Wow I always feel astonished by people willing to watch OM not live, takes lots of time and dedication to go through our struggles I am sure 
thanks Richard for such a nice words! I vaguely recall the post will have to revisit before old forum is closed down for good!
I hate to tell you Richard but I hope to slightly diverse my vocal picks for perhaps next event 
will see how it goes with bit more than 1 month to go! 
thanks again!
Thank you Richard and much appreciatedā¦as you might guess one of 4-5 60s songs weāre adding to the band set. This one sounds a lot better in those choruses with some harmonies from Lisaā¦itās actually a really fun song to play and sing.
More listening ā¦
Oh yeah ā¦ Babylon. You captured so much of what makes this song timeless Stefan ā¦ the cool laid-back groove, the intimate vocal, the emotion. What a first performance. Loved it. Youāve played in earnest for what, a year or thereabouts? Good going.
Did something just happen? OMG. Inventively-creatively-tremendously-artistically-stupendously-enjoyable.
Now donāt get me started on that chord progression, it could lead to an ever-expanding topic on chords and keys and fifths and borrowing and minor / major interchange hahaha.
John, you must have been watching and thinking to yourself āholy macaroni ā¦ how the heck do I follow that?ā But you did it and you did it in fine style. Blackbird is satisfying to play. Make this a return-to tune over the coming years and develop with it, grow into it. Youāre doing just great. To choose this piece as a first live performance is a really gutsy one. Bravo. And yes, I have just got to the end and you called it right ā play through any fumbles.
Thank you Richard. The problem was I could not hear 70% of the sound I was playing (and no not volume, content !), so it was literally blind panic playing having reconfigured the whole set up and rewired and re-levelled on the fly, literally as David and Rob were playing - I hit a wall of interference in the green room soundcheck and when Jason finished I was about to stand down. A pro would have smiled and carried on as if nothing was wrong. 
Above and beyond as always, Richard, despite all that is going on you give of yourself to watch the āconcert filmā and offer feedback and encouragement thoughtfully. You are truly a remarkable man, words express my appreciation inadequately.
As for your feedback ā¦
Oh good, glad to have delivered a surprise. Subsequent to the OM, after a few folk mentioned Metallica playing it, I shared some renditions in What are you listening to. I think fair to say, but maybe Iāll draw some friendly fire, covering Think Lizzyās intrepretation, which I base on the lyrics. No idea where Lizzyās lyrics came from since the other more folk/traditional artists, The Pogues and Dubliners, and a few others have different lyrics which is what I assume led to the āobscure lyricsā comment.
As for ārearranged the vocal phrasingā of Only Love ā¦ itās probably not quelle surprise for me to say ārearrangedā is not really the appropriate word. To me that would imply a measure of thoughtfulness and intent in the phrasing, which naturally was not there. I just sung it the best way I could and still try to maintain the strumming pattern, not add or subtract beats, sing with reasonable pitch and tone, and try to make it feel good. One might call it a happy accident that it worked out well, and Iāll accept that slowly slowly my ability to play and sing gets just a little better.
Thanks again!
@Richard_close2u Thanks for the listen and the comments Richard. David Gray has to be one of my favourite artists.
Iāll have been playing a year this coming May.
Thanks Richard. As further motivation to spend some time with Elliott Smith, in one recent video Justin mentions that he has Elliott in his top 3 all time songwriters. Also the favourite artist of Sean Daniel (notable acoustic player and Youtuber).
Iām privileged in having lots of opportunities to pick up the guitar throughout my day, giving lots of opportunity to automate that bouncing thumb technique. Itās really all about hours invested for finger picking I think.
Back to the final listen through ā¦
@Mari63
I vaguely know John Cougar Mellencamp as he had a big hit with Jack and Diane. It had a lot of radio play in the UK and the DJs did use the āCougarā part of his name all the time. Iin that song I was always intrigued by the line āLife goes on, long after the thrill of living is goneā and its ambiguities.
A fine performance all-round, most impressive were the transitions. You effortlessly and seamlessly went from energetic strumming to pumping 8ths then, with great aplomb, straight back in to arpeggiated picking. That takes some work to get right and it is all too easy to go from strumming to picking and end up hitting the wrong strings in the transition. You didnāt, you hit them bang on. Good stuff.
@skeletor83
David, Iām not even going to go within a mile of technique critique and thoughts of ambitious song choice. Iām simply going to commend you for giving such an enjoyable account of your guitar journey and an absolutely full-tilt 100%+ energetic frenetic rock ānā roll extravaganza. As someone on the mic said - performance with a P.
@JakAngelescu
Jak & Holly.
You look very comfortable, settled and relaxed playing and singing together and the smiling and fun show youāre enjoying it. Jak, I notice you switched between classical position for the 1st fingerstyle song and conventional for the strummed 2nd song, thatās a great versatility to have for the songās needs. All three songs were performed really well. Good stuff.
@Rossco01
Back to Jason for the closer ā¦ Not Blur - Song 2 (I think Tobyās ribald comment got missed in the flow of things) but The Housemartins. I love me some Paul Heaton songs ā¦ catchy melodies, great harmonies and gritty kitchen-sink drama lyrics. One of my favourites ā¦ āI want my sun-drenched wind-swept Ingrid Bergman kiss, not in the next life, I want it in thisā¦ā
You did great on this one too. Your performance-confidence has grown so much in the last year or two.
@Richard_close2u Thank you for your feedback. Yes,it was my first live performance and one that I certainly learn from.
The good thing, is that I feel more confident in my playing and I am looking forward to perform again at another OM.
Wonder who the other 2 are? Iād put money on Neil Young being one of them.
Thanks so much for listening to all of us, Richard, and your comments and insights. Yes Jack & Diane was a mega hit here as well, I remember being at some community thing and somebody playing it when I was a teenager - took me many more years to learn it! Lyrics were my first interest for guitar songs when I was growing up, and that line also got me, too. And I agree with David, youāve got so much going on and yet you still have the heart to encourage us. Youāre definitely one of the good guys, Richard.
Iām pretty sure Justin says in his Looking for Saturday Night lesson that Tom Waits is one of his top 3 fave songwriters, so now just to confirm NY or ??? as the last one.
OK, so based on that, Mikeās comment and my speculation Justinās top three songwriters could be:
Elliot Smith, Tom Waits, Neil Young
Had to go looking while Iām having my breakfast ā¦
Justin says in his Between the Bars lesson ā I love Elliott Smith, he might be my favourite writer after Neil Young.ā I think Iām going to have to check out Elliott Smith now!
Ooo,this video makes me nostalgic happy and longing for the past 
ā¦ what a lot of sweet children, having so much fun with each other (where did it go wrong with you . 
ā¦)
Very nice to see, I have to check out some more of that 8mm you posted. 
ā¦ 
ā¦have been āwaitingā for a while, thanks
Thatās my wifeās job 
Haha, this weekās is one of my favourites, but I may have to take them all down now, if we have weirdos like you in the Community 
First,
Bad Brianā¦don`t blame the wife 
And,
Not me 
I donāt blame herā¦ Sheās supposed to figure out where it went wrong. Sheās a psychiatrist 
Ooo,Youāre right, I read it wrong, itās clearly written there 
Useful 