Wednesday Night at a Concert
I started writing a review of Kung Fu Panda the other day and didn’t get around to finishing it before Erin and I had to drop codename: CAMPER off at the neighbors so they could babysit him whilst we went to Salt Lake for The Hotel Cafe Tour to see Lenka in concert. Of course, she was performing with five other women (an all girl concert) all of them using the same band and my least favorite performer not using a band and kept talking about getting back to Hip-Hop while she “sampled” a lot of noise and played a violin and ukalele and made weird noises into her mics and mimicked movements that would’ve been appropriate for a male black rapper more than a very white bread priviliged girl. In fact, as I have started in on the criticism, the artists name was Emily Wells and lacked in almost every area. Interestingly enough, for me, she was new to the tour as of Denver, two nights ago, and didn’t really seem to fit in to any of the collaborations that were taking place. When I finally found her myspace page last night, late (CAMPER didn’t want to go to sleep and I was staying awake with Erin for a while), and even though she did not expressly state it, Emily Wells was raised in a somewhat affluent environment and even though she likes to experiment with sound by using odd instruments, failed in her attempts to be a hard-edged rocker chick in Hip-Hop, even though the rather stoned girls in front of us were moving and dancing in a way that wanted me to grab the worst offending by the neck and say, “You understand what beat is but you don’t know the first thing about appropriate dance movement for the kinds of songs that are being played,” and then scare the living hell out of them.
Regardless, the point of the night was to see Lenka perform. According to The Hotel Cafe tour website, each artist will perform a set of about 15 to 20 minutes each. As usual, in situations where I don’t instigate what is happening, I had no idea what to expect. Nor did I really think about the fact that the venue for the performance is a rather interesting building in Salt Lake City that has housed independent films, other-oriented films, and other venues for a lot of years, that the place would pretty much be a hole in the wall… or, essentially, a venue with wooden boxes for seats and cold. On top of which, I didn’t have any idea what to expect from the performers or how they would come out. I am not a big fan of concerts having been to (before last night) four concerts. This is not an environment I enjoy, though I often enjoy listening to music, the live aspect doesn’t really appeal to me. In fact, most music is really made for the studio experience and even though some artists (Sarah McLaclan being the stand-out in my mind) create an experience in a venue that is as close to the studio sound as possible, the point is that most music sucks live. On top of which, Erin and I really planned to only be out until about 10 p.m. since we have a baby and didn’t want to leave him, on a work and school night, with the neighbors any later than we needed to. So, we ended up driving up, sitting on a front row of the venue and then standing up with the crowd that was blocking out view of the performers, until about 9 p.m. when we decided to call the experience a wash and headed out.
Now, with all that said, I really actually enjoyed the music, though buying tickets for another one of these isn’t (probably) going to happen any time in the future. There were a couple of disconcerting events: First, the crowd was all ages. What that means is a group of sub-18-year-olds is in attendance. This was illustrated to Erin and I as they filed past us in gaggles to be as close to the stage as possible. Second, people lighting up and smoking controlled substances that also resulted in behavior that is, honestly, socially unacceptable (see above comments). On top of which, the venue was a dive and the artists, even though I am enjoying Lenka’s music and have enjoyed Rachel Yamagata’s music for several years, isn’t worth the hassle of the environment. And in truth, I enjoy the studio performance more than I enjoy the live performance (even though I like buying some artists live albums (again, Sarah McLachlan anyone???)) and prefer that over… oh, I don’t know, dealing with crowds of people who have their own sense of what is and is not appropriate.
What I did learn was that I liked music by Meiko (unfortunately, the nature of Meiko (and I hope Erin does write about this and if she does this will turn into a link) turns Erin off) and especially the song she played for the concert last night that she’d not recorded yet. At the same time, as I listened to Meiko, and I probably liked her music because of this connection, it occurred to me that I needed to contact a few people I know who teach at the different age group levels and see if we can distill down certain kinds of music different age groups are listening too. This is for a project that, when I finally can attack it, I can create a music list (or write lyrics along the lines of) the kinds of things that different age groups are actually listening too. Granted, the plans call for a fictional group that ties the music of the project into the mythology of the project; the point being that there is a sociological connection (and to some extent psychological) between what people choose to listen to and their life choices and by listening to Meiko I made a connection that requires some additional research on my part and questioning different age groups as to type, tone, and color of music. I didn’t buy any of her music last night.
We did get home and purchase The Hotel Cafe Tour – Winter Songs and Thao’s A Bag of Hammers. Speaking of Thao, of all the performers, and I didn’t really enjoy her, she was the most drunk, the most realistic, and the most punk or rock or real of all the performers. On top of which, none of her movements were large, they were all small and close to her body, but at the same time her movements were harsh and jerky and forceful and she is a performer. Erin liked A Bag of Hammers, and I have to admit of her songs that was the one that got me going as well, but her overall presentation was less than pleasing. And yet, the music… it’s all about the music.
Over all, and along with the conversation that didn’t include paying attention to the noises and crying of CAMPER, the night was good. Erin and I had the opportunity to discuss all sorts of things. We had the chance to be alone for a few hour and our neighbors were excited to take care of CAMPER for us. All-in-all me thinks a good night.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
[...] basically intro’d this post for me, so I thought I’d follow through. Out of all the artists at the concert [...]
LOL…’controlled substances’ at a concert?! Oh my!! Girls dancing and having a good time? Oh dear!
Emily Wells does a BRILLIANT remake of Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy”.
White girls from privileged backgrounds have as much a right to perform rap-influenced songs as grown men have to go to concerts to see artists like Lenka, an actress who writes pop songs for tweens;)
Thanks for the comment. And since my only exposure to Emily Wells is live in concert, I don’t know what her recorded music is like, nor am I going to go out and listen to it. However, brilliant is an enormous stretch in description of her performance and as it seems she did that song in the concert, it came across as someone who tried and failed to accomplish what you are claiming is brilliance.
I do not argue that white girls from privileged backgrounds don’t have the right to perform whatever they want to include rap-influence, but that in this case she cannot and does not pull it off. This is, of course, my opinion and even though opinions will differ, I will predict that Emily Wells will disappear from “hip hop” music and all popular music and her “influence” will disappear with her. She just isn’t that good of an artist or innovator, though she is very talented as a violinist and little else.