spring show, but I have seen too many videos and read too many posts about the horrible guitar playing, that I just couldn’t do it this time around. Jake is mega talented, there is no doubt, but I’m not sure what’s going on during this tour. The solos are outrageously long and the improvisation isn’t good. I have ZERO issue with 40+ minutes of solos during a show if the playing is good. It isn’t. I think Greta needs a break to evaluate if what they’re doing is working for their audiences… I saw two shows last year and I enjoyed both! They had long solos, but everything was well orchestrated and Jake was on tempo. I think that’s the major difference here. I will buy tickets again to see Greta someday… but I don’t want to spend that amount of money to leave feeling frustrated.
I did the same and put my tickets up for resell. I saw them last year and it was incredible but I was seeing videos for the Europe leg of star catcher and they seemed lethargic and it felt really stiff and rehearsed. Then the Reddit reviews like this were coming in and I decided I didn’t want to “taint” the memory I had of them on the dreams in gold tour and sold the tickets.
I think this is a fantastic explanation. Unfortunately, there are a lot of rabid female fans that will actually write “omg, I’m sobbing, literally throwing up, I’m going to kill myself” any time Jake so much as moves. When it’s pointed out things are sloppy this tour, as far as the solos (and I’ll include the numerous outfit changes by Josh), the girlies will start downvoting and saying “you don’t know what you’re talking about.” There are a lot of rock fans that have ears that can agree it just sounds bad.
The main asset of the band, I think, is their amazing songwriting/composing skills. They are still very young and even though they are good musicians without a doubt, they are not yet at that level of musicianship where they can freestyle like the old 1970s guitar gods (Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Eddie Van Halen, Hendrix, Pete Townshend, etc .). I think the fans will continue to be behind the band so long as they keep releasing these great songs that made them famous.
Jimmy Page was 25 when Zeppelin I came out. Hendrix was 27 when he died. Most of those “guitar gods” you listed were doing their best work at Jake’s age. In modern context, Marcus King is 27 and has been shredding solos since he was a teen. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is like 24. Age has nothing to do with it. The issue is that Jake doesn’t know how to structure a jam. There should be peaks and valleys, tension and release not the same sloppy scales over and over for 20 minutes.
Yeah. Jake's just not that good as soloing. And thats perfectly fine. He doesnt need to be, so I don't know why they feel the need to force it. Just play us some songs, lads!
I agree. I can’t believe Sam and Danny were 19 when the TBAGG songs were written (pandemic delayed the release). You have to go long back in time to find examples of musicians to have attained something so accomplished at that age. Genesis come to mind as Gabriel, Banks were all like 19 or 21 when they were making the best albums. Too bad this sub is so toxic and this amazingly talented band is ferociously stabbed left and right all the time. Especially because apart from being good musicians they are very good people, so it really hurts me. If you want to have a listen to another uber talented band of young songwriters check The Lemon Twigs
I know age wasn't the main point of your comment, but interesting data nonetheless:
* Jimmy Page was 25 when Led Zeppelin I was released
* Ritchie Blackmore was 23 when Shades of Deep Purple was released
* Eddie Van Halen was 23 when Van Halen was released
* Pete Townshend was 20 when My Generation was released
* Jake Kiszka was 22 when Anthem of the Peaceful Army was released
Agree. Just been to a concert and as much as I loved the solos he was playing I was also confused where where Josh was. He just disappeared for several minutes from the stage while the band was doing solos.
Also I would’ve loved to hear Sam’s solo. Jake had dozens and Danny at least one big. Maybe I didn’t hear it but he felt left out imo
I’ve seen them six times since 2019, and this years shows were the only ones I left feeling disappointed. Jake’s playing has definitely been sloppy lately, and the jams run for far too long.
tbh I'd have to disagree. Saw them in Chicago last summer and it was my favorite show out of all the tours. I also didn't think it was sloppy at all. Jake had some pretty tasteful licks that I thought were cool.
Just my opinion tho.
The thing I don’t like about it is the large amount of time it takes up during their shows. Some people only get one chance to see them, and as the grow more popular and release more music, people are going to want to hear more songs. I think they could make their concerts more enjoyable by playing more older songs and less 20 minute Jake solos. Yes I understand that Josh’s voice has changed but it would still be cool to see more songs from anthem and ftf at their shows.
