http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...0721032228


NICE, France (AFP) - The comeback tour of US funk star Sly Stone has made an inauspicious start in Europe following several short, disjointed performances by the reclusive 1970s icon.

After spending only 20 minutes on stage at the Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland last week, the 64-year-old musician performed only four and half songs during his latest gig in the southern French city of Nice.

True to his reputation as an unpredictable, combustible character, he walked off stage after 10 minutes leaving his backing band, known as the Family Stone, to keep the audience entertained.

Half and hour later, the brooding singer, hidden behind big sunglasses and baseball cap, reappeared to sing for another 10 minutes before disappearing for the final time.

Sly and the Family Stone began in 1967 and rose to stardom with their mix of memorable live performances and powerful music, a fusion of funk, gospel, psychedelic rock and acid jazz.

Hits included "Stand!," "Everyday People," and "Family Affair," which still get regular radio playtime 30 years after their emergence.

Starting in the mid-1970s however, Sly Stone, real name Sylvester Stewart, became known as much for his erratic behaviour as for his string of groundbreaking albums.

After suffering from drug addiction, Sly vanished in the mid-1980s and spent almost two decades out of the public eye when no one, even his former bandmates, knew where he was.

He reappeared to great surprise -- sporting a blonde mohican -- for a performance at the Grammys Awards in 2006 before announcing his mini European tour.

But the recent concerts, where Sly has looked weakened by his years of drug abuse and psychological problems, have been a far cry from his explosive displays at Woodstock or the times he shared stages with Jimi Hendrix.

By contrast, the Family Stone backing band has got younger, with only one of the original line up, trumpet player Cynthia Robinson, remaining.

A fan at the Nice Jazz festival, where Sly performed on Thursday, summed up the impression left by the ageing entertainer, who had nonetheless started brightly with a rendition of hit "If you want me to stay."

"You can tell he's been through a lot," resumed the fan.

The tour, which began at the beginning of the month, has included dates in Italy, Switzerland and France and will travel to Spain and Britain.

This is definitely a transitional period for him.

I hope people make him feel welcome despite reports with headlines like this one.

Well I am still looking forward to seeing him on the 28th.

I know he is not going to be on stage for the the whole concert, I just hope that the band are able to knock it out and bang the songs out.

Just his presence should be enough. They guy is 100% legend.

I don't care what people say, I'd still like to see Sly and Larry together again.

we love u sly ! keep trying !

Shoddy journalism really. He was only doing ten minutes or so at each show probably because hes so weak. No new deterioration for Europe then.

OperatingThetan said:

And the other original members too

The Sly gig in Finland was a bad experience.
Sly was on stage less than 15 min.
He said "I'll be right back",but never showed up again,
leaving the band to finish off the show.

There were small glimpses of his genous in the beginning of
"If you want me to stay" and "Sing a simple song".
I've seen clips of the rest of the european shows and
those seemed lot better.
The whole show was unfocused and sloppy.
I was sad when leaving the place.

Luckily "The Roots" that played before kicked some major ass.
They did "Everybody is a star" with more Sly Stone magic than the
main act.

/peace Manki

manki said:

Wow, sorry you left there unhappy.... I think the upside is the fact that he IS playing and his voice still is great. The downside is he may have lost all credibility playing with the band he is playing with. I dont think he was totally in control of these shows. The band playing seems fairly tight but its when Sly gets on stage, the backng band seems confused and somewhat frustrated. I dont think they are completely rehearsed playing with Sly. I think they really dont want Sly playing on all the songs so they dont make total blunders of the whole events. The original band was much better at improvising and making the event that much more spectacular as a live show...not just going through the motions.

Manki...did Sly do any of his new material at the event you were at? I remember the Vanity interview Sly said he wanted to test new songs in Europe. He also said that the Original Family Stone will have some involvement too....that is something else, hopefully, to look forward to.

.

SoulRebel said:

It's chickens coming home to roost. Sly has burned many bridges with his history of no-shows and tempermental stage tantrums. On a momentous comeback trail and Sly's still showing up late. They say druggies don't change the behavior they exhibit while they were users; it just manifests in a slightly different form.

