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I had the chance to see Joe Bonamassa at the Morrison Center for the arts last week. He starts exactly on time and plays two hours, packed with doing what he does. The thing about virtuosos for me is that I enjoy their talent greatly, for about an hour, then without being unable to decipher the lyrics, it become a lot of notes, very impressive and talented lots of notes. I start looking at my watch and wondering how long he will be playing and planning an exit strategy to avoid getting trapped in the parking lot.
Contrast that with a singer song writer we saw at a dinner theater this week, Mindy Smith from Nashville. While here chops were not near the J.B. level, she performed for almost two hours, intermixing songs and dialogue as singer song writers often do. I enjoy hearing the back stories of the songs as it breaks up the performance.
Just sharing some random thought on live performances.
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It really feels so good to finally see a guy playing all four parts of “The Entertainer”! Usually those who play it only play the first two parts… and that guy does the song justice, no doubt!
I agree with the comments about small vs large venues. I much more enjoy small venues, as a player and as a listener all the same. I never filled a stadium and I never will, but I have played in front of audiences of varying sizes, between 20 and 600. It’s incredible how different that can feel! Crowds of up to a 100 people are comfortable and it is possible to connect with them. When the audience gets bigger, as an artist on stage I feel completely overwhelmed by the “energy” of that audience and there is no way I can steer that!
… As for Bonamassa, he says he loathes acoustic guitars… Sorry Joe, but I’m afraid you gotta get out of my place!
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Ya, I saw Joe B about 10 years ago where he played an acoustic set prior to bringing out the band and the electric. He had about 6 identical acoustics behind him and grabbed a new one for each song. No guitar tech required I guess. I really enjoyed the acoustic set followed up by the full band. His keyboardist this time was from SRV.
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I think this highlights that there’s a difference between a musician and an entertainer. Some people are both, but these are very different skills. The music, excellently played, can hold our raptured attention for a while. If the player is truly a virtuoso, the act of playing can be a marvel in itself, for a while. A skilled entertainer, however, will bring you up, bring you down, hold you in that place of tension, resolve it at just the right moment… it’s sharing their personality and personal dynamic with the audience through the music. And they will connect with the audience in a variety of ways. This is not to diminish the musician, just to say that entertainment is a different skillset. As is the small venue vs. large venue question… different skillsets. Rarely does one person master all of it, but some have.
I recall going to see a favorite band during my college days. I was disappointed and bored after about 3 songs. They didn’t even pause to say “Hey, how’s everybody doing tonight?!” Just played the music like they didn’t even have an audience there. Good music, no entertainment.
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I agree, although…
…for me a virtuoso is a musician who can play very fast.
A great musician doesn’t need to be a virtuoso, and I can list many virtuosos that I consider poor musicians…
Having the technical skills to play at a blazing fast tempo certainly requires a lot of dedicated work, but that alone doesn’t make you a great musician.Now, I also know great musicians (virtuoso or not) who are shy and suffer from stage fright; when they play live, they quickly hide away behind their music and communicate that way with the audience. You will not hear them say a single word during the entire performance, but they will nevertheless bring the audience up and down with their music alone. I wouldn’t call them entertainers, though.
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I can definitely relate to Michael’s last point,
I’m not going to be everyone’s favourite with this comment but I’ve seen Eric Clapton live twice and each time, other than “thankyou” after each number he totally ignored the thousands of adoring fans.
Eric Clapton is a gifted guitarist but in my opinion, his stage presence left a lot to be desired and definitely not a good entertainer.Richard
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The best concert I have ever attended (and there have been many) was Neil Diamond in the Salt Palace, SLC when I was 16 years old. That must have been around 1989 or so. I did not want to go, but my parents had three tickets and guilted me into it. Anyway, that is when I learned about the power of a true entertainer. Sure, I liked Rush and Iron Maiden at that time, but there was no denying that Neil Diamond could put on a great show.
It's all about the journey, not the destination.
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