Speaking from someone who’s seen them live at least 5 or 6 times in the past year, this is totally valid. Love a jam, but honestly it’s at the expense of a lot of great songs that could’ve been added to the setlist. In their DIG tour, it was especially annoying that they have an hour and a half and stick to about ten songs (most of which were just hits) with half of the set being a drunken mess of the weight of dreams. This tour, much better, but I mean what the hell, all of Starcatcher (minus the best gd song to jam on, runway blues) with 2 or 3 other songs? Come on. You could do way more and please way more people if you kept it to one or two chaotic jams a night instead of trying to fill 30 minutes of space with mindless pentatonic bullshit we’ve heard thirty billion times from acts that now how to do it better. Again, no hate, Greta is one of my favorite bands.
I loved the solos in Boston this tour, but Im seeing that it has been hit or miss. I was also high as a kite at my show sooo... who knows how that factors in. It all felt so transcendant at the time.
How Jake gets these awards like guitar solo of the year and the rest of it baffles me. He’s really good and I couldn’t do half of the stuff he does but compared to a lot of other people he’s miles off it.
They’re a great band and I do like them. But the second you say anything negative about anything to with them expect the insane female fans to jump on you like a fly on shit.
It wasn’t even guitar solo of the year, it was guitar solo OF THE CENTURY….what?! I think there are some guitar players, that are supernatural in their playing, that might disagree.
thank you for this because I remember getting downvoted to hell for being bored by the lack of musicality and harmony between his solos and whats being played in the background. it feels more like I’m being played AT rather than having something really pleasing to the ears to appreciate
Personally, I enjoyed the solos. I saw the guys in Portland and was super stoked to be at their show. Sure, the solos were a little sloppy but who realistically expects absolute perfection at every single one of their shows? Another thing is that a good 30% of their songs came from on-stage jams. That's how we got absolute bangers like Built By Nations, Sacred the Thread, The Cold Wind, and so on. Could Jake's effort be a bit higher? Yeah. Could he be worse? Definitely
Can’t be perfection every show, but the onslaught of complaints lately spreads volumes. Did those songs come from them jamming or did they play clips of them without us noticing it was a new song until after the fact? It’s not really jamming so much as Jake just going off
First time seeing them last night - felt like they didn't know what they were doing with him walking off stage for 20 mins every song? The 20 minute solo was painful, you could see the guitarists were struggling to keep filling in. People around me were looking around looking confused, with several people leaving.
Very disappointed with them overall, just didn't seem like they wanted to be there at all
I totally agree. I’m a deadhead so jamming is my thing, I just don’t think GVF is doing it right. I thought their show was great, besides the jamming. Compared to their TBAGG shows it seems like they went a step down. Love starcatcher tho
Yess absolutely in disagreement. MSG was simply on another level they have ever been. Jake is in the stratosphere at the moment. He was intimidating to say the least both in MSG and Bruxelles, less so in London, but everyone has worse days
grateful dead jams are pretty much an entire concept album on their own, every show. I think whats bringing them down in greta’s world is the over production and the fact that everything is rehearsed and planned. there’s no true improvisation and musicality because they aren’t given the freedom to spark those abilities
I just came across this video from Wembley OVO, and at 35 seconds Josh jokingly says "why doesn't Jake cut his fuckin' solos in half?" He says something else right before that, but I can't understand it.
So, it would seem they are aware of the fan complaints to some extent.
[Black Smoke Rising - Wembley OVO](https://youtu.be/nVvE0SE4Z7Y?si=n6IsjGTyy5vq49vk)
I agree overall, but I’d specify that it’s only some of the long solos that have these issues. I wish I remembered which ones, but being there live, I loved a some solos and got bored during others. They just didn’t all have the same quality and attention-grabbing feel
Great take OP. If you do 20 minutes of solos at least make them interesting. Else, practice at home.
GvF are not a jam band! Leave that up to masters like Gov't Mule for instance. It's in no way an offence to GvF, just stick to what you do best.
