Hello Dear readers!
I would like to apologize for not posting daily from Rothbury as I originally planned due to a faulty wifi connection in the press area. So as you can tell my daily post has been reduced to a single quick post from my Blackberry.
I’ve soaked up tons of music over the last few days and got ran over by the Michigan State Police last night(more on that later). I’ve also enjoyed the various art installments, especially “Reincarnation”, a zen naturewalk where the “reused” details gave me a perfect meditative break so my senses could recharge. Stay tuned for a full photo gallery from Colleen just as soon as we return home.
Well, that’s it for now. We’re heading off to a behind the scenes greening tour.
Chris
I wonder if Robert Plutchik was a live music fan? And I wonder if he would’ve enjoyed going to Rothbury Music Festival this weekend.
For the sake of this post I’m guessing he probably was a live music fan to some degree.
And I’d also say that he would’ve loved to go Rothbury this weekend if he had the chance.
Why would I assumed this?
Well, Plutchik was a psychologist who “developed the psychoevolutionary theory of emotion in which he considered there to be eight primary emotions: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, curiosity, acceptance and joy.” So I’m pretty confident that he would have loved to be able to study all the emotions that will be running about the festival grounds this weekend in the hearts and minds of fans and artists.
Now why the heck would I talk about a psychologist who died three years ago, at the age of 87, when I’m suppose to be “previewing” Rothbury?
Two reasons:
1. The summer musical festival is a fertile breading ground for expressing and observing human emotion.
2. This past year I’ve traveled all the way around and through the complexity of Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion as I’ve followed the story of Rothbury 2009.
Plutchik's Wheel of Emotion
Cycling through a full year of emotions
When I think back to my emotional experiences at Rothbury 2008 I’m amazed at how much can happen in a year emotionally. If I were to use Plutchik ’s wheel to quickly recall and describe a few basic and complex emotional experiences, I would start with awe, joy, ecstasy, apprehension and curiosity.
Here’s why:
Awe
Awe was one of the very first emotions I experienced. As I walked on the main festival grounds spinning above me on a gigantic art sculpture were flying mechanical monkeys. They rattle, whizzed and girated strangely and fantastically above my head. And then the following day I stood in amazement gazing at a Guinness World Record-sized canned sculpture.
Joy, ecstasy & apprehension
From Snoop Dogg and Dave Matthews to Secret Machines and Atmosphere, the artist line up last year had me running around the grounds blissfully. But I remember moments (and this always happens) where I had to make hard choices (frustration, apprehension, annoyance) since I couldn’t be everywhere, even though I would have liked to. (A word of advice to fans and other music writers covering large festivals. Don’t kill yourself trying to see everything. You’ll make yourself sick and end up like those crazy spinning mechanical monkeys I mentioned earlier. It’s best to enjoy the Wheel of Emotions one emotion at a time if possible.)
Curiosity
Rothbury’s greening initiatives had me extra curious during the behind-the-scenes tour as I talked with volunteers and with festival organizers during the media round-table discussions. (See Live Fix Daily Wrap Ups: Day 1, Day 2 , Day 3)
The fear, anxiety & uncertainty of Rothbury 2009
Beside giving me insight into my own personal emotional journey, following the story of Rothbury 2009 has given me an idea of how dramatic and uncertain things can be for festival promoters. And I imagine everyone on the Rothbury crew and staff (and the rest of the concert industry this year) has felt, or is in the process of feeling, varying degrees of fear, anxiety, sadness and anger.
I became aware of the situation when I read a news story last Fall telling me that Rothbury 2009 might not happen. And if it were to happen, the festival organizers would have to overcome serious legal issues involving the owners of the Double JJ Ranch and their lease of the festival’s site .
Then in January, thanks to a deal approved by a federal Bankruptcy court Judge between AEG Live and Rothbury’s Madison House Publicity, Rothbury 2009 lived on.
A new revolution of emotions has begun for Rothbury
362 days later, I’m still curious because of what I read in the above Bankruptcy stories. And my level of anticipation has begun to rise again as I look forward to my second behind-the-scenes greening tour, more media discussions, and of course, the new line up of artists including The Dead, Bob Dylan and others.
