WHERE THE HOKEY POKEY "IS" WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
SatisfiedMind614
SatisfiedMind614
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Lost In Translation

Posted over 2 years ago
'The ultimate sin of any performer is contempt for the audience.'- Lester Bangs Have you ever LOVED a band on record but had your heartbroken once you saw them live? Thankfully I only have a couple of bands that fall into this category. And for me to put a band in the 'disappointing live act' column, i have to have seen them at least twice. I mean as long as humans are playing rock n roll and not robots, bad days are going to happen. So everyone gets one 'get out of jail free' card.It saddens me to say that Sparklehorse falls in to this realm with me. I could listen to this band for hours on end and be content. But both times I have seen SHi was so disappointed. It may have something to do with their style of music, it's pretty somber stuff...but they looked like the just didn't want to be there. I don't think it was disdain as much as it was they band just being uncomfortable...and their discomfort DID translate to the audience...in a bad way.Oh well we will always have the records...Feel free to hit me with your heart breaking rock n roll experiences
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Comments (22)

  1. contrabandwidth
    contrabandwidth says Saw the Eels open for Fiona Apple (took then girlfriend, now wife), and really went to see the Eels. Well I guess E had an argument and fired the band or something, because it was just him who came out and did a solo acoustic set that was about 20 minutes long, and not great at all. I've seen festival performances that were longer and more inspired. Outkast at Music Midtown in Atlanta. Hometown crowd, people were excited. Came out 45 minutes late (when the festival was only suposed to go til like 12:30 or something, and they were the last band. Played for 20 minutes, and it was less than inspired. Too bad really, because I really respect what they've done in music. Bo Diddley, posted about this before. Got the tickets for free, but wanted the 1.5 hours I spent there back. Crazy old coot played through a horribly dated effects processor, destroying any semblance of the "Bo Diddley sound". I know there is more, but that's all I can think of now...
    Permalink posted 08/20/2007
  2. annieander
    annieander says I think that when Beck was in his Sea Change period, the concert was pretty bad and disappointing. But with Beck...I am willing to forgive.
    Permalink posted 08/20/2007
  3. Dale
    Dale says I remember seeing Big Audio Dynamite II and being thoroughly unimpressed. They were completely wooden, not good times at all.
    Permalink posted 08/20/2007
  4. Mike the Knife
    Mike the Knife says Compared to the Clash, B.A.D. had to seem weakish. I was a little underwhelmed by The Kooks, but my expectations were so high...
    Permalink posted 08/20/2007
  5. kateherself
    kateherself says I saw Kings of Convenience a few years ago. I fell in love with their album "Quiet is the New Loud". They kept bitching about how usually people sit at their concerts- this was at a venue with almost no seating- and that people were making too much noise. They kept interrupting themselves to scold the audience, but the people that they were talking to were over in the other part of the bar playing pool. A bitter disappointment.
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  6. j anne photography
    j anne photography says saw motion city soundtrack this summer, after over a year of wanting to see them play. Guess I did hype it up a lot, but it just didn't hit the level I was hoping. Part of it was the crowd that was all high school kids in eyeliner, I'm sure, mixed with the fact that Justin kept losing his voice because he was sick. Met all the guys and they were great,which helped, but I don't know if I'd be quite as gung-ho to see them play again.
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  7. goodmusiconly
    goodmusiconly says B, the two times I've seen Sparklehorse I had the same reaction. I was so excited to see them the first time, and ended up nearly falling asleep while standing ... and at Lolla I didn't have the patience to even wait through the whole set ... alas, some artists are just better on record. The most disappointment I've felt seeing an artist live was New Order. At one point they all walked off stage and the music kept playing without them ... the lack of human interface left me feeling deserted and underimpressed. But I still love their albums.
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  8. amber
    amber says The Shins. Saw them at Lolla 2006 and they were horrible--I chalked it up to maybe they were tired, having just arrived from the Pacific NW. Like you say, get out of jail free. Then they played The Deck the Hall Ball in Seattle in December 2006. Again....BORING. They are playing Bumbershoot in a couple of weeks but you know what they say: F'k me once, shame on you, f'k me twice...well, there won't be a 3rd time.
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  9. contrabandwidth
    contrabandwidth says Autechre (touring with Tortoise and Nobukazu Takemura - both of which were fantastic) - Possibly the most boring set I've ever seen (next to some DJ sets). Litterally all you could see was the glowing apple from their Powerbooks and their faces (barely) lit by the screen. It was all free form and uninteresting. Plus there was already an video projector that the other bands used quite well, at leat throw on Star Wars if nothing else! Medeski Martin and Wood with DJ Logic - MMW put on a good show, but this quest to incorporate turntablism into their jazz, sucked. I watched from a seat over DJ Logics shoulder (so to speak) and I still can't figure out what he added to the performance. L.A.M.E! P Funk All Stars - Worst crowd of drunken frat boys ever. Woman behind me tried to dance (clipping the back of my legs in the process) even though it was too crowded to even move your arm up to your face. I don't even know how the music was, I left as George Clinton was coming on stage. It took me 15 minutes to make it out f the crowd.
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  10. Bartleby
    Bartleby says I for one shun live shows. I'm one of those people who believe in the exactitude of the album music. The order of the tracks, the arrangements, the production all contribute to making an artist's work.
    Their songs as cut on the disc are supposed to sound as they have been composed. The exact and precise notes are arranged and produced as they are meant to, as they were first heard on the artist's inner ear.
    Consequently anything short of the exact production recorded on the album is but a haphazard re-creation. These can be good or not but have nothing to do with the recorded work.
