Watching Live Music

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People often say that watching music live is superior to hearing it on CD. Sometimes I would agree, but often not.
I am fairly tall (about 6ft) but still have trouble seeing the band - most people shorter than me, like my girlfriend who is only little - can't see anything at all going onstage.
Being jostled about t festivals can be fun, but if you're being trampled on constantly while you're trying to enjoy your favourite band can be annoying. I remember at Reading 98 I was so excited to hear the Prodigy live but was really disappointed and sloped off to the herbal tearooms in the end because the crowd was just too squashed in and the moshing just made it feel like i was at pretty much any rock concert.
Other times even when I do really enjoy seeing a band live, I find I have no will to listen to their albums ever again. I briefly got really into Therapy? (actually, whatever happened to them eh?) back in about 97 and saw them live and they were surprisingly excellent but I never listened to them ever again. This has happened with the Guillemots and to some extent Lily Allen after seeing them at Clapham Common the other week.

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 18 September 2006 08:38 (nineteen years ago)

I prefer CDs and other studio recordings when I want to listen to music for its aesthetic and artistic value, and I prefer live when I want a band to impress me with showmanship and stage presence rather than composition (although this helps).

Generally, I'd say purely from my point of view that studio recordings have far more value as documents of a band's worth than their live performances, and if I were trying to get into a band I would start with the former.

― Space Gourmand (Haberdager), Monday, 18 September 2006 08:54 (nineteen years ago)

Then again, there's a bunch of bands who people always say never quite managed to capture their live potency in the studio (but Monday morning and I can't think of good examples. Soft Machine? Grateful Dead?)

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:01 (nineteen years ago)

like my girlfriend who is only little

eww.

anyway, personally i find it pretty dud generally. but i am going to go see celtic frost in november.

― GOD PUNCH TO HAWKWIND (yournullfame), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:02 (nineteen years ago)

Soft Machine's studio album 'Third' is something I cannot see them topping. 'Moon In June' especially, what a stupendous trip! Although I appreciate that most of 'Facelift' is actually a live recording tacked onto a studio intro.

― Space Gourmand (Haberdager), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:04 (nineteen years ago)

A lot of gigs are dull and uncomfortable. The solution is to only go to gigs by bands that absolutely fucking rock.

― Why does my IQ changes? (noodle vague), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:05 (nineteen years ago)

classic classic classic. it's what it's all about, no? there are downsides to gigs, certainly, but a major upside is that you'll never hear the music played at gig-volume level within your own home, no matter how powerful your stereo, so the gigs possess a direct physicality that the CDs do not.

plus there's something incredibly thrilling about watching amazing music being made in the moment, in front of your very eyes. it's more immediate, the communication is more unimpeded by studio technology, there's room for spontaneity and tangential wanderings. the worst part about live gigs is that I haven't the time or money to go to as many as I'd like.

― mister the guanoman (mister the guanoman), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:11 (nineteen years ago)

I agree with all those points, mister, but they only hold true for exceptional bands.

― Why does my IQ changes? (noodle vague), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:14 (nineteen years ago)

but a major upside is that you'll never hear the music played at gig-volume level within your own home, no matter how powerful your stereo, so the gigs possess a direct physicality that the CDs do not

Except that most gigs I've been to are too loud and balanced / mixed badly, and also in totally unsuitable acoustic spaces, and the volume is totally at the expense of clarity.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:18 (nineteen years ago)

I long ago learned that I don't like gigs, so I pick and choose the ones I know I will enjoy very carefully (i.e. I end up going to maybe one a year). The whole 'direct physicality' thing I find really uncomfortable and oppressive actually! - I have a bit of sympathy for all those poor fogeys in the 60s who would go on about the horrors of live amplification (tho less sympathy for the coded racist terms they'd use to express this). I do agree about the excitement of seeing people making music in real time which is why I keep promising myself I will go to more IMPROV gigs, surely the ultimate example of this!

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:18 (nineteen years ago)

yeh, i mean the best Talking Heads album is "stop making sense", the tunes just seem bigger and better performed. but if the band is just standing there, playing their songs while you stand on tip toes narrowly avoiding getting crushed and trying to phase out the echoey quality of the room, what's the point? hearing it loud is good, but i find this is only necessary with very bass-heavy music like dance, hip hop and Kyuss.

