Music Concerts then and now

[jim8flog]

I was listening to Genisis Seconds Out this morning which is a live concert recording (1977).

What was noticeable to me was the audience may have shouted a little at the start of a song and a lot at the end of song but almost none in the middle.

People clearly went to listen to the music then.

On a more recent live recording of a Floyd concert there was whistling and calling all through the concert with virtually every change of guitar rift from Dave Gilmour.

 

[clubchamp98]

It’s those whooooooooping yanks it’s over here now.
Seen Bowie in the Liverpool Empire. Ziggy Stardust.
Just him ,acoustic guitar and a spotlight on a glitter ball, absolute silence sang Space Odyssey.
Best thing I have ever seen , nothing sticks in my mind more than that concert.

 

[IanM]

Clapton's annual home gig at Guildford Civic Hall going back 30 or 40 years... always a mix of silence and noise from the crowd.

Great times

 

[clubchamp98]

Clapton's annual home gig at Guildford Civic Hall going back 30 or 40 years... always a mix of silence and noise from the crowd.

Great times

Yes I think now the stadiums have got to big .
You are miles away and the music is amplified to much.

A lot of Liverpool’s pubs still have live bands it’s great to go and watch live music , just something about it!

 

[Hacker Khan]

Gigs are much better now then they were in the 70s when it seems is the last time some posters on here bought a record. The sound and visuals are much better, people are still listening to the music and live music is how a lot of bands now make money seeing as streaming services have reduced the amount of money they can get from people buying music.

It was always the way that if you are the back of a large venue the experience is slightly tarnished. Simple answer is that don't go to see bands at massive venues or get there earlier and get a place down the front.

 

[Deleted member 23270]

Gigs are much better now then they were in the 70s when it seems is the last time some posters on here bought a record. The sound and visuals are much better, people are still listening to the music and live music is how a lot of bands now make money seeing as streaming services have reduced the amount of money they can get from people buying music.

It was always the way that if you are the back of a large venue the experience is slightly tarnished. Simple answer is that don't go to see bands at massive venues or get there earlier and get a place down the front.

Herein lies the problem. In the 70/80's etc bands played smaller venues and the experience was better. They toured to promote albums rather than make money. As you say, concerts are now the main source of income for most bands so packing out mega stadiums is now the preferred option. The experience is nowhere near as good. I've seen Genesis twice in theatres and twice in stadiums. The smaller venues were miles better.

 

[Robster59]

I've been to live gigs in big stadiums and small(ish) theatres. Give me the latter every time. I feel far more involved in the event.
I went to see The Eagles at Hampden Park. Great music but so far away, and screens so small, I may as well have stayed at home and listened to it on CD.
As to people whooping, people have got involved at all times. It depends what is being played.

 

[Hacker Khan]

I was listening to Genisis Seconds Out this morning which is a live concert recording (1977).

What was noticeable to me was the audience may have shouted a little at the start of a song and a lot at the end of song but almost none in the middle.

People clearly went to listen to the music then.

On a more recent live recording of a Floyd concert there was whistling and calling all through the concert with virtually every change of guitar rift from Dave Gilmour.

So you are moaning about the 'live experience' after listening to it on a record? And not actually experiencing the live experience?

 

[patricks148]

much better before mobile phones anyway, every idiot now is just standing there filming it rather than watching and enjoying the music

 

[GB72]

Been to hundreds of gigs and festivals and have given up in everything except smaller venues. Everything else just seems so impersonal

 

[Blue in Munich]

Herein lies the problem. In the 70/80's etc bands played smaller venues and the experience was better. They toured to promote albums rather than make money. As you say, concerts are now the main source of income for most bands so packing out mega stadiums is now the preferred option. The experience is nowhere near as good. I've seen Genesis twice in theatres and twice in stadiums. The smaller venues were miles better.

I can live with the stadium experience if the option is that or not seeing the band. What I struggle to cope with is the fact that the stadium capacity now seem to have opened up the concerts to those who go to say they've been, rather than being fans, and these are the people that yak all the way through, are never off their phones and in more than a few cases getting absolutely blind drunk. I'd happily go back to the small venues to be rid of this type but unfortunately according to some the concert experience is now infinitely better than it used to be.

