Viking Dan
Well-Known Member
This is what got me thinking about your post and the whole Dead Head Taper vs. Mitksi Recorder idea.
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Selaws
Well-Known Member
I got into the habit (pre-covid, haven't really had the chance since) of hitting the voice recorder on my phone and leaving it facedown on a table or popping it into my top pocket (mic up) at most gigs. In some cases, I was able to check it was cool to do so with the musician themselves, but typically I figure that as I am the only person that will be relistening then there's no harm done. The quality is acceptable for me as relistening is as much of a nostalgic thing as a proper listening experience (I get so much enjoyment reliving it this way).
Personally, I don't see a problem with this approach but prolonged videoing is a different matter if it's affecting those around you. I have been to several gigs where the person in front of me has their phone raised above shoulder level recording and blocking the view. It's infuriating as nobody paid to watch it through a screen. At the end of the day, I guess it's all about respect. Respect for the people around you and respect of the musicians requests.
My Neighbor Brotoro
Active Member
Welp, those Mitski tweets were deleted. Continue to enjoy filming entire shows on your phone, I guess.
wokeupnew
Well-Known Member
Ericj32
Well-Known Member
I absolutely hate when performers actively try to get you to clap for them. Like, it’s fine to work the crowd, but when you are like frustrated at the audience for not being as enthusiastic about your performance as you’d like them to be, that’s kind of your own deal. The first and last time I went to a Flaming Lips show, Wayne Coyne was just desperately trying to get everyone to clap louder for him and most of the crowd couldn’t be bothered. It was really odd and pathetic - I think some performers think they’re entitled to be worshipped by an audience just by virtue of standing on the stage. Like sometimes I’ve noticed people doing solos or whatever and then looking at the audience like they expect a huge outpouring of applause in the middle of the song and then looking all disappointed or pissed when they don’t get it - just bad vibes all around.
Djxfactor511
Well-Known Member
Quoting my experience with Black Pumas from last summer for this EXACT reason.
Yer Ol' Uncle D
Well-Known Member
The easiest way to boil down the difference in the original taping scene and the cellphone age, more times than not, comes down to one letter - old school = WE, new school = ME.
The original audio recording scene (and also video later on) was all about creating a relationship with the band, documenting the show in the best way possible (money was invested in the gear necessary to capture a great recording, all out of the taper's pocket), the least obtrusive way possible (you'll usually find taper erectus set up in the vicinity of the soundboard blocking no sightlines or harshing anyone's mellow) and getting those recordings to the fans. In most cases, taper's did what they did for the love of the band - we wanted to help them gain a wider audience, sell more records, sell more tickets and sell more t-shirts. And for that reason, the vast majority of us freely shared what we spent $ and hours producing. And that's why you can go to the Live Music Archive, among others, and freely stream or download 16K Dead shows, 1K DBT shows, 1.3K Smashing Pumpkins shows, and shows by thousands of other bands.
Also, there are tons of bands out there that aren't audio taper friendly, yet they'll allow a bunch of poorly recorded trash be posted on YouTube. I just don't understand that. A quality capture could do them so much good. Conversely, there are bands who recognize how important it is to have a quality recording shared for free to promote themselves. I've enjoyed relationships with a number of bands over the years that recognized the time, money and effort put into sharing a free, quality recording to move them forward and they reciprocated with free tix in exchange for the freely shared audio/video work.
As I view it, and this is just one man's opinion, the cellphones held aloft at more shows than not are about "see me, where I am right now, what I'm doing." A portion of the song is recorded, the head goes down looking at the device, the clip is immediately posted to Facegram, some conversation is exchanged with a mate about how a clip of the show was just shared, they look back to the stage and the song is over. My favorite is the person who looks at their phone or talks during the whole song and then lets out an obnoxiously loud "Woooooo" at the end. I don't understand why you would come to a concert, a gathering that's all about the music, and spend most of your time not paying attention to the music. But that's just me.
