Do bands OWE their audiences anything?

http://blog.thecurrent.org/2013/06/the-audacity-of-low-what-does-a-band-owe-us-when-we-pay-to-see-them-perform/

“We paid them to put on a show and they didn’t. They very do literally owe us,” wrote commenter Zetes Johnson.

No they dont arsehole! This sounds like a great gig and kudos for Low not playing things safe. Why are people like this so entitled that they think artists owe them anything?

anything that wakes up a Low audience is a good thing.

wait, i take that back. they are probably less annoying when they are asleep.

this performance doesn't even seem that outlandish to me

its outlandish if you went there expecting to hear the shorter boring Low songs.

"At least from a social perspective, we expect them to put effort into their performance..."

This is all I require, and to clarify in place of "effort", I'd say "creative energy" I guess? Merely acknowledge the audience paid money to come see you via your performance in some generous way and I'm happy. Not hearing a song I was hoping for is never something I hold against the band for example.

Haven't clicked link but no no no except yes they owe 1x performance but nothing else

when i saw musical youth live they did pass the dutchie TWICE. they knew what was up. true pros.

I guess whether audience members interpet the performers are saying "fuck you" through their approach is totally subjective.

My respect for Low increased fourfold, and having attended this event just for the fuck of it, was quite gleeful with the extent to which Current listeners (local generic indie station) were annoyed and irritated at having to encounter something outside of their comfort zones.

Like, their judgmental nature and sense of entitlement was on full display. Looks like Sparhawk mighta been alluding to an upcoming project too!

https://www.facebook.com/drone.not.drones?fref=ts

I generally consider it poor form to rebut strangers on the internet by criticising their grammar but I'll make an exception for "They very do literally owe us" and also hope that Zetes Johnson suffers an eternity of minor disappointments

Seven minutes into this set and I'm thinking Zetes Johnson is everything that is wrong with the world.

lowns

https://www.facebook.com/zetes.johnson

absolutely Not

Seven minutes into this set and I'm thinking Zetes Johnson is everything that is wrong with the world.

Or it could be this reviewer:

I could escape their assault in the Sky Box with a nosh and a cocktail until they left the stage, so no loss for me.

One of my friends and I went out afterwards and were trying to figure out what happened - it just doesn't make any sense. It's completely unprofessional and, if it was just a political statement, it was about the weakest, most stupid way to make one imaginable.
Yesterday at 1:37pm

Wow, ludicrous to think that an artist would use their high-profile appearance in front of THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN PERSON AND ALSO THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LISTENING ON THE RADIO as a platform for a political statement. Couldn't they have stayed home and written a letter to their congressman?????

That said, stalking a dude's FB is kinda creepy.

i probably shouldn't have done that, god knows who will get ahold of it and start copying and pasting his status updates

lol

19 Minutes into this set and I hope Zetes loses the right to vote.

He should be invited to this thread, I feel I am owed that.

they played one of their songs!

i used to love low but i've only ever seen them once, a few years ago, well after i had stopped following their new releases. it was an outside show, and as it happens, they closed with 'waltz'. i was surprised at how well it seemed to hold the audience's attention, at the end of the set and lazing on the grass as they were.

also surprised, well not really but a tiny bit, that the band played the song pretty much as recorded. since i had never heard it live before i imagined that maybe they might switch things around a little. but it's a pretty well-constructed track, so i guess they just let it do its thing.

i.e.:

all of these people are cretins

The reaction to this has been pissing me off since yesterday, there is so much about this that just drives me crazy. Part relates this:

was quite gleeful with the extent to which Current listeners (local generic indie station) were annoyed and irritated at having to encounter something outside of their comfort zones.

― global tetrahedron, Monday, June 17, 2013 2:11 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

For those outside the greater Twin Cities area, the Current is beyond just a generic indie station, it is the commerical free, Minnesota Public Radio run generic indie station that is constantly praising its support of local music and caters to an audience who thinks their mild, mainstream, indie rock playlist is cutting edge.

Partly this bugging me cuz it's Low for crying out loud and frankly, this is a very Low thing to do and that people are surprised by it is just baffling. They've been a band for basically twenty yrs, they play in town all the time!

It seems clear (to me, who wasn't even there) that they did something different becuz they were facing a shortened set due to the weather. And they weren't the headliners, they were just one band out of 5.

Oh and hey, this was all taking place at a modern art muesuem, so like, shock there was some abstract art! They was onstage less then 100 yards from a damn Richard Serra sculpture!

I shouldn't let it all bother me or shock me but I really would have thought that in essentially their own backyard people would have been a little more open to Low playing a LONG VERSION of a song from one of their records.

http://dyingscene.com/wp-content/uploads/crass_fightwarnotwars.gif

"War is men's money, they pay with their bodies...."

