Re: (TV) U-2 & Television a Stretch? / We Love You Detroit! / Hifalutin We bster Collegiate Dictonary Says Band Television Delivers the Goods

["esgregory" <esgregory@qwest.net>]

as i mentioned, i'll always be moved by tv's songs, playing, presence...&
i'm not really talking bout contrived theatrics here...byrne & the heads
always struck me as too contrived for his/their own good...i suppose what
i'm referencing here & what initially drew me deep in to rock & roll is the
kind of intensity, power, drama (not melodrama) of american soul music,
particularly from the 50s thru the 60s into the mid 70s...when for me punk &
its many variants picked up the ball...so much of our lives is spent
sedentary, stunned, & stupefied that i need to see someone scratching,
tearing, opening the limits of our immediate lives when i hear, see or make
music, art, love, money, food, conversation, time...whatever...this isn't to
say contemplative or internalized concentration can't have its own
passion...it certainly can.
& tv's guitar playing often does it for me...i suppose i just wanna know or
at least receive a soul-kissed message that the artiste is straining against
the many many things that keep us dull when s(he)'s putting out...

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jesse Hochstadt" <Jesse_Hochstadt@brown.edu>
To: <tv@obbard.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2001 1:11 PM
Subject: Re: (TV) U-2 & Television a Stretch? / We Love You Detroit! /
Hifalutin We bster Collegiate Dictonary Says Band Television Delivers the
Goods


> To each his own: I saw Talking Heads on the "Fear of Music" tour -
> just four people on stage, dressed plainly, no lighting effects,
> standing fairly still, concentrating on their playing - and enjoyed
> it immensely. Next time I saw them was with the enlarged "Remain in
> Light" band  (Worrell, Belew, etc.). Byrne had started on the path
> that would lead to the "Stop Making Sense" shows; he'd begun to run
> around the stage, etc. It was still very good, but somehow ... busy,
> distracting, pulling attention away from the music.
>
> Although there are certainly exceptions, I usually like seeing
> performers who are intent upon their music and not upon demonstrating
> their passion to the audience theatrically (so long, that is, as the
> music's good). Their concentration sends me a message that their
> music is worth concentrating on, whereas big gestures (can) seem like
> sleight of hand meant to distract me from the music's flaws. Maybe
> the reason you're "bored beyond belief" by those Portland shows is
> simply that the music sucks. Of course sometimes passion can  _move_
> a performer to demonstrative acts - as in gospel singing - but that's
> different from staging it.
>
> The exceptions to this generality, for me, are usually acts who are
> not all that impressive musically but who invest the same creative
> energy and passion in their stage theatrics that the more musical
> acts devote wholeheartedly to the music itself. But I see Television
> as primarily about the music, and don't really give a shit whether
> they're "certainly rock'n'roll" or not. For me, they transcend those
> categories.
>
> Perhaps you feel somewhat similarly, and you just wish Tom was the
> type of performer who was naturally moved to theatrics. But he's not,
> so let's be grateful for what we've got, and not blame him for what
> inferior musicians may have taken - or thought they were taking -
> from his performance style.
>
> - Jesse
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