Seen my share of rock concerts in my day. Some excellent, some not.
Back when the ticket price was close to the price of the vinyl album it made some sense. Some were unforgettable experiences and opportunities.
Some bands have extraordinary front men or shows, in some cases the show is the soul of the band but then there are those that are boring and just a loud waste of time. Usually you know that in advance……

So why flock to those concerts (currently paying abusing amounts of money to watch diminute and distant musicians - both in body and soul?


Been to concerts of bands like Genesis, Yes, Led Zep, ELP, ELO, EWF, Marillion, Status Quo, Peter Gabriel, Supertramp (boring), Clapton, Frank Zappa, Chicago, Mike Oldfiel, Pat Metheny, Jarrett, to name just a few. Many were memorable, others were just musicians standing still for a couple of hours just playing their songs loud to the last note, nothing else, nothing more.

Must also add that some bands were not my favorites but nevertheless had surprisingly great shows.
Also, i’ve never been to a concert in a big stadium, only relatively small and more intimate venues.

Now i watch DVDs, BRs etc, professionally produced and winder why go to a concert now or in the future?

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If you don’t get it, why try to convince you otherwise?

define 'studio musician'

I'm assuming he means a singer or band that doesn't have a lot of showmanship.

By studio musicians i mean the likes of Pink Floyd members - great visual show BTW - Toto, Supertramp and others.
These are the bands that simply stand there and play their music EXACTLY as they played in the studio album.

Not trying to be convinced of anything, just trying to figure out what i might have missed, if anything. Guess the one and only show that pissed me off was Supertramp´s (Live in Paris album) Tour. Ages ago.

0-0

quote:

Originally posted by 0-0:
By studio musicians i mean the likes of Pink Floyd members - great visual show BTW - Toto, Supertramp and others.
These are the bands that simply stand there and play their music EXACTLY as they played in the studio album.

Not trying to be convinced of anything, just trying to figure out what i might have missed, if anything. Guess the one and only show that pissed me off was Supertramp´s (Live in Paris album) Tour. Ages ago.

0-0

gotcha,

George Thoroughgood and the Destroyers,

saw them in the late 80's after they released a live album

the show was just like listening to the album, even the adlib between the songs was the same,


the Cars, saw them ~1984 or so, they played fantastic, but Ocasek and the band acted like they were scared to death and talked or chatted very little between songs, basically like you mentioned,



FWIW, your taste , or those you mentioned, are just a year or 5 before my taste, (with the exception of Zappa, who I wish I could have seen) most of the stuff we go to are 70's and 80's Alt, New Wave, or punk, and the vast majority have been excellent live,



Even the bands that have one original member (English Beat for example) have been great live

re Zappa,

never saw Frank play,

I've seen Dweezil 3 times, and he is fantastic,
smalled band size than Frank would have, but he also plays smaller venues, and they play well

Not every artist plays live the same way.
A lot of people want to hear it as it was recorded - I get it.
Others are just party animals.

I have seen Frank Zappa live as well as Dweezil - loved them both.

A couple I wish I have seen > Bob Segar, J Geils, Lynyrd Skynyrd just to name a few that would be a great time.

Maybe some could say Jimmy Buffet was like that but I was never in to him that deep.

Of course the Grateful Dead would have been a unique experience too.

used to work with a guy that was a big dead head,

he said every show was different, yet the same,
they are a band were every concert was graded and even the bootlegs of the live shows are coveted,
and he said as different as they may be, all were great

never saw them, or cared to , not that it matters,

Seen Gordon Lightfoot in Duluth a number of years ago. Drunk on his ass but he never missed a note on that guitar. That amazed me. I realized then what God given talent was.

I like to hear the live versions, more so than the stage theatrics.

Give me a talented group of musicians, a sound mix engineer that understands acoustics and I'm in a happy place.

Give me a "band" jumping around while lip-syncing to a recorded track? I want a refund.

In sone cases I think the live version is much better than some of the original vinyl

Alan Parsons was awesome to hear live in a venue perfect for his band.

Roger Hodgson is really good live and between Fools Overture and Had a Dream you would be hard pressed to find too many flaws in the live show.

I think that Gilmour has gotten better with age, and as much as I really don’t like Waters very much I have to give him credit for putting Doyle Bramhall and Snowy White together for his tour - the arrangements were simply spectacular.

We saw Diana Krall a few years ago. While her larger shows might seem that way, this was a smaller venue with a smaller crowd, and she spent time talking to the audience and taking requests and such. One of the best shows I've seen.

Depends on the act I guess. I saw Pearl Jam in '93 and they were awesome. Saw them again in '95 and it remains one of the worst shows I ever went to. Smashing Pumpkins was terrible live and Jane's Addiction was almost unbearable. I saw Prince 3 times and he was unbelievably good live.

As someone else mentioned above, George Thorogood live is an exact reproduction of his live album. Right down to his comments between songs. It's almost eerie.

One of the most fun shows I went to was Steve Vai back around '93 in a tiny venue. He had Terry Bozzio on drums that night and Bozzio's kit took up most of the stage. Vai's amp racks took up most of what was left, leaving Steve about a cubicle's worth of space to move around in. We were all so close to the stage that you got a great look at the guitar techs constantly tuning and swapping out his gear. I felt bad for those guys. They do a tremendous amount of work and get almost no recognition, going almost completely unnoticed most of the time. Vai was on fire that night and played like he was in a stadium with a hundred thousand people in it instead of a dive with maybe 200.

Interesting twist, i am very fond of live albums and sound ambience. No way to know if the show was good or not.

Was a big fan of Earth, Wind and Fire before they reached peak recognition. Saw them at the top of their game - not my personal best period - and they were impressive.
Same with Supertramp and they bored me angry, almost walked out of their show. It was the Paris live album tour. Exactly the same listening the studio albums standing up. They had nothing else to give to their fans.

Jethro Tull shows were fun (but for the A album tour). Collins is a great showman (solo or eith Genesis).

0-0

I almost always prefer live shows. I guess its the atmosphere and the fact that the arrangement is often altered from the studio version. When I was younger, I judged a band on how faithfully they recreated the sound on their album. Now, I look for the exact opposite to consider it a good show.

quote:

Originally posted by bdylan:
I almost always prefer live shows. I guess its the atmosphere and the fact that the arrangement is often altered from the studio version. When I was younger, I judged a band on how faithfully they recreated the sound on their album. Now, I look for the exact opposite to consider it a good show.

ditto

esp some of the good small venues,

re boring,

Mannheim steamroller, I think I fell asleep,
Trans Siberian Orchestra however was a good show,


saw Tina Turner back in the late 80's when she was popular agian,
she was excellent even in the crappy acoustics of RVA Coliseum
her opening band played well (Mister Mister IIRC) but the sound levels were so elevated or the mix was off it was painfully loud to listen too


I've seen Costello a handful of times with The Attractions,
solo with Tbone, solo with Nieve, and solo with Troussaint,

then a handful of times with The Imposters,

all were great shows, some slower/more relaxed or maybe off his normal stride, but still good shows,

IIRC on the Punch The Clock tour, I saw him in Hampton, then drove up to Maryland to see him the next night

both shows were excellent, and not the same, (set list did not change, but the atmosphere was different)