People talk all the time during Margaret Explosion gigs. There are no lyrics. We are hardly performers, most of us have our eyes closed. But the crowd does shut up when the music gets engaging and that is all as it should be.
We were standing in the back of the Tango Café last night while Scott Regan played songs from his new cd. His folk country songs sit comfortably in the Americana tradition and his backing band, The Grownups, push him in a JJ Cale direction. Most of the crowd was seated up front around tables and most were smiling. As jam-packed as the the place was the sound was great.
The Grownups, Phil Marshall, Ken Frank and Jimmy Mac, were the foundation of the great Colorblind James Experience. Janet, Chuck’s (Colorblind James) wife and Phil Marshall’s sister, was down front catching up with Ken Frank’s (also bass player with Margaret Explosion) wife when someone turned to Janet and told her her voice was too loud. This really got Janet going. She left her spot and stood next to us at the bar in the back while she unloaded.
I was struck by the similarity between this incident and a story her husband, Chuck, told us a few years before he passed. He was listening to Bat McGrath when Bat stopped a song and turned to some un-rapt audience members to chew them out for talking. Chuck was blown away by this pompous lecture and threw the blame squarely back in the performer’s court for not being engaging enough.
6 Comments
Clubs are not libraries. I’ve always had an issue with musicians who think they should demand attention- they need to earn attention. And I love it when something really good sucks me in, especially when I didn’t see it coming. Otherwise folks, these are just mediocre performers…and performance, not technique, is what being a musician is all about.
Not to imply that Scott and band had anything to do with this- they are great performers. But I think too many baby boomers and hipsters think that clubs need to be quiet. As I said they are not libraries…
Maybe it depends on the expectations of the venue, gig organizers. If a band were to “earn” attention by coming on with too strong a sound or PJ Harvey/Patti Smith/Hendrix rock and roll surely this crowd would complain that they couldn’t hear each other talk and the band was rude. 🙂
Maybe it’s this- if most of the options for viewing a band involve sitting down rather than standing up then being quiet is more important. But I really don’t like watching music while sitting down…it was pretty cool seeing people in Kodak Theater dancing during David Byrne/St. Vincent at the jazz fest. Totally changed the dynamics of that space. But they ‘earned’ that dancing- it was hard not to!
I agree. Music without chairs. Scorgies empty room was/is the model for music clubs. Chairs on the periphery for those who can’t stand.
Yes, I agree, but I love sitting and listening to Margaret Explosion.