On Sunday the Red Hot Chili Peppers were caught miming their way through their hugely anticipated Super Bowl performance - with Flea's bass seen to be clearly plugged in to NOTHING AT ALL.
Faking it is nothing new, pop artists scam their way through numerous performances. However it is a bit sad and embarassing to see supposedly credible acts fall foul of the same urge to mime their performances.
In the last few years however we've seen various artists become unstuck in a big way, leaving plugs on floors and essentially making no effort to disguise the fakery. We're talking faders down, pre-mixed CD's and guitars with no leads and no wireless devices. You'd think in the age of social media, HD TV's and pictures everywhere you would be a little more careful. Here are some of the most obvious offenders...
1) Red Hot Chili Peppers
Flea's bass was unplugged at the Halftime Show but every slap and pop was heard. Only one explanation... #Illuminati pic.twitter.com/SUblIgimOp
— Drew O'DOHERTY (@drewodoherty) February 3, 2014
Either the band were miming, or there was some black magic in action on the 2014 edition of the Super Bowl (2 February) - we suspect the former. Controversy has erupted after Joe Bonamassa and Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid pointed to the rather callous oversight by the band and producers. They could at least have tried.
2) Justice
Apparently the USB on this MIDI just fell out. Faking it or not? pic.twitter.com/hH26jTm64P
— Edward Keeble (@EddieHenryJames) February 4, 2014
The world of techno was aghast when these photos reportedly showing Justice, "faking it" while playing in Manchester surfaced online. While Gaspard Augé may have his MIDI controller unplugged, he later claimed that at the time the photo was taken he hadn't noticed the USB had fallen out. We're tempted to believe them, just this once.
3) Disclosure
you would think after getting a number 1 album disclosure could plug in the cdj's loooool #guttea #shm pic.twitter.com/EhdETafcAh
— Benjamin Welsh (@BenjaminOWelsh) June 10, 2013
If you look not very closely at all, you might notice that someone forgot something rather important - to plug in the decks. In their defense the Capital FM Summertime Ball where they were playing don't allow anything other than a pre-recorded backing track. This made them look rather silly as they floundered around behind the decks, despite the fact they said they left the plug there in protest.
4) LMFAO
To be honest we are not too upset about this one as it simply gives us more reason to dislike them. LMFAO performed at the 2012 Superbowl with Madonna and M.I.A. and brought everyone's credibility down yet another notch by pretending to DJ from behind decks that were unplugged. At least M.I.A. had the decency to flip the bird.
5) David Guetta
David Guetta clocked mixing at Tomorrowland with all 4 faders down #commercialbellend #fakedj pic.twitter.com/PIQIjkvQ
— Josh Williams (@JoshWilliamssss) August 13, 2012
The only DJ who could ever be booed for receiving a DJ mag award, shown here in a rather compromising position from Tomorrowland in 2012. Looks like he has been caught faking it as if you look closely at the four faders on the mixer they are all down. That means that the only thing the crowd should be hearing is the sweet sounds of silence. Always prefferable to Guetta's music.
6) Chase & Status
As this rather shocking video will attest, even the most accomplished DJ's and acts will fake it every now and again. Here we see Chase & Status, (usually incredibly accomplished DJ's) magically double dropping various tunes, without actually beat matching. Using a pre-recorded mix for these guys is a little shocking to say the least.
