Live Music ?

I think it is strange you feel like that. Nothing but a good concert to emerge yourself in. Does it really distract you so much that the artists announce their numbers? Or are you perhaps just uncomfortable among a crowd?

No I don't think it's so much uncomfortable, but merely the atmosphere that I would usually immerse myself in at home or where i take my mp3 player an listen to music outside, is lost in a concert where there are so many people, and the music rarely sounding as good as it does on the CD, especially a lot of the little nuances in an artists music that they can't really recreate live.

I don't know it has it's plus points I suppose, but I'd much prefer to listen to an album I think.

hi,

All I can tell you is that if I didn't like live concerts I would have deprived myself of some incredible moments and memories in my life.

coleio wrote: I don't know if it belongs in here as it applies to all genres, but I have a feeling I must be one of a very small selection of people that actually doesn't like live music as much as listening to it on the CD or whatever format you listen to. What with all the crowd, and the constant talking by the vocalist or musicians, it ruins an atmosphere that the record would create. And rarely does it sound as good live as it does on the record. Am I alone in the this perception or are there other people who feel this way?

IVNORD wrote: coleio wrote: I don't know if it belongs in here as it applies to all genres, but I have a feeling I must be one of a very small selection of people that actually doesn't like live music as much as listening to it on the CD or whatever format you listen to. What with all the crowd, and the constant talking by the vocalist or musicians, it ruins an atmosphere that the record would create. And rarely does it sound as good live as it does on the record. Am I alone in the this perception or are there other people who feel this way?   Hi coleio,   You're not alone here. Though I shouldn't say I don't like live music, I just prefer studio albums. I like live performance because it lets you see what the band can do in real life without sound recording technology. But I can't stand the show. Whenever they start smoke and fire on stage I bail out. For that reason I don't go to concerts (the last one I saw was Queen in 1980, with Mercury riding the Superman) and rarely watch such dance-and-sing parties like Aerosmith on MTV (and if I do, it's out of curiosity, there's no musical merit in it anyway). To me a studio recording is what the band' s musical thought and intellect is in its polished, refined form,  not just the mastery of their musicianship on stage.

You've articulated my thoughts perfectly, I was trying to think of how to put it and you've done it for me haha

It's good to know I'm not alone in feeling that way though, and I do agree, I don't really dislike live performances as such, because some of them were entertaining and interesting (Muse and Dream Theater being 2 of them).
But yeah, you desrcibed my feelings brilliantly

coleio wrote: I don't know if it belongs in here as it applies to all genres, but I have a feeling I must be one of a very small selection of people that actually doesn't like live music as much as listening to it on the CD or whatever format you listen to. What with all the crowd, and the constant talking by the vocalist or musicians, it ruins an atmosphere that the record would create. And rarely does it sound as good live as it does on the record. Am I alone in the this perception or are there other people who feel this way?

If the songs are played in the same way as the studio versions you are completely right. Today that's unfortunately a usual strategy of some bands but not my thing.

Okay - I can remember concerts where the crowd was noisy, people were talking
during silent parts and I was very very angry about it.
But this have been only exceptions.

I absolutely love live music when the songs are interpreted new, extended with experimental elements and the musicians are interacting with the crowd.
Otherwise there is no reason for me to visit concerts or to buy a live CD.




Edited by Rivertree - July 20 2007 at 10:50

I definitely prefer live albums to studio albums, but there are some bands that simply are NOT live bands. An example is Genesis. They are simply horrible live. The reason is that they try to stick too close to the studio material on their live albums. If you try that you can only lose - of course the perfection of studio albums can't be reproduced live. If you make a mistake on a studio album, you simply do another take - that's not possible live.
However, the wonderful spontaneity and the quick exchanging of musical ideas of bands who simply let the music flow live can lead to an experience you just can't have with a studio album. An example for that are Gong. No two versions of a song by Gong sound alike, that's why it is possible to have dozens of live albums of them and enjoy them all because you never know what happens with them. And that is what in my opinion is the mark of an excellent musician - to be able to play in such a "flowing" mood.
However, if it is technical perfection that you are after, it has to be studio for you. But there is something about perfection that makes it rather dull - it doesn't leave you longing. True beauty lies in imperfection. You could create thousand of identical vases in a factory, but that one handmade vase with its slight imperfections is much more beautiful than all these thousand perfect replicas.

Edited by BaldFriede - July 20 2007 at 10:58

chopper wrote: Try Genesis Live. The audience are very quiet in the quiet bits (e.g. in Get' em out by Friday, you could hear the proverbial pin drop). I much prefer the versions on this to the originals but this is partly because of their duff production.

Music is created live.  Many studio techniques while giving a slick sound to the music also create an artificial way to experience the music.  Live Music is full of surprises some intended some not.  Just recently at Calprog Jordan Rudess and Rod Morgenstein were performing a great piece of music.  At the end they both just looked at each other and started laughing.  Rudess came to the mike and said "We don't know the name of that because we just created it here and now".  You can't find that on CD's. In some way they take the human experience out it.