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:20 (nineteen years ago)

Direct physicality is about the only transcendent part of live gigs for me.

― Why does my IQ changes? (noodle vague), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:20 (nineteen years ago)

But then, my last two gigs were Lightning Bolt and Melt-Banana.

― Why does my IQ changes? (noodle vague), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:21 (nineteen years ago)

i'd like to see maybe the boredoms or animal collective live though.

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:21 (nineteen years ago)

xpost

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:21 (nineteen years ago)

Best gig I went to, sonically, is probably Patrick Wolf last year at Exeter Phoenix Arts Centre, just him and a drummer. Absolutely brilliant.

Getting lost down the front at a gig with several hundred (up to a couple of thousand) people can be absolutely extraordinary, though.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:21 (nineteen years ago)

It depends whether you want to "listen" to live music or "get involved" with it, and I don't mean NME-esque stage-invasions.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:22 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, that's a good point Sick, I'm bad at big parties and crowded events anyway, so I think my gigphobia is an extension of that rather than having much to do with my attitudes to music.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:23 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not crazy about crowds either, but I do like being pummelled by waves of sound.

― Why does my IQ changes? (noodle vague), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:26 (nineteen years ago)

I agree with all those points, mister, but they only hold true for exceptional bands.

true, but what's the point of going to see (or indeed, buying records by) mediocre bands? of course you'll have duds occasionally, but there's far more good music out there than I can afford to keep up with.

Except that most gigs I've been to are too loud and balanced / mixed badly, and also in totally unsuitable acoustic spaces, and the volume is totally at the expense of clarity.

not always a problem...but I suspect that being used to CD-quality sound means that some people have unreasonable expectations of live gigs.

and no gig I've ever been to has been too loud. except possibly merzbow. and I am now a bit deaf.

― mister the guanoman (mister the guanoman), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:30 (nineteen years ago)

Maybe I should try.....sound installations!

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:30 (nineteen years ago)

side question: bands playing a song twice during a gig - C/D? massive dud for me.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

what's the point of going to see (or indeed, buying records by) mediocre bands?

This is the point, there are a lot of bands who can make good records who then do gigs were they basically reproduce those records in a different order.

― Why does my IQ changes? (noodle vague), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

Classic all the way, but then we're very lucky with venues in our fsir city. A lot of the acts I've enjoyed up here, in relatively intimate venues with attentive/respectful audiences, would probably have been a lot less enjoyable in London, pushed to the back of a large room of isolated strangers.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:32 (nineteen years ago)

(fsir=-fair, obv.)

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:32 (nineteen years ago)

xxxpost

If you can't tell any of the songs apart, CLASSIC.

― Why does my IQ changes? (noodle vague), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:32 (nineteen years ago)

My favourite live experience of the last few years was Seeed at Glastonbury - small tent but filled up, good clear sound, big physical bass, terrific showmanship and MCing, audience participation, a real 'don't-bore-us-get-to-the-chorus' attitude with songs shortened to about 2 and a half minutes and brutally stopped if the crowd weren't feeling it (which implied a very tight performance too), also they looked amazing. Far better than us muddy lot deserved.

― Tom (Groke), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:36 (nineteen years ago)

and no gig I've ever been to has been too loud. except possibly merzbow. and I am now a bit deaf.

Hmmm. Your last sentence suggests that perhaps a lot of gigs you've been to ARE too loud, dude.

These days I use these at gigs if I expect them to be loud - http://www.headphoneworld.com/public/pictures/products/standard/et04.jpg
http://www.headphoneworld.com/public/pictures/products/icon_images/etymotic.gif - my hearing is very important to me, and if your ears are ringing the day after a gig, that basically means you've damaged your hearing.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:36 (nineteen years ago)

I wish I had seen Seeed.

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:37 (nineteen years ago)

better side question: bands playing a song twice as long during a gig - C/D? I'd say classic!

