Comments on: The Concretes, Martyr’s 5.13.06

By: Luck of Lucien

Luck of Lucien — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 05:46:00 +0000

I personally think that you have to read the crowd at any performance. Like many have said here in this discussion, this is a bar, not a coffee house with everyone hanging intently on the performer’s every word.

This reminds me of the time I saw M. Ward perform here in Vancouver a couple months ago. He was out for an encore and did this beautiful and emotive song and everyone was just soaking it up; He had the whole crowd captivated. Unfortunately, there was the crows of bar-stars getting ready to enter and kick off the night’s festivities… (after the show the bar was opening for the clubbers). So they were catching the tail end of something amazing, but they sort of ruined it for us.

I guess it’s really all just a matter of what people want, what they’re in the mood for. You always get one joker who stands out from the collective group, and you just gotta laugh and focus on the crowd that matters.

By: whoisjobe

whoisjobe — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 03:07:00 +0000

Martyrs is in my old stomping ground..it’s such a random ass place to see a show….Sia was there recently…weird. Anyhow…stumbled on your blog…next time I’ll check out the cultural essays!

out
jobe

By: marathonpacks

marathonpacks — Wed, 31 May 2006 21:03:00 +0000

Give me more information as to how my classification is simple-minded and misinformed. The Concretes’ new record is great in parts, but as a whole, it’s a mess (the opposite of the previous wonder)–at a lower level than B&S were at a similar point.

And I’m not siding with the dudes that were talking, if that’s what you’re insinuating. I just think that, regardless, it’s gonna happen (it’s a rock club/bar, not the Guggenheim), and a performer should get used to it and not let it interfere with her/his performance, and the enjoyment of the rest of the crowd.

By: Koon Lee

Koon Lee — Wed, 31 May 2006 20:56:00 +0000

“second-rate belle and sebastian” – to me that’s simple-minded and uninformed. i like belle and sebastian as much as the next person, and was an avid fan up until around ‘fold your hands child …’, but now i love the concretes. have you seen their video for ’seems fine’? fantastic!

as for talking (in the front row) during a performance – are you kidding?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2006 11:26:00 +0000

yes yes and no

By: merz

merz — Tue, 16 May 2006 03:55:00 +0000

yeah, I do agree some people don’t have the respect for the band and the only reason why they are there is to get drunk and rowdy… tis true this world has gotten crazier and people have gotten more inconsiderate overall…

got a chuckle out of the Sam Beam imagery ripping into Smoke on the water..

By: frank

frank — Tue, 16 May 2006 01:02:00 +0000

“kicking it even harder” really depends on the band. The Concretes are not a rock band, they are not going to turn up to 10 to shut someone up. It reminds me of seeing Iron & Wine a couple years ago. Lovely, quiet show except for this one girl who kept screaming at the top of her lungs everytime a song started or ended (and sometimes in the middle). What was Sam Beam (who looked utterly perplexed) going to do, step on the Big Muff and rip into Smoke On The Water?

Again, I guess it just comes down to my simply not understanding why people are so inconsiderate of others. You want attention from strangers, try setting yourself on fire or something.

By: merz

merz — Tue, 16 May 2006 00:36:00 +0000

Oh and BTW, the Concretes (victoria bergsman) need to get a little more accomplished of a band before they can demand that the audience shuts up and listens to them. Quite frankly, I’ve been to a lot of concerts over the years and the stellar bands never had a problem with the audience giving them their full attention. And occassionally if they did get some crap from the audience, they ignored them and kicked it even harder.

By: merz

merz — Tue, 16 May 2006 00:32:00 +0000

I just read an article in one of the music mags about The Concretes. The tone of comments in the article from Victoria Bergsman came across to me like she was a real bitch (sorry but no other word for it). More to the point she sounded like a very negative person. So, I’m not surprised by her attitude in concert, at least from the impressions I got in the article.

By: Eppy

Eppy — Mon, 15 May 2006 21:59:00 +0000

I’ve seen enough Tori Amos concerts by now to know that the audience will be quiet, but only if you are a powerful enough performer. If you’re not, you should have no expectation of quiet. If the audience is being noisy, your response as a performer should not be to scold them, it should be to do something slightly different that will engage them. Musicians get very tied up in “this is what I am going to do no matter how the audience responds” and man, that is just a recipe for bad performances.

And I say all this as a performer more than anything else! As an audience member I’m kind of with everyone else in wishing people would shut the hell up, but performers seriously have to meet them halfway, and I’ve too often seen that not happen.