And then Muskegon Chronicle reported Monday:
“An army of 1,140 volunteers — about 80 more than last year — already has started flooding festival grounds, with most arriving mid-week. Many will work on the festival’s “Green Team,” helping concertgoers properly recycle containers and other litter at the four-day event, according to Madison House Publicity, which is overseeing communications and public relations…”
“Communications could be a big deal: More than 400 reporters and media representatives from across the country will attend, including writers from Rolling Stone, SPIN and USA Today.”
Let’s spin that Wheel
I’m expecting a weekend full of emotions and I look forward to talking with more fans and festival organizers to get their emotional perspective.
And as I mentioned on Sunday, I’m going to pay attention to see how Michael Jackson’s death impacts our collective live concert emotional experience.
Been to Bonaroo, Coachella, Sasquatch or other music festivals already this summer?
Where have you traveled on the Wheel of Emotion?
Do You Remember The Time?
When I posted my heartfelt thoughts about Michael Jackson and his London shows on Tuesday, I had no idea what would happen on Thursday afternoon. (See my Facebook trail from Thursday afternoon, bottom to top).
And over the last three days I’ve felt a wave of different emotions ranging from happy and nostalgic to guilt and sadness. It’s not that often that I respond to my own writing with such a wide range of emotions. and It’s a first for me to have something I’ve written be so closely related to, or seemingly foreshadow a world-changing event. A friend asked me if I ever get premonitions. I said yes. But not about Michael Jackson.
I first heard of Michael Jackson’s death via a New York Times alert about him having a heart attack. Then came the big bomb. He was dead.
Like most of us, I was stunned. First I couldn’t believe it.
And then as I read the Internet reports, I felt a sense of eerie creepiness run through me. Because two days earlier I had written about how his music was such a important part of my childhood and musical upbringing, one that still impacts how I listen to music today. It was like I had jumped ahead and started the tribute two days ahead of time.
And like the rest of us, I watched the non-stop news coverage with a mixture of sadness, guilt and denial. I also watched as Twitter and Facebook exploded with RIP tweets, updates and links directing fans to the scores of musical mixtape tributes that erupted after the news broke. One of my personal tribute favorites has been Chicago rapper Rhymefest’s mixtape tribute that he actually released in early 2008 to celebrate Thriller’s 25th anniversary and his love for Jackson’s music. And I’ve also thought back to how we all celebrated Jackson’s 50th birthday at the 2008 Hideout Block Party.
And as the story of his death developed I struggled with how I was going to respond to the original post. I wanted to respond quickly but I didn’t quite know what to say or how to say it. But I knew I wanted to wait a bit to sort out my emotions and also see how AEG Live would handle the cancellation of the London shows.
So now it’s Sunday. Just three days after one of the biggest, greatest and most influencial performers in rock history has died.
And I wonder: has his death impacted live music?
Yes, it has. It has shook the very core of the live music experience.
Yesterday, I was at the Rock the Bells hip hop festival in Chicago. And with all the Michael Jackson shout-outs and in between set musical tributes coming from the stage, it almost felt more like a Michael Jackson tribute festival. And I imagine other festivals and concerts will have the same feel as the summer continues.
So over these last three days I’ve tried to figure out how to write about this. And I’m not exactly sure how to begin. But like I did on the original MJ post. I’ll speak from the heart and mix in the facts of what I know and what’s been reported thus far. And hopefully we can all figure things out from there.
There are many angles to Jackson’s story. But I’d like to focus on the ones that impact live concert culture. Namely, the ticket refunding mess and the insurance issues AEG Live faces.
“The Biggest Mess in Concert History”
First, according to Billboard’s Friday report, AEG Live faces an $85 million refund of 750,000 tickets to the London shows, which experts say ”is one of the biggest refunding efforts and the biggest mess in the history of the concert industry.”
