Earlier this week I managed to get a ticket through work to see the London Symphony Orchestra at Suntory Hall, making it the first time I have been to see a professional orchestra live. It's a beautiful venue, and everything sounded fantastic, but even so there were a few things about the whole experience that didn't sit quite right with me.
To begin with, the structure and ceremony of the whole thing can get very tiresome. I don't know for how long the applause continued, as the conductor would walk off, then walk back on, shake the hand of the lead violinist, bow, walk off, then come back on, do it all again, and then repeat a further two or three times. And not just at the end of the night, but also before the interval. Yes, the performers are deserving of the praise, but it all felt very forced. Did the audience really want to be applauding for 10 minutes? or was it simply because the players would not leave the stage until the conductor had completed his fourth walk off-back on routine. Have you ever been to one of those gigs where the band finishes, leaves the stage, but the crowd just keeps on cheering, forcing them to come back on for a final bow? That feels natural to me. At the orchestra, it was all, well, very orchestrated. As far as i am concerned, the artist should be returning to the stage as a result of audience applause, rather than the opposite (and awkward) situation where an audience feels obliged to applaud. Whatever happened to keeping the crowd begging for more?
But thinking back, the central reason why I didn't enjoy the show as much as a good pop or rock show was simply because there was practically zero emotional connexion between the performers and the audience. In July 2008 i stood in a vast crowd at Benicassim festival of music lovers from around the world listening to L. Cohen sing "Hallelujah" and I was surrounded by people in tears, myself included. I don't think I could ever be that moved by an orchestra.
Obviously a singer has the added arsenal of poetry to grasp ahold of the listener, and also the personalised element of the human voice, but I am still capable of being blown away emotionally by classical and other instrumental music. Take the soundtrack to Requiem for a Dream by Clint Mansell - some powerful powerful music, and you can feel the emotional investment. These compositions are performed by a quartet, and I think that is an excellent medium for each instrument (and consequently the person playing it) so have a personality in the music and therefore an emotional connexion with the listener. In the symphony orchestra, there were 8 double basses, countless violins, violas, cellos, so that each "voice" gets so diluted that all that remains is a very pleasant sounding piece of music - but very little soul. I understand that volume is an issue, but this isnt the 18th century anymore and we can mic up instruments where necessary. I think (or rather, I am certain) that i would rather clearly see and hear 1 bass rather than 8 all playing the exact same thing in perfect choreography.
It all boils down to the same topic as I made in my last post - and forgive me for belaboring the point - of making art a personal experience between the artist and the audience. If someone hit a wrong note in the London Symphony Orchestra performance it would be unforgivable. If it is a smaller group, where there is a relationship established between performer and audience, it is not such a big deal. it adds to the appreciation of the fact that live music exists for that moment only, and should not be about perfectly copying something you can hear on a record, but about creating a one-off experience that is shared by the players and the audience. with the LSO, I did not get this feeling at all.
Ah well, I cannot scoff at a free ticket (although I can scoff at the face value of 30,000 yen). It was an all-round pleasant experience, but I don't think I am going to be lining up to see something similar anytime soon.
Back to Icon Girl Pistols, we have a gig on March 19th at Shibuya NOB (details here: http://www.facebook.com/events/436784803063974/)
It is our five-year anniversary since Shinnosuke and Ken started IGP back in March 2008, so should be a fun and special gig - perhaps we will bring out some of the old tunes we have not played in a while. Also we will have music from our friends Samm Bennett and PlayFight so hope as many people can stop on by as possible.
hope you Tokyo folk are enjoying the warmer weather - unfortunately for me Welsh white skin + 4 hours of football in the sun = a bright red burned forehead. yikes.
[christopher]