Sorry, having an A flashback...

chr1s otm on all points

tho if i was there after a weather delay half drunk (god forbid) and in line for the pisser, i'd probably want to hear them bust out 'over the ocean' etc too

I think bands owe audiences something, but generally not what the audiences think they're owed.

frankly i stayed away from the Mountain Goats tour once i heard there was no black metal

I could escape their assault in the Sky Box with a nosh and a cocktail until they left the stage, so no loss for me.

a little piece of my Beano-reading childhood is defiled every time anyone uses "nosh" to mean blowjob, but I have to admit it improves this sentence immeasurably

Kianna Tichy • 11 minutes ago −
Yes low has a right to play whatever their hearts desire. But as a fanand Concert goer I have a right to be angry and disappointed! The drone that was played caused panic and confusion for me it was never ending and terrifying to feel as if time never moved. Music for me is uplifting and a spiritualawakening this felt as if I have been tossed to the lions. Low lost a fan and they should feel apologetic at least for the mayhem they caused.-hurt concert goer

lol

Different kind of spiritual awakening.

"I THOUGHT LOW WERE ALL ABOUT THE FLOWERS AND NICENESS."

what people complaining are wanting to say to Low is "this wasn't your show, this was a festival. festival sets tend to be packed with crowdpleaser songs and that's kind of the protocol." which is true. but I think it's awesome that Low said "we're going to do something cool" and people whining about it are like...are you guys fuckin' serious...you got to see something different, shut the fuck up. but a little of me sees their point, because festivals are boring and awful and uninteresting which is exactly what most people are specifically expecting when they buy their festival ticket.

Kianna is really making me wish I'd been at this

If they caused that kind of reaction seems to me their art was pretty successful, cuz oh hey sometimes art bums you out and that's cool too

I think Low should apologize to their fans, set up a free concert date to those disappointed, quietly lock the doors so nobody can leave (fire codes, whatever), play two notes briefly, go "It needs something more," invite their friend one M. Gira on stage with his band, then play a few songs.

their next gig should be them covering "Call Me Maybe" for 45 minutes

Do people really use "nosh" to mean blowjob?

was this at the walker?

Yes

Wonder if it's gonna be all the hits this weekend at Solid Sound Festival? That'll piss them New Englanders off.

Dear Zetes Johnson: The very first Rock The Garden featured Stereolab, Sonic Youth and this "rock noise conglomerate." Kthxbye.

Music: Sunship Sextet, 6:15 pm
Three overlapping visually and aurally eclectic sections will flow and flux between ambient, hard improv, and sound sculpture from this experimental rock-noise conglomerate featuring underground players from London, Chicago, and Minneapolis. The Sextet is John Vance, turntables, electric guitar; Emil Hagstrom, amplified acoustic guitar, flute; Matt Bacon, electric guitar, synthesizer; Weasel Walter, saxophone, percussion; Misty Martinez, shortwave radio, vocals; and Phil Todd, tapes, sampler.

I'd like to see people at No Fun Fest pissed at a band for playing straightforward songs.

i saw low open up for swans years ago and they could not kill our swans buzz no matter how hard they tried to put us to sleep. it was a hard battle, but we prevailed.

Jason Lescaleet played the Gap Band when I saw him but it was mixed in with explosion sounds.

King Buzzo said in their early days they'd loop an Anton Lavey speech that ended with him saying "HAIL SATAN!" for 15 minutrs, come out and play one song and go home.

Zetes, gtfo. Five bucks says he didn't even know the song was a Low song. POSEEEEERRRRRR

I'm starting to get this funny feeling that you think they're boring? xxpost

I thought being boring was part of the point of Low

It's key.

Sure, but that doesn't mean that performers shouldn't be able to take a stand against ANY potentially unsafe activity.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Thursday, June 20, 2013 6:54 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Right, which is why many bands will tell fans to knock it off if they try a Wall of Death (though many still encourage it).

I guess it's just a case where I don't like being compared to the bad apples. Most shows I go to, the mosh pit is very uninvasive and goes on without incident...and can enhance a show. The only recent show I've been to where that wasn't the case, was more because the venue was so poorly designed that it was wide but not very deep, which essentially meant that everybody was at risk of getting hit, regardless of where they were.

I'm not downplaying violence or saying bands shouldn't take a stand, but calling people that mosh "college lughead types" and suggesting they're ruining the show for everybody else is what made me butthurt, I guess. For some, it's true. For most of us, we're just having fun - I am still listening to the music, and I only do it in fits and starts (cuz lol I'm thin and getting old).

But I do hate people who go intentionally careening into those who want no part (which has happened to me often, and I swing back), or, like the asshole at the Convulse show, who actually physically punch people standing on the outside.

It was nine fans. They stopped their show early, cancelled the rest of their tour, and almost split up.

