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Cheering during live performance
Don't you wish people would refrain from cheering, whistling, yelling, whooping hollering
during a live performance untill the last note has died, it doesn't add to the performance, the exception is when the performers engage the public or invite them to sing along.
During a classical music performance, one gets some looks if they start clapping at the wrong time.
During a classical performences people clap when the mucisians come on stage,
then silent untill after the performance , then clap for an extended period time and call
bravo , depending on the quality of the performance, this I think is all together more respectfull.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
No, I don't wish that.
I'm a fan of many types of music. Some that are best for quiet listening, while others evoke spontaneous expression of enjoyment. I love it when I'm playing for a crowd and they are having so much fun that they yell out. The audience is part of the performance
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Quote:
Originally Posted by
peterleyenaar
Don't you wish people would refrain from cheering, whistling, yelling, whooping hollering
during a live performance untill the last note has died, it doesn't add to the performance, the exception is when the performers engage the public or invite them to sing along.
People are alive and awake during your performances?!
Please, tell me your secrets on how to achieve the same effect with my audiences. :))
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Re: Cheering during live performance
I tend to agree - cheering etc.,during a performance is maybe more off-putting for the other members of the audience than the band.
I remember watching a TV documentary about the Irish Riverdance troup when they visited China. During each performance,the Chinese audience sat like statues in their seats - not an eyelid flickered,no facial expressions at all !!. The dancers thought that they'd cra**ed out,but at the end,the audience absolutely erupted & applauded for ages - i'm not quite sure that i'd enjoy 'that' particular experience either !,~:>
Ivan;)
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Cheering and clapping after someone finishing their break bothers me,you can't hear the next guy starting their solo..
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Re: Cheering during live performance
To paraphrase Ricky Skaggs from their Live in Charleston album, “If ya feel like whoopin’ And hollerin’, then whoop and holler!”
Agree, though, that it depends on the setting and type of performance...
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Re: Cheering during live performance
We usually play small venues, usually 100 people or less. A lot of times our audience is made up of friends and neighbors. This provides a familiarity between audience and crowd where approval shown by an occasional whoop or applause in the middle of a tune is welcome and appreciated. Indifference is harder to take.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
No. Make some noise, sing along, clap, dance, stomp, drink whisky, have a good time while we play. Enjoy the show.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Since we are talking about live performance pet peeves, how about when the performer stops singing so the audience can sing the song? I never like that. I came to hear the artist sing, not the audience.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
I agree with not clapping until the end of classical pieces. The whole piece, not just a movement. I think it's mainly people not as familiar with the music that clap at the end of a movement, but for people who are familiar, it's a bit jarring. I must admit though that I've been to a few classical concerts where the soloist's first movement was so bravura that clapping was unavoidable.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
you are entertaining the audience, not the other way around. I just can't imagine a jazz performance where the audience isn't moved by some improvisation. They'll let the performers know! I found bluegrass at the same time I found jazz. I saw those same interactions between the music and the audience. I wouldn't want that to end.
In classical, I'll agree it's different. They again, there's a different audience expectation. I guess I should have started by saying I, "Found" classical music first, 'cause my parents dragged us to the symphony well before I know popular music existed.
f-d
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Re: Cheering during live performance
I don't mind the sing along thing at all.In fact I like it. We went to a Johnny Cash tribute band concert last night (Cash Unchained) and the lead singer had us sing along with the chorus of Ring Of Fire, and the Yippiyay part of Ghost Riders In The Sky.It was great fun.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
For me I guess it depends on the setting and musical style.
I'm a big fan of playing and attending small gigs at coffee shops, singer songwriter type music where it is quite appropriate for folks to quietly chat, play games, clank cups, sing along, clap after songs or solos, etc. The people that want to hear the artist sit close.
Only one time did a kid bring his own guitar to play play along (poorly) and was asked to put his instrument away. Instead he went outside to "street perform" his own material right by the window I was set up by. The owner ran him off. This bothered me.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
I once heard in a Chris Thilie video where he said he found it odd at a classical performance that the audience doesn't cheer or whoop it up at the end of a piece that the symphony just nailed.
I agree with his thoughts.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
I learned the hard way that they get mad at the opera, when you sing along with the tenor . . . .
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Quote:
Originally Posted by
peterleyenaar
Don't you wish people would refrain from cheering, whistling, yelling, whooping hollering
during a live performance untill the last note has died . . . .
No. When people whoop and holler, I say: mission accomplished!
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Having listened to many recordings of live performances, I get the impression that whooping, clapping and cheering (along with the audience talking and walking about), is largely an American phenomenan. Although I can't say that it never happens, it's certainly nowhere near as bad in the UK. People prefer to listen to what they've paid to hear and not some over-enthustic idiot in the audince who thinks the sound of his voice is more important than the act on stage.
I've a feeling that this all started when audiences developed the habit of applauding at the beginning of a piece; presumably to indicate that they are so clever that they have already recognised the tune about to be played.