I've been to shows by Jack White, The Black Crowes and Bob Dylan where they have it plastered all over the venue and they announce up front "No mobile phone usage or you will be ejected" and were dead serious. Saw a few get tossed. And I have to say, as an attendee, no phones held aloft made the whole thing much more enjoyable. In my old age, I usually tend to stand in the back half of the room. Plus, I'm kinda tall and I just think it's more courteous to others. Can't tell you how many times I've had someone move in front of me and constantly hold a mobile aloft in front of my face. That's back to the ME.
With that said, I in no way agree with any artist pandering to get a certain reaction or involvement from the crowd. You want folks to freak out, earn it by freaking them out with your music. I can understand their point with the phone frustration. The last time I saw The Cult, Ian put things in pretty eloquent perspective between songs. He didn't tell anyone to put their phones away, didn't come across heavy-handed, but told everyone that they were making a choice to miss the show. A very loose paraphrase - "People, you're missing the show. You're here but you're missing the show. Your eyes, your ears, they're much more complex and sophisticated than your mobiles. They process and retain so much more than a tiny screen. Don't cheat yourselves. Free yourselves. Take it all in." Right on, Ian.
Welp, that was rambling...
Djxfactor511
Well-Known Member
Sold out show in Cleveland tonight for Foxy Shazam, who are on their first tour in years after going on hiatus. Only 3 original members from pre-hiatus, but the new blood sound GREAT. Shitty picture of them because I was too busy dancing the whole set.
Robert Finley opened and was such a charmer. Really enjoyed his set.
Robert Finley opened and was such a charmer. Really enjoyed his set.
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imtheocean
Well-Known Member
Eddie Vedder & The Earthlings at the Youtube Theater 2/25
Ed had quite a band with him - Chad Smith, Glen Hansard, Josh Klinghoffer, Andrew Watt, and Chris Chaney.
First set kicked off with REM's Drive, then Eddie brought out Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers to play on Tom Petty's Room at the Top and Long Way off Eddie's new album - most of the main set consisted of tracks from Earthing / Flag Day. Things got really good in the encore which featured the Band's arrangement of Marvin Gaye's "Don't Do It", complete with horn section, Benmont coming back out for a moving version of "The Waiting", and then Steward Copeland joining on drums for "Message in a Bottle". Chad was an absolute beast on the drums, and the looser the band got the more fun they were to watch.
This pic is from the last song - Rockin' in the Free World with Stewart on drums, and Chad Smith on guitar.
Ed had quite a band with him - Chad Smith, Glen Hansard, Josh Klinghoffer, Andrew Watt, and Chris Chaney.
First set kicked off with REM's Drive, then Eddie brought out Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers to play on Tom Petty's Room at the Top and Long Way off Eddie's new album - most of the main set consisted of tracks from Earthing / Flag Day. Things got really good in the encore which featured the Band's arrangement of Marvin Gaye's "Don't Do It", complete with horn section, Benmont coming back out for a moving version of "The Waiting", and then Steward Copeland joining on drums for "Message in a Bottle". Chad was an absolute beast on the drums, and the looser the band got the more fun they were to watch.
This pic is from the last song - Rockin' in the Free World with Stewart on drums, and Chad Smith on guitar.
Colonel4Bin
Well-Known Member
Saw Goose last night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in CT. The last time I saw them was their 4 show December 2019 Colorado run, where they played to no more than 90 people each night in small bars.
Last night they sold out an arena with 9,000 people, their largest show to date. 100x(!!) the people I last saw them with just prior to the pandemic. And they absolutely killed it. Can’t underestimate the trajectory these guys are on. They have “it” and it only keeps getting better!
Last night they sold out an arena with 9,000 people, their largest show to date. 100x(!!) the people I last saw them with just prior to the pandemic. And they absolutely killed it. Can’t underestimate the trajectory these guys are on. They have “it” and it only keeps getting better!
threesunrises
Well-Known Member
We were at Goosemas last night, too. Fabulous show. On a related note upthread regarding video recording, one of my fave Goose songs is Empress of Organos. My husband was recording the end of the song for me and security guy came up to us to tell him to stop. 
