#85 DTRW TOUR - Sep 22 2019 - Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, United States

[TheTimeWasWrong]

For a guy who doesn't have to have a tight schedule, this is just odd. Two to three months earlier, he should get on a diet, get in good physical shape, sit down with the guitar three hours a day to loosen up those digits. It's not like he's going to play three nights at a pub with Steve Philips; we're talking world tour, costly, first-rate production, expensive tickets, high expectations and more. I don't get it. Does he over-estimate himself? Doesn't he care?

He certainly knows, he just doesn’t care and keeps spreading the word he doesn’t want to be a guitar hero anymore, people still buy tickets and he has no manager who would turn this into a discussion.

[dmg]

I'm happy for Mark that he both looks and sounds better now. As you've mentioned, seeing him at the beginning of the tour was quite a shock. I'm very surprised, though, that it took almost the entire tour before he got in shape. I hope he/they have learned a lesson for the future, that they need to start preparations way earlier. This past year was very busy for him, with the album, Local Hero, tour planning, and so on. Maybe time to do less at his age?

He won't learn; Tracker tour was just the same.  A bit less obvious due to his age perhaps but still the same.  Also in 2013...

For a guy who doesn't have to have a tight schedule, this is just odd. Two to three months earlier, he should get on a diet, get in good physical shape, sit down with the guitar three hours a day to loosen up those digits. It's not like he's going to play three nights at a pub with Steve Philips; we're talking world tour, costly, first-rate production, expensive tickets, high expectations and more. I don't get it. Does he over-estimate himself? Doesn't he care?

He's just lazy, as he himself admits.  He says he doesn't practice as he should any more. 

[superval99]

I'm happy for Mark that he both looks and sounds better now. As you've mentioned, seeing him at the beginning of the tour was quite a shock. I'm very surprised, though, that it took almost the entire tour before he got in shape. I hope he/they have learned a lesson for the future, that they need to start preparations way earlier. This past year was very busy for him, with the album, Local Hero, tour planning, and so on. Maybe time to do less at his age?

He won't learn; Tracker tour was just the same.  A bit less obvious due to his age perhaps but still the same.  Also in 2013...

For a guy who doesn't have to have a tight schedule, this is just odd. Two to three months earlier, he should get on a diet, get in good physical shape, sit down with the guitar three hours a day to loosen up those digits. It's not like he's going to play three nights at a pub with Steve Philips; we're talking world tour, costly, first-rate production, expensive tickets, high expectations and more. I don't get it. Does he over-estimate himself? Doesn't he care?

He didn't seem a well man at the end of 2018 and, by his appearance at that time, he seemed to be on some kind of medication.   If a person isn't well it's very difficult to keep fit -  catch 22!   Thankfully he looks and moves much better now!

[2manyguitars]

I'm happy for Mark that he both looks and sounds better now. As you've mentioned, seeing him at the beginning of the tour was quite a shock. I'm very surprised, though, that it took almost the entire tour before he got in shape. I hope he/they have learned a lesson for the future, that they need to start preparations way earlier. This past year was very busy for him, with the album, Local Hero, tour planning, and so on. Maybe time to do less at his age?

He won't learn; Tracker tour was just the same.  A bit less obvious due to his age perhaps but still the same.  Also in 2013...

For a guy who doesn't have to have a tight schedule, this is just odd. Two to three months earlier, he should get on a diet, get in good physical shape, sit down with the guitar three hours a day to loosen up those digits. It's not like he's going to play three nights at a pub with Steve Philips; we're talking world tour, costly, first-rate production, expensive tickets, high expectations and more. I don't get it. Does he over-estimate himself? Doesn't he care?

He didn't seem a well man at the end of 2018 and, by his appearance at that time, he seemed to be on some kind of medication.   If a person isn't well it's very difficult to keep fit -  catch 22!   Thankfully he looks and moves much better now!

I find the tone of some of the criticism on here slightly disturbing. None of us know Marks state of health, what he eats, his weight, etc.

As for him stating he's lazy - a self deprecating manner is a well known character trait of the British psyche. I'm pretty sure that you could find lots of people who would praise Marks work ethic. His comments have always been a way of deflecting attention. and having run my own recording studio for numerous years I can tell you that real laziness will get you nowhere in that environment.

Given that we don't know the intimate ins and outs of Marks life perhaps as reasonable human beings we should be giving the benefit of the doubt, rather than becoming little Rudigers....   

[superval99]

I'm happy for Mark that he both looks and sounds better now. As you've mentioned, seeing him at the beginning of the tour was quite a shock. I'm very surprised, though, that it took almost the entire tour before he got in shape. I hope he/they have learned a lesson for the future, that they need to start preparations way earlier. This past year was very busy for him, with the album, Local Hero, tour planning, and so on. Maybe time to do less at his age?

He won't learn; Tracker tour was just the same.  A bit less obvious due to his age perhaps but still the same.  Also in 2013...