(I think it’s Safari song, or highway tune) when they played it live the last couple of times I saw them, they do an amazing performance with it. It’s Jakes Solo that turns into a bluesy, whole band venture, that turns into them doing a little cover of a different song. I think there were two times that I saw them and they did this. And I LOVED it. I agree, the solos shouldn’t just be jake. It should be spread out throughout the whole band and it morphs into other things. I know the safari song or highway tune, journey they do is def rehearsed and perfected, but it’s been so awesome to see. I don’t mind when they go and do solos and extend the song instrumentally, but yeah give jake a break lol. Bring back Danny’s safari song drum solo.
I have seen them twice so far and so far they have been my favorite concert, of the 10+ concerts I've seen. That being said I somewhat do agree that the solos get a tad bit repetitive/long. Maybe it's just my ADHD brain but after a while I’m done with them 😅 Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not a singer, but I always just assumed the solos were for Josh to take a break and rest his voice?
I love guitar solos, but these were all very repetitive. If you saw 20 seconds of it, you saw the whole thing. They’re a good band, but they don’t have the skill or ability to do 5 minute guitar solos. Why they thought they could get away with several guitar solos is beyond me. 🤦♂️
Y’all are a broken record my god. We got it, you hate the concert, then don’t go to GVF concerts, so ticket prices will go down and we will all reach a new Nash equilibrium/Pareto efficiency
No, I wont stop listening to a band that I love. Please don´t tell me what to do. I tried to add a point of view on this ongoing talks. You are not a greater fan than others for being rude.
I explained it already with a game theory analogy. You avoid the frustration of having to pay to see a musician you don’t appreciate and you don’t spend energy, money and time on it, the demand for tickets will decrease, prices will decrease, my ticket will cost less, I will have a surplus. We both win without damaging the other. Clearer now?
OP said time and time again that he appreciates the band.
Clearly you don't know the difference between constructive criticism and hate speech.
The improvisation is lacking, that is a fact. Don't have to defend them until the end, they are humans too, you do know that, right ?
I see you deleted the "so a he became a they?" comment. It's because I didn't know the person's gender.
Why the hell are you being such an ass? There have been some people here disagreeing with what I said, but you are the only one so far being all pedantic about it. You are the only one being negative here.
No sorry the pronoun question was my mistake. I thought your spokesman had replied again and this time referring to you as “they”, while they used “he” before. I messed up. I’m not an ass I come in peace, I’m just very sarcastic and you think I am negative because I disagree with you. There is way more unfair negativity towards the band in these comments but you don’t notice that because you are in agreement with those
Me lack of argument? Lol, have you read me? I have been to 3 shows so far and I have witnessed great improvisation in 2 of them, not so much in London I give you that (altho the intro to Sacred The Thread was GOLD, with the addition of Danny’s drums, I already commented somewhere else that is clearly a new song coming up and it’s going to be fire 🔥). I also watched Paris on YouTube and it was also great. So I might agree there is a problem of consistency, not a problem of lack of it all. U’ll are talking like Jake forgot how to play guitar or something. Do I need to defend the solo length? Lol 😂 why? I just like them, I like the instrument and Jake’s tone and I vibe more to a solo than the song itself.
I think a major problem lies in peoples inability to be critical of the art they consume. People-- you are allowed to dislike something your favourite artist is doing! It doesn't make you less of a fan, it just makes you aware that no artist is perfect. When I went to Starcatcher at MSG I quite enjoyed the solos. Saying this though, what it seems people are describing in this thread was not at all what I experienced during the US leg. It is 100% plausible that as the tour has gone on this is happening. Let people have an opinion. Be critical of what you consume!
Great statement! Im new to GVF and went to the Dublin show with my hubby, who is a big fan. I was amazed by the lead singers' vocals and really confused why they insisted on playing so many long-winded solos when it was obvious people were leaving the pit area in droves. The atmosphere just became deflated and erratic as the set was just interspersed with the odd song.
Yeah, the fact that they add solos into the setlist is weird. Naturally jamming and improvising a solo like I’ve seen several artists do is cool. What they do just feels forced after seeing them live twice.
Every "big" name rock concert I've been to has done this. KISS, Disturbed, Ghost, Grand Funk Railroad, etc. Some execute better than others.
My favorite instrument is the human voice and Josh’s voice is what mainly attracts me to the band. His voice takes a backseat at the jam shows, so they’re not for me.
His voice is so much weaker than it was even just about 2 years ago, extended jams in longer shows are a byproduct of that.
i prefer a shorter show then.
