Photo by Beacon Radio via Flickr
Live music is the only thing music fans consistently spend their money on anymore. Different to listening to your favourite songs on a music player, it can give you moments beyond the price tag. With live music, you have chance to put a face to the music you’re used to hearing played from inanimate technologies. It can give you memories untradeable, feelings only felt in the sweaty setting of a crowd.
No other place illustrates this as well as Glastonbury. For a good hour on the Sunday night, Beyonce became the name on everybody’s lips. Anyone who appreciates music irrespective of genre division cannot successfully argue that her set was nothing less than a sensation. Ridden in the sequins of Vegas, the voice of wonder and the dance of Josephine Baker, it really was an all round success.
On the other side of the main stage was Queens of the Stone Age. Grimier, darker and ‘dirty rock n roll’ as Zane Lowe described, it was completely different performance yet perhaps as good as what the Queen B was producing at the other end.
And again at the same time Kool and The Gang were taking us back to funk, performing like their younger selves with the same vigour and crowd awareness.
These differences are why live music is a wonder, particularly in the format of a festival. Groups of people all ages with varied musical tastes congregate in muddy British fields to enjoy the sonic spectacle of their favourite artists performing their favourite songs. But is there a formula to performing a good set?
A good performance is dependent on different variables. It’s crowd dependant, can succeed or fail at the helm of technology and, most importantly, it is an intimate occasion.
Thus, it seems obvious that it must be judged according to genre. It would be ludicrous for Rage Against the Machine to perform like Alicia Keys; Bon Iver like Metallica. And if you were to argue this statement, you would be arguing that some music just can’t be performed well… which is equally as ludicrous. As a rule of thumb, the music intrinsically guides all external aspects of being a modern day artist. But for music to translate well to stage, some genres depend on these external aspects more than others.
For example, folk, lo-fi and country music perform for themselves. I was lucky enough to see Warpaint at The Leadmill [Review here: http://forgetoday.com/fuse/live-warpaint/]. They didn’t do much. They just stood, shimmied a little but played with the heart on their sleeve. No folly, no frills, just talent. The music spoke for itself. A few noticeable gig goers danced like it was 1968, flowers in their hair and all, but most were happy to stand, move slightly but tentatively and watch. As the 6 minute encore closed, all were under the same impression: this LA femme quartet knows how to perform.
Everyone who went (and didn’t) remembers that Radiohead performance at Glastonbury 1997. Raft with technical problems, the band had an awful time, but Thom Yorke managed to pull it off like the sound issues were intended. Solemn and simple, it has become historical.
Perhaps you could argue that for bands like Warpaint or Radiohead, less is more: The less effort they put into the performance, the more that comes out from the music itself.
But as Beyonce showed, as do the likes of Lady Gaga or Britney Spears, pop music loves drama. It’s a showman’s stage where only those with the full package in abundance can be great. Some consider choreography, face paints and sparkles to be concealing raw talent: ‘if they’re so great, why hide behind props?’ But Pop music transcends just music. It’s an opportunity to bring the music alive through mediums of dance and colour. A pop performance does not pretend to be rugged raw. It’s pretty and prim organised to precision, yet still when pulled off, phenomenal.
And there’s that little thing called crowd interaction. I’ve always been under the impression that it doesn’t lose a band points so it may as well be done. A singer who performs without a word spoken and runs off the stage in a hurry, fails to connect with the audience and therefore fails at performing. Brutal but true. A gig isn’t a music lesson, it’s a transaction with your devoted fans and so awareness of the crowd could never go wrong. Sometimes all that is necessary is a quick ‘Hello, you alright?’ or a ‘you’ve been great’ (even if they haven’t), safe journey home, now’. It’s lovely, and kind of shows that maybe they care a bit about the life of their fans.
Some performers are more suited to crowd interaction. Anecdotes or little stories about the song they’re about to perform adds charm in a way that could never be found when listening to music at home. Having a little chat is always a win-win situation. Unless, of course you say something inflammatory i.e. Josh Homme at the Norwegian Wood festival 2008 calling someone a fag onstage or Donita Sparks, of the Chicago female punk outfit L7, throwing a used tampon into the crowd at Reading 1992 and urging them to “eat it… fuckers”. Homophobia and unsanitary deviations from social norms are obviously unacceptable.
So what has Glasto taught us this year? That live music is great and good; that booty shaking is actually quite amazing and that everyone should strive to be bootylicious (including men); that rock is dirtier and grimier when put to a stage and that Kool and the Gang still have the moooves!
But most importantly that anyone with the swagger and awareness of how to put on a show can make a good, if not great, live performance.