For a guy who doesn't have to have a tight schedule, this is just odd. Two to three months earlier, he should get on a diet, get in good physical shape, sit down with the guitar three hours a day to loosen up those digits. It's not like he's going to play three nights at a pub with Steve Philips; we're talking world tour, costly, first-rate production, expensive tickets, high expectations and more. I don't get it. Does he over-estimate himself? Doesn't he care?

He didn't seem a well man at the end of 2018 and, by his appearance at that time, he seemed to be on some kind of medication.   If a person isn't well it's very difficult to keep fit -  catch 22!   Thankfully he looks and moves much better now!

I find the tone of some of the criticism on here slightly disturbing. None of us know Marks state of health, what he eats, his weight, etc.

As for him stating he's lazy - a self deprecating manner is a well known character trait of the British psyche. I'm pretty sure that you could find lots of people who would praise Marks work ethic. His comments have always been a way of deflecting attention. and having run my own recording studio for numerous years I can tell you that real laziness will get you nowhere in that environment.

Given that we don't know the intimate ins and outs of Marks life perhaps as reasonable human beings we should be giving the benefit of the doubt, rather than becoming little Rudigers....

Totally agree!          We have discussed this very recently at length.

[hunter]

I, for one, don't mean it as criticism, but the whole thing perplexes me, and I believe we are free to ask questions here? My point is that Mark is fully aware that he's no longer 40, 50 or even 60, so you'd think he'd take that into consideration before embarking on a costly world tour. Especially since he is such quality-conscious person. However, if there were health issues, of which we know nothing about, that is a different story. And kudos to him for keeping on, despite a somewhat sluggish start, and ending on a high note (no pun intended). These last few shows he has definitely shown that he still got it, which bodes well for the future then. Hopefully, he'll stay healthy and maybe reduce his schedule a little.

[dmg]

I, for one, don't mean it as criticism, but the whole thing perplexes me, and I believe we are free to ask questions here? My point is that Mark is fully aware that he's no longer 40, 50 or even 60, so you'd think he'd take that into consideration before embarking on a costly world tour. Especially since he is such quality-conscious person. However, if there were health issues, of which we know nothing about, that is a different story. And kudos to him for keeping on, despite a somewhat sluggish start, and ending on a high note (no pun intended). These last few shows he has definitely shown that he still got it, which bodes well for the future then. Hopefully, he'll stay healthy and maybe reduce his schedule a little.

Mark could use one of his old motorcycles as an analogy:  it may take longer to kick-start into life than the newer models and even once it does get going it isn't as rapid, however once up and running you soon realise they don't make them the way they used to!

[jbaent]

I'm happy for Mark that he both looks and sounds better now. As you've mentioned, seeing him at the beginning of the tour was quite a shock. I'm very surprised, though, that it took almost the entire tour before he got in shape. I hope he/they have learned a lesson for the future, that they need to start preparations way earlier. This past year was very busy for him, with the album, Local Hero, tour planning, and so on. Maybe time to do less at his age?

He won't learn; Tracker tour was just the same.  A bit less obvious due to his age perhaps but still the same.  Also in 2013...

For a guy who doesn't have to have a tight schedule, this is just odd. Two to three months earlier, he should get on a diet, get in good physical shape, sit down with the guitar three hours a day to loosen up those digits. It's not like he's going to play three nights at a pub with Steve Philips; we're talking world tour, costly, first-rate production, expensive tickets, high expectations and more. I don't get it. Does he over-estimate himself? Doesn't he care?

He didn't seem a well man at the end of 2018 and, by his appearance at that time, he seemed to be on some kind of medication.   If a person isn't well it's very difficult to keep fit -  catch 22!   Thankfully he looks and moves much better now!

I find the tone of some of the criticism on here slightly disturbing. None of us know Marks state of health, what he eats, his weight, etc.

As for him stating he's lazy - a self deprecating manner is a well known character trait of the British psyche. I'm pretty sure that you could find lots of people who would praise Marks work ethic. His comments have always been a way of deflecting attention. and having run my own recording studio for numerous years I can tell you that real laziness will get you nowhere in that environment.

Given that we don't know the intimate ins and outs of Marks life perhaps as reasonable human beings we should be giving the benefit of the doubt, rather than becoming little Rudigers....

It depends how you take it...

From my point of view, we are not judging, but giving our impressions on what we see/hear. We don't say he's sick and having medication, we say he might be sick (or not) and having medication (or not) as a possible explanation on the physical condition that he shows nowadays, different from the past.

We are just talking, not judging.

If we can only talk about facts, we can close the door, as we won't have many things to talk about.

[dmg]

It depends how you take it...

From my point of view, we are not judging, but giving our impressions on what we see/hear. We don't say he's sick and having medication, we say he might be sick (or not) and having medication (or not) as a possible explanation on the physical condition that he shows nowadays, different from the past.

We are just talking, not judging.

If we can only talk about facts, we can close the door, as we won't have many things to talk about.
[/quote]

Personally I feel rather uncomfortable discussing such things if it's mere speculation.

[Knut]

If we can't speculate, then we can't assume his health is any worse than before, either. We can't speculate on why he drops TR, or why he doesn't play Sultans backwards, we can only state the facts and ask questions.

