"... to see your favorite performer onstage, in the flesh, rather than as a one-dimensional image glowing in your lap as you spiral down a midnight YouTube wormhole. Even our most beloved superheroes become human in person. Imagine being at Wembley Stadium in 1985 as Freddie Mercury walked onstage for the Live Aid benefit concert... It was Freddie's connection with the audience that transformed that dilapidated soccer stadium into a sonic cathedral. In broad daylight, he majestically made 72,000 people his instrument, joining them in harmonious unison.... I’ve been lifted and carried to the stage by total strangers for a glorious swan dive back into their sweaty embrace. Arm in arm, I have sung at the top of my lungs with people I may never see again. All to celebrate and share the tangible, communal power of music.... I don’t know when it will be safe to return to singing arm in arm at the top of our lungs, hearts racing, bodies moving, souls bursting with life. But I do know that we will do it again, because we have to. It’s not a choice. We’re human... [T]ogether, we are instruments in a sonic cathedral, one that we build together night after night. And one that we will surely build again."
Writes The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl (in The Atlantic).
ADDED: Interesting that Grohl made Freddie Mercury his central example of the sublime. Mercury was the one artist Kurt Cobain — Grohl's former bandmate — cited in
his suicide note:
[W]hen we're back stage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowds begins, it doesn't affect me the way in which it did for Freddie Mercury, who seemed to love, relish in the love and adoration from the crowd which is something I totally admire and envy. The fact is, I can't fool you, any one of you.... I must be one of those narcissists who only appreciate things when they're gone. I'm too sensitive....
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47 comments:
I prefer recordings. Concerts are too long.
Last night I watched a video of Mumford & Sons playing at Red Rocks and at one point they were playing at their sometimes frenetic pace, and the camera panned to the crowd showing every person I could see standing, dancing, waving their arms and singing along. It was glorious and made me ache. I sent the video to one of my sisters, the one that loves music more than I do, and said how much I missed that sort of thing. Of the lock down I said, Human beings are not meant to live this way. She replied her agreement.
Dave Grohl is a treasure.
It is the most life-affirming experience
Berlin, 1945.
The other brave musicians stayed to face their own Twilight of the Gods. As the audience left they were offered cyanide capsules (suicide pills) from baskets held by children wearing Hitler Youth uniforms.
Experiencing the best live music is thrilling and you know it when you see and hear it.
Foo Fighters ain't it.
Example: Talking Heads at the Pantages December of '83... admittedly, my points of reference are fairly ancient, lol.
the tangible, communal power of music.... I don’t know when it will be safe to return to singing arm in arm at the top of our lungs, hearts racing, bodies moving, souls bursting with life.
Except that Pink Floyd produced an entire album about walling off the obnoxious people in the crowd.
And having to endure the insanity of the crowd in performing live went a long way toward the Beatles break-up.
There’s all kinds of examples.
Foo Fighters ain’t my thing, at all, but I get ‘em. They are awesome. I keep saying they, because I realize Grohl is the only name I know, but they’re all there killin it every time out. God bless the Foo Fighters.
45 years on, man does Pink Floyd suck ceptin mebbe Umma Gumma. Even a blind squirrel and all...
No one talks about Grateful Dead studio albums, they talk about the live shows.
I remember Bob Dylan with his acoustic guitar and harmonica rig standing in the entrance hallway at Glen Memorial MethodistChurch awaiting introduction to do a one man show at Emory. That was 1964 and the crowd was not very big then. So I sit down on the floor in front of him and took it all in. I remember how aloof and frail he seemed to be then but his voice was strong and the harmonica was loud.
I completely agree about the "the energy and atmosphere of live music," but I wonder how much if it is a result of seeing "your favorite performer onstage, in the flesh." In a lot of of big stadium concerts, depending on your seating, the performer is too far away to make much of an impact and oftentimes relies on video projection. I think a big part of it is the ego death you experience between the sound and your membership in the audience.
At least he wrote an article (or had one written) instead of doing a YouTube of him singing. I don't think I could take another one of those.
Example: Talking Heads at the Pantages December of '83... admittedly, my points of reference are fairly ancient, lol.
I loved Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense. When Byrne does that spastic dance for "Once In a Lifetime," it's completely absurd and completely awe-inspiring.
I love live music, but hate large venues. I want a relaxed experience with room to sit, walk have some drinks. I like a table and chairs, not a row of seats too far away to even be sure who is up there. Good atmosphere for me is a bar with live music. Best is an outdoor concert in a park that has a couple thousand fans at most. I like music to compliment a fun comfortable atmosphere rather than suffering crowds and people standing like sardines just to be where the music is.