Sad but true

SoulRebel said:

Yes,there was a new song that was GREAT!
That sounded totally Sly.Deep groove.
However Sly just sat by the piano and Vet sang it.
There was a jazzy break where Sly played a little on the keyboard
before getting back to the groove,and then it went to "Family affair".

/peace Manki

funkpill said:

Yeah, definitely!!!

manki said:

Actually, the first time he said "I'll be right back", he actually came back onstage. The second time around he didn't show up again.
He played 3½ songs and was a mess. Also, on "I Want To Take You Higher", I think Sly kinda sounded bad, not as good as I thought he'd sound from all the hype that was going on 'round here.
The band was tight, the drummer, the guitarist and bassist were all very talented. Cynthia was still onboard and she sounded pretty much the same as on the record, when she yelled out "Git up 'n' dance to the music!".
Overall, I'm not disappointed cause I knew what to expect. The band was like a great Family Stone Tribute band instead of the Family Stone.
The Roots really surprised me, though. The band was tight. The rapping kinda leaves me cold (I wish the rapper would've just shut the fuck up and let the band just play ). My friend was really hyped about them too, he's a real ?uestlove fan, he even wore a ?uestlove shirt to the gig. ?uest threw out some signed drumsticks into the audience, too bad we were not close enough to catch one. My friend went out lookin' for people that did though, said he'd offer them 50e for one
India.Arie was aight, though we were kinda wandering around the premises and getting something to eat while she was playing but anyway it was ok. Better than I thought she'd be. Plus she was cute too

To be honest, I'll be surprised if he completes the tour. Makes me wonder if sometimes the memories are better than the current realities.

manki said:

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience I know that Sly is one of your favorites.I saw him on July 7 and it was an odd performance,but I was just thrilled to see him...if only for about 15 minutes.

I wish him well. He's been out since the 60s, from what I know. He's one of my favorite artists of all time. It takes allot of courage for him to do what he's doing. May he ever prosper.

JesseDezz said:

Sadly you're right. Sly going on a tour like this is like MJ coming back and playing for the Wizards. Its just tarnishing his rep.

The man has NOTHING to prove. He's made so much great music, he could stay in his apartment for the rest of his life if he really wanted to. But I guess he's trying to make contact with the outside world again, which is good and healthy. But I don't think he needs to be touring. The physical rigors of the road are enough for a man half his age, I can only imagine what it's like for someone with the problems he has.

guitarslinger44 said:

Agreed. He's made the effort to attempt a live comeback, and unless he can lay back awhile and return able to do whole shows - I can't help thinking that, if Sly wants true new respect, he'd be better off trying to make/ finish a new album, as long as pretty strict quality control was in force. His voice sounds in overall decent shape considering his history, and working in a studio he ain't got the stage nerves probs he seems to have.

Brian Wilson, Sly's classic '60s pop analogue re. lifestyle, personal history etc, had similar problems (tho fewer apparent physical ones) when he made his now successful, sustained comeback in the late '90s, but he managed to stay onstage and perform at least adequately, to a professional standard, as well as complete and release decent new music, all to huge outpourings of public affection. I was hoping Sly would go the same sort of way.

But life don't always work out the way you'd want, I suppose.

i wonder if prince will turn into this type of performer when he gets a bit older

Judging from the lates vids on youtube, Sly is getting better and better and more selfconfident which each new show on the tour.He still looks like a freak (in a not so positive way) though, but then again that just might be due to his 2 accidents he had lately and a stage costume advisor with bad taste.But he has started to dance around and all and his voice is getting stronger each day as well.

I so wish Questlove would do his production magic on good ol' Sly and make a new record with him.I think i gotta head over to okplayer and suggest him just exactly that.

3121Addict said:

Sly Stone had a lot of issues, including substance abuse problems. Before he "got older", he had a history of showing up late or missing gigs altogether. Add to the fact that he dropped out of the spotlight for a few decades...He and Prince are two totally different situations.

You must not know a lot about Sly Stone.