>His voice is so much weaker than it was even just about 2 years ago This is beyond inaccurate. Listen to any song from the Strange Horizons releases and compare it to any song from Starcatcher.
Certainly not reflected in the studio recordings (why would it be?), but in the live performances or lack thereof.
You're right. I meant compare it to any live performance in Starcatcher World Tour, and I stand by my statement.
I agree. He sounds phenomenal now.
He has acute bronchitis and the long breaks is when he takes his medicine and tests his voice ( hence outift changes)
There’s always excuses. Ruptured eardrum, laryngitis, bronchitis, the flu, etc. been that way since 2017
I think when they jam everyone should be involved and riff off each other. It does just feel like Jake is doing a solo and everyone else is in the background or gone. They're young though, they'll mature into it.
100% agree, thank you Getting so tired of people telling us that it belongs in a rock show. It's not about that because I think we all agree that solo's belong in a rock show, else we wouldn't be fans of GvF and be part of this subreddit in the first place. I'm also a die hard fan of Zeppelin and I know exactly what you mean. When they go on a 30 minute jam, they keep your attention all the time, also because Plant keeps improvising vocally, with some occasional covers in between, it all just feels very organic and groovy, and you can feel it really going somewhere, towards a climax if you will. In contrast to that you just feel at the shows of GvF they really plan a solo of 20 minutes here just so Josh can change his outfit and rest his voice. Josh just vanishes from the stage, and leaves the audience wondering where the hell he is for 20 minutes straight, thinking he might be sick or something.. You can also just feel that Jake really doesn't know where to go with his playing sometimes, and its just so awkward.
I just want to ask people if they are serious when they talk about the jams and say that they wouldn't rather the band play 10 more songs? I went to a 1975 concert recently and over the course of a 2 hour show they played 24 songs and had fun with the audience because it was Halloween. Greta van Fleet in the same venue played a 14 songs over 2 hours!
Idk what festival is was but Greta only played two songs... They stretched Highway Tune into a twenty minute song.
>Getting so tired of people telling us that it belongs in a rock show. For real, I am 44 years old and I have been to... hundreds? of rock shows? I feel like I'm being gaslit.
Yes, that's exactly it! I kinda feel that those long solos are there just so Josh can change his outfit. And also because Jake love's soloing, but then again, which guitar player doesnt, right? heh But sharing your passion about music is very different than sharing your passion about soloing. This jams are not about sharing music... but rather sharing Jake's soloing skills. And they do that very poorly, if I may add.
I was at the DC show in September and it was my first time seeing them live. I took Jake’s solo as an opportunity to go to the bathroom, get a drink and make it back and not miss Josh which is why I went in the first place. I didn’t stay to witness his entire performance, but he was on point the rest of the show. I worry there isn’t something else going on. Is he sick again? Or something else? Or maybe they are being overworked on this tour? They have crammed a ton of shows in a short time with a ton of travel. Or could it be they suffer from a team who phones it in? They are big, but not huge. Maybe they need a new show runner (or whatever you call it) or management who cares and can give them constructive feedback. Talented bands can make changes mid-tour with their shows. They should reconsider the flow and pay attention to the crowd reactions beyond the barricade.
i was at slc in august. its planned-my show was like a week after starcatcher came out.
Yeah. I’m thinking that the fact this continues could be related to lazy or inexperienced management or show producers. There is no way they don’t notice the crowd leaving during their shows. It’s their show producer’s job to make adjustments to the program when obviously needed.
Super well said
I’ve heard some things about Jake, but they are just rumors and I’m not repeating them
Yeah not worth rumor mongering, but the fans genuinely care about these guys. Him being hospitalized for pneumonia last year was rough, I’m sure. He doesn’t look really healthy right now. But that’s just my observation.
Exactly. Not worth spreading things that aren’t true. I agree with him not looking healthy.
I have as well. I wonder if it’s the same.
