Paul E wrote
No offence to those ragging on Ard, but really, you can't tell me you've never broken a string mid performance, hit a wrong chord, sang the wrong words, forgotten the words, forgotten the notes, missed a drum beat, played a slightly out of tune guitar, the list goes on. I don't care how professional you are, we live in a broken world, where nothing is perfect. So, let's be real, you do what you can to be prepared, but there will come a day and a time when something bad will happen and it's just unfortunate that Ard's was such a huge moment. And I mean, let's face it, Ard has probably played in front of bigger crowds than anyone on GFSA has ever dreamed of, so not like he isn't an experienced pro.. BUT.. This one time, he froze.. I think everyone's entitled to that..
Sorry Paul, but I don't agree. I did a valentine's gig for free, for my aunt, where I completely stuffed up a tune or two. Thing is, I wasn't getting paid for it, it's not something I do for a living and I had about a week to prep a whole bunch of songs. I STILL didn't feel like any of that excused a poor performance, I could definitely have done better. I did a set at TJ's which I was very unhappy with, again, I should have been better prepared. Any criticism was deserved and I tried to take the good from it.
So yes, we all make mistakes, and it's not like Ard did anything unforgivable. But he's a professional musician, he was given a job to do and he made a complete idiot of himself. He himself has apologised, so he knows the score. I don't see why the public should accept sub-par performances from a professional muso.
Personally, I'm just astonished at how bad the performance was. Truly cringe-worthy. It wasn't like he hit a bum chord (which experienced musicians should be able to disguise or ignore), he just looked like some beginner taking a stab at a song he didn't know for the first time. And he's no beginner.
I don't understand all the apologists, actually. People are not calling for his blood, they're just conveying their anger and disappointment in a crap performance of the national anthem on live, internationally broadcast TV. I think
we are all entitled to
that!
PS: I second Chad's sentiment about our "stuck together" anthem - I'd rather we had just adopted Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika on its own, or created something new altogether (like was done with the flag).