Yes, at the Roskilde festival. They're very safety conscious there now. I was there a few years after and the bit near the main stage was broken up into sections with barriers and security staff stationed in between. To get into the very front you had to go around the side and they would only let people in if it wasn't too full. Here's a pic

http://0.tqn.com/d/studenttravel/1/0/0/P/roskilde-festival.jpg

From the comments box here http://www.uproxx.com/music/2013/07/exceedingly-white-postal-service-fans-flummoxed-by-big-freedias-twerking/

PowerClashing

ACTUALLY, it is in the everyone’s best interest if the opening act is the same genre as the headliner. Being an opening act for a major band is a great way to get your name out there and get some exposure. If that exposure is to people who are exceedingly unlikely to be interested in your music, then it’s a waste.

There is also the fact that the people paid expecting one thing and were basically forced to sit through something completely different (btw, I hate this argument, but I can see it’s merit)

This just in! Postal Service fans are tunnel-visioned dopes. Film at 11.

Thought this revive would be about Phish's "Harpua" in Chicago.

when oh when will ppl learn the art of going to shows LATE? especially if you have a ticket! like, you don't have to see that band, you know. you can just take your time eating dinner or something instead.

"i went to see neil young and this NOISY rock band SONIC YOUTH opened up... "

Big Freedia was making asses shake long before twerking was a thing

wtf, no. "twerking" has been around since at least the early '90s!

can't believe Postal Service fans paid to see only one shitty canned-music act but instead got two shitty canned-music acts

that whole article is very "white people disparaging 'white people'"

I for one fully endorse musicians trolling their fans

I cant wait for the cure tour with unannounced special guest vocalist fred durst with dan in the front row

That doesn't seem even close to being an impossibility.

I was gonna say

but instead got two shitty canned-music acts

booo (unless that's some sort of tortured pun about butts)

like a chump, hey
like a chump, hey

am I in the front row for the entire tour? that sounds pretty sweet tbh, they could get whatherface from La Roux to front and I still wouldn't care

ok how about dude from Korn?

http://onephishtwophish.com/1387990

It's difficult to get past this guy's writing style, as well as all the fan jargon, but I got a chuckle or of it.

"
There’s no doubt in my mind that we are the most passionate fan base in the history of anything,"

What the fuck is that

omg i just came here to post that.

There’s no doubt in my mind that we are the most passionate fan base in the history of anything, but it’s both a blessing and a curse. [... ]You see, while we are the most passionate, we are also BY FAR the most opinionated fan base ever.

Someone should publish a concordance of that so us no Phish people can understand

i don't understand that phish blog i feel like an alien

we need Phishgenius.com

I understand that I want that Phish blogger to go to a Katy Perry concert

Here's morrisey's answer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7S73rjSalo

waste of a harpua lemme tell YOU PAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DPECmjB9df0w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PECmjB9df0w

Im glad I'm not the only one who didn't understand that Phish blog

my understanding is that phish fans have been complaining about the band not jamming enough at its recent shows. they played "garden party" by ricky nelson at a show, which was perceived as a response to these "haters." then they played some song called "ha ha ha." then they responded directly to the complainers by talking to one of them on stage at a show, though it was unclear to me from the blog post if this was a real complainer or a mock complainer.

i gleaned most of this by listening to the "analyze phish" podcast.

cheers!

oh that could all be totally wrong btw

I just hope HA HA HA is the flipper song

xps I sort of feel sorry for Phish. It's hard enough playing the same actual point-a-to-point-b songs with the same guys in your band for 30 years. I imagine harikiri would be preferable to "jamming" endlessly with them.

don't feel sorry for phish. they're rich.

Okay, I know nothing about Phish or "Harpua", but find this whole thing fascinatingly funny. The wiki description of the song makes Zappa's "Thing Fish" seem like high art by comparison.

i am totally obsessed with GAMEHENDGE now.

It's hard enough playing the same actual point-a-to-point-b songs with the same guys in your band for 30 years. I imagine harikiri would be preferable to "jamming" endlessly with them.

Why? This sounds like it could at least provide a little more variety than playing the exact same songs the exact same way for 30 years.

Garden Party.

We finally meet Chris and Julie, who Page says is “representing Poster Nutbag The Right Way.” If this isn’t clear to you at this point, I don’t know what you are thinking.

One fan then mentions the emergence of Al Gore (the Internet?), before the rapping begins, and ends when one fan says “I believe in women’s right to choose.”

my friend shared with me his theory that this references all the “aborted” jams

o_O

so....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lHFI3yS5vk

discussion of phish now also going on here: Phish C/D

What happens when there's two types of people who like a music/band and feel 'owed' different things from it?

from Philly...OF COURSE

so the whole thing was a set up and the 1st 2 guys werent really who they said they were?