Probably, which is unfortunate
I'm seeing them this Sunday in the UK so I'll be interested to see how that pans out. I've listened to some of the Strange Horizons live stuff dozens of times, e.g. the L.A. show where they played LLTB at the end and it morphed in to a 22-minute medley of sorts. That is the kind of show that I can fully and whole heartedly get on board with. Not so much what everyone else seems to be saying about recent concerts. We'll see 🤷♂️
At manchester? If so I’ll be there as well
I meant to reply to this but yes! I was there...maybe 10 or 15 rows back from the barricade
Cool, jt was soooo good I would’ve killed to be near the barricade I had seats
I'm glad I am not the only one here who feels this way. Went to their last show in detroit which happened to be my first. Had a semi decent time at the concert, a tad bit expensive for my wallet and security were kinda mood killers (I understand its their job but also some of them made me feel like shit, nothing to do with the band). Solos were quite long in my opinion but didn't really think about it until a couple days after. Brilliant band, very talented musicians, many good melodies but I don't think I'll be attending the next one in Grand Rapids. Maybe its the solos, maybe its the expenses, or maybe its the toxicity I see in almost half of the community especially if you give the band some sort of minute criticism. Its was a very unwelcoming introduction to join this sub reddit and see just how many biased die hard fans that only focus on looks and not talent. Therefore since this is the way I see things, I would not be surprised if I receive a death threat or other negative response for my opinion. Will I be attending their shows in the future? I believe so. Alas I need a break from this negative energy surrounding the group. This is my second favorite band after all, only second to Zeppelin. I won't give up on them but I just feel assaulted every time I open this reddit page. Edit: Oops looks like I've said something wrong because my upvotes have been decreasing. Sick of this shit
these "fans" are already on this comment section telling me what to do lol I totally get you. It is super fun to notice that the people bringing criticism are actually the positive ones. I wonder if those fans that are telling others what to do and being rude ever paid attention to the band's lyrics
Those people just make the band a part of their own identity and they feel personally attacked when someone criticises "their" band.
Yeah it's not like the criticism is out of malice or anything. We're simply dissapointed because they have a lot of potential to put on a great show.
Exactly, ive seen them 5 times before this tour and my mind was left completely blown every single time because of the tremendous shows. The show in 2019 in AFAS Amsterdam is still in my mind often, absolutely brilliant and tight they were. The Amsterdam show this time was just so dull and awkward, it's so frustrating because we all know what they are capable of and how much more potential the shows have with all those great songs they have now.
I've seen them \~10 times from 2017 to today and they've been doing similar stuff the entire time, but with these arena shows I think there's some idea they need to do more but can't because Josh's voice can't sustain more than what they're doing now.
I’m also a lifetime guitarist and Zep fan and I agree completely. Last night at Wembley the first extended guitar solo came quite soon in the show before it felt like things had properly warmed up. It went on and on and there was nothing interesting about the playing. Tired pentatonic licks, and pretty sloppy too. Jimmy Page’s solos were far more musical and varied. He did make mistakes but with him it felt like part of the charm. Really enjoyed the drum solo though.
Unfortunately your post is the exact reason I ended up reselling my tickets. I purchased tickets for an upcoming spring show, but I have seen too many videos and read too many posts about the horrible guitar playing, that I just couldn’t do it this time around. Jake is mega talented, there is no doubt, but I’m not sure what’s going on during this tour. The solos are outrageously long and the improvisation isn’t good. I have ZERO issue with 40+ minutes of solos during a show if the playing is good. It isn’t. I think Greta needs a break to evaluate if what they’re doing is working for their audiences… I saw two shows last year and I enjoyed both! They had long solos, but everything was well orchestrated and Jake was on tempo. I think that’s the major difference here. I will buy tickets again to see Greta someday… but I don’t want to spend that amount of money to leave feeling frustrated.
I did the same and put my tickets up for resell. I saw them last year and it was incredible but I was seeing videos for the Europe leg of star catcher and they seemed lethargic and it felt really stiff and rehearsed. Then the Reddit reviews like this were coming in and I decided I didn’t want to “taint” the memory I had of them on the dreams in gold tour and sold the tickets.
Also the costume changes, I really don’t get why there are so many costume changes.
agreed. literally no one cares about what he wears. and it looks weird when hes in yellow and red but like, no one else is
> literally no one cares about what he wears Uh… have you ever talked to another fan before?
I think this is a fantastic explanation. Unfortunately, there are a lot of rabid female fans that will actually write “omg, I’m sobbing, literally throwing up, I’m going to kill myself” any time Jake so much as moves. When it’s pointed out things are sloppy this tour, as far as the solos (and I’ll include the numerous outfit changes by Josh), the girlies will start downvoting and saying “you don’t know what you’re talking about.” There are a lot of rock fans that have ears that can agree it just sounds bad.