My wife and I saw TH twice on that '83 tour, once in the summer in Costa Mesa, Ca. and then the next to last show of their run at the Pantages where we saw them filming it.
Another great live show was Devo at the Universal Amphitheater in Dec of '82... the band was playing in front of a large screen and interacting with what was on it. It may sound kind of run of the mill today, but it was unique and dazzling at that time.
I agree with bagoh and Farmer. Live music is great, but 72000 at a stadium is not live music. It is big screens and loudspeakers in a crowd. If you are listening to loudspeakers it’s a recording, not live music, and your response is to something else in the experience.
Some people like the crowd/herd experience. I prefer live music.
Best is an outdoor concert in a park that has a couple thousand fans at most.
Marymoor Park. Redmond, WA.
The early to mid-70s was the heyday of large venue live shows in SoCal... e.g., California Jam and stadium shows all with many outstanding bands. Memories of same almost bring a tear to my eye, lol.
If you love music you will enjoy the original HBO series that the Foo Fighters created along with their Sonic Highways album. It is only available in full at iTunes for $20 aside from some short YouTube clips. Each song and episode derives from their visits to 8 cities where they examine a local music genre or famous recording studio along with some really fascinating interviews with musicians and recording industry execs. Each song then incorporates the elements from the episode and plays at the end.
Here’s a clip from the Los Angeles episode titled “outside” where the band heads out east of the city to Joshua Tree and the famous Rancho De La Luna studio where they host Joe Walsh for a guitar solo that blows Taylor Hawkins’ mind. GOOD QUARANTINE STUFF
https://youtu.be/Y8v6FpzwqeQ
I was exposed to Nirvana early, the Fall of 1988, by the guy in the dorm room next to me. He was heavy into the Grunge sound, which was just taking off. He was constantly pushing this band on us that no one had ever heard of. We're talking years before Nevermind. I never was a big fan of Nirvana, except for Dave Grohl. I am a much bigger fan of The Foo Fighters. I am a huge fan of Grohl, and I agree with what he has written here. One of the things he is known for is getting audience participation, even bringing fans onstage to play and sing during the concert.
I don't have any sympathy for Cobain. What he did was the pinnacle of indulgent irresponsible selfishness. He had a family to protect and provide for. He abandoned them. I don't care if he was in emotional pain, millions of us are. If he couldn't handle the pressures of being a rock star, he should have quit and become a farmer or something. He certainly had the means to do so.
Wonderful quote, thank you Althouse. I've been thinking a lot about the fact that singing together with others is not coming back any time soon. No, I lie. I don't think about this dreary fact for more than a few seconds at a time; my mind touches on it and then jumps back as from a hot stove. Singing is my one true hobby and since my early retirement I've been concentrating on finding classes to improve my voice and finding like-minded people to get together for casual singing. There's nothing like it--you sing in harmony with others and your entire body resonates and is pitched into another plane. I could sing together with others for hours and never tire of it.
I hate people who sing at the top of their lungs at concerts.
Also, this comes off so fake. Dave has been famous for 30 years, exactly when did he see so many shows from the rafters?
He must have great eyes too, able to see all those people doing all those things while performing.
I love live music, I have played most stages in town with bands over the years.... and he plays it on a bit thick for me.
Never saw the Foo, but a girlfriend took me to see Nirvana, I took her to see Fishbone and Primus. Good times
Have you been to Red Rocks? Capacity under 10,000. I saw John Denver there in a private concert, there were maybe 2,000 of us. It was amazing. We sat high enough that we could see over the top of the stage, facing ENE, and watched the moon rise as he sang Rocky Mountain High. It was amazing.
The funny part is this: I cannot stand listening to John Denver music before or since (other than his Rocky Mountain Christmas album which is a staple in our rotation at that time of year).
Was supposed to see Albert Cummings in a small venue in MA (400 people) this Thursday. Yeah, nope.
The studio work sounds so much better live music is like going to a party in high school and some garage band is playing David Bowie suffragette City for the umpteenth time
Live music connects us with more than the performer. It keeps us connected with the shared culture enjoyed by the crowd with us whether that be 20 in a club or 20,000 in a stadium.
I always feel connected to humanity's history when I attend live shows, we've been doing live music long before we had writing. Its a very deep connection.
Live albums are not the same thing.
Always pay for good seats, or GA.
"I don’t know when it will be safe to return to singing arm in arm at the top of our lungs, hearts racing, bodies moving, souls bursting with life."
