I had to work until 2pm, then Brandon and I ran the trails at the lake, so I finally got started on this song around 6pm. Today completes another album, but (fortunately) I got the album art designed and the website updated last night. I already had a topic in mind today, and I had written some lyrics during my lunch break, but this song worked pretty well as an instrumental.
I have been to many many concerts in my life, and something that amazed me about a few of the first (big) concerts that I saw were the "encores." In 8th grade I saw The Cure (about 10 rows back), and it was a great experience. I remember them saying 'goodbye' after their set, the lights came one, but no one left. The crowd wasn't leaving until they got more, and they made it known. It seemed very organic...not pre-arranged. I saw something similar when The Sundays came to Dallas for the first time. Their first album had just come out, and they played every song from the album that night at Arcadia Theater. Again, the set was over, the lights came on, but no one was leaving. The singer came back out by herself (after a long stretch of cheering), and she said that they had played all the songs they knew. The crowd didn't care, and they eventually came back out and re-played their 3 biggest hits. It was awesome. I've been to other concerts (more recently) that obviously had scheduled the "encores" as part of the show. That's ridiculous, and it defeats the purpose (and excitement) of a real encore. I saw Coldplay in Oklahoma last year. Great show, but they had 3 (scheduled) encores. I say that they were "scheduled" because the lights never came on when they said 'goodbye.' Who's going to leave when it's still dark in the arena? If they needed a break they could've just said so. Most bands that follow this structure come back on-stage each time...looking a little surprised, as though they have the most generous audience. I guess I can't blame them, though...the ploy works on most people. You truly can control a crowd with lights and sound. I'm just glad I've gotten to experience a few "unscheduled" encores.
Today's song, Song119_Scheduled Encore, completes another album (Week17_Songs For Monsters). This album will be available in a few hours at http://www.anewsongeveryday.com/.
-Matthew
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My first live concert was to see Steppenwolf and Moby Grape in about 1968 or so. Same deal... both bands played every single song they knew, and then came out and "encored" 2 or 3 of their greatest hits. But there were no lights going on or off; it was an outdoor concert at a local junior college football stadium in California. ~~ Chris Smith
ReplyDelete