It seems alot easier to speculate when the speculation is in Marks favor rather than not. Like, we can speculate in bad health (which would be a valid excuse for certain choices that most of us don't like), but speculations on him being lazy or not caring enough is all of a sudden "something else". I think we should treat Mark as a human being, and not some God who cannot make mistakes (apart from greenies).

[jbaent]

If we can't speculate, then we can't assume his health is any worse than before, either. We can't speculate on why he drops TR, or why he doesn't play Sultans backwards, we can only state the facts and ask questions.

It seems alot easier to speculate when the speculation is in Marks favor rather than not. Like, we can speculate in bad health (which would be a valid excuse for certain choices that most of us don't like), but speculations on him being lazy or not caring enough is all of a sudden "something else". I think we should treat Mark as a human being, and not some God who cannot make mistakes (apart from greenies).

 

[2manyguitars]

If we can't speculate, then we can't assume his health is any worse than before, either. We can't speculate on why he drops TR, or why he doesn't play Sultans backwards, we can only state the facts and ask questions.

It seems alot easier to speculate when the speculation is in Marks favor rather than not. Like, we can speculate in bad health (which would be a valid excuse for certain choices that most of us don't like), but speculations on him being lazy or not caring enough is all of a sudden "something else". I think we should treat Mark as a human being, and not some God who cannot make mistakes (apart from greenies).

 

We can comment on/discuss to our hearts content on what we see and hear. That's great.
Once you start speculating on someone's health, state of mind,  that's difficult territory and I think if we do tread there then we should do so very lightly with carefully chosen language, and ultimately respect. Perhaps it's me, or perhaps it's a language barrier issue  but sometimes it seems that this is lacking.

Put yourself in the position of stumbling across a discussion about yourself and ask how you would react to a bunch of strangers questioning your motives in such a way....

[jbaent]

If we can't speculate, then we can't assume his health is any worse than before, either. We can't speculate on why he drops TR, or why he doesn't play Sultans backwards, we can only state the facts and ask questions.

It seems alot easier to speculate when the speculation is in Marks favor rather than not. Like, we can speculate in bad health (which would be a valid excuse for certain choices that most of us don't like), but speculations on him being lazy or not caring enough is all of a sudden "something else". I think we should treat Mark as a human being, and not some God who cannot make mistakes (apart from greenies).

 

We can comment on/discuss to our hearts content on what we see and hear. That's great.
Once you start speculating on someone's health, state of mind,  that's difficult territory and I think if we do tread there then we should do so very lightly with carefully chosen language, and ultimately respect. Perhaps it's me, or perhaps it's a language barrier issue  but sometimes it seems that this is lacking.

Put yourself in the position of stumbling across a discussion about yourself and ask how you would react to a bunch of strangers questioning your motives in such a way....

To me it's clearly a language barrier. In Spanish we don't have that "thin sensibility" and normal talking is clear when you are just having an opinion guessing, and when you are talking about true facts. And that's the way we talk in other languages too, we try to adapt, but that's what we do naturally without all that issues... if you know what I mean. We go straight, we don't walk in circles 

[2manyguitars]

If we can't speculate, then we can't assume his health is any worse than before, either. We can't speculate on why he drops TR, or why he doesn't play Sultans backwards, we can only state the facts and ask questions.

It seems alot easier to speculate when the speculation is in Marks favor rather than not. Like, we can speculate in bad health (which would be a valid excuse for certain choices that most of us don't like), but speculations on him being lazy or not caring enough is all of a sudden "something else". I think we should treat Mark as a human being, and not some God who cannot make mistakes (apart from greenies).

 

We can comment on/discuss to our hearts content on what we see and hear. That's great.
Once you start speculating on someone's health, state of mind,  that's difficult territory and I think if we do tread there then we should do so very lightly with carefully chosen language, and ultimately respect. Perhaps it's me, or perhaps it's a language barrier issue  but sometimes it seems that this is lacking.

Put yourself in the position of stumbling across a discussion about yourself and ask how you would react to a bunch of strangers questioning your motives in such a way....

To me it's clearly a language barrier. In Spanish we don't have that "thin sensibility" and normal talking is clear when you are just having an opinion guessing, and when you are talking about true facts. And that's the way we talk in other languages too, we try to adapt, but that's what we do naturally without all that issues... if you know what I mean. We go straight, we don't walk in circles 

But Jbaent, wold you think it fair if I were to speculate on why in my opinion your recent posts on amit have not been up to your old standard  and then speculate that you may be too old to type, to lazy to construct meaningful dialogue, or to fat to sit at the computer! 

Sorry, just made myself laugh.

Serious point though...

[jbaent]

But Jbaent, wold you think it fair if I were to speculate on why in my opinion your recent posts on amit have not been up to your old standard  and then speculate that you may be too old to type, to lazy to construct meaningful dialogue, or to fat to sit at the computer! 

Sorry, just made myself laugh.

Serious point though...

If you were a fan of my posts and there are clear signs than my posts are even more stupid that usually are, I consider that is fair as you are worrying about me, as a fan 

If you say directly that instead of speculating, that's close to insult, as far as you don't know the facts and you can asseverate about it.