The future of live music? Madonna world tour kicks off at London O2 Arena with no band...

stickyfiddle

Yeah, i'd personally be a bit miffed had I bought tickets, but it's par for the course for a big pop show and has been for a long time. 

More "credible" artists aren't going to stop playing "live-live" so I'm not too worried. I don't like the modern acts who seem to all play with a laptop and a click either. I just wish I'd got to see Prince  

Habanero

If this starts to happen with the local covers band at the Dog and Duck on a Friday night then we really have hit rock bottom.

Whitecat

ICBM said:

Apparently the computer crashed and took ten minutes to re-boot... during which she told stories about her life, so the mic was definitely live at that point at least. Unless you're cynical enough to think that was pre-recorded too!

I don't really mind going to see a show knowing that a lot or even all of it isn't being performed live. It's not the same as seeing a real band actually playing, but I think there's room for both as long as you know what you're getting.

Incredible though at that level you wouldn't have a backup. I remember seeing Doves play live in the noughties and they had a couple MacBook Pros running samples and some basic backing "ambience" stuff occasionally and they had two of them, one of them setup immediately behind the other one that could be hot-swapped in for redundancy in case the front one crashed or failed.

I also saw Har Mar Superstar once who had an old iPod with a scroll wheel playing all his backing tracks.

darthed1981

I can't imagine paying £150 to see a little Madonna ant dance to a backing track.

But then... I'm not a big fan... if it makes some people happy I'm not going to shit on it.

euan

There are videos of Miley Cyrus running on a treadmill and singing so she has the fitness and technique for dancing and singing at the same time.

stickyfiddle

darthed1981 said:

I can't imagine paying £150 to see a little Madonna ant dance to a backing track.

But then... I'm not a big fan... if it makes some people happy I'm not going to shit on it.

Top tickets were 1300... 

Habanero

ICBM said:

Apparently the computer crashed and took ten minutes to re-boot... during which she told stories about her life, so the mic was definitely live at that point at least. Unless you're cynical enough to think that was pre-recorded too!

I believe her 'Ray of Light' was used at the launch of Windows XP. Maybe she's contractually bound to use it forever?

darthed1981

stickyfiddle said:

darthed1981 said:

I can't imagine paying £150 to see a little Madonna ant dance to a backing track.

But then... I'm not a big fan... if it makes some people happy I'm not going to shit on it.

Top tickets were 1300... 

Fuck me up the wrongun.... that is a lot of money to see an old woman dance to a backing track isn't it?

mrkb

darthed1981 said:

stickyfiddle said:

darthed1981 said:

I can't imagine paying £150 to see a little Madonna ant dance to a backing track.

But then... I'm not a big fan... if it makes some people happy I'm not going to shit on it.

Top tickets were 1300... 

Fuck me up the wrongun.... that is a lot of money to see an old woman dance to a backing track isn't it?

Thats an expensive but niche lap dance.

monquixote

I took my daughter to the Taylor Swift concert film at the weekend.

It was nice to see she has a proper band who interact with her on stage and take solos etc.

She also plays guitar and piano live on stage. 

Pjon

monquixote said:

I took my daughter to the Taylor Swift concert film at the weekend.

It was nice to see she has a proper band who interact with her on stage and take solos etc.

She also plays guitar and piano live on stage. 

And charges a ridiculous amount to see an over-hyped recording of a gig, with the spurious explanation that £13.13 is her lucky number, or some similar crap. (Cinema tickets locally are £6-10 or so.) 

I have three daughters. Talent or not, her hype is really getting on my nerves now.

LionAquaLooper

Pjon said:

monquixote said:

I took my daughter to the Taylor Swift concert film at the weekend.

It was nice to see she has a proper band who interact with her on stage and take solos etc.

She also plays guitar and piano live on stage. 

And charges a ridiculous amount to see an over-hyped recording of a gig, with the spurious explanation that £13.13 is her lucky number, or some similar crap. (Cinema tickets locally are £6-10 or so.) 

I have three daughters. Talent or not, her hype is really getting on my nerves now.

I agree.  
Kanye West was right about her all along.

stickyfiddle

Pjon said:

monquixote said:

I took my daughter to the Taylor Swift concert film at the weekend.

It was nice to see she has a proper band who interact with her on stage and take solos etc.

She also plays guitar and piano live on stage. 

And charges a ridiculous amount to see an over-hyped recording of a gig, with the spurious explanation that £13.13 is her lucky number, or some similar crap. (Cinema tickets locally are £6-10 or so.) 

I have three daughters. Talent or not, her hype is really getting on my nerves now.

Where the fuck can you get movie tickets for £6?!

Anyway, Taylor Swift is doing it right and shining a pretty bright light over most of the music industry establishment's shitty practices so she's alright by me. 

You don't have to like it but she's virtually the only big selling artist who's even remotely listenable these days.

Placidcasual79

For some punters it's about the spectacle, some the show/atmosphere, some the band, musicians and the dynamic that creates........  Not one of my favourite bands, but one of the best live acts I saw were Faithless they really used the dynamic of an (excellent) live band to take their largely electronic records to the next level....... we've all seen crappy,  boring bands that could play, The Chemical Brothers are great live - though I am not sure what is actually 'live' in the conventional sense, I do know its a good night out.... I've seen Father John Misty - a quite traditional singer songwriter with a huge band whose live performance lifted his records to another level because of his charisma and engagement with the audience..... it wont matter to some people whether there is a live band or even a live singer if they are entertained...... and people are entertained by all sorts of stuff! 