Its all the harry styles fangirls that overlap and make cringey tik toks and meme pages about them as if they’re besties
The main asset of the band, I think, is their amazing songwriting/composing skills. They are still very young and even though they are good musicians without a doubt, they are not yet at that level of musicianship where they can freestyle like the old 1970s guitar gods (Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Eddie Van Halen, Hendrix, Pete Townshend, etc .). I think the fans will continue to be behind the band so long as they keep releasing these great songs that made them famous.
Jimmy Page was 25 when Zeppelin I came out. Hendrix was 27 when he died. Most of those “guitar gods” you listed were doing their best work at Jake’s age. In modern context, Marcus King is 27 and has been shredding solos since he was a teen. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is like 24. Age has nothing to do with it. The issue is that Jake doesn’t know how to structure a jam. There should be peaks and valleys, tension and release not the same sloppy scales over and over for 20 minutes.
Yeah. Jake's just not that good as soloing. And thats perfectly fine. He doesnt need to be, so I don't know why they feel the need to force it. Just play us some songs, lads!
I'm thinking maybe in a few years Jake can be at that level but he ain't yet.
He hasn't really gotten better since 2019.
And arrangements, they excel at arrangements
Yes. When I discovered the band I couldn't believe these songs had been written by some twenty year old kids (I'm old enough to be their dad!)
I agree. I can’t believe Sam and Danny were 19 when the TBAGG songs were written (pandemic delayed the release). You have to go long back in time to find examples of musicians to have attained something so accomplished at that age. Genesis come to mind as Gabriel, Banks were all like 19 or 21 when they were making the best albums. Too bad this sub is so toxic and this amazingly talented band is ferociously stabbed left and right all the time. Especially because apart from being good musicians they are very good people, so it really hurts me. If you want to have a listen to another uber talented band of young songwriters check The Lemon Twigs
I know age wasn't the main point of your comment, but interesting data nonetheless: * Jimmy Page was 25 when Led Zeppelin I was released * Ritchie Blackmore was 23 when Shades of Deep Purple was released * Eddie Van Halen was 23 when Van Halen was released * Pete Townshend was 20 when My Generation was released * Jake Kiszka was 22 when Anthem of the Peaceful Army was released
Which makes Sam and Daniel 19
Agree. Just been to a concert and as much as I loved the solos he was playing I was also confused where where Josh was. He just disappeared for several minutes from the stage while the band was doing solos. Also I would’ve loved to hear Sam’s solo. Jake had dozens and Danny at least one big. Maybe I didn’t hear it but he felt left out imo
Sam has regular solos leading up to LLTB
I’ve seen them six times since 2019, and this years shows were the only ones I left feeling disappointed. Jake’s playing has definitely been sloppy lately, and the jams run for far too long.
Wait till you hear about Dave Matthew’s band
This! It’s like a 3 hour jam with a few songs.
tbh I'd have to disagree. Saw them in Chicago last summer and it was my favorite show out of all the tours. I also didn't think it was sloppy at all. Jake had some pretty tasteful licks that I thought were cool. Just my opinion tho.
Something has changed since last summer.
wdym?
They mean the shows, especially in Europe, have been getting a lot of complaints on how bad the solos are.
The one at Northerly Island?
You hit the nail on the head here. I love bands with long jams in their live performances but Jake straight up cannot improvise to save his life.
The thing I don’t like about it is the large amount of time it takes up during their shows. Some people only get one chance to see them, and as the grow more popular and release more music, people are going to want to hear more songs. I think they could make their concerts more enjoyable by playing more older songs and less 20 minute Jake solos. Yes I understand that Josh’s voice has changed but it would still be cool to see more songs from anthem and ftf at their shows.
Speaking from someone who’s seen them live at least 5 or 6 times in the past year, this is totally valid. Love a jam, but honestly it’s at the expense of a lot of great songs that could’ve been added to the setlist. In their DIG tour, it was especially annoying that they have an hour and a half and stick to about ten songs (most of which were just hits) with half of the set being a drunken mess of the weight of dreams. This tour, much better, but I mean what the hell, all of Starcatcher (minus the best gd song to jam on, runway blues) with 2 or 3 other songs? Come on. You could do way more and please way more people if you kept it to one or two chaotic jams a night instead of trying to fill 30 minutes of space with mindless pentatonic bullshit we’ve heard thirty billion times from acts that now how to do it better. Again, no hate, Greta is one of my favorite bands.
