Posts by Marcus Turner
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Sorry if someone's already posted this. I think this is perhaps how news should be presented:
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I've found that iPod earphones fit neatly into a "Jols" (sugar-free sweets) tin.
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Went to the Christchurch Cooder/Lowe concert. Enjoyed it.
(Does anyone know the story behind the ticket prices? I paid over $130.00, but many others got their tickets for $60.00. Hard not to feel peeved about that....)
Most of the audience, as far as I could tell, were in their 50s or 60s.
The warm-up act was loud. Certainly too loud for some, and I know it made one person feel physically ill. I found it uncomfortable to begin with, but seemed to adapt. From my point of view, the musicianship was great.
There was yelling from one or two sections of the audience, just before the last song or two (of the first act) to "turn down the bass".
The main act didn't seem nearly so loud. I don't know whether that was because I'd adapted, or everything was less compressed, or there were no keyboards filling out the middle of the sound, or they just played more quietly.
I think that - at least in part - the "problem" was an issue of age. Older people perhaps don't enjoy loud music so much. I certainly don't like loud music so much as I did 30 years ago.
Getting sound loud enough to overcome ambient noise etc. is an issue that can be tackled in a number of different ways. A friend was telling me last week about a folk festival in Australia where, by the clever use of many speakers placed down the sides of a marqee tent, and linked with some sort of delay system, they're able to produce sound that's quite loud enough inside the tent, but doesn't leak outside and intrude on nearby (tent) venues.
I think part of the reason for such a loud sound at the concert in Christchurch was the design of the sound system for the gig: i.e. projecting the sound from speaker stacks on the stage. Those seated at the front - particularly near the stacks - got more than they wanted.
Another part of the phenomenon is the need to overcome ambient noise. I've heard it suggested that audience behaviour at live performances began to change significantly in New Zealand fairly soon after the arrival of television. People got used to the idea that they could talk while watching a performer concentrating on their performance.
There has always been a tendency, I think, for certain types of performances to be associated with drinking and/or drugs. The resultant loss of social skills produces well-documented consequences (see previous posts).
Whether because of wisdom gained through ageing or simple loss of energy, the audience at the Cooder/Lowe concert seemed prepared to sit and listen (and show hearty appreciation for numbers and solos). The volume setting for the opening act may have seemed unneccessary.
Actually, I think it was probably just uncomfortable. A mismatch between a young band and an old audience perhaps.
But I don't think anyone's looking for someone to hang, as a result.
The notion of wearing earplugs to a gig is something I've considered, for the sake of preserving hearing, but it seems somehow perverse. For the most part, I just avoid loud concerts, and seem to live a fulfilling existence, nonetheless.
Stranger still, seems the notion of wearing earplugs to perform. I've performed with musicians who do this (I think of a performer who played a particularly piercing ocarina while wearing earplugs). But if it's too loud for the performer, surely it'll be too loud for everyone else. (It sure was for me...)
Perhaps it comes down, again, to the design of the sound system. Sound needn't be loud on stage if the sound system can make it loud enough, from other sources, for the whole venue.
Maybe in future we'll all carry our sound systems with us, and adjust the volume/EQ etc. individually. That sort of thing sort of already happens at some gigs, doesn't it?
The Cooder/Lowe concert was as enjoyable as Graham's review of a more northerly one had led me to expect. Those who know more about these things faulted Lowe's bass playing a little, and I did notice that he seemed to strum his guitar with this thumb, which was something of a surprise.
There was something sort of strange about playing some songs with a guitar/electric guitar/drums combination and no bass, but Joachim's playing seemed to fill for that very well.
Most of the time, the only "middle" was provided by the two female backing vocalists, and there was plenty of space for Ry Cooder's guitar. But the sound didn't seem sparse at all.
I enjoyed the way that both Ry Cooder and Nick Lowe engaged with the audience both between and during numbers. Lowe, in particular, was really personable.
I enjoyed seeing Cooder play so many different guitars, though I couldn't really hear much difference in tone between them. (I presume they were in different tunings. One - a Stratocaster - had a very long neck. Someone counted 24 frets, which is unusual. And it seemed to be tuned very low.) Loved hearing some songs sung in Spanish.
"Peace Love and Understanding" and "How can a poor man stand such times and live?" - both included in the encore - have very similar refrains, don't they?
As we got up to leave at the end of a very satisfying evening, I commented to a friend that it was just like a folk concert, really.
And he said "It was a folk concert."
And he was right.
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Regarding Timaru: does anyone know whatever happened to the Cock and Pullet? It was a wonderful place to stop.
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I guess this thread might be dead by now, but wanted to register that "The Eastern" are going to be at the Whare Flat festival this year.
It's a folk festival that's held near Dunedin over the New Year. Lots of different sorts of mostly acoustic music - and would definitely suit plunk rockers.
From what I can tell, it would probably interest a lot of the people who've commented on David's post.
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There's serious talk about William Clauson doing a tour of New Zealand soon.
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But it can also lead to a desire to hide the actual problems from sight in order to preserve a good image.
I think so, too.
It often seems to me that the cleanness and greenness of this country aren't a result of any particular awareness, on the part of the population, of environmental issues.
I think I see more evidence of genuine public awareness of green/sustainability issues in Germany and Denmark than I do in New Zealand.
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It blows my mind that every time there's a news story about polluted rivers or what have you, someone's there to complain about the damage being done to our green image .
I think it's because image has a common currency. I know many business- and enterprise- oriented people who don't share my values but do understand the business advantage of arguing to preserve the "green image" of New Zealand.
Working to maintain the "clean green" image can also work to the genuine advantage of the environment.
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I'm sure there was an earlier episode in which Thingy lost an eye. It was in the days when he first appeared. (It might even have been in the episode in which he got his name.) I can't remember the names of the two presenters on the show, but I remember them sort of cracking up as he fondled his eye. I think he removed it and put it back in.