I have to have a grumble here - and I think I might be out of order....... I am a fan of a contemporary British Reggae Artist - who has a touring band of excellent musicians..... and is 4 albums in - doesn't have 'hit' records but is a well established touring artist - pretty niche I'd guess..... It cost £85 for a ticket to a show in mid sized Manchester venue....... I was shocked by the price of the ticket...... it was prohibitive as I wanted to take my partner and two adult kids as a surprise....... I am the fan - though I am sure they'd all have had a fun night.... then I thought well I want to support live music and I understand touring is what keeps artists afloat these days..... Id only been to see local bands/festivals since the pandemic..... so don't know if that was a factor and of course the cost of living situation is tight for us all I am sure......  but I didn't go in the end.,......it costs an absolute fortune to take the kids to see our local league 2 football team (who have been a none league team for many years!).....

monquixote

Pjon said:

monquixote said:

I took my daughter to the Taylor Swift concert film at the weekend.

It was nice to see she has a proper band who interact with her on stage and take solos etc.

She also plays guitar and piano live on stage. 

And charges a ridiculous amount to see an over-hyped recording of a gig, with the spurious explanation that £13.13 is her lucky number, or some similar crap. (Cinema tickets locally are £6-10 or so.) 

I have three daughters. Talent or not, her hype is really getting on my nerves now.

It was very expensive, but it was one of the best cinema experiences I've ever had. 

Everyone was dancing in the isles singing along and acting like it was a real concert.

Vintage65

I'd rather listen to the band and give Madonna a miss!

RocknRollDave

Placidcasual79 said:

For some punters it's about the spectacle, some the show/atmosphere, some the band, musicians and the dynamic that creates........  Not one of my favourite bands, but one of the best live acts I saw were Faithless they really used the dynamic of an (excellent) live band to take their largely electronic records to the next level....... we've all seen crappy,  boring bands that could play, The Chemical Brothers are great live - though I am not sure what is actually 'live' in the conventional sense, I do know its a good night out.... I've seen Father John Misty - a quite traditional singer songwriter with a huge band whose live performance lifted his records to another level because of his charisma and engagement with the audience..... it wont matter to some people whether there is a live band or even a live singer if they are entertained...... and people are entertained by all sorts of stuff! 

I have to have a grumble here - and I think I might be out of order....... I am a fan of a contemporary British Reggae Artist - who has a touring band of excellent musicians..... and is 4 albums in - doesn't have 'hit' records but is a well established touring artist - pretty niche I'd guess..... It cost £85 for a ticket to a show in mid sized Manchester venue....... I was shocked by the price of the ticket...... it was prohibitive as I wanted to take my partner and two adult kids as a surprise....... I am the fan - though I am sure they'd all have had a fun night.... then I thought well I want to support live music and I understand touring is what keeps artists afloat these days..... Id only been to see local bands/festivals since the pandemic..... so don't know if that was a factor and of course the cost of living situation is tight for us all I am sure......  but I didn't go in the end.,......it costs an absolute fortune to take the kids to see our local league 2 football team (who have been a none league team for many years!).....

I’ve just passed on getting a ticket to see one of three bands I usually MUST see when they play over here. Every other time I have seen them, it’s been reasonably price but there’s been a considerable hike in ticket price, plus they’ve moved to multi-level pricing - so instead of £40 it’s £50 for a poor seat, £70 for halfway decent and so on.

 I get it - touring costs have skyrocketed…but I can’t afford to pick up the tab. Sad.

Placidcasual79

I’ve just passed on getting a ticket to see one of three bands I usually MUST see when they play over here. Every other time I have seen them, it’s been reasonably price but there’s been a considerable hike in ticket price, plus they’ve moved to multi-level pricing - so instead of £40 it’s £50 for a poor seat, £70 for halfway decent and so on.

 I get it - touring costs have skyrocketed…but I can’t afford to pick up the tab. Sad.

Is this a well established band Dave? It is sad isn't it? I want to support live music - but I just couldn't justify the outlay.......

Woodandwires

What always winds me up on the whole miming schtik is when Dolly Parton played Glastonbury, the sickening fawning of the presenters, it’s been well known for years that she mimes, but trying to get away with the guitar playing with fuck off long nails, the saxophone yet little or no movement in her cheeks but worst of all the vocal the same volume no matter how far the microphone was away. She has a great band of brilliant musicians. Thankfully I didn’t go that year but I believe the presenters should call it out. There used to be a “ home taping is killing live music” there should now be “miming is killing live music”. There should be a declaration if it’s mimed, obviously some parts to backing track that can’t be replicated on stage, no problem but entire vocal performances definitely no.

lustycourtier

Pjon said:

monquixote said:

I took my daughter to the Taylor Swift concert film at the weekend.

It was nice to see she has a proper band who interact with her on stage and take solos etc.

She also plays guitar and piano live on stage. 

And charges a ridiculous amount to see an over-hyped recording of a gig, with the spurious explanation that £13.13 is her lucky number, or some similar crap. (Cinema tickets locally are £6-10 or so.) 

I have three daughters. Talent or not, her hype is really getting on my nerves now.

Ive not heard of a cinema ticket under a tenner for at least 5 years. Also, Led Zep celebration day cinema tickets were  £20 in 2007. Did you have an issue with that?