Last night, I went with James and Broderick to see the amazing Bat For Lashes at the Loft, and she was, well, amazing (albeit, a bit strange… she really takes being “alternative” seriously). I really enjoyed her set (Natasha Khan was admittedly outstanding live), and even the opening band, Other Lives, was quite amazing as well (they reminded me a lot of the Decemberists). However, I had some gripes about the show in general, and I came up two things that I would do differently, if I were in a band, and performed concerts for people.
1. I would come out a lot sooner after the opening act.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I understand that sound checks and whatnot need to happen. However, they could happen before the show starts; your gear was up on the stage while the opening act played, so don’t act like you couldn’t have done a sound check before they went on. Also, if you MUST do a sound check (if that really is the reason you wait so long to come out after the opening act), why does it take so long? Seriously, if it is longer than 30 minutes, you are leaning heavily into being just plain rude; and I don’t care who you are, you are not that important, so stop being a diva. My feet hurt, and it is hot, and waiting forever in order for you to grace us with your presence is really starting to push it.
2. I would use the fucking lights, and not play in the dark.
As much as I love going to concerts, I love taking concert pictures just as much. I like to get a neat shot of the person that I payed to see perform, which for me, is a major keepsake, and a memory of my experience. However, and this is a big however, when they perform in the dark, it is not only hard to see them with my naked eye, but it is damn near impossible to get a decent picture. So for my show, you would see me flooded in light, actually performing for a crowd; not hiding in the dark while I sing on stage. I would also make sure to have a little stage presence; she was bent over or had her back to the audience most of the show.
Looking back at the night, I thought I had more things that I would do if I were in the band, but I guess the other gripes I had about the show had nothing to do with the actual performance. First of all, I may sound like an old codger, but it was way too fucking loud at that show. Those of you that have been to the Loft know that it is a small space, and it really doesn’t need to be EAR BLEEDINGLY loud for the show to be good. I want to be able to continue listening to the good music that I came out to see after the show ends, afterall.
Also, after Bat For Lashes finished their “1st set” (you know, the fake, “goodnight!” before coming out to play basically the second half of your show), I was pretty tired of standing in the front, so I asked James and Broderick if they were ready to head to the back, and maybe even home (my feet were hurting because we waited forever for her to take the stage, afterall). While walking through the crowd, this guy that was several rows of people behind us says to me as I pass him something to the effect of, “hey big guy! you are so freaking tall! you were blocking us all night! glad you are leaving!!!”. Being who I am, I couldn’t let a bitchy remark go without retort, so to that, I leaned into him, and made sure to say loud enough so his short ass could hear me, “Well, now you’ll know to get here earlier next time, so you can stand up front, won’t you?”.
Seriously. You came to a standing room, general admission concert, and you are bitching because someone 6′1″ is standing in front of you?! Go fuck yourself, munchkin; it isn’t my fault that a) you are shorter than me, nor more importantly, b) that I got there earlier than you and found where I wanted to stand, and did so because I knew that it was standing room only, general admission. I honestly couldn’t believe he had the nerve to bitch about it, especially when there were several people around me that were the same height as me, but I digress.
Overall, the show was great, and I can just add these to my “general gripes” about things in life. Ah, first world problems… so much fun to bitch about, eh?
Re: #1 – their equipment may be checked (time permitting, esp. depending on first band) and on stage, but they all use the same sound board. Things happen between sets 1, 2, etc., and they may even have a diff. sound tech. Too many variables in between, and it gets even more difficult depending on how “big” the band is (more staff = more problems).
Plus, expecting musicians to be on time is not exactly an easy wish granted.
@mingaling: I gotcha, and I am all for doing sound checks. However, she waited a while after the sound check seemed to be done to come out (which, at that point, every extra minute seemed like forever — it was HOT and standing on concrete ain’t for me). Also, this wasn’t just directed at her; I have seen FAR worse at other shows (Feist took an hour and a half of a practically empty stage to come out). It’s just a peeve of mine, that I am sure if I were in there shoes, I would have a different opinion about!
Standing and waiting are pretty much requisite at shows. I am glad to be one of those old people sitting down at the Tabernacle and Center Stage.
I hear you on the standing in the dark thing, but then I think about Robert Smith under all those hot lights sweating like a motherf*cker and I realize if I were him, I wouldn’t want all those lights on me either.
My favorite venues here in Denver are standing-room shows (except Red Rocks), and I inevitably get some girl playing the poor, short, sad fan card on me. I’ve given into that one too many times, and I’m done with it. Maybe if you hadn’t gone for the fourth margarita at the bar across the street, you would have gotten there at a decent time!
@mingaling: I think that is my very near future!!!
@nicole: I get that, but if you are the artist (especially Robert Smith for crying out loud), you could get some fans on the stage. Shit, Beyonce practically performs in a wind tunnel! Doesn’t everyone know that your hair ALWAYS looks better being blown in the wind?!
@john: I FUCKING HATE THAT SHIT. It always happens, at every show I go to; someone comes up right before they take stage, and just “slip in”. Um, NO. I was here for the past 2 hours, you can stand behind me and rightly fuck off. Not only is it rude, but it is just incredibly selfish to think that your view is worth more than mine. I actually told a guy to fuck off once because he tried that shit.