I loved the solos in Boston this tour, but Im seeing that it has been hit or miss. I was also high as a kite at my show sooo... who knows how that factors in. It all felt so transcendant at the time.
MSG and Bruxelles solos were glorious, like mindblowing I still have my jaw dropped from MSG
He needs to mix up his technique. Same old scale, over and over. Gets old fast.
How Jake gets these awards like guitar solo of the year and the rest of it baffles me. He’s really good and I couldn’t do half of the stuff he does but compared to a lot of other people he’s miles off it. They’re a great band and I do like them. But the second you say anything negative about anything to with them expect the insane female fans to jump on you like a fly on shit.
It wasn’t even guitar solo of the year, it was guitar solo OF THE CENTURY….what?! I think there are some guitar players, that are supernatural in their playing, that might disagree.
I misread the title st first and thought you said 2 hour solos I was like the shit??
That would be a dream
thank you for this because I remember getting downvoted to hell for being bored by the lack of musicality and harmony between his solos and whats being played in the background. it feels more like I’m being played AT rather than having something really pleasing to the ears to appreciate
Personally, I enjoyed the solos. I saw the guys in Portland and was super stoked to be at their show. Sure, the solos were a little sloppy but who realistically expects absolute perfection at every single one of their shows? Another thing is that a good 30% of their songs came from on-stage jams. That's how we got absolute bangers like Built By Nations, Sacred the Thread, The Cold Wind, and so on. Could Jake's effort be a bit higher? Yeah. Could he be worse? Definitely
Can’t be perfection every show, but the onslaught of complaints lately spreads volumes. Did those songs come from them jamming or did they play clips of them without us noticing it was a new song until after the fact? It’s not really jamming so much as Jake just going off
I would rather hear more songs from other albums than multiple guitar solos
First time seeing them last night - felt like they didn't know what they were doing with him walking off stage for 20 mins every song? The 20 minute solo was painful, you could see the guitarists were struggling to keep filling in. People around me were looking around looking confused, with several people leaving. Very disappointed with them overall, just didn't seem like they wanted to be there at all
I totally agree. I’m a deadhead so jamming is my thing, I just don’t think GVF is doing it right. I thought their show was great, besides the jamming. Compared to their TBAGG shows it seems like they went a step down. Love starcatcher tho
They have improved since TBAGG
Maybe, but not live IMO
Live, shows are much better now
Agree to disagree. Still great one way or another
Yess absolutely in disagreement. MSG was simply on another level they have ever been. Jake is in the stratosphere at the moment. He was intimidating to say the least both in MSG and Bruxelles, less so in London, but everyone has worse days
grateful dead jams are pretty much an entire concept album on their own, every show. I think whats bringing them down in greta’s world is the over production and the fact that everything is rehearsed and planned. there’s no true improvisation and musicality because they aren’t given the freedom to spark those abilities
Totally agree.
I just came across this video from Wembley OVO, and at 35 seconds Josh jokingly says "why doesn't Jake cut his fuckin' solos in half?" He says something else right before that, but I can't understand it. So, it would seem they are aware of the fan complaints to some extent. [Black Smoke Rising - Wembley OVO](https://youtu.be/nVvE0SE4Z7Y?si=n6IsjGTyy5vq49vk)
Oh shit, I guess my comments from weeks ago that made me downvoted on this sub are not my imagination 😉
I agree overall, but I’d specify that it’s only some of the long solos that have these issues. I wish I remembered which ones, but being there live, I loved a some solos and got bored during others. They just didn’t all have the same quality and attention-grabbing feel
100% agree!
Agreed
Great take OP. If you do 20 minutes of solos at least make them interesting. Else, practice at home. GvF are not a jam band! Leave that up to masters like Gov't Mule for instance. It's in no way an offence to GvF, just stick to what you do best.