But what about the fan’s experience over the last three days? While AEG Live issued Friday’s statement about the possible refund, their customer service line instructed customers to “await communication” while also including this message:
“We understand this is an upsetting time for all Michael Jackson fans and we want to thank you for your patience in this matter.”
And to make matters worse, Billboard says that “fans who bought tickets from unofficial sources, such as from sellers on auction sites or agencies, may lose their money.”
Then AEG Live did eventually issue a statement saying they would refund all the tickets to the 50 London shows. But AEG Live’s battle with Jackon’s family and financial woes are far from over.
AEG Live’s financial future: between a rock concert and a hard place
As Billboard reports, the ongoing investigation of Jackson’s cause of death and the concert contracts he signed still impacts AEG Live’s financial future.
“AEG’s yearly financial results may now depend on Jackson’s cause of death. One entertainment insurance industry insider says that if Jackson died from a drug overdose or a pre-existing condition, the producer could be on the hook for any loss-which would include any money already sunk into the production, as well as the considerable cost of refunding consumers for the 750,000 tickets already purchased. If Jackson signed a contract saying he would return his advance in the event he didn’t perform, the company could end up in court with a long line of other Jackson creditors.”
That said, we might be looking at a blessing in disguise.
The King of Pop’s passing gives us a chance to improve the concert experience
Judging by the outpouring at Rock the Bells yesterday, I know concerts this summer are going to be very different. And it turns this summer into one of the longest and largest group mourning experiences in the history of concertgoing.
But what about the concert industry and the business of selling tickets? Will Jackson’s death forever change how promoters and artists do business? It should. And it should also benefit fans.
On Tuesday, I wondered whether or not giving fans more control over ticket pricing would help the concert experience. And now with the impact of Jackson’s death on the concert industry, I think this question is more poignant then ever. Because reading all these Billboard reports tells me that Jackson’s death might have more power to forever change how promoters sell tickets than we realize. It’s a prime time to rethink the whole ticket selling process.
Having dealt and struggled in the wake of death many times in the last several years, I’ve seen someone’s passing somehow turn into a blessing and become a benefit to those left behind on planet Earth. Death is usually a catalyst for change. That’s why I think Jackson’s death could lead to helping fans better understand the whole ticketing process and get them more involved in how it’s structured, which will hopefully lead to a better process that gives fans more control in determining a more realistic price of the concert experience.
Coming up…
Jackson’s death brought up a whole bunch of other issues we need to take a look at, such as pain. So stay tuned as we discuss how artists deal with physical pain before, during and after a concert.
So tell me:
How have you mourned Jackson’s death?
Did you ever see him in concert?
And would you go see a Jackson Tribute tour?
Tomorrow we’ll be heading to the Rock the Bells Festival in Chicago. I’m expecting a day packed with old and new school swagger where the beats and rhymes flow in all directions. And it should be fun with KRS-ONE, Supernatural and Pete Rock hosting. It’s a pretty good lineup but I’m a little concerned that there is not one female on the bill. Are there no female emcees that can hang with the boys?
When we covered the festival in 2007, Colleen simultaneously snapped pictures and dodged Henessey bottles and narrowly escaped the Ruckus in the pit as the Wu Tang Clan riled up and sparred with the crowd. So I’m sure she’ll be looking forward to grabbing photos like the one above.
Here’s my review from 2007.
Have you been to Rock the Bells before? What’d you like about the festival?
Drop me a comment if you’re heading out there tomorrow, too.
You can also follow me on Twitter as I conduct another Live Fix Experiment in real-time with a hip hop flavor.
Photo by Colleen Catania
As Chicago venue owners face their own ongoing ordinance struggles, another city’s live music community also faces opposition because of questionable laws being imposed. The live music community in San Francisco is currently facing challenges related to its all-ages venues and I wanted to bring it to your attention as it seems like the only thing I can do to help at this point.
Here’s a brief snapshot of what’s going on according to the San Francisco Chronicle:
Those venues could be forced to close, owners say, if the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, better known as ABC, continues to impose rules that club attorneys argue are legally questionable and often unrelated to booze or safety issues.
