Dennis wrote:
I doubt anyone that knows those 2 will relay whats been said to them in private on a public forum. I know I wouldn't.Now, I don't expect Tom to say jack squat about Richard's departure or otheractivities, but I would really, really, dearly love to hear Fred or (especially) Billy's perspective on this whole turn of events...
Anyway, we know what they'd say: "That's Richard's business; his own band, his own songs, etc."
But it sets me thinking about gigs and audience reactions... (Thanks to Ty and Leo for terrific reports.)
I've seen some admirable performers pretty much humiliated before a (partly) drunken audience -- you could almost see them thinking "am I going to walk off and preserve my dignity and forfeit the fee, or...?"
Personally, I'd be fascinated to hear the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic, but...The one time I saw Lou Reed live... about halfway through the gig, the audience was getting a bit restless. The music wasn't engaging, nor was Lou. Someone near the front shouted something like "the lights are too bright!" -- apparently some lights were shining on the audience. Lou turned on them in anger, saying something like: "I LIKE the lights that way!" The lights stayed that way, and thereafter there was more of an edge to the music, and the gig as a whole.
And I recall a report of a King Crimson gig many years ago: Again, the audience seemed somewhat disenchanted. Robert Fripp abruptly stopped the music and brought the inattentive fans to their senses with words like: "If you're not going to get into the rhythm of the music, you can just f__k off!"
Then there was a Pere Ubu gig (about twenty years ago, so it was mostly older fans, from late twenties on) where we were all seated around tables, on which we had dined earlier (pretty good food). The music was great, the whole gig was great, from beginning to end. But strangely... I was talking about that venue to Andy Irvine (great Irish folk musician) who had performed there around the same time and he expressed disgust with the managers of the venue. I think the word he used was "gangsters".
You never know, an awful lot of factors can make or break a rock concert. But the effects of alcohol are predictable.
Mind you, I was taken aback when, at the Music for Films show in Italy a few years ago, my new-found friend & beer-drinking partner Antonio (a genuine Verlaine fan) was moved to shout at one point, between films/tunes: "Marquee Moon!"
--JoeT -------------- To post: Mail tv@obbard.com To unsubscribe: Mail majordomo@obbard.com with message "unsubscribe tv"