SimpleWeblog

The Drive Back

The full concert report will come tomorrow, when I am a little more awake, but I had a good time. The drive back was interesting, though, since 2 people really disliked the show, and 3 of us had a good time with it. Different people seem to have different ideas about what makes a good concert experience. So, in the interest of making my little attempts at "concert reports" more useful, these are things I like at shows: new versions of songs I already like, using unusual instrumentation to good effect, audience participation that works, question and answer sessions, stories about the songs, entertaining stories about other things, performers clearly saying who they are, music that gets the crowd to move a little, and having merchandise available for purchase. There is probably more, but those are some of the random things I look for beyond the music itself. Things I don't like? Mixing that makes it impossible to understand the vocals, crowds that smell too much like smoke, unenthusiastic crowds, songs that all start to sound the same, songs that repeat too much, bands that don't look like they are having fun, having to clap too long for encores, and not getting to hear my favorite songs in some form.

I'm sure there will be more, but that should give the background for the report tomorrow. It's like a multi-part entry! How exciting - almost a cliffhanger ending here.