Some of the clubs say they only recently learned about the new rules, which are not written into state law and haven’t been enforced in the past.
This past week a video (below) was created in addition to the Facebook and Twitter groups you can join to stay current and get involved in the situation.
In case you want to hear what’s going on in the Facebook book group, here’s what the latest group update message about the YouTube video said:
“Why it’s important people see this: -This fight is NOT about underage drinking -The ABC’s actions are coming out of Sacramento -The more awareness we raise, the more pressure they’ll feel! -If the ABC follows their own rules, this could affect culture all over California”
“What’s not mentioned in the video that people should know: -Even if the ABC relents, the venues could be driven into the ground by the costs of their legal fees ALONE. And yet they have NOT yet raised ticket or food prices. -We all have friends who work in these venues as bartenders, waiters, sound engineers, etc. We all know local and touring musicians who depend on these clubs’ hospitality to new music. If they go under, it will affect people at every level of the city and state economy. Our kids, our friends, our bands, our businesses, our bartenders. Are you mad? So why don’t you write to the ABC and ask them the question: WHY NOW?!”
If you’re a part of the live music community in San Francisco, I’d like to get your perspective. Drop a comment or email me at chris@christophercatania.com
Join the SaveSFVenues communities on:
YouTube video featuring interviews with some of the venue owners:
Current poll on Billboard.com
I’ve been thinking about the results of the Billboard poll to the right a lot lately.
Especially after reading how Live Nation is trying to “help” concert fans.
But is their recent removal of service fees (announced on June 1st) a move to help fans or just help increase summer ticket sales?
Here’s what Live Nation told Billboard earlier this month:
Live Nation has been tackling the issue of service fees with its in-house ticketing operation launched at the beginning of this year. “We know the fan has been frustrated by the series of successive fees in the purchase process,” Live Nation Ticketing CEO Nathan Hubbard tells Billboard.biz. “There is attrition in the sales flow once you see your third page with some additional fees. The fan told us they just want to know up front how much the cost of the experience is going to be. We didn’t address that problem completely, but the first step was moving from fans paying a service fee — you might pay a shipping and handling fee, maybe a print-at-home fee, delivery fee, etc. — to consolidating it into a single up-front fee that is there as you cart your inventory.”
Does that sound like helping?
Chicago Tribune rock reporter Greg Kot called the move “a start”. And then the fans went further to express their thoughts and feelings in the comments.
Then a few days later, after Live Nation extended the “no service fees special” to also include reserved seating, Chicago Sun-Times rock reporter Jim Derogatis broke down the specific pricing.
What do you think is a reasonable price to pay for a concert ticket?
A few weeks back I wondered if our concert experiences are really “priceless” by asking what is the “emotional” ticket price of concerts.
If there is an emotional value to concert tickets, why not experiment and let the fans decide how much they think concerts should cost? Why not explore concert ticket pricing system that’s similar to how certain artists have let fans determine the cost of an album?
Online ticket auctions do this to some degree. But only after scalpers and ticket brokers have determined the pricing structure.
So what if there was a way to allow fans to choose what they thought should be the actual cost of the concert ticket. And what if there was a way to create a ticket pricing structure that was based on combine factors of the emotional value, the market value and what the fan was willing to pay. Would you try it out?
We thought the “choose your own album price” was crazy when bands like Radiohead starting doing it. And why does it always seem, with a few expections, that the band members themselves remain silent when ticket pricing issues are discussed.
It would also be inspiring to see more bands join in the fight to keep their fans from being scalped by taking a more active role in how the cost of their live performance impacts their fan’s wallet.
From a promoters perspective, it seems like a prime time to experiment with different pricing options much like summer festivals are doing this year with the layaway option.
I think this idea of “letting fans choose the ticket prices” should be explored just to see what we could come up with. Because with the current recession, and knowing how much people love concerts, I think a fan uprising, or corporate backlash of some sort, on companies like Live Nation might be closer than we think.
People love their concerts and if fans have to choose, the majority of fans will stay home.
