I think this just explains Al's different personality very well. For what i can see he is SUPER accurate about his music and has a great ear for music. Because of all this he will get extremely irritated by someone whistling loud and in a wrong key while he is playing his music because it just sticks out so much. Might be a little bit diva behaviour, but so it is from the part of those damn whistlers who don't take his words seriously!
I like Al DiMeola. I don't know what it's like being on the road.....performing like he does. I've seen him perform several times....and he always comported himself and related well to the audience. I hope to see him again soon.
Ehhh. He never really struck me as a "talented" musician; just highly skilled. Although he always had superb guitar technique, his music, IMO, lacked harmonic color and melody, which is why he mostly appealed to just guitar players.
Anyone who sides with the crowd and thinks that Di Meola was being a Pompous ass, has no understanding of real music. Rests, pauses, decrescendos and down tempo parts are important elements in a piece of music. If you fill those quiet moments with loud, shrill whistling, then you're changing the music. This isn't a Kiss concert. You paid good money to hear a classically trained, Jazz/Classical virtuoso guitarist and then you drown him out with loud whistling. Now tell me who's the D-bag here?
I would say Al Di is the douche bag here. As you said yourself, those people paid good money to see him, which pays his fee and his musicians too. So what if they just expressed approval of his playing? The asshole should have just continued playing.
@@lwmson Well, paying for one's ticket works both ways, doesn't it? The vast majority of paying audience members don't really want to listen to a bunch of drunk people scream, talk loudly, whistle and sing every lyric terribly, through an entire concert. It has long been tolerated by us concert goers, to the point where it now seems acceptable to those people who are socially inept, but that doesn't mean, it was never douchey. It has always been douchey. Guys who practically yell at each other in order to hold long, drawn out conversations about their stupid Bro shit, during the quieter sections and instrumentals, are douchebags. Women, who spend half of a concert, loudly yammering to their girlfriends on their cellphones are douchebags. Drunken dudes who live in a fantasy world where they think they can sing like Freddy Mercury at the top of their lungs during every song, are douchebags. People who hold brightly lit cellphones over their heads for an entire concert, so that, looking around other people's heads is no longer an option and now we have to also find the tiny viewing cracks, between a sea of glaring cellphones, just so that those rude people can watch 5 minutes of their shitty quality, 2 hour video, only one time in their entire lives, are douchebags. And people who never know when to stop cheering and whistling during a beautiful audio experience, are douchebags. So, if I have to choose sides between the one douchebag on stage, who is trying to make it so that everyone in the audience can hear him play or between the hundreds of douchebags in the audience who falsely believe that we all paid good money to hear their worthless bullshit for 3 hours, then I'll choose the side of the one douchebag on stage.
@@skybluemarshall Oh come on, man. We're talking about a musical concert played in a large venue, not a movie theater. The music is amplified so loud that it drowns out all those things you mentioned, and had Ali simply ignored what he heard and kept on playing no one would have cared about that minor squealing. But instead he stops, playing stands up, and -- somewhat arrogantly and rudely -- tries to order them to "shut up!" In doing so, he only made the squealing worse.
First time seeing this performance and I love it. Explored some beautiful tonalities with the marimba or whatever it was. Even though it maybe came off obnoxious, he's good at commanding an audience in a way. He caused everyone to focus more intensely. I could see Mozart behaving the same way. As a performer he commands the right to do it on his terms. People got what they paid for...and that is brilliance! I've seen Al in interviews and he puts a high value on focus, something people are usually lacking. He said today when he's recording with musicians, when there's a break everyone runs out into the hallway with their Smartphones- whereas years ago they would all go into the control room together and listen. Totally different world now.
Di Meola is such a badass. I just love how he gets up and starts ripping off these insanely fast licks and how he can be an asshole but such a badass guitarist at the same time. I'm just saying that Al is my hero, the man has inspired me beyond words, when Al is playing "Shut the fuck up or to the little children in the audience, go out in the hallway and play with your toys!" I love how serious he is, this proves why he is one of the best guitarists on the planet.
@Daim0th I've heard that dude when he first came out in the 80's. Al Di Meola improvises over more complex music than Gilbert. John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola were doing those alternate-picking patterns 40 years ago, well before Gilbert, Malmsteen, Batio, et.al hit the scene - when Rockers were still doing simple hammer-ons and pull-offs. Di Meola, more than McLaughlin (John's music is too complex for the average Rocker), was instrumental in the current rash of Metal speedsters.
No my friend it is not.When you have such a sophisticated player as Al on stage that has particularly quiet spots in his pieces,the audience needs to be respectful & cheer at the proper time !
Bobby Dudley Andres Segovia would have given a very nasty look at anyone who dared cough during his performance. Al’s not playing heavy metal, he’s not a sports game, he’s a serious artist and is entitled to expect the audience to cooperate in his performance.
Duly noted Sir. I have not seen him live, nor have I ever interacted with him in any way. Therefore, I must defer to you and your personal firsthand experiences, as carrying greater weight than my passing opinions.
"Short Tales of the Black Forest" one of the greatest songs of all time, too bad there aren't many players as sophisticated and technically proficient like the one and only, Mr. Al Di Meola!
