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Does anyone else think Slash guitar-mimed at the Super Bowl?


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We've all heard about the controversy behind RHCP's "mimed" performance. Does anyone else think Slash might have mimed his guitar playing at the Super Bowl? Granted I haven't watched the performance in years, but I think it's very possible that he did. I mean, why would the Super Bowl execs. enact the policy for one short performance by RHCP, but not for a short performance by Slash?

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Possibly. I'm pretty sure every Super Bowl halftime show is just mimed over a recorded rehearsal. It's not like they haul all of that shit out there and do soundcheck, which is absolutely necessary for live music in a large stadium, but there's no time for that. They just set up the stage and lights as fast as possible, do a quick check to make sure everything is plugged in and queued up, press play, and the puppets sing and dance and play guitar, it's really the only way they could possibly pull a production like that off.

That said, it would be a lot easier to mix the guitar live than it would be to mime lead guitar parts, guitarists like Slash barely ever play the exact same thing twice, this is why I doubt a lead guitar player would ever be expected to mime in a live setting. I could be wrong though.

Worth mentioning, if you look at the pictures from the Super Bowl show Slash was in, you can see he's plugged into a wireless rig, whether or not thats just for show... :shrugs:

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Edited by sweetness
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He may or may not have. It is easier to mix in live lead guitar though when everything else is prerecorded.

Thats what I thought. I mean 1. why would Slash show up if it wasn't live and he's just doing a 1 minute guest spot. I guess its good exposure, but he doesn't really need that, and it doesn't seem worth his trouble if he's not even gonna be playing live. And 2. he was one of the few instruments that were part of that show, so with everything being prerecorded I don't see how it would be hard for them to get Slash in live. If it was a bigger band, I would understand, but since his guitar is one of the few live things that would have to be done I don't see why that wouldn't be the case.

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Possibly. I'm pretty sure every Super Bowl halftime show is just mimed over a recorded rehearsal. It's not like they haul all of that shit out there and do soundcheck, which is absolutely necessary for live music in a large stadium, but there's no time for that. They just set up the stage and lights as fast as possible, do a quick check to make sure everything is plugged in and queued up, press play, and the puppets sing and dance and play guitar, it's really the only way they could possibly pull a production like that off.

That said, it would be a lot easier to mix the guitar live than it would be to mime lead guitar parts, guitarists like Slash barely ever play the exact same thing twice, this is why I doubt a lead guitar player would ever be expected to mime in a live setting. I could be wrong though.

Worth mentioning, if you look at the pictures from the Super Bowl show Slash was in, you can see he's plugged into a wireless rig, whether or not thats just for show... :shrugs:

Sorry, i have to call you out on the bolded part of your quote. Slash pretty much plays the same songs and solos, almost note for note, every show. Especially during GNR days post AFD. GnR rarely did any improvising during their songs, and Slash in particular from what I've seen always plays the same stuff.

Admittedly, I lost interest in his music so haven't seen much of him post Snakepit, bar clips here n' there. So maybe he has changed.

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Possibly. I'm pretty sure every Super Bowl halftime show is just mimed over a recorded rehearsal. It's not like they haul all of that shit out there and do soundcheck, which is absolutely necessary for live music in a large stadium, but there's no time for that. They just set up the stage and lights as fast as possible, do a quick check to make sure everything is plugged in and queued up, press play, and the puppets sing and dance and play guitar, it's really the only way they could possibly pull a production like that off.

That said, it would be a lot easier to mix the guitar live than it would be to mime lead guitar parts, guitarists like Slash barely ever play the exact same thing twice, this is why I doubt a lead guitar player would ever be expected to mime in a live setting. I could be wrong though.

Worth mentioning, if you look at the pictures from the Super Bowl show Slash was in, you can see he's plugged into a wireless rig, whether or not thats just for show... :shrugs:

Sorry, i have to call you out on the bolded part of your quote. Slash pretty much plays the same songs and solos, almost note for note, every show. Especially during GNR days post AFD. GnR rarely did any improvising during their songs, and Slash in particular from what I've seen always plays the same stuff.

Admittedly, I lost interest in his music so haven't seen much of him post Snakepit, bar clips here n' there. So maybe he has changed.

Nope. Slash rarely plays his solos note for note live if he does at all, this is the same for any blues based guitarist. Pay closer attention. Granted, he doesn't typically stray far from the studio versions of his solos unless it's a prolonged outro like with Nightrain or something, but guitarists who regularly play their material live always shake things up a bit to keep it fresh, this is pretty common and well understood in the community of rock musicians.

Have you ever listened to live bootlegs of GNR or any of his other projects? I challenge you to find a single example where Slash plays a solo that is 100% note for note as it is on the studio version of the song, shouldn't be too easy.

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Just kind of an overall shit thread, though, innit?

Why the vendetta? I was just speculating based on the RHCP news.

My question now is, why did they force the Chilis to play pre-recorded but let Slash do his thing live? Was he just more insistent? Was it because the Chilis playing as a band would require more setup time than Slash's single guitar rig?

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