But that love and emotional need for live music will not go away. Fans will find ways to get their fix and feed their need for live music. But the question is whether or not Live Nation will be a part of helping fans find a way to satisfy thier fix that meets their budget. Or will Live Nation continue to be a part of the problem and not a part of the solution?
And when will fans take a more active role and create a community that shows companies like Live Nation that fans are more than just expendable and entertainable pawns with bottomless wallets?
So tell me live music fans:
If you knew where all the money went and why, (similar to Derogatis’ breakdown but a bit more detail), would you explore a “choose your own pricing” ticket pricing method?
I’ll be heading to several festivals this summer. And I’ll be sure to ask what fans think and share their responses with you too.
The music of Michael Jackson has always held a special spot in my heart, especially after Thriller became one of my favorite albums as a kid growing up in the eighties.
But I have to admit I’ve had my doubts about Michael Jackson returning to the stage to perform 50 shows in London, a run that’s scheduled to begin the first week of July. And even though I once had a t-shirt with an velvety iron-on picture of Thriller’s cover on it, Jackson’s attempt to perform again seemed way too strange a story for me to take him seriously.
And now, it seems, that the King of Pop is facing his own doubts and more legal complications as he gets ready for his upcoming London shows Billboard reports:
AEG Live president and CEO Randy Phillips has rejected U.K. tabloid reports that Michael Jackson told fans that he only wanted to play 10 London O2 Arena shows rather than the 50 that have been scheduled.
And them came the legal issues saying Jackson was over committed in his attempt to do 50 London shows. But those same “over booked” shows would also allow Jackson to pay some of his alleged large amount of looming legal bills and achieve concert history:
Billboard reports ”Jackson’s series of London shows have been touted as unprecedented. AEG Live says that, all together, the shows will gather the biggest audience ever to see an artist in one city.
But AEG says Jackson will be there ready for the hungry London crowds:
The shows begin July 8, Jackson’s first in 12 years. Producer/promoter AEG Live has footed the bill for a $20 million production, and the show layout is coming together. “Originally we tried to keep the show down to 90 minutes, but Michael has so many must-do songs in his repertoire that the shows now will be two-plus hours,” AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips tells Billboard.
Well, we’ll see how this turns out…
What are your expectations for Jackson’s London shows?
And would you drink lots of Pepsi, grab your crotch and do the moonwalk at the show if he did a This is It! world tour?
Santogold’s “Unstoppable” is a great song. And I don’t doubt its power to ignite a massive live concert swarming dance party. And it’s a great anthem for this story, too.
But when I first watched the YouTube video from last month’s Sasquatch Festival where this “Dancing Guy” starts a dance party during Santogold ’s “Unstoppable,” I too was inspired like all the other who watched the video.
But after watching it several times I began to wonder if it was really real. I wondered if it was staged.
Why would I wonder this?
Well, first off, having been in concert crowds at festivals before, I’ve seen guys like this Dancing Guy before. And rarely does anyone else ever rise to their feet to join them like the swarm of people did with this guy. I always wished someone would but it never happens like this.
So as I viewed the other YouTube videos that captured the Dancing Guy ten minutes before and during the Swarm, I noticed that the response seemed to be more on the artificially manufactured side. And I wondered if a crafty fan was creating their own live concert fantasy for their own person kicks and or to create a thrilling YouTube effect.
The other things that make me think this might not be a true fan response are case studies in social psychology, community psychology and other socialogical documentation of human behavior, specifically things like social loafing and the bystander effect documented in the 1964 Kitty Genovese murder case. All these studies of group behavior show that group reactions like the swarming fan response to the “Dancing Guy” seem a bit odd and fantastically manufactured.
What I’m going to do is try to contact the makers of the videos below to see if what I thinking is true or not. (I’ll keep you updated)
Because one thing I do know is that videos like these, even though they’re very inspiring to watch, just seem weird because they create a false reality that appears “manufactured.”
Again, I’m not hating on anyone or trying to be a buzz kill. I’m a huge fan of Santogold and I fully support any healthy, genuine and spontaneous explosion that expresses joy and pleasure. I’m just questioning the masses because this was so oddly fantastic and different from normal fan behavior I’ve seen at concerts.
