The internet is currently abuzz with discussion about Corey Feldman’s electric guitar playing skills, which have come under intense scrutiny on social media after some live performance clips went viral.
Feldman – the child actor-turned-musician, who starred in The Goonies and Stand By Me – is currently opening for Limp Bizkit, and was recently filmed rifling through some bonkers solo passages that quickly caught the attention of a handful of TikTokers.
Some commenters accused Feldman of “fake playing”, and used such clips as evidence to support their claims that the guitarist was not in fact playing any of the notes that could actually be heard.
These claims received considerable attention online. As YouTuber KDH notes in a new video, hundreds of thousands of people have seen the accusations, with thousands of comments of people believing them.
However, the tale continues, because it turns out that such claims are actually entirely inaccurate: Feldman is indeed playing the guitar.
Some claims have originated from some fairly well-followed accounts, with one commentator stating: “Every single person who has ever picked up a guitar can tell that he’s not actually playing. Like, at all.”
There are plenty of similar quotes, and it seems they’ve reached quite a large audience. But, as KDH notes, nothing about Feldman’s playing actually suggests that he’s faking. Rather, it merely looks like he's letting loose on what could be considered some 'gateway' shred action – in other words, spamming notes with the intent of shredding.
Indeed, many people who have played the guitar – and have given it a go themselves – recognize that Feldman is playing his guitar in the clips.
If anything, the clips do a good job of showcasing Feldman’s crazy alternate picking, which – while far from polished – are unhinged, energetic and (above all else) entirely genuine.
“As a guitar player, from looking at the videos of Feldman playing, I can say 100 percent he’s not faking. He’s playing pretty badly, but he is playing,” observes KDH, who goes on to demonstrate the ‘technique’ that Feldman used in the clips in question.
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Feldman himself also responded to his accusers, stating that he’s “playing every single note”.
“I’m laughing so hard, cuz that would imply some gr8 guitarist played it 4 me & I’m [the] air guitarist [sic],” he commented on Instagram. “The best part is I’m not even that good, hence the guitar hero faces.”
However, Feldman’s own words didn’t do much to diminish the accusations, with one TikToker even doubling down on the fake playing notion, despite mounting evidence to suggest otherwise.
So, there you go. Feldman can play, in his own no-holds-barred way, and certainly does so when he’s performing on stage.
As KDH notes, allegations of fake playing are becoming increasingly common, with some spectators even going so far as to accuse Wolfgang Van Halen of miming his parts when he played Van Halen during the Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts.
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