 

[Blue in Munich]

I've been to live gigs in big stadiums and small(ish) theatres. Give me the latter every time. I feel far more involved in the event.
I went to see The Eagles at Hampden Park. Great music but so far away, and screens so small, I may as well have stayed at home and listened to it on CD.
As to people whooping, people have got involved at all times. It depends what is being played.

Don't get a backing choir of 60,000 at home though, do you.

 

[jim8flog]

So you are moaning about the 'live experience' after listening to it on a record? And not actually experiencing the live experience?

My post was about the audience!!!

My post could have been about live experiences.

Last time I went to a live event the experience was very much spoiled by all the whoops and hollers during the songs. I decided then that I was very much likely never to go again.

 

[Tashyboy]

Am paying a small fortune to see bands now compared to what I did back in the day. Not convinced that bigger is always better. And flipping phones being used to film Grrrrrrrrrr

 

[KenL]

Totally agree about pished up idiots.
My favourite band is the Stranglers, seen them (& Hugh Cornwell) about 50 times going back to 1978. Nearly all gigs have drunks affecting my enjoyment!
Smaller gigs are great but some artists (e.g. Roger Waters) can only play large venues due to their huge and very impressive visuals.

BTW, my first Stranglers gig at the Glasgow Apollo in 1978 was £2.
Most I've paid was about £85 for Kraftwerk and £100 for Waters - all amazing and memorable gigs.

 

[USER1999]

Went to AC/DC, and was peed off with idiots throwing beer. Got soaked, and got the hump. What is that all about.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I have no great interest whatsoever in going to a stadium/arena venue to watch any act. Saying that - me and Mrs did go to Emirates to see Coldplay a few years ago - we managed to get near to the front standing and so that was actually pretty good. I guess I might go if it was a legend - but my 'legends' are now biting the dust all too quickly. And if I did go I suspect I'd be going so I could simply say that I saw said 'legend' - and that sort of 'bragging' is not really my bag.

Much more interested in going to smaller venue gigs (not that I have been to many) - so end last year saw Al Stewart in Anvil Basingstoke and Lucy Spraggan (she's very very good btw) in Kendal and Galashiels. And coming soon we're going to see Seth Lakeman in Gainsborough. All small or very small venues. Just nice intimate atmosphere.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Yes I think now the stadiums have got to big .
You are miles away and the music is amplified to much.

A lot of Liverpool’s pubs still have live bands it’s great to go and watch live music , just something about it!

Loads of local bands in Bracknell and Reading I go and see. Most very decent musicians too. Use a site called Lemonrock to see who is playing locally most weekends

I agree that too many venues are too large. I remember somewhere like the Hammersmith Apollo (pr whatever it's now called) always being seen by bands in the late 70's and early 80's as one of those iconic places to play and a perfect size.

 

[Wolf]

Been to quite a few over thebyears big and small venues. For me it comes down to the act not the venue. Ive seen some really big bands in smaller venues who were simply terrible live even with backing vocals and a host of instruments, yet the best i can remember in a long time was Ed Sheeran last year open air at phoenix park roughly 60,000 +. All he had was a guitar and a loop pedal that he would add a few rifs to prior to going into song and he was sensational, we were right nesr the front but he knew how to play a crowd when to get the crowd engaged. In essence he commanded when the crowd were merely listening and when to get them joining in and cheering.

So again for its not the venue size but how the artists carry a stage presence.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Been to quite a few over thebyears big and small venues. For me it comes down to the act not the venue. Ive seen some really big bands in smaller venues who were simply terrible live even with backing vocals and a host of instruments, yet the best i can remember in a long time was Ed Sheeran last year open air at phoenix park roughly 60,000 +. All he had was a guitar and a loop pedal that he would add a few rifs to prior to going into song and he was sensational, we were right nesr the front but he knew how to play a crowd when to get the crowd engaged. In essence he commanded when the crowd were merely listening and when to get them joining in and cheering.

So again for its not the venue size but how the artists carry a stage presence.

Up to a point I agree. I am friends with Fish who certainly in the Marillion years, and also beyond into his solo career could be described as a "big" stage presence and certainly knew how to play to a crowd. Even now in far smaller venues like Islington Assemble Rooms, Roadmender in Northampton etc he often has to pause to deal with hecklers or drunks causing a nuisance. Most fans want to be there for the gig but it seems more and more venues are struggling with people just turning up on the night to get smashed and who don't give a damn for the artist, the music of the majority of those there