And if this is a true and actual spontaneous concert fan response caught on video, then what we have here my friends, is a true live concert phenomenon that we should treasure and think about recreating more often at concerts.
What do you think about how your concert behaviors influence others? Have your ever thought of joining, or emulating, the “Dancing Guy?”
Here’s two of the videos that I watched. Tell me what you think.
The Dancing Guy Before the Swarming “Dance Party”:
The “most watched “Dancing Guy” video:
Last Sunday, I read this breaking news story by Kansas City Star reporter Jenee Osterheldt about DJ Jazzy Jeff being forced to cut his set short last Saturday at a club in Kansas City’s Power & Light District.
It was a pretty compelling story. And after I read it I wanted to share my thoughts on it just as soon as I was done reading it. But I decided to hold off and not pull the trigger on the post.
And in this case, I’m glad I did. Because during the week I was able to dig a little deeper and take a closer look. I was able to put some context on the situation that would have been missing had I posted last Sunday. I also wanted to take a longer look into the story’s larger sociological impact on live music.
And as I read the other reporter accounts and learned about the history of discrimination associated with the P&L District, the situation started to make more sense. In short, DJ Jazzy Jeff was saying that the club’s owners had used the false excuse that the volume of the music was damaging the club’s sound system, when in fact they had shut down the show because the hip hop music he was playing was attracting the “wrong crowd.” Which seems pretty silly because DJ Jazzy Jeff was playing the exact “Top 40″ hip hop music that the club owner had requested he play before DJ azzy Jeff got to the venue.
I continued to peel back the layers to reveal this story’s racial and sociological subplots. The more I read and thought about this situation,the more I realized that it was all about the fans being the victims.
But then I thought about this story in a different way. Because it conjured strong emotions about another live concert culture topic.
I turned the situation inside out and looked at it from group dynamics perspective. I thought about how some music fans, or groups of music sub-cultures, can make other music fans exit the venue emotionally or physically, or not even enter the venue at all because of race, gender or clothes their wearing.
Have I ever been discriminated against at a concert? Aside from the minor annoyances of security checks, I’ve never been to a show that was stopped short on account of the race, dress code, or because the fans or the musicians were being discriminated against.
But I will say this.
Because I do like many types of music, I can say that I’ve been to many shows where I’ve felt like the odd one out because I was just being myself and not fitting the exact dress code or adhering to the style associated with that subculture and that music genre’s “accepted” dress code.
It’s gotten better is some aspects in recent years as our tastes in music blends and supersedes “genres.” This has made it gradually more acceptable to like music that might not be “associated” with your skin color or ethnicity. And the amount of different music styles were exposed to increases each day, but racism, reverse racism and fan to-fan and cultural discriminating, unfortunately, are all still a part of our world, concerts included.
Have you ever been to a show where, even though you loved the music, you still didn’t “fit in”, or you felt left out or discriminated against because of your race, age, gender or clothes?
How did it make you feel? Did it change the mood and feel of a show? Did it make it more intense and dramatic? Does it make it more of a hassle and downer?
And if you were at the show or have had an experience with the P&L District I’d like to know your thoughts, too.
You can see the trail of Kansas City Star stories that unfolded from the initial Sunday story here.
Image courtesy of pbinderphotography.com
I’d like to share some great reads from one of the Chicago music magazines I contribute to. The latest issue of Alarm Magazine has 3 stories that discuss today’s evolving live music culture. I enjoyed each story and I think you will too.
Here’s a brief preview of the live music articles.
Lighting Design: an interview with concert lighting pros.
Green Touring: A look at how one band and concert fans are going green on the road.
DIY Venues: A look at how the legacy of do-it-yourself home-style concerts is evolving.
The newly redesigned issue also has album reviews by yours truly of Mr. Scruff’s and Late of the Pier’s latest albums. There are also many other insightful interviews (Nick Cave, Black Moth Super Rainbow, etc.) and stories by other contributors. So do yourself a favor, celebrate live music and go pick up a copy.
