Live performance vs recorded music

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Graham Start, Jul 3, 2003.

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  1. Graham Start

    Graham Start Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Update: corrected a couple o' typos

    I was going to add this to the surround thread, but I figured that would be an act of threadjacking so...

    I often hear people criticize certain acts for having excellent albums but weak live shows, and occasionally vice-versa. It seems that if an artist or a group can't pull off both with equal finesse, they are regarded as unworthy or unprofessional.

    But I think people need to realize that recorded music vs. live music are two different mediums, like cinema and theatre. One is about creating a fantasy, an escape, and need not be constrained by physical reality. The other is about performance, and creating an immediate connection between artist and audience. Some artists will connect better through one medium over the other.

    Bad notes and technical blunders are incredibly annoying on a recorded piece of music, as familiarity makes these stick out like a sore thumb. But in the midst of a live performance, you're unlikely to ever notice. On the other hand, a flawless performance is irrelevant if the performer makes no connection with the audience.

    You don't criticize a movie for having lots of special effects if it's still a good movie. Likewise, you don't go to a play to see dazzling effects (unless it's Tommy the musical :) ). Both things are valid forms of art and expression, but they are not the same, and I see no sense in judging them by the same criteria.

    Your thoughts?
     
    Graham Start, Jul 3, 2003
    #1
  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I don't judge them the same.

    I do have a problem with music coming from behind me. A holdover from the old band days I guess, when the drummer was behind me (imitates Peter Lorre: "He was always looking at me, looking, looking! It was driving me sane"!)

    Where was I? Oh yes, I never judge a live thing and a recorded thing with the same criteria.
     
    Steve Hoffman, Jul 3, 2003
    #2
  3. Jeffrey

    Jeffrey Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    South Texas
    Hi,

    No way i can resist this thread. :D

    I believe that a band can be worthy and professional while not pulling off both w/ equal finesse.............. enter, stage left, The Grateful Dead. Their live abilities were considerably better than their studio efforts but the closer ya got to these guys the more ya realized how professional their organization really was!

    -Jeffrey
     
    Jeffrey, Jul 3, 2003
    #3
  4. Mark

    Mark I Am Gort, Hear Me Roar Staff

    Location:
    Connecticut-The College Basketball Capital
    Funny you should post this today, because I was thinking about this while attending a show last night. I look at the live aspect from the audience viewpoint (in more ways than one). I am finding more and more, as we become a video infested, "impress me with pictures and graphics," society with the collective attention span of a gnat, artists just standing, or sitting, there and playing music seems to get audiences restless. Folks want a spectacle these days, or they just aren't impressed (or, alternatively, they talk loudly, spill beer on you and/or sing or yell for favorites offkey). I draw the same comparison to your movie analogy. If there's not blood, gore and/or chase scenes, it just doesn't cut it anymore. From both perspectives, I just saw the great Van Morrison and, Katie Hepburn, RIP, lived much of her remarkably quiet and classy life minutes from where I live. One guy's thoughts before going home for the long weekend.
     
    Mark, Jul 3, 2003
    #4
  5. Beatle Terr

    Beatle Terr Super Senior SH Forum Member Musician & Guitarist

    Location:
    United States, New York
    It sounds like the drummers you had in the band daze, couldn't find 1.

    Has it left you scared for life. :eek:
     
    Beatle Terr, Jul 3, 2003
    #5
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