― Space Gourmand (Haberdager), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:38 (nineteen years ago)

I think I've only ever seen a band do a song twice at a gig once, and that was Embrace doing One Big Family back in 1997 at Bristol - the gig had been mental, loads of crowdsurfers, and the crowd was baying for an encore. The band didn't have any more songs, so they came back on and did One Big Family again (AND twice as along, Louis) and the place basically turned into a rave. Fucking great way to finish a gig.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:42 (nineteen years ago)

i don't like live music.

― EARLY-90S MAN (Enrique), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:42 (nineteen years ago)

Hmmm. Your last sentence suggests that perhaps a lot of gigs you've been to ARE too loud, dude.

yeah, that was the point I was getting at. but in my experience you only notice 'too loud' after the fact. in the moment, 'too loud' sounds fantastic.

― mister the guanoman (mister the guanoman), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:44 (nineteen years ago)

playing a song twice during a gig - C/D? massive dud for me

dud dud dud. terrible idea. smacks of lack of material and lack of imagination.

― mister the guanoman (mister the guanoman), Monday, 18 September 2006 09:46 (nineteen years ago)

classic, although only because i always be sure to stand at the front. if i find myself behind anyone i inevitably end up cursing them for ruining my show with their incredibly distracting small head movements at the very edge of my field of vision. if anyone dares do more than small head movements, i get murderous.

playing a song twice is obv. dud in theory, but seeing wilco proved an exception to the rule: after playing hummingbird jeff tweedy said that next time they play glasgow the audience should follow him in running on the spot during the instrumental break. someone called out "play it again, jeff!", and it was played again, with audience spot-running included.

― Merdeyeux Merdeyeux Merdeyeux (Merdeyeux Merdeyeux Merdeyeux), Monday, 18 September 2006 10:39 (nineteen years ago)

i don't like ~~live~~ music.

fixed

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Monday, 18 September 2006 10:45 (nineteen years ago)

I have this belief that, on any given night, one of the best rock shows in the world is being performed by little known band in a modest club. And you just might collide with them, if you show up. Most of my most fondly recalled shows were by bands that I was unfamilar with, and most of those bands didn't distinguish themselves on record. In the late 90s, a saw a dozen gigs by a greaser punk band called Jack Black. They could cram a history of loudness, from Elvis to Nugent to Kraut in a set. Most bands wilt a bit when they get to a larger venue, and as soon as people start raising lighters, all is lost.

― bendy (bendy), Monday, 18 September 2006 11:08 (nineteen years ago)

Watching Live Music On Youtube - C/C/C/C!

― ten kebabs maaaaate (fandango), Monday, 18 September 2006 12:09 (nineteen years ago)

i've seen the same song played again a few times, worst example being the go team at glasto. a pretty bad example was tindersticks last night, where they followed a fantastic first encore by coming back and playing `my sister' again. not good.

― toby (tsg20), Monday, 18 September 2006 12:20 (nineteen years ago)

to answer the main question, these days my favourite gigs seem to either be v physical (eg lightning bolt) or seated, I guess. and nick's otm both wrt poor acoustics and the value of good earplugs.

― toby (tsg20), Monday, 18 September 2006 12:24 (nineteen years ago)

playing a song twice during a gig - C/D? massive dud for me

Neil Diamond playing "Sweet Caroline" twice in a row, because it was so good the first time round = massive Classic for me!

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Monday, 18 September 2006 12:34 (nineteen years ago)

"I do agree about the excitement of seeing people making music in real time which is why I keep promising myself I will go to more IMPROV gigs"

o rly?

"I have a bit of sympathy for all those poor fogeys in the 60s who would go on about the horrors of live amplification (tho less sympathy for the coded racist terms they'd use to express this)."

any examples of this?

― xyzzzz__ (jdesouza), Monday, 18 September 2006 13:42 (nineteen years ago)

(just laughing at something I didn't post here)

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 18 September 2006 13:45 (nineteen years ago)

Neil Diamond playing "Sweet Caroline" twice in a row, because it was so good the first time round = massive Classic for me!

Didn't Johnny Cash play "San Quentin" three times on his prison album because the audience loved it so much?

― wogan lenin (dog latin), Monday, 18 September 2006 14:03 (nineteen years ago)

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Watching Live Music - C/D