Shows Vs. Concerts

Mmmm. Deerhoof.

I really love music. I love Satomi Matsuzaki and Deerhoof. And I love music pure from anything else, don't get me wrong, but lately I've come to realize it's the show aspect of concerts that really get me into the music, and goddamn if they don't have it down.

So when I recently started listening to Deerhoof based on a recommendation I recieved last summer, the music was great. But the most exciting part is that I listened to most of their music through youtube. I don't think I've ever appreciated youtube as much as then. It's fucking great.

 So their kinda a mix of noise rock and japanese pop, and a bunch of people don't think that they're music. So, this is a 10 minute video of one of their concerts at UICA, and it's rad. I think that it's all brilliant, but flip to 9:09 on this video and watch the magic that ensues until about 9:28.

  

It's great. I mean really, really great. I can't describe how perfect those dance moves are.

But, does that mean there's a difference between a show and a concert? Yeah, I mean, that was a show. That might turn out to be a petty point in semantics, but there's something to be said for the difference I'm talking about. That isn't only their hearts and minds flowing through the amplifiers, those are laid out right on stage for everyone to see. There's no mask of fake-ness or uncaring to hide behind. In this age of communication, it's so easy to forget that before cds, before 8-tracks, before vinyl, there wasn't anything. If you wanted to hear music, you had to go out and listen to it for yourself.

Now, obviously, before vinyl, the music being made wasn't much about putting your heart on the table anyway, but the point stands. When everyone walked around with a walkman, exchanging mixtapes of some of the latest underground bands' recordings they've gotten a hold of, it wasn't as mechanical as it is now.

When you're playing a show, you're making a fool of yourself and standing behind it. It's not meant to be this picture perfect reproduction of how the recording sounded, it's meant to be the music you're making and the heart to sing it at the top of your lungs.

Fuck. I'm rambling. I gotta show another concert to keep me focused.

So I've also been in love with Man Man for the past 3 months. I wanna not short change them right now, because I love them too much, so I'll wait for next time to express that.

But I wanna say that this is great. It's all about taking drags from your cigarette in between lyrics and shouting without microphones. And we're slowly making steps from the heartiest to the heartiestest to the most heartiestestest.

I think I found the point of this post, and that's it right there. Having kids a foot away from knocking you to the ground and having another kid be your mic stand is something you can't really describe. I think what all this has been leading up to is that anyone can make music. The current music being made has so much post processing sometimes, it makes your forget that all you need to make music is a frying pan, a stick to hit it with, and vocal cords. You don't need to be doing funny dances to show your heart, but when you're not just hearing or playing music, and the vibrations in the air become a part of every inch of your circulatory system, that's when there's some soul.

A lot of musicians these days are starting to forget why they're playing. And sometimes they call the absence of heart they put on stage an artistic choice. And that's okay, but at that point, you might as well be listening to a cd. The noise that comes out when you're on the same level as the crowd, smiling as you shout. Fuck, man. That's how music is intended to make you feel.