I love the tender crooning of Caetano Veloso. He’s a Brazilian superstar. He was playing a month ago in Oakland and I missed it. Tickets were expensive, but mainly I think I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to be fully there, and I didn’t think I would be. It wouldn’t have been hard to get my body there, but even that seemed more than I could do.
In the latest Songlines magazine the guitarist Marc Ribot, who has played with Veloso, says:
“If you want to hear Caetano sing, listen to a record, because you go to the concerts and he’s so well-loved that all the Brazilians just sing and shout along with it. You can’t hear him at all."
source: “Beginner’s Guide: Marc Ribot”
Songlines #203, December 2024
4 comments:
i love live music just for that reason. when the performer & the audience share the same energy, that is magic. agree with ribot, that if you want to hear the music listen to the records. but if you want to be present in the music see it live. just last night i watched a live performance on youtube by a singer i admire, caroline polachek, who, i think, possesses an astonishing vocal range. the audience sang along. i couldn't hear polachek's magnificent vocal talents because of the audience singing along, but it was transcendent!
I've been to one pop concert in my life (all the rest were classical music concerts):Blondie, post-'Maria' and I hated it. The audience was raucous, typically Glaswegian and knew every word. We left after only half a dozen songs, tired of having our feet stomped on. A bitter disappointment.
I like the way you argue this. It makes sense! I want to feel that. My live music experience varies quite a bit, from Wow-amazing to just-noise to I-wish-the-person-next-to-me-would-stop-shouting-about-her-personal-problems to I'm-bored. It's often expensive, so you expect something that justifies that price.
That does not sound like an experience to be repeated. The most recent live music show I attended was classical. It was pleasant and there were moments I felt carried by it. The time slipped past rather than dragging its body.
Reading the music press you always feel like you're missing the party -- a transcendent live set! The studio recording is a pale shadow. ... Maybe so ... But at least I can tell which song is playing when I put on the CD.
Still, there are performances that worked for me -- Underworld's invasive beats, Johnny Clegg's crazy energy, a friend's piano recital.
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