Not strictly on topic but one thing that I do find particularly annoying is the curent trend to employ some numpty to play awful music all the way through some sporting fixtures.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
What about when band members whoop or holler during the performance. That happens too. Adds a lot of energy. I like it from the audience or the band if done tastefully. Clapping, not so much.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Depends on what the management of the place wants, at The Birchmere in Va. they don`t allow any talking above a whisper when a song is being played, and then there at places where an "applause" sign is held up so that people will clap and holler, mostly at live performances that are being recorded for sales...I have a III Tyme Out CD where the yelling is louder than the band...
Myself, it doesn`t bother me except sometimes I forget what I am suppose to be singing or saying...To me it means that the listeners are enjoying themselves and that's what matters...
Willie
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Re: Cheering during live performance
I love it when an audience erupts at the end of a song, even when it overlaps with the ringing of the final notes. Many of my favorite albums are live albums, and when the audience reacts that immediately and that strongly I often feel that it is a testament to the energy and the room and the performance that the artist just put on. Generally speaking, I would much prefer to list to a live show where an amped up audience can be heard than I would a studio recording that doesn't feel as "alive" (to me).
Here's a recent on that I have been loving. This great example of the feel that I love in live music - there are people cheering throughout, clapping, whooping, particularly at the end, and I think it really only adds to the feel of the performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLUyg173n_M
As far as the classical vs other genres discussion regarding audience reaction, this is an interesting interview with Thile about the difference between reserved, classical audiences and audiences in other genres, as well as the expectations that accompany different types of shows. I think he makes some very good points (his playing is, of course, a wonderful and helpful demonstration).
If anything, this video is worth watching for the way he juxtaposes Bach with Radiohead. :)
EDIT: I see Pittsburgh Bill mentioned this video as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXDL6_3gFu0&t=1
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Pittsburgh Bill
I once heard in a Chris Thilie video where he said he found it odd at a classical performance that the audience doesn't cheer or whoop it up at the end of a piece that the symphony just nailed.
I agree with his thoughts.
when classical was all the rage they did... Even in the middle of a piece. It wasn't until the late 19th/ early 20th centuries that audiences started to be "hushed" and it really wasn't until after WW1 that it was nearly universal.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
In all my performances, I try to maximize audience involvement and participation. I do lots of songs with sing-able choruses, and even teach them to get audience members singing along. If audience members are moved to express their appreciation of any part of the performance, I surely won't try to stifle that feeling.
I've been to so many shows where the audience will applaud a particularly proficient instrumental "break," even if it partially obscures the next few measures of a song or tune. If I get applause for one of my solos (doesn't happen often, so it's even more appreciated!), I leave a little hiatus in the song, and acknowledge it -- maybe tip my hat, which is one reason i almost always wear one. Of course, it usually remains un-tipped, but that's show biz.
I have heard rhythmic audience clapping along with fast instrumentals, that actually disrupted their performance; non-musician audience "clappers" have a tendency to speed up the rhythm, which isn't a good thing. But I think asking for "respect" from audiences, rather than involvement and participation, may be the wrong emphasis. If an audience of mine sits in "respectful" silence, I may feel I'm just not reaching them.
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Re: Cheering during live performance
I just wish they'd stop throwing articles of clothing at me while I play. It's distracting plus I'm happy with my wardrobe as it is, lol!
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Actually, I love it when the audience gets excited about our music!
Next, you're gonna tell me you don't like it when fat drunk guys take off their shirts in front of the stage and do the "funky chicken!" You know, falling down and knocking stuff over, bumping into people, especially on hot, sweaty days....
NOW THE ONE THING I CANNOT TOLERATE, and as a musician you have no control over it, is when I'm onstage performing and a small child walks up to the front of the stage and starts dancing and looking cute and the crowd goes crazy applauding and cheering (the child, not me!) anyway, I'm not onstage to provide background music for somebody's home video. It is a futile and hopeless situation, because you can't be mad at the kid and you certainly can't say anything or you will be publicly crucified, so you just have to smile and take it, like it doesn't bother me. And, unfortunately, this has happened more than once over the years. Nobody can compete with a cute kid. Well, maybe two dogs being romantic at the front of the stage -- but fortunately that hasn't ever happened to me......................yet!
For the record, I love kids, just not when they upstage my performance. Okay, you can start the hate mail now!
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Re: Cheering during live performance
Audience behavior is determined by the genre of music, the performer expectations, and venue conventions. Any and all of these are subject to varied mixes and, thusly, different audience behavior. An annual attendee at Grey Fox, I've seen audiences whoop it up and I've seen them quiet (though involved and attentive) as the grave. What is the music asking the audience to do? Lots of music (both classical and popular) used to ask audiences to dance but that is generally not possible anymore, so, what do people do with all that energy pouring out at them? Well, they gotta' bounce, they gotta' wiggle, they gotta' whoop. Lots of music (both classical and popular) asks an audience to listen up! to either the cleverness of the music itself or the pyrotechnics of the performer ... and then people, well, listen up! and wait until the end to get back to the people on stage. People will be people and a live event is a LIVE event, so, God bless 'em all! (An aside: Regarding classical performances, operas are constantly interrupted by whooping and vigorous applause during the course of a performance.
-- mandogio