    Disappointment with live music is a highly probable likelihood. I don't see why people should feel cheated.
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  11. contrabandwidth
    contrabandwidth says I think most people can differentiate between a live sound and album. In fact I would say most Brit bands I've see (this is the example that comes to mind, but I am in no way lumping all british bands under this example), I would say the biggest complaint I have is that they very rarely diverge from the album material, thus making me sometimes wish I had stayed home and listened to the album instead. Performance is its own art forum much like an album is a separate piece of art work. Good performers/entertainers like Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Prince (favs of mine) bring a new spin to their music that isn't captured on disc. They diverge and you can tell they have FUN with the music. Bands like the Beastie Boys on album, and live remember that it's party music, and even though political themes exist, the main point is to make your body move. Albums are process oriented, sculpted from hours of work, repetition and engineering feats of magic - an alternate universe in which the music sound lives. Live performance is (or should be) a celebration of that music. Both great, both have their own merits and value to individuals.
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  12. Bartleby
    Bartleby says Re your comments Contra, I agree with you. Live and recorded music have their own merits.
    My point was merely a comment on SM614 musings. You should not expect to feel the same thing from live performances as that you have felt from listening to an artist's recording...
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  13. contrabandwidth
    contrabandwidth says It's cool, I understand where your coming from. At this point in my life, I would defer towards the album, like you said. Having been to so many shows, most bands seem like a chore to go see, for little pay off (drinks being spilled on you, no seating, cigarette smoke, etc - I'm a bit of a curmudgeon these days). But I still long for those times when a few concerts were ecstatic celebrations of the moment. Unfortunately this seems to diminish with age and the more disappointing concerts you go too. I'm just being selective these days, and choosing the ones I think I can truly appreciate. Cheers!
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  14. chucky
    chucky says The only one bad enough to stick in my mind was Depeche Mode, they were very boring. But I only saw them the once and I've heard several times since here that I just caught a bad show.
    Permalink posted 08/21/2007
  15. gympumpkin
    gympumpkin says When I saw The Walkmen they looked completely bored with their own music. It was so off-putting. And it wasn't just one member of the band, it was the whole band. None of them made any connection to the audience. The only time any member of the band smiled was when they played a joke on another member of the band. He was playing one of those shaker instruments and a white cloud came out, like they filled it with powder without telling him. That was it. It was awful.
    Permalink posted 08/22/2007
  16. steve simon
    steve simon says i remember my older sister and friends taking me to see The Cars after the candy-o album and........ it was quite possibly the worst thing i have ever seen
    Permalink posted 08/26/2007
  17. Lord Alfreston
    Lord Alfreston says Too many to mention. A string of heavy metal bands at The Marquee in Wardour Street in the early 80s come to mind including the dreadful Samson. I've seen literally hundreds of bands over the years and can honestly say only a handful of ever blown me away, most are just OK. Can't really remember the bad only the good, which is how it should be.
    Permalink posted 08/27/2007
  18. dschaffer23
    dschaffer23 says Queens of the Stone Age (during the "Lullabies to Paralyze" era, after Dave Grohl was out of the picture) at the Wiltern in LA. I got into Queens after "Songs for the Deaf" (I was a late-comer, I know), and I had heard good things about Josh Homme, the new CD was pretty decent, etc, etc. I went with my best friend, also a plus. But the music was just terrible. Anyone who's ever heard Queens can imagine how loud the concert probably was, but that didn't stop me from falling asleep on my feet in the pit (after the two fat, drunk idiots in front of me were kicked out between sets for being too violent with the poor souls around them). I guess nothing about the songs themselves was bad, per se, but the performance was uninspired, uncreative, and (though I may sound 70 years old when I say this), just too loud.
    Permalink posted 08/27/2007
  19. NeilNathan
    NeilNathan says same sparklehorse experience i blamed the drummer though, which is my tendency band of horses was good but nowhere near as good as the record i also blame the drummer
    Permalink posted 08/27/2007
  20. HelenMarie
    HelenMarie says Cake was my dissappointment. John, the singer, was in the crowd for the opening band getting fustrated that people were coming up wanting to shake his hand(me being one of those people). Then, on stage, gave his politcal opinion about the upcoming election (which I can _sometimes_ appreciate). He also complained about people wanting to take pictures "when all your trying to do is say hello to someone" and he didn't understand why they allowed cameras in the venue, he was being a bit of a pooh pooh head and I've never felt the same about cake. Appreciate Contra's words up there! "Performance is its own art forum much like an album is a separate piece of art work..."
    Permalink posted 08/28/2007
  21. Hororo
    Hororo says The only time I was disapointed by a live performance was when I saw Twelve Tribes with A Life Once Lost and Everytime I Die. The other band, which I liked better anyway, were excellent, but Twelve Tribes was just uninspiring even when they played the song I liked the most on record. Apart from this, I can't remember seing a band I loved and being disapointed. Maybe I'm just happy to be here, or maybe I only like great bands that do translate wel their music live ?
    Permalink posted 08/28/2007
  22. ghostofunder
    ghostofunder says A whole different vibe than the acts mentioned so far but I really liked Trent Summar's first CD. When I finally got a chance to see him live he was wearing bright red pants and a white shirt with ruffles. What's worse is that between almost every song he was pimping himself. The performance was such a turn-off that I have a hard removing the image when I try to listen to his CDs.
    Permalink posted 08/28/2007

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