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Brad's Voice

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:05 am
by lucasdavidsamuels
so i've been listening to some 2002-2003 shows and brad's voice sounds great and youthful, he's even hitting those high notes in weight of solomon, i realize its been like 6 years but even so

has his voice changed so much cause of all the butts? in lots of recent shows he sounds like he's totally straining it, it would be a shame to see him pull a Phil Lesh and no longer be able to sing at all (although Phil sings now but he his 0 vocal range)

to his credit, there are some later shows where his voice sounds great, not too much vocal range but great none the less

anyways i would hate to see the slip have to pull in an outside singer, it just wouldnt be the same

any thoughts?

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:31 am
by bear
It seems to me that as the tours get longer, his voice gets shittier. Just wear and tear on from singing night after night. I think his voice sounded great on the Super Little shows and at the Matt Murphy's show I saw last October (Granted those are more folkier shows with less rock style singing). Both were while he wasn't on tour. Just a thought. It also amazes me that he can pull off Robert Plant and Roger Daltrey vocal lines (sometimes), that shit is hard!
Nathan mentioned the same thing in Burlington that after a week of shows everyday his voice hurt and felt strained. For example he didn't even attempt to do the high falsetto line "Try me, Try Me" of the weed plant's voice in "Talkin Walkin Round Town Blues".

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:37 pm
by lucasdavidsamuels
yah it is really weird, i mean at bonnaroo he fucking nailed every note of Heartbreaker, yet he often botches the ending high note on airplane/primitive, but often nails baba o'riley

but the wear and tear is definitily a huge factor for everyone i suppose, i know after singing a few songs just jamming with my buddys my throat fucking killsss

i feel like he could really benefit off some vocal lessons (assuming he doesnt have them) it did wonders for Anthony Kiedes who used to sound like shit live and now sings consistently well.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:45 pm
by harrymcq
His voice was pretty ragged about this time last year at the Indy shows. I would guess all of the above: cigs, wear and tear & maybe straining from trying to sing out of his range. It was a bit better later on that summer tour I thought. Last time I saw him on the Mr. Davis west coast run in December it seemed pretty good at first (though he mostly does backing vox. with Davis) but was a bit ragged by the Yankee show with Nathan. I know those guys were partying all night which probably can't help either...

I wasn't at the Super Little gig but listening to the tapes I have thought to myself more than once how sweet his voice sounds so it's obviously not gone which is a very very good thing!

Another reason why the Slip hiatus may be a good thing?

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 3:29 pm
by putty
i've never considered brad to having a good voice anyway. i've always loved the way it sounds, though, because it's the slip. and i love the slip. but technically speaking, he's never had a dynamic singing voice.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:30 pm
by lucasdavidsamuels
yah he does sound great on the Super Little recording, Brad's voice is perfect for that laid back type of folk rock that they played
i havent stopped listening to that show the songs are all golden, they really should put out a record

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:57 pm
by bear
I think Brad has a great voice.... he's just not a very good singer

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:15 pm
by GeMeNeYe
Is this the show y'all's talkin about?

I'm looking forward to it!

http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=512876

Super Little
1/16/08
Le Divan Orange, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Brad Barr (vocals, guitar, effects)
Andrew Barr (drums & percussion)
Jeff Louch (keyboards)
Sarah Pagé (harp & backing vocals)
Miles Perkin (upright bass & backing vocals)

Source Info:
AT853rx (sub-card) > Oade ACM PMD660 > FLAC
Taped by Blane of Montreal

Disc 1
1. "Was That So Long Ago?"
2. "Blacktop Bleeding"
3. War
4. Monster (a.k.a. Beggar in the Morning)
5. Deacon's Son
6. Sarah Through The Wall
7. Ooh Belle
8. The Devil's Harp
9. unknown new
10. Happy Snails

Disc 2
1. Suffocation Keep
2. Let There Be Horses
3. brad's arrest story
4. Nowhere From Here To Go (Nathan Moore)

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:50 am
by lucasdavidsamuels
ya GeM that's the show, enjoy it

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:58 pm
by tyler
off topic but is there anyway someone could Sendspace me that Super Little show or any other one in mp3 form? Torrents pretty much just don't work at all on my school's network.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:39 pm
by lucasdavidsamuels
tyler ill sendspace it for ya at some point tonight dude

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:51 pm
by lucasdavidsamuels

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:21 pm
by tyler
you're a legend, thanks!

regarding the actual topic, i'm in agreement that it's based on how much voice fatigue he's got from tour.

maybe to alleviate this they should have Marc sing lead for a show sometime.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:02 pm
by bear
Ha! I would choose Andrew over Marc... no offense Marc

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:41 pm
by lucasdavidsamuels
realistically what i think the best choice would is for them to start playing a few more instrumental pieces in their setlists in order to give brad a chance to rest his voice
i have a feeling the High Sierra setlist is going to be very interesting...