How long has Frankie Valli been lip synching his concerts?

Well, this thread took a turn from where I left it this morning!

I understand that people don't like miming, but there is some vitriol in here.

I had assumed before seeing Frankie Valli live for the first time this century, a few years back, that he would likely be miming and still took my family along. Sure enough, he was, but not one of my family noticed and the comments around me suggested very few others noticed either. They all left that evening *knowing* they had seen Frankie Valli live and potentially, as it does for my family, that means a great deal. Would they feel the same way had they just witnessed an 80 year old man unable to hit half the notes his music is famous for? I doubt it, but I could be wrong as I'm not them.

There are certain cases when the show is bigger than the individual parts and this is possibly one of those occasions. Could I watch Neil Young mime? Absolutely not. But that is the difference between musician and entertainer potentially. Frankie is an entertainer whose output happens to be his voice, and when that's gone you either stop or amend the output to keep the show on the road. And that is what he's done here.

I do, however, understand the argument of feeling cheated if not aware of the miming in advance of purchasing tickets. I do feel that could potentially be more widely advised prior than it is, if it is at all. I would also say, though, that many classic and current rock acts today use pre-recorded tracks of some kind in their live performance, just perhaps not lead vocal.

 

I would rather see a poor performance anyday over lip-syncing. I fall into the category of Lip-syncing is not acceptable for any reason. Concerts are too.dang expensive for a performer to pull that crap! I also feel that autotune is wrong as well. I want a 100% live performance warts and all!

 

That brings up a question: is the band also miming? Or do they have in-ear monitors with a click track and his voice?

 

I dunno- do I want to see a guitarist mime a solo at a show - the voice is the guys instrument, weird to me. That's when it's time to hang it up. Brian Wilson simply doesn't sing the parts he can't - others do it for him. I wonder if Frankie considered that

 

Well said. Even though I don't agree with what Frankie is doing, you make a balanced and respectful argument. Unlike some others, insinuating that anyone who has a problem with an 84 year old man charging good money to see him lip sync is an *******.

 

For myself, now that I know he is lip synching, I won't pay to see him "perform" (and indeed I planned to do so next chance I got, having gotten into a bit of a swing with the Seasons after a lifetime of not being that interested in them.)

That said, I saw Bennett a few months ago for the first time and, unless he too is being sneaky, it is absolutely true that even men over 90 are still capable of singing professionally. I was unaware how old he really was, and once i learned expected a show of mostly talking thru old stories or whatever, but no, he stands there for about an hour and just non stop sings, and while i am no scholar so don't know if he's hitting the recording quality, i can say that what he tried to go for note or rangewise, 90 percent of the time he hit it just right. (Again, if he's taped, then never mind. It didn't seem like it.)

 

Well..... let's say you have 120 ticket holders in a side conference room before the concert and you yourself walk in and you lay it out like above to them and then they reply to you, "yeah, we know he lip syncs cuz we read about it on the Hoffman board and in the concert review in the newspaper from last time he was here.... but we like Frankie and still bought the tickets you see in our hands and we still intend to walk in there and watch his show in a few minutes and probably do it again next year if he and us are all alive ..."

What's the plan for the next step? Berate the ticket buyers for having no scruples? Tell the 70-yr old ticket holders they should be over at a Tony Bennett show? What if they say, "But Tony doesn't sing "Sherry"?

You're (well not just you) are fighting a no-win battle. I wouldn't go see Frankie at this point, but hey.... as long as fans are buying tickets and not asking for refunds.... whaddya gonna do? Put everyone over 75 in camps like in Wild in the Streets so that you don't have to deal with them?

This kind of topic is sort of like "should the Shirelles be out there on tour".

You either go see this stuff or you don't.

 

Well, I’d be ok with it if it was advertised as such.

Couple of my friends saw Dolly Parton a few years ago. She was lip syncing the whole time. She even faked playing a sax!

 

I guess you have never visited China, or have never endured karaoke while there. Trust me -- reverence, and singing closely to the original are not components of the Chinese karaoke experience. The main ingredients are alcohol, loudness, and being wildly off key.

 

There's retirement. He's 84.

My mom sang in a church choir for years. Quit that at about 80. Didn't feel she could do it any more.

Honestly, his big songs were 40 and 50 years ago. All of his fans have had decades to see him.

Really surprised, and disappointed, that so many are cheering this on.

 

Not quite sure how taking issue with Frankie misleading the public Has anything to do with wanting to “put away everyone over 75”. You don’t get very far misrepresenting the other side’s argument to the extreme. It’d be nice to have a civil back and forth discussion. I respect if someone has no problem with this musically BUT it’s not cool the fakery of it all.

 

This thread feels like I am at a Franki Valli concert with a bunch of grumpy old people finding a way to not have a good time.

 

Sit down, I can’t see!

 

Genuine imitation singing

 

I know a few people who saw Frankie, and a few weeks later another group who were able to see one night in the first ten rows. They were shocked as it did appear to be an entire lip-sync performed concert.

Example:

Pay for a lip-sync Opera performance. The performer can't hit the range/s anymore, but they are a long popular Opera draw....

Curious, how others look at it.

 

To me time to rest on your laurels. Take pride in how good you were. At 80 plus he is eons better than some younger 'artists" that always lip synced. Time to take it easy.

 

Next up, Frankie Vanilli sings "Big Girls Don't You Know It's True".

Carry on.


Dan

 

WOW! This seems to be the sentiment of many in this thread...

I think good points have been made on both sides... I just wanted to say that "retirement" looks different for those in the entertainment industry. There is no pension. And I highly doubt Philips or Vee-Jay offered a 401K plan in the '60s.

People see these aging entertainers as elites profiting off of our hard-earned money. When in reality, the tides of the entertainment industry have been particularly unkind to this generation of artists. And most of us on this forum are probably in a better financial situation than the artists we claim to support.

 

You haven't really grabbed the concept of how a forum works have you?

 

sounding pretty good here, don't see any lip-synching on this one:

 

afterwards please come back and post how the show was. she is not hitting our area. major bummer.

 

Except, of course, someone in their 20s... like me.

 

Wayne Newton still does shows in Las Vegas. His voice is shot and his shows consist of him reminiscing and telling stories about his career. He knows he can't sing any more and doesn't pretend to.

 

I give him a pass.

I think most of them do it to a certain extent.

 

I saw him as a guest with Manhattan Transfer in maybe 1985, and he couldn't hit the high notes then.