Janick joining Maiden

As I have only seen Janick "play" live once in Houston '12 and countless times on videos, and I have been following the band since '84, I have to say that he has excellent stage presence, but I'll be willing to bet that at least 90 percent of the time that he's onstage, hes's faking it. I'm not a Janick hater, actually like the guy, he adds lacking stage presence between the rest of the band other than Bruce, but you can tell he is up there for mainly eye candy. The other guys are cranking out solos and fills while he is spinning like at top, skipping and putting the guitar between his legs. It may be a different story in the studio, but live I can almost bet the farm it's mostly air guitar. As far as him going out of tune, if he has a pedalboard in front of him, he can tune his guitar in less than a minute. I seriously doubt the volume is even turned up for his guitar. If it were, you hear dead notes and string sctratches all over the place. I play guitar myself and I don't have the luxury yet of having a guitar tech. I wear two hats in that department! I am my own tech. I'm not saying I'm an expert, but from my experience playing (especially Maidem tunes), it is my opinion he is faking it most of the time. That all being said, I still admire his creativity in the studio and can't picture them now without him! :)
 
Maiden10_0 said:
It may be a different story in the studio, but live I can almost bet the farm it's mostly air guitar. As far as him going out of tune, if he has a pedalboard in front of him, he can tune his guitar in less than a minute. I seriously doubt the volume is even turned up for his guitar.
Click to expand...

I read an interview with Dave and H in 2006, when AMOLAD was released, and they addressed these rumours. They were offended by the suggestion and stated that it's bullshit and that people will say anything on the internet.
 
Perun said:
I read an interview with Dave and H in 2006, when AMOLAD was released, and they addressed these rumours. They were offended by the suggestion and stated that it's bullshit and that people will say anything on the internet.
Click to expand...
There are also isolated live tracks of Janick you can find on Youtube, where he is very clearly turned up quite loud and is definitely audible.

 
Perun said:
I read an interview with Dave and H in 2006, when AMOLAD was released, and they addressed these rumours. They were offended by the suggestion and stated that it's bullshit and that people will say anything on the internet.
Click to expand...

I totally respect your post and their response! I'm just suggesting that he's not playing fully on every song live. We all know that he is a talented artist and was the replacement for H. He obviously can play, I'm just suggesting that he's not playing live on every single song now that the whole band is back together. Bands will say anything for public relations.... No ill will on my part and I'm not knocking him, I love watching the guy and he adds a dynamic visually to the band that they never had before he arrived. I can't imagine seeing them live without him. In fact, watching the old videos of Maiden England and LAD, he is sorely missed!
 
I can really only say what they said, and draw on my own experience at a number of Maiden gigs - namely the moments when Janick clearly playing solos of songs such as Powerslave or Blood Brothers, that genuinely wowed me. It was clearly and distinctly Jan playing there, and he is a brilliant live guitarist.
 
Lego said:
There are also isolated live tracks of Janick you can find on Youtube, where he is very clearly turned up quite loud and is definitely audible.

Click to expand...

It's funny, because during live shows, Fear Of The Dark's intro is the only thing I can point to to say yes he is actuall playing that. That goes for other mellow intros for other songs that he plays as well...
 
Perun said:
I can really only say what they said, and draw on my own experience at a number of Maiden gigs - namely the moments when Janick clearly playing solos of songs such as Powerslave or Blood Brothers, that genuinely wowed me. It was clearly and distinctly Jan playing there, and he is a brilliant live guitarist.
Click to expand...

You have to realize, I've only seen maiden twice in my life... Once in '88 in New Orleans and again in '12 for the Show in Houston! :). I am in no position to point out what or when he actually plays, but it just seems to me that now that the whole band are together, they share the duties on different songs and he makes the most out of it with his onstage antics. I personally love the guy and think he adds a lot of versatility to Maiden, I'm just willing to bet he's more of a creative beast in the studio rather than onstage! :)
 
Perun said:
I can really only say what they said, and draw on my own experience at a number of Maiden gigs - namely the moments when Janick clearly playing solos of songs such as Powerslave or Blood Brothers, that genuinely wowed me. It was clearly and distinctly Jan playing there, and he is a brilliant live guitarist.
Click to expand...
Seeing/hearind his lead and solo in Blood Brothers in 2010 was definitely a highlight of the show. Probably one of the coolest moments I've ever experienced at a concert.
 
Lego said:
Seeing/hearind his lead and solo in Blood Brothers in 2010 was definitely a highlight of the show. Probably one of the coolest moments I've ever experienced at a concert.
Click to expand...

Blood Brothers was quite special on that tour, seeing as it was before this song Bruce chose to pay tribute to Ronnie James Dio. It set a quite special atmosphere for the song, and (at least at the show I attended) it seemed like this atmosphere was just as real for the band as it was for us.
 
Maiden10_0 said:
I'm just suggesting that he's not playing fully on every song live. . . . I'm just suggesting that he's not playing live on every single song now that the whole band is back together.
Click to expand...

Well, I know he was playing live on every song in 00, 05, 08, 12.
I was camped out in the pit on his side of the stage at shows all 4 of those years. About 5' off the lip of the stage at the first 3 of those shows. With the stage only being about waist-chest high. (last show, stage was much taller, about head high, due to layout of venue and flat floor. So I was farther back in order to see anything)
Anyway, I could see him playing the notes on the guitar, and hear them coming out the PA and/or his monitor.
So I can say for a fact that those shows he played live the whole night. Occasional missed notes and all.
I will note that there are times it seems like they turn him down in the mix coming through the PA. There have been many times where I've heard things at the show that must have been coming through his monitor because they weren't picked up by bootleg recordings. Which tend to capture what is coming from the stacks.
 
We've had a similar discussion elsewhere, haven't we? About how on some of the '80s songs, particularly the ones not played during the Murray/Gers era, Janick appears to just play a root note, during verses particularly. However, that is still playing live! With three guitars each guitarist must be more restrained and selective in what they play to avoid the whole thing sounding like aural porridge. This is less of an issue for the reunion-era songs which were written for three guitars, but for the '80s stuff it would be, I would think, a bad idea for everyone to play everything.

I'm less of a fan of Jan than the other two, but I love the attitude and presence he brings to the stage. He is an entertainer and a musician.
 
TAY666 said:
I will note that there are times it seems like they turn him down in the mix coming through the PA. There have been many times where I've heard things at the show that must have been coming through his monitor because they weren't picked up by bootleg recordings. Which tend to capture what is coming from the stacks.
Click to expand...

This is something different, though. A live gig gets mixed from the sound desk. There are moments when certain instruments are turned down in favour of others, and not everything has the same volume at all time. For example, a guitar will be at lower volume during a verse while Bruce is singing and then be put in the centre of the mix during a solo. However, each musician gets his own monitor so he can hear what he's playing, and this has nothing to do with the sound mix the audience gets to hear. That's a perfectly normal procedure for any gig and any band and has nothing to do with a systematic policy of "turning Janick down" as has been suggested.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top