I can hear Zman's voice in my head as I write this-- and so: Yes Zman, I know . . . there are two kinds of people, people who divide people into two kinds of people and people who don't-- but it's rare that any pub night discussions stay in my brain through the night until the next morning, and this one did; my friend Alec and I determined that there are two kinds of rock bands-- and I did my research and watched some concert footage to confirm this-- and here they are:
1) bands where everyone stays in the same spot on the stage-- The Grateful Dead and Yes come to mind . . . this may be due to the fact that the music they are playing is progressive and difficult (Yes) or it might be simply because everyone is so whacked out on drugs that getting near another human would totally freak them out (The Grateful Dead) or they might be introverted weirdos (Neutral Milk Hotel, Greasetruck)
2) then there are bands like Van Halen and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, where there's lots of running around and interaction and singing into the same microphone . . . and while I know this is hypocritical of me, considering I don't know where my toothbrush has been, I still find this unhygienic and a little goofy . . . what if someone in the band has a cold-- you don't need that stuff all over the microphone-- nor do I need anyone in my space while I'm playing a guitar solo . . . I think the Talking Heads are a nice middle ground between these two styles, they are fairly animated, especially David Byrnes, but don't stray too far from their spots on stage, and I guess there are also bands where one person is all over the place (Jimi Hendrix) while the rest of the crew stay in their spot . . . I certainly haven't thought this theory through completely, but perhaps Zman will give me some other categories to add to the rather restrictive dichotomy with which I began.
I feel like you're ordering me to comment. To be fair, I've made a "there are two types of people" remark here before:
ReplyDeletehttp://sentenceofdave.blogspot.com/2012/11/there-are-job-openings-in-oooguruk.html
I can't think of another category to add because these two are binary--active groups vs. inactive groups--and you lumped any potential middle ground in with the actives, so I have nothing to add, with respect to categories, at the moment. I note, however, that Phish can be a moderately active band (trampolines and such, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_EyPHKO8Lo) despite the fact that their audiences are typically wacked out on drugs.
i like that. you've got two kinds of bands and two kinds of audiences (plus some gray areas) which gives a bunch more permutations. i'll get right to work on this . . .
ReplyDeletehow do acts that feature backup dancers feature in to this dichotomy? like beyonce, or justin timberlake, or madonna, or the early beastie boys?
ReplyDeletePublic Enemy had gentlemen in cages with uzis.
ReplyDeletethese are not exactly rock bands, and generally, back up dancers stay in their own little area (especially if they are in a cage). broadway style musical numbers are not to be considered.
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