Cultural Differences at Rock Shows

In the past two weeks, Christian and I saw one of my all-time favorite bands, OK Go, in Hong Kong and Shanghai.  Seeing them twice in a week made me think about why I sometimes go see bands multiple times on one tour -- even if the setlist is the same, each show is unique because of the crowd.  With this in mind, I thought about the fact that I've been to shows in multiple countries -- the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, and now this year, South Korea, Hong Kong, and mainland China (I count HK as being separate from the mainland).  So having seen OK Go in four completely different places (the US, Germany, HK, and China), here's a comparison of seeing shows in those places.

OK Go in Shanghai

Aging rock stars and how it can be a bit sexist

On Wednesday, I went to see Blondie in Cologne.  I'm not a huge Blondie fan, but big enough that I was really excited to hear hits like "Heart of Glass," "Atomic," and "One Way or Another."  To be clear, I don't actually follow Blondie at all; I actually just listen to the music and don't look out for them in the media.  And this is probably what my problem was because when Debbie Harry came out on stage, I thought to myself, "Whoa, Debbie Harry is old!"

Before you tell me I'm a raging idiot and of course Debbie Harry is old, let me clarify why this came to me as a surprise.  Debbie Harry's face is so tightly bound to Blondie's image that when the band was getting popular back in the day, everyone actually thought Debbie Harry's name was Blondie (it wasn't, and there was a campaign from the band with buttons that said, "Blondie is a group.") Everyone knows what Debbie Harry looked like in the 70s because she graces t-shirts and other items as modern vintage.  At the concert, they were also selling t-shirts with her face on it, but it was an image from the 70s, not from now.  Even if I google "Debbie Harry Rolling Stone," the search results show a German cover from July 2011.  And guess what?  It's not Debbie Harry as how she currently looks, but what she looked like 40 years ago:

Sure, the lead article is, "35 Years of Punk," along with "The Myth of Debbie Harry - Meeting with the Punk-Pop Goddess" and "Blondie - The New Album."  Although two out of the three articles deal with Debbie Harry now, Rolling Stone chose to feature her image from the 70s.  It's only when you look inside that you see what she currently looks like.

Lady Gaga is totally rock & roll.

Lady Gaga just announced her European tour dates for the fall this year. I asked a lot of different people if they want to come with me, and the general reaction I get when I posed this question was raised eyebrows.  Apparently I don't come off as a Lady Gaga fan because I am definitely a rock fan, not pop.   Truth be told, I only really became a fan after studying her closely for my master's thesis on music videos.  (Have you seen the videos for "Paparazzi" and "Telephone" in succession?  No?  Do it.)  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Lady Gaga actually could fall under the umbrella of "rock and roll," which is why I like her so much.

Seriously Annoying Concert-Going Habits

I recently read this Rolling Stone article about "The 10 Most Annoying Concert Behaviors" which had been linked to another one about annoying rock star behaviors. As someone who goes to concerts rather frequently, I have my own list of annoying habits.  In addition to all the points mentioned in the RS article, here is my own list of annoying concert-going habits:

1. Taking pictures the entire freaking show.  With a flash.

At the OK Go show, January 2010.
Not possible with a flash.

I totally agree with this first point from the RS article. Seriously, stop taking pictures the entire time and then posting them to Facebook or Twitter.  Go ahead, take a few pictures, but the effort that you put in to taking the picture, writing a caption, and tagging stuff is making you miss the point of being at a show.  Your big ass smartphone/tablet/camera screen is also really, really distracting.  And you know how you have the flash turned on?  Basic rule of photography: you're too far away for it to make a difference.  So turn the flash off because you're just going to end up with crappy pictures anyway.  Namely, you're just taking pictures of the guy's head in front of you.  Luckily, I haven't yet gone to a show where someone has their iPad out to take pictures.  However, if that did happen, that person probably deserves to get punched or thrown into the mosh pit with their iPad.  Note to anyone reading this who actually takes pictures with your tablet at a show: everyone thinks you're a jerk.  And you are because your iPad is distracting and blocking everyone's view.  Not to mention you look ridiculous.

Why Going to Concerts Can't Be Bad

Last week, I came across this excellent article from the AV Club about the "importance of catching the music while you can."  Writer Keith Phipps points out that it's not only the threat of  a musician's death that should send you to concerts, but also retirement, the musician's strength varies from year to year, and inspiration may just fade.  Personally, I couldn't agree more.