Another illustration of the insanity epidemic.
News flash: it is safe now, for healthy people under 50.
Who needs an audience when you have a thousand Italian musicians in one place playing learn to fly. I hope they’re alright.
https://youtu.be/JozAmXo2bDE
Bodily Fluidz
...didnt they open for the Murder Hornets?
320Busdriver said...
Who needs an audience when you have a thousand Italian musicians in one place playing learn to fly. I hope they’re alright.
https://youtu.be/JozAmXo2bDE
I saw this a few years ago.
Awesome.
Link
Blogger stevew said...
Last night I watched a video of Mumford & Sons playing at Red Rocks
This deserves a direct link too
Not my genre, but I this song/video
O lordy yes-- live music (in my experience) is incomparably greater to experience than recorded or "live on IMAX".
Just in the realm of 'classical,' I've been a fan of the big pieces since I was a tad, but one of the benefits of the campus (alma mater/former employer) nearby is the really fine music school and associated concerts. Between the excellent faculty and students and the chamber music series they host I've . . . let's just say sitting within feet (sometimes on the stage itself) of artists like Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson or the like, playing like hell . . . It's as spiritual as I get.
Just last fall two former library colleagues gave a recital of Clara and Robert Schumann
lieder that was superb-- librarians have to have 'real' skills too you know. And some of the student ensembles are outstanding.
Narr
God bless elite culture
Oh, love Dave G. Kurt was a punkass bitch.
Narr
God bless grunge culture
320... Should be Blue Angels flyover theme song!
@Howard:
The studio work sounds so much better live music is like going to a party in high school and some garage band is playing David Bowie suffragette City for the umpteenth time
It's kind of a version of demo-itis. But then again, music isn't just experienced aurally but also tactilely. I still think going to a concert is more about being in an audience. And thousands of people don't get together to listen to an album.
@Gahrie:
I don't have any sympathy for Cobain. What he did was the pinnacle of indulgent irresponsible selfishness. He had a family to protect and provide for. He abandoned them.
I have some sympathy for this point-of-view, but depression can be a life-threatening illness and it isn't just about feeling emotional pain. He also had the misfortune of being involved with a very sick, borderline personality woman.
He's gone, and I still don't appreciate him. Actually, I think he was a piece of shit. I guess I'm not sensitive.
His child didn't ask to be born. Now he has to grow up (has grown?) knowing his father was a suicide.
Nice work, Mr. Sensitive!
That's the one Browndog!
"One-dimensional" on a laptop? Two, surely.
But we still have the au courant Masked Singer to watch...
Bean appears to be quite female...doing some modeling as well as overseeing Dad's name and image rights
My wife and I saw TH twice on that '83 tour, once in the summer in Costa Mesa, Ca. and then the next to last show of their run at the Pantages where we saw them filming it.
Another great live show was Devo at the Universal Amphitheater in Dec of '82... the band was playing in front of a large screen and interacting with what was on it. It may sound kind of run of the mill today, but it was unique and dazzling at that time.
Saw both bands on those tours -- front row, even. Both would be in my top 10 among the hundreds of concerts I've seen. Others I'd have to include in that category would be Bowie, U2 (also front row), and... B*tthole Surfers.
I've played music live since I was a teenager, and the rush of playing live is real, whether it's in front of a crowd of 20 or 2,000.
Does Cobain's suicide note have the earliest use of the increasingly widespread "relish in"?
So the hologram concerts by dead people fit in how?
Foo Fighters/Sonic Youth/Beastie Boys was a great show in a sweaty, crowded mid-sized arena in Bangkok 1995.
Dave Grohl is right. These gatherings, whether in an enormous stadium or a basement club, fulfill a deep human need. So does communal prayer. What we're going through now is unnatural, and as a result I have to conclude we will return to something like normal when it comes to communal activities sooner than many fret. There are those among us who have always looked at other people as disgusting sources of microscopic death, but that is a relatively rare (and somewhat treatable) condition and is frankly deviant to a species as social as ours. It won't last.
"Example: Talking Heads at the Pantages December of '83... admittedly, my points of reference are fairly ancient, lol."
I remember when the Talking Heads were the new thing, and they even had an androgynous girl bass player! This was before they ever recorded. Languishing in Florida, I was reading about them in the rock press covering the NYC underground scene in 1975, aborning mostly at CBGB and (somewhat) Max's Kansas City.
I first saw them in 1978 in Seattle, and twice later in NYC. It seems impossible so long ago feels so recent.
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