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| | Speaking of which...Do you want to go and see Elbow? |
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| | Kinda funny how we seem to have had similar experiences growing up (fell in love with music around 15 or 16, never went to many shows 'cos no one ever played 'round here), and yet, I love live music even more because of that. But then, pretty much my whole life consists of trying to make up for all the things I never got to experience as a child, so maybe that's it. |
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| | Yeah, really enjoyed this. It definitely reminded me of my own discovery of music...same age, similar circumstances. All of my friends were listening to Korn and shit, and I was discovering Radiohead and Pulp and Pavement (thanks MTV 2), and just listening to their albums alone for hours. And I lived in a bland, medium sized town, so no cool bands ever actually came, and every local band kinda sucked. And I guess that is sort of the point of this column: that if the live experience isn't an essential part of your discovering music (to begin with), it might not really be an essential part of your listening later on. For all the reasons you mentioned in the first paragraph, I only go to a few shows a year, and then only for bands that I absolutely love and really care to see. There have been great shows I've seen, and some crappy and bland, but so many more of my memories and associations involving the music I love stems from times I was listening to music alone...I guess the point I'm sort of ramblingly getting at is that I often wondered if I was missing something since I didn't feel compelled to go to many shows, and when I did go was often bored or irritated, but now I realize that the record, the album, the thing you spend so much time with is much more important a few fleeting, half-drunk hours surrounded by wasted asses in overly tight jeans. |
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| | Having lived in both Exeter and the southern US, I've found that we either caught bands before they were really big (which makes my music ego rage like I am some kind of insider) or never caught them at all (which forces me to come to terms with my love for places that are far from happening). This is all to say that I agree with the post above that the record is the love and the show is the lust. |
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| | "the record is the love and the show is the lust. "
Well said.
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| | Being in a place where no bands go IS poo! |
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| | Test |
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| | "The sound is never good; venues always pump out sound too loud in order to get people hyper, which means that clarity gets lost in favour of bass that shakes your trousers." . . . "I've seen Muse rock 200 people on local turf at The Cavern in Exeter, people hanging off the ceiling, the band (who I don’t like particularly) working the audience with a phenomenal combination of guile, energy and charisma. And NOISE, battering the shit out of us with NOISE." Uh, this article blows. |
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| | Er... had it been just noise and not showmanship, he wouldn't have liked it? Try harder, z-phizzle. |
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| | what i admire most about your posts, zarklephaser, is your commitment to constructive criticism :D keep it up! |
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| | I can relate to this. If I go to a gig it's because I want to hear something or see something from the live performance that I want to keep with me when I experience the records (or re-experience them). Many people use the record as the primer for the live show. I've been to three gigs this year, enjoyed them all, but wouldn't say I like the experience at all; I'm more comfortable at home with my stereo. Nice article, as ever, Nick. |
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| | I know I'm way late and no one will ever see this, but just for the record: I was randomly looking at the archives and I saw Mr. Southall, in his review of "Yoshimi", call one of the aforementioned Flaming Lips concerts "the greatest, most magical evening of my life". Which, I guess, just makes his more-or-less-unconditional denouncing of the live concert experience that much more significant. |
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| | The article is pretty interesting. I myself also didn't grow up with live shows, and i don't really plan to see any either. But the even stranger thing is that i am obsessed with live music to some extend. ie i have a copy of almost every nirvana gig that was recorded (it it's pretty much, trust me). And as i really love the live sound in some cases, i am maybe just to lazy or sociopathic to go to shows myself.
But having not seen many live shows is pretty common i guess. I think most kids won't start their music 'career' with a live show of some rock band or a dj gig but either via friends giving them tapes/cds/mp3s or by mtv. |
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