Paul McCartney in Cologne (16/12/09)

I have seen Paul McCartney four times (1x in NY, 1x in London, 2x in Cologne) and I still constantly wait for him to go on tour.  My boyfriend and other friends always make jokes about it and can't understand why I spent about 230€ on tickets the last time I saw him two days in a row by myself.  But there's something magical about seeing an artist you particularly love and every performance is different.  I figured that he was in Cologne and nobody wanted to come with me (imagine that), so why not spend the 160€ on one ticket?  When else would I ever be able to spend that much money and be that close to one of my favorite musicians of all time?  I also went to the following night's performance but paid for the cheapest seat; the experience was different than sitting up front, but all the same, it was amazing.  I know that Paul McCartney will not live forever and seeing him is one of the few chances I ever get hearing a real Beatle playing Beatles songs.  For that reason, I also went to see Ringo Starr last year, even though I'm not a fan of his solo work.

Oddly enough, I seem to have reached a point in my life where I realize how many acts I have not seen but wish I had, even though I don't see myself as particularly old, nor have I missed many shows.  One of my biggest regrets is not seeing George Harrison while he was still alive, even though I had been old enough to see him.  On the other hand, I guess that's why I've been shelling out money to go see big-name acts; recently I went to see Eric Clapton with Steve Winwood, Bon Jovi, and in May, I will be seeing Bruce Springsteen.  I never considered myself huge fans of any of those artists, but seeing Clapton on the guitar was an unforgettable experience.  Regardless of his age, he can still let it rip.

I have also gone to great lengths to get tickets to certain shows.  Two in particular come to mind: Weezer at Irving Plaza back in the summer of 2002 (I think) when Mikey Welsh was their bassist and the White Stripes' "secret" show also at Irving Plaza (changed to the Fillmore) back in 2007.  In the case of Weezer, their roadie/friend Karl Koch had posted on their website that the band had a surprise for fans that waited outside the MTV TRL studios that day.  (Yes, this was that long ago that TRL actually was important)  It turned out that people in the TRL studio audience got tickets (even though the majority there were 'NSync fans b/c the band was there via satellite or something); otherwise, there was an opportunity to win tickets at a store near Radio City Music Hall.  I wasn't in the audience and had to try my luck winning (which in the end, I miraculously did), but I also ran around Times Square trying to find people with tickets to buy off of, went to Irving Plaza to try to beg my way in, and everything else.  That was the first time I ever saw Weezer and what a great show it was.  However, it's not just the show I remember -- it is the craziness of running around New York City trying to convince someone to let me into the show and how much fun it was bonding with other Weezer fans.  I didn't keep in touch with them, but the camraderie on that day and the pure joy that music could bring will always stay in my mind.

The White Stripes at the Fillmore (19/06/07)

The same goes for the White Stripes' show in 2007.  I had just graduated from college and didn't really want to buy tickets for their arena tour.  I knew they were playing Madison Square Garden, but I couldn't bear the thought of seeing the White Stripes for the first time in such a huge place.  Luckily, they announced a 'secret' show that I found out about reading the Brooklyn Vegan.  Tickets were to go on sale only at the box office at around 10 in the morning on a weekend or something like that.  I decided to take the first bus out from Jersey at around 5-ish and by the time I got downtown, the line went around the block to the Toys R Us on Union Square.  I had told a White-Stripes-crazy acquaintance about it and luckily, he had been in line much earlier than me because he lived in the city.  So I got in line with him and managed to get tickets.  The show was spectacular and we managed to get close to the front.  But again, it's not necessarily the show that I will remember, but the fact that it was the one time I saw one of my favorite bands before they disbanded in a small, intimate venue.  Sure, my parents thought I was nuts for waking up early and waiting 4 hours to get tickets, but I have no regrets.

For me, going to see concerts is certainly about the music, but it's also about the experience.  Whether it is Paul McCartney for the umpteenth time or a newly discovered band I think might be great live, I'm always up for going.  In this day and age, music is ubquitious and yet highly individual, whether it's on YouTube, the radio, someone's cell phone, or an mp3 player.  We cram our headphones into ears to block out everything else and we try to disappear into our own musical preferences.  A concert brings us out of these shells to share the experience with one another.  There's nothing like turning to the stranger next to you and grinning because your favorite song is being played live.