what the heck is going on with holdsworth????

[mentoneman]

i saw him at the sabian event last NAMM and he was not on his game, super sloppy and confused, a first in my experience after seeing him live 7-8 times over the last 25 years or so, but this clip is really concerning me, especially at 1:30:

anyone know if he's got real health issues or is the glug glug starting to permanently dull the legato warrior's blade ala eddie's dark years?

 

[glpg80]

Seems like motor control issues to me - i believe it could be health related. He seems to be struggling with the tune even from the start - holding a note for a full 4/4 count.

I hope he is not drinking and mixing medication with it. Shit will rot you inside out. Drinking is fine but not with medication. Excessive drinking mixed with medication is suicide.

 

[sandman]

dementia? ischemic stroke? booze? pills? ...something is wrong

 

[chumbucket]

What are those pedals that he has laid out in front of him?

 

[mentoneman]

What are those pedals that he has laid out in front of him?

yamaha magic stomps and sometimes ud stomp delays


here's a better day for the maestro after the zappa gig, with jimmy johnson and chad wackerman at the potato so all is not lost:

and with haslip and donati in may, even more recent and cleaner:

 

[Blix]

I saw him here in Oslo a couple months ago, definitively no issues luckily.

 

[Blix]

BTW I recorded most of the concert, check it out here:

 

[Bob Savage]

He's smashed. Alcohol alone can do that to you... Although it takes a shload of it.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

no clue but Holdsworth lost me way back when when he started the whole synth axe phase...

 

[King Guitar]

i never got him...

 

[yngzaklynch]

Sloopy and confused... thats jazz. j/k

 

[carlygtr]

Well, judging by the fact that the "later" vids of him show no issues, he was either drunk (hard to believe) or he was lost. He doesn't strike me as a jammer. He looked like he didn't know what key to play in.

 

[mentoneman]

He's smashed. Alcohol alone can do that to you... Although it takes a shload of it.

he's notorious for that issue but i've never seen it manifest in his playing like this

 

[TrueTone500]

i never got him...

+1

 

[mentoneman]

no clue but Holdsworth lost me way back when when he started the whole synth axe phase...

that was kinda different-i resented it at first-but he was happy and ripping on it and understood the reason

 

[mentoneman]

i never got him...

+1

it took a while for me but he's one of the greatest who influenced vh, lane, ej, yngwie, guthrie, bill connors, keaggy, gambale, henderson, and a who's who of modern players who all call him the best

 

[tripstan]

Love Holdsworth but something was definitely up, looks lost more than anything. Maybe the old jazzer got stoned for the first time in 20 yrs? The new breed of pot isn't your Dads stash. Stoned or drunk is what I call. It did kinda remind me of the EVH dark years.

 

[Bob Savage]

he's notorious for that issue but i've never seen it manifest in his playing like this

There are points where he's looking at Dweezil or others and his eyes are giving it away for me along with his motor skills. Looks like lots of ales that night or alcohol mixed with something else that compounded it.

 

[Ventura]

Seems to me he's trying to go the full-jazz route on the base song itself. It's not meshing well. Outside of this, ya, he does seem to be struggling a bit with wherever it is he's trying to take that extra sonic layer. Watching Dweezil is always a good indication as to whether or not the song is "on", and in this case, it looks as though even he is trying to figure out where AH is trying to take it. Being liquored? Maybe. Although Dweezil, much like his dad, wouldn't tolerate that state on stage if it compromised the show.

Just my 2 cents. And for the record, the above video represents about 50% of the exposure I've had to AH. Simply haven't been a fan of his stuff, but that's neither here nor there. It is what it is.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

today's pot is getting stronger and stronger that's for sure..I'm sure our good buddy Luke could tell us a thing or two about that. I never god Holdsworth either.. fine player though. Def. loaded here though. I doubt he'd be that lost in a jam.