Comment by mtalantikite | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mtalantikite | Hacker News Reader

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I went out to see Roy Haynes/Roy Hargrove the other night, and he basically said the same thing on stage. Looking out into an audience of mainly dead silent white people, he said something to the extent of:

'I remember when I was playing in Spain some years back with Joe Henderson and Chick Corea, and man the audience gave us no love back. But at the end of the concert a couple thousand of them all put up their lighters or candles in the air, and that was how they showed their appreciation. I don't care for that, put those lighters away. Back in the day people would get up and shout when they felt the music. You guys need to give it to us on stage so we can give it back to you, it goes two ways."

I think one of the main reasons "jazz" has fallen off is the price of it and the audience it therefore attracts. $35 for 45 minutes of music and a drink minimum at some crammed club like the Village Vanguard or Blue Note only attracts tourists and people with disposable income.

I remember going to see Jack Dejohnette with Danilo Perez at the Blue Note, and most people I heard talking had no idea who they were -- they were all NYC tourists. The Blue Note is like the Disney Land of Jazz, complete with a gift shop upstairs so you can buy keychains.

It is nice, though, to see young guys like Chris Dave, Marcus Strickland, or Robert Glasper going out on tour with Mos Def or Erykah Badu, and then in turn drawing young people that normally would be listening to only hip-hop back out to their gigs. There is still some hope yet that people won't be priced out of the music and young people will start being introduced to it again.

I hate it when people shout and yell and scream and whistle at concerts :(

I'm there to hear the music, not listen to myself and other people's voices.

I know that probably makes me sound like I'm a bit stuck up, or an old fogie, but honestly, I go to concerts to listen to music. That can't be that wrong.

I think part of this is culture. I grew up in North America, and when I visited the Philippines later in life, and went to watch shows in concert or in clubs, I was shocked at first because the audience would, without fail, applaud or cheer when the singer would sing the first line of the song. On account of my western upbringing (especially with regard to classical music), I was somewhat scandalized, and almost felt upset at my fellow audience members. I soon learned that, in doing so, they did not intend any disrespect, either to the performer or the rest of the audience, but rather were showing their support, appreciation and enjoyment of the musician's offering. A sort of "two-way" concert experience.

I suppose that, if most of the audience wants silence, it's respectful to keep silent during performances. At the same time, if most of the audience isn't concerned about that, I suppose it isn't that big a deal?

When I moved to Seattle after college, one of the things that drove me nuts was how lame audiences were at music shows. A band would play a song and call for audince participation. They'd work hard to get people to clap along, or sing a chorus or something. If they really worked at it, they might get 1/3rd of the audience to join in, but as soon as the band went back to playing, the audience participation would die out.

A friend had a band who ended up with a gold record for their first album and a top 40 single. Most of their local shows were at 21 and over clubs. I asked him how he liked playing all-ages shows. He said the audiences were filled with pogoing teenagers which he found a lot more fun than playing to a bunch of still, stonefaced hipsters.

I agree, it can be annoying to have people near you singing so loud that you can't really hear the band very well, but really, if getting any sense that you aren't alone in the audience is a turn-off, save your money and buy a CD.

I saw the Mos Def/Robert Glasper/Chris Dave get-together in San Francisco twice. You wanna talk about steep tickets, that was it: $70 each. On the other hand, totally worth it...

Yeah, but was it only for 45 minutes of music? That's how it is at the Blue Note or Village Vanguard. When I saw glasper do a night of both the experiment and trio, with maxwell and bilal, it was $25 for about 4 hours of music

Back in the day people would get up and shout when they felt the music. You guys need to give it to us on stage so we can give it back to you, it goes two ways

That's the main problem. Jazzmen are expecting their audience to make the show and only then, they will give them a show back. That should be the other way. Musician are there to make the show, then the audience connect with them and the show becomes a whole.

I don't know, I don't think it is. He and his band were killing it. Tons of energy, you couldn't help but want to get up. They were going to have a good time whether the audience wanted to or not.

But still, the demographic at a place like that is 50+, white, tourists, with disposable income paying a $35 cover ($65 on the weekend). It's $60 for a cheap bottle of wine. Young people just can't afford to be invested in it, so they go drink PBR on the LES and dance to Dam-Funk DJing.

It's a classic death spiral scenario.

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