10 seconds later, Ben, the drummer, proposed to his girlfriend onstage and everyone was recording. WTAF? So silly.
10 seconds later, Ben, the drummer, proposed to his girlfriend onstage and everyone was recording. WTAF? So silly.
Colonel4Bin
Well-Known Member
First, LOVE Empress. Was so happy to get one along with Rockdale. And that's bizarre about the recording? Never heard of security doing that at such a jam band show, especially when they allow you to tape! Must've been a rogue security guard.We were at Goosemas last night, too. Fabulous show. On a related note upthread regarding video recording, one of my fave Goose songs is Empress of Organos. My husband was recording the end of the song for me and security guy came up to us to tell him to stop.
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The Mitski discussion is interesting because in other performing arts, daring to video record any portion of it is a no-go. Filming a comedian's set ranges from "you will get called out by the comedian" to "you will be ejected" - it makes more sense professionally (where comedian sets will be the same each night and be filmed for a special) than it does for musicians but is pretty standard. Yondr pouches are common place for bigger comedians. Live theater, particularly at higher levels, are a similar no-go. The differences make sense but artists in other mediums exert more control without issue.
The most successful approaches I've seen from artists who do care about that come with bargaining with the crowd. Lucy Dacus was successful at suppressing Thumbs for years just by asking fans not to record that particular song. A lot of comedians will basically say "don't record/photograph during the show and at the end I'll give you your opportunity to get your photo/video" and I think artists could embrace that depending on the genre/music type. Personally? I'm aggressively for artists setting the terms of how their art gets consumed, recorded, and distributed. The live performance is in many ways the last frontier for artists to put their work into the world for their fans on their terms, and if Mitski's terms are "don't flash film every moment of this show" I'm on board. Heck, if all of my work was being recorded by one random person in our 300 person teams meetings because they might want to re-live my dulcet tones while discussing pharmacy rebates I might not feel like that lets me produce my best work either.
(Edit: I'd also question that if you, as a fan, are unable to abide by and artist's particular request regarding their art, I am wondering how much of a fan you are of the artist/music vs. the experience. Like, I struggle to imagine feeling good about actively opposing a musician's preference in terms of how their show goes but calling myself a fan of what they do).
Granted, I'm kind of with YOUD in that the shows I've been to with hard no phones rules have been flat out more enjoyable than those without them, though I'd probably say the kind of fans there might contribute to that too and I may be biased on this.
(As an aside, if you are so inclined to listen to an entire Mitski show, there is one from this tour on Archive and given the setlists are uniform on them, you'll probably be able to re-live your moment of preference. I do think different artists produce different levels of "value" in having their live performances recorded in volume but that is a very different overall debate IMO.)
The most successful approaches I've seen from artists who do care about that come with bargaining with the crowd. Lucy Dacus was successful at suppressing Thumbs for years just by asking fans not to record that particular song. A lot of comedians will basically say "don't record/photograph during the show and at the end I'll give you your opportunity to get your photo/video" and I think artists could embrace that depending on the genre/music type. Personally? I'm aggressively for artists setting the terms of how their art gets consumed, recorded, and distributed. The live performance is in many ways the last frontier for artists to put their work into the world for their fans on their terms, and if Mitski's terms are "don't flash film every moment of this show" I'm on board. Heck, if all of my work was being recorded by one random person in our 300 person teams meetings because they might want to re-live my dulcet tones while discussing pharmacy rebates I might not feel like that lets me produce my best work either.
(Edit: I'd also question that if you, as a fan, are unable to abide by and artist's particular request regarding their art, I am wondering how much of a fan you are of the artist/music vs. the experience. Like, I struggle to imagine feeling good about actively opposing a musician's preference in terms of how their show goes but calling myself a fan of what they do).
Granted, I'm kind of with YOUD in that the shows I've been to with hard no phones rules have been flat out more enjoyable than those without them, though I'd probably say the kind of fans there might contribute to that too and I may be biased on this.
