aeblog

I never want to meet Richard Wagner

Seeing Richard Shindell and Lucy Kaplansky last night got me thinking about how there is much much more to a live show than the music. Now this might seem obvious to most of you, but please don't stop reading just yet.
If you recall, I saw CAKE a few weeks ago and complained a bit about John McCrea's arrogant attitude on stage. I haven't listened to any of my CAKE cds since then. Nor have I recommended them as frequently as I did before. Has the music changed? Am I simply over-CAKE'd? Have my music tastes shifted? No, no and no. The reality is that I was just so turned off by him as a person that it has tainted my interest in listening to his music. I'm actually not very happy about this, but there is little I can do.
So then I go and see a folk show with two folk stars - who are definitely not rock stars - and I feel myself liking their music more and more as I like them more and more as the people I perceive them to be. I feel happy supporting such solid and good people and want to promote their success.
From a purely musical standpoint, the CAKE show and this show were comparable; talented musicians, good songs, professional performance. But I think that the main reason this show was better was because they just seemed like normal people up on stage doing what they love to do. They engaged the audience not by making fun of us (a la McCrea) but by telling jokes, giving us background on the music, and by generally being their humble selves. Hooray for folk musicians!
At the end of the day, I actually like CAKE's music more than most folk, including Richard and Lucy, but if I ever have to decide between who to miss Game 1 to see (go SOX!!), I will certainly choose the latter.

Live folk music on the whole seems to be geared towards audience interaction in the way of a conversation, almost. Perhaps it is the simplicity of the music and instrumentation that requires this approach, or perhaps it is simply reflective of the musician's personalities. I don't know, but I do know that I have never seen a folk musician perform one song after the next without any extensive verbal digressions, and I am happy for this. Not all are as voluble and comedic as, say, John Wesley Harding, but the good ones know how to connect with an audience and make us feel like we are old friends at a reunion.

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I'd like to get some opinions on a related topic here. What do you guys think about the whole 'song explanation' thing? You know, when a performer starts telling the audience what the song is about and where it came from and when he/she wrote it etc etc etc. Part of me really likes this, as the additional context can add lots to the experience of hearing a song. But part of me sometimes would prefer to have it be more of a mystery and would prefer to be allowed to interpret the song for myself in my own personal way. Which side do you guys come down on?