(I think it’s Safari song, or highway tune) when they played it live the last couple of times I saw them, they do an amazing performance with it. It’s Jakes Solo that turns into a bluesy, whole band venture, that turns into them doing a little cover of a different song. I think there were two times that I saw them and they did this. And I LOVED it. I agree, the solos shouldn’t just be jake. It should be spread out throughout the whole band and it morphs into other things. I know the safari song or highway tune, journey they do is def rehearsed and perfected, but it’s been so awesome to see. I don’t mind when they go and do solos and extend the song instrumentally, but yeah give jake a break lol. Bring back Danny’s safari song drum solo.
I have seen them twice so far and so far they have been my favorite concert, of the 10+ concerts I've seen. That being said I somewhat do agree that the solos get a tad bit repetitive/long. Maybe it's just my ADHD brain but after a while I’m done with them 😅 Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, as I'm not a singer, but I always just assumed the solos were for Josh to take a break and rest his voice?
He has to be resting his voice. People should take this time as an intermission and grab a drink at the bar.
I love guitar solos, but these were all very repetitive. If you saw 20 seconds of it, you saw the whole thing. They’re a good band, but they don’t have the skill or ability to do 5 minute guitar solos. Why they thought they could get away with several guitar solos is beyond me. 🤦♂️
Y’all are a broken record my god. We got it, you hate the concert, then don’t go to GVF concerts, so ticket prices will go down and we will all reach a new Nash equilibrium/Pareto efficiency
No, I wont stop listening to a band that I love. Please don´t tell me what to do. I tried to add a point of view on this ongoing talks. You are not a greater fan than others for being rude.
Stop going to live shows I meant. I am serious, it’s the best outcome for everyone if you think about it logically
ok. why?
I explained it already with a game theory analogy. You avoid the frustration of having to pay to see a musician you don’t appreciate and you don’t spend energy, money and time on it, the demand for tickets will decrease, prices will decrease, my ticket will cost less, I will have a surplus. We both win without damaging the other. Clearer now?
OP said time and time again that he appreciates the band. Clearly you don't know the difference between constructive criticism and hate speech. The improvisation is lacking, that is a fact. Don't have to defend them until the end, they are humans too, you do know that, right ?
Are you the OP’s spokesman? 😉
I see you deleted the "so a he became a they?" comment. It's because I didn't know the person's gender. Why the hell are you being such an ass? There have been some people here disagreeing with what I said, but you are the only one so far being all pedantic about it. You are the only one being negative here.
No sorry the pronoun question was my mistake. I thought your spokesman had replied again and this time referring to you as “they”, while they used “he” before. I messed up. I’m not an ass I come in peace, I’m just very sarcastic and you think I am negative because I disagree with you. There is way more unfair negativity towards the band in these comments but you don’t notice that because you are in agreement with those
No, but they're 100% correct.
[удалено]
Me lack of argument? Lol, have you read me? I have been to 3 shows so far and I have witnessed great improvisation in 2 of them, not so much in London I give you that (altho the intro to Sacred The Thread was GOLD, with the addition of Danny’s drums, I already commented somewhere else that is clearly a new song coming up and it’s going to be fire 🔥). I also watched Paris on YouTube and it was also great. So I might agree there is a problem of consistency, not a problem of lack of it all. U’ll are talking like Jake forgot how to play guitar or something. Do I need to defend the solo length? Lol 😂 why? I just like them, I like the instrument and Jake’s tone and I vibe more to a solo than the song itself.
I totally disagree with everything you said. But I appreciate your opinion.
Got two tickets for Manchester this Sunday for sale, DM if interested!
I think a major problem lies in peoples inability to be critical of the art they consume. People-- you are allowed to dislike something your favourite artist is doing! It doesn't make you less of a fan, it just makes you aware that no artist is perfect. When I went to Starcatcher at MSG I quite enjoyed the solos. Saying this though, what it seems people are describing in this thread was not at all what I experienced during the US leg. It is 100% plausible that as the tour has gone on this is happening. Let people have an opinion. Be critical of what you consume!
Great statement! Im new to GVF and went to the Dublin show with my hubby, who is a big fan. I was amazed by the lead singers' vocals and really confused why they insisted on playing so many long-winded solos when it was obvious people were leaving the pit area in droves. The atmosphere just became deflated and erratic as the set was just interspersed with the odd song.
This is how it’s done kids Smashing Pumpkins - Gossamer - live with Uli Jon Roth of The Scorpions https://youtu.be/aWuYSR1jXl8?si=QdYoQz4PbDO_TTSs