(As an aside, if you are so inclined to listen to an entire Mitski show, there is one from this tour on Archive and given the setlists are uniform on them, you'll probably be able to re-live your moment of preference. I do think different artists produce different levels of "value" in having their live performances recorded in volume but that is a very different overall debate IMO.)
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spilledleche
Well-Known Member
I think there's a lot of pent up "OMG I'm out in the world and doing something again" energy right now and while I haven't been to any shows this winter, last summer/fall it was worse than I remember pre-covid concert going.
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
Stereolab announce 2022 North American tour
Stereolab are picking up where their COVID-19-interrupted reunion left off by announcing a fall 2022 tour. Check out the full schedule now.
consequence.net
threesunrises
Well-Known Member
Bought tix to three Midnight Oil shows in June! Might possibly add maybe 1-2 more...
Viking Dan
Well-Known Member
The new album is good.
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
Circuit Des Yeux was quite an experience on Sunday, apropos considering the venue being at a small church. Some photos of the outside:
somesurprises
Enjoyable opener from Seattle, WA. The half hour set opened with a roughly five minute ambient/drone piece that transitioned into an upbeat indie rock/shoegaze hybrid number. Thereafter, the last four or so tracks were a mix of slowcore/post-rock sounding songs which were all quite enjoyable. Might think about getting their album at some point.
Circuit Des Yeux
Pretty riveting performance from Haley and her band, though there were some stumbles...including long wait times between songs. What surprised me the most was the setlist containing only four tracks from the new album, with one being the 30sec intro. After playing all of these songs consecutively to open the set, the remainder of the roughly hour-long set consisted mostly songs from In Plain Speech and Reaching for Indigo. Encore was a frightening cover of Bauhaus's "The Passion of Lovers."
Despite the venue capacity at no more than 300, I don't think that even half of the pews were occupied when CDY began their set.
Video of "Vanishing":
Post-show
Immediately headed over to the merch table in the adjacent room, bought an -io tee and waited around for Haley and her band to appear from behind the privacy doors. She signed and personalized my copies of In Plain Speech and -io that I brought from home. I was close to heading out until I remembered that Reaching for Indigo was available at the merch table. Purchased that and requested Haley to sign it as well, after waiting for a convo between her and a concertgoer to end.
somesurprises
Enjoyable opener from Seattle, WA. The half hour set opened with a roughly five minute ambient/drone piece that transitioned into an upbeat indie rock/shoegaze hybrid number. Thereafter, the last four or so tracks were a mix of slowcore/post-rock sounding songs which were all quite enjoyable. Might think about getting their album at some point.
Circuit Des Yeux
Pretty riveting performance from Haley and her band, though there were some stumbles...including long wait times between songs. What surprised me the most was the setlist containing only four tracks from the new album, with one being the 30sec intro. After playing all of these songs consecutively to open the set, the remainder of the roughly hour-long set consisted mostly songs from In Plain Speech and Reaching for Indigo. Encore was a frightening cover of Bauhaus's "The Passion of Lovers."
Despite the venue capacity at no more than 300, I don't think that even half of the pews were occupied when CDY began their set.
Video of "Vanishing":
Post-show
Immediately headed over to the merch table in the adjacent room, bought an -io tee and waited around for Haley and her band to appear from behind the privacy doors. She signed and personalized my copies of In Plain Speech and -io that I brought from home. I was close to heading out until I remembered that Reaching for Indigo was available at the merch table. Purchased that and requested Haley to sign it as well, after waiting for a convo between her and a concertgoer to end.
threesunrises
Well-Known Member
Really strong. Have it in constant rotation. Sadly, there is still a wait for the vinyl release, which is in April, I think. I pre-ordered it immediately and am not ashamed to admit that with shipping, it was over $80. The Oils have been my husband's fave band since the late 80's (when I introduced them to their music) and we had hoped for a reunion tour for 14+ years. Flew to Atlanta in May 2017 for the kickoff, saw the local gigs (missed some as we had already booked a trip out west) but are now planning on NYC, Philly and DC. If we can sneak away, will do Boston and more than likely Chicago. Beyond thrilled that they are giving the US a few more dates. We thought 2017 was it.