This is a great metaphor (the assholes trying to ruin his performance) for the whole of life on earth right now. Except there are far more assholes. If anyone tries to do something beautiful, that which is wrong does all in it's power to destroy it. When you really set out to work on yourself, those assholes start to come out from all around you.
I was waiting for Al to completely lose it and go bonkers because of all that annoying whistling, but to his credit he shrugs it off and puts on a nice performance.
Di Meola's frustration with his audience disproves my point. I thought he was justa technical player who never thought about musical phrasing. His frustration at the audience stems from his authentic musicality, I would have stopped playing all together if I was as famous as him. In order to play music you need to really hear what you and your group are doing, how the harmonies and interlocking melodies are interacting and such. This happened because many of his fans are metal-heads, sorry, true
I love the comments that all the kiddies give, he might be full of himself, but me as a person that is standing in the audience, I would've literally punched the people that are whistling the whole time, because I would want to enjoy the show as well, Al di just tried to tell that to everyone
People if you were paying attention, when he is "telling off' members of the audience, watch his eyes and face. He was doin all he could not to crack a smile or break out laughing. He was simply engaging the audience and did a great job. The remarks here prove he pulled it off like a true performer.
Audiences can be very rude. Many even believe that they have a right to make as much noise as they wish, because they have paid good money for their entry, regardless of others who have also paid good money to listen to what they have paid for. There are all different kinds of music but when it comes to the more sensitive and delicate emotional styles of music it can be very difficult to perform that kind of music in an environment that is the opposite of that environment. However there will always be those that go to a concert or a performance, who only go to say that they were there, and if asked after what tunes the performer played, they wouldn't have a clue. "You know" is about the best responce you are going to hear from that kind of audience participant.
@Daim0th "Complexity doesn't necessitate skill" True. I find George Benson's traditional Jazz chops more difficult to play than Di Meola, even though Al is clearly the faster of the 2. Classical guitar is 4 times more complex than Al and George put together. However, Flamenco is the most technically difficult style of guitar. The picado runs executed by the likes of Paco De Lucia and Victor Monge can match Al's alternate-picking speed, but with fingers, thus making it 10 times more difficult.
He probably just made things worse by challenging the people whistling. If he had just ignored them, they probably would have stopped early on. Foolishly, he showed anger which just encouraged them. And anyways, some cheering/whistling/etc. by fans goes with the territory.
@toddallenhooper I don't think. I saw him some years ago and we were silent and attentive. I would not have liked it if the guy sitting next to me was constantly whistling. I too would have said "shut up"!
He gets pissy so easy. No wonder I haven't watched much of him. There's classical guitarist that dont do that. He should perform there in a performance hall
@kunjimaniful eh dont say that man, "metal heads" can indeed become masters it all depends on mentality practice passion and creativity. not all metalheads are blockheads that seek to destroy humanity. check out marty friedman or Alex Skolnick there playing can be considered very fusiony and talented.
@JVF2112 He's playing acousticly.. 1. Would you like people to stand and make noise when you are beside them in the audience and trying to listen? 2. He's trying to concentrate on playing and preforming, if it was me i would tell those people to go to hell, playing with disturbing sound around you is harder and not as fun.
@TheTranslator100 Chatterbot??? Cool i don't care, and its all matter of opinion on hardness too... To be honest who gives a shit which is harder, playing should be for fun, not for comparison for lesser folks who can barely play guitar. I'd honestly rather listen than critique, but for some reason i am angered by comments that use the word hard in a very indefinite way...
I wouldn't expect that behavior from a German audience. That country has such a long and rich musical legacy. Not to mention writers and philosophers. Weird!
Wow… such disrespect for music. Three times he asked for silence yet they could not be quiet. Those people who could not be quiet do not understand nor really appreciate musical excellence. I am sorry for the others who were trying to enjoy the sound of beauty. I could not finish watching this because of the lack of respect demonstrated.
I think Al just made things worse by his comments. I do understand his frustration for it would irritate me too if I was trying to perform a serious piece of music. Have some respect both ways.
@yootesa1515 i hate comparing artists but metalheads always make fun of guitarists who cannot play fast like folk or blues playrs then i mention uitarists like al di meola mclaughlin de lucia gambale holdsworth shawn lane stanley jordan and they all shut their mouths up lol JAZZ FUSION RULES!!!!!!!!
I'll agree it was pretty "bold" to tell people to shut up, but the whistling was annoying as hell. At this time, he was master of his game, and pretty young too. He's mellowed a lot since that time and usually has a pretty good rapport with the audience. Yngwie was damned arrogant too in his twenties. Age helps with that sort of thing.
By the way, that's not cheering, that's people being annoying in order to be annoying. They knew it was annoying, and they knew they were disturbing others, including the performer. It's not funny and it's not entertaining, and in no way was it appropriate. There are NO excuses for this kind of behavior.
There are concerts for screaming, such as metal gigs, and there are concerts for just looking and listening like Jazz and Acoustics... Too bad people who were so annoying ... Al Di Meola is right, here but If I´m not wrong , he must be a kind of egocentric sometimes...
Steve Howe of Yes has the same problem when he does his acoustic set. You can only take so much before you lose your patience. I saw him snap one time and he almost walked off the stage. BTW this kind of thing happens almost always with concerts in the US. European audiences have more class....
