Gold City vs EHSSQ
Maybe this video clip is already making the rounds (I haven’t looked to see) and is old news by now. But still … what thuh…?
I mean, I know Wilburn and Ladd are trying to be funny and “just joshin with Ole Ernie … we love i’m.” But don’t you think some of the other guys seem a bit uncomfortable (look at Daniel Riley, for instance)? And with good reason. I’d be uncomfortable too if I were on camera and Jonathan Wilburn was speaking on my behalf. There’s something about this schtick … a not-entirely-joking quality, or a thread of contempt to the aggressiveness of the humor. Something that makes this hard to watch. But then I don’t find Wilburn to be a very funny guy in the first place. So maybe it’s just me.
Post Script: I honestly can’t tell if this was intended for mass consumption or not. It looks like an out-take, which could mean they thought it’d get edited out. But surely no performers in the age of the internet are unaware that anything recorded can end up online. Surely?
Update: Commenter dd helps out with some context:
it has been out for little bit and it’s actually on their myspace site. But boy Danny does look miffed and uncomfortable at the same time. But probably if he didn’t want it on there it would not have been posted. At the same time these guys see each other all the time and have known each other forever. I’m glad Jonathan can sing……
Later update: Commenter Big Ken turns up the volume on the clip and notices something I’d missed the first time round:
It’s obvious that Ladd and Wilburn have watched a lot of professional “wrasslin’” from the way they challenged Haase and his crew to a steel cage match in Madison Square Garden. What really cracked me up, though, was Aaron McCune’s almost inaudible comment at the end. After Wilburn said that he loved Ernie, Aaron said, “I don’t.” Priceless.
Even later update: Jonathan Wilburn writes:
Email this PostHey everybody! Ernie is a friend of mine. Has been for many years. There are friends I can cut up with and they know it is just good ole fun. I had no ill will in my heart for this great bunch of guys. Do any of you remember when George and JD went back and forth? Man the memories we would have missed if they had kept all that private! As far as what I do on stage. NOT GOING TO CHANGE!
www.southerngospelblog.com » Duane Allen on Signature Sound on 02 Mar 2007 at 11:01 am
[…] The members of Gold City have gone on record saying this was all a joke in good humor, but their much-discussed video clip on Signature Sound could easily be interpreted by an average fan to be such a criticism. (I refer especially to the part where Jonathan Wilburn says he loves Ernie, and Aaron McCune replies that he doesn’t.) In fact, that was my initial reaction when I saw it, though I have been glad to read their public statements since that it was all in good humor. But whatever you may make of this particular video clip, which may have indeed been in good humor, Signature Sound has drawn quite a bit of criticism from their peers–and from people who wish they were their peers. […]