Good concert, bad concert

[olaness]

I have listened to many many many concerts in my time and performed in considerably more. Many of these have been wonderful, but some less so. Some have been downright awful, some of the ones with me in it, possibly even with me contributing to the awfulness. Now every one of these (with one humorous exception) have been followed by enthusiastic applause and even cheering by the audience, regardless of how life-enhancingly sublime or how depressingly dreadful they were. Obviously when I've played a good'un and you get a great response it feels great, but I've sometimes asked myself about the sincerity of the audience response after a particularly poor concert, standing on stage accepting the applause knowing full well that it did not deserve this. As I compose as well, I have seen this very first hand, when people have come up to me and congratulated me for my wonderful new piece they have just witnessed being premiered, telling me how much they enjoyed every bit of it, then they turn around, thinking I'm no longer around, slating the piece to their mates.

Lately I've been thinking about this, and thinking it would actually be better if people were honest about their appreciation of the music they heard and would boo if they thought it was rubbish as well as cheer when they thought it was great. This used to be the way to do it long ago when opera was first becoming popular - and has been the way to do it on and off since. The premiere of Le Sacre should be known to most people here (if not, google it...). I can then see some replies coming from some of the more scientific minded people about how one should rate the quality of the performance, if a youth band should get more leniency for their technical standards than adult ones etc etc etc. To this I would reply that it would be largely irrelevant as music is often subjective, and what I'm talking about is very much people's subjective and instinctive responses to the music and the performance they hear. These things will often arrange themselves instinctively with an audience - and the audience's response should in my mind reflect this instinct - and therefore will not require empirical analysis.

I for one would enjoy (both on stage and in the audience) the different ambience that would result from some people cheering and some booing, although I know a few people who most certainly would not.

Ola

[tubashaman2]

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[Mister JP]

My dad was always very honest when it came to his likes and dislikes of my concerts. Mostly with the choice of music that the group(s) performed. He liked the upbeat and recognizeable stuff (marches, americana, pop medlys, and the like) and was no fan of "modern" compositions that used odd instrumentation, effects or spoken word as part of the performance. I have a performance tonight, there's only 2 tunes that he'd have liked, but he'd applaud for the group's effort.

[jenkinsmd]

Most performances I attend are enjoyable and deserving of applause. The only way I express my dissatisfaction with a performance (which is usually the result of the pieces chosen for performance, not the performance itself) is by withholding my applause for certain selections. This doesn't happen too often though. I don't think booing is appropriate unless there is extreme un-professionalism or some expected, previously held standard not being met by the performers.

[jenkinsmd]

Honestly, I could only imagine boo-ing if a performer made some unannounced speech with the topic being either politics or maligning someone...

Yeah, I've never actually booed at a musical performance. I was mainly thinking it appropriate in the case of a ticketed (not free) performance that grossly didn't meet its advertised standards.

[olaness]

Interesting to see that the general consensus seems to be 'polite dishonesty', at least when it comes to poor performances. Also, what is a highly offensive group or cause is very much a variable - at present, for example, both in the UK and US it seems a bit of a no-no to talk in favour of peace and non-violent dispute resolutions and this does cause offence in many corners if done in public...

Also, do bear in mind that composers, as a general rule of thumb, puts more effort into composing a new piece of music than the performers put into premiering it, so applauding the performers in appreciation of the performance, but withholding the applause on account of that you didn't like the piece seems rather two-faced to me. Although I do see where you are coming from, I would not be too vigorous in applauding anything by Rachmaninov no matter how well it was played, but then again I would normally do my best to avoid listening to anything by him so that's a bit of a non-point anyway.

Someone brought up the matter of a standing ovation, and thought that that was the real appreciation of enjoyment. That may be a cultural thing, but this is something I would only indulge in if I thought the performance was really extraordinary. I was at a performance recently when the whole audience stood up and I found myself (with my partner, who agreed with me) remaining seated, thinking 'it was good, but not THAT good!'. This, I suppose is at least to a certain degree what I mean: If I had thought the performance worthy of a standing ovation I would have stood up, but instead I showed MY level of appreciation and stayed in my seat applauding instead of just following the crowd.

[David Richoux]

All the audience needs is a running commentary to explain what is going on, and a "winner and looser"

like this classic.

[Rick Denney]

It's not "polite dishonesty". It is genuine appreciation for the effort. If I don't enjoy a concert, I am still glad I went, because even when I don't enjoy the music I enjoy being there to hear it.

As a musician, I do not expect the audience's applause to define for me how well I did. My own standards are much tougher. When someone offers praise I don't think I deserve, to show disdain would be for me to tell them they are not good enough to know how bad I was. That seems extremely presumptuous and arrogant to me. So, I thank them warmly and then think my own thoughts. That is not dishonest--I really do appreciate their praise even when it is not deserved.

The cases Joe mentioned, where the musician tries to turn a concert of music into a political speech (and I've seen it happen on several occasions), I, too, get up and leave. I don't boo for the same reason that I don't clap between movements--it upsets the people around me. I don't think they need my opinion to inform their own, and forcing it on them seems to me also presumptuous.

I find that most who boo are more interested in being heard than in having something to say.

Rick "who also can't stand people in the audience who tap their feet or direct the music as it is being played" Denney

[TubaBobH]

Bloke wrote:
...For instance, (for quite a few years, now) when I find myself in a room where the Pledge of Allegiance is recited, I stand, remain silent, and only place my hand on my heart to recite the two words, "under God".

Bloke, we have never met, but I have a feeling I would enjoy sharing a few beers with you if our paths should ever cross.

[DavidK]

In general I look for the good in each performance. And find it.

Occasionally you get a real exception....
The last time I boo-ed and walked out was a major rock star doing a solo tour about 3 years ago. A friend had mistakenly gotten the tickets expecting it to be this performer, backed by a full band. It was aweful. He sounded drunk or slurred. The songs and writing were not interesting, engaging or thought provoking. The PA, his miking and balance were terrible for the venue (quite nice place on Long Island, known for good concerts).

The bottom line on that evening? It was terrible and it proved that he is MUCH better with band, than by himself. In my eyes it actually made him look worse, like he was hoping to just skate on his reputation and fool his paying fans. Every solo he played on each different instrument sounded like crap and as if he had just tried to figure out the tunes that afternoon, had problems and hit the bottle instead.

That outting would have been better served as a coffeeshop, club or basement-style bar tour.