Four Concerts, Two Quality Shows

This past summer was extremely light for me as far as concerts go. Having seen over 500 shows through the years, I have become accustomed to spending quite a bit of time taking in shows. During one summer back in 1994, there was a week where I was at Pine Knob every night from Saturday to Sunday! For one reason or another though, this past summer wasn't nearly as eventful. But a few things have very much stuck out to me in the few shows I've seen or read about: artists MUST care about the quality of show they present in this day and age.

Roger Waters once said "If people come to a concert and they don't like it, they don't come again". Every touring artist today needs to repeat that to themselves as often as possible. I'll start off with two very negative experiences before coming around to two very opposite examples. The two negative examples that come to mind are the John Mayer show I saw at DTE (formerly Pine Knob) this past summer and Guns N' Roses' ridiculous occurrence at both the Reading & Leeds Festivals in Europe a few weeks back.

I should make clear that I rather enjoy John Mayer's music and I think he's one of the best guitar players around today. I've seen him in concert previously both in person and on film. I went in with high expectations for the show and was let down from the first note. As I said, I like his music and think he's extremely talented but none of that matters when it's clear that the artist just plain isn't into or doesn't care. To give you a clearer picture of how transparent his performance was, I was with two young ladies who were extremely excited for the show and by the fourth song, they were both very disappointed. They kept giving John a chance to bring himself around and place any amount of emotion into the show, but I had already checked out. Let's put it this way; when you have a group of people who've paid hard earned money for a concert and they leave saying that they wish they hadn't even stayed for the whole performance, you have a problem.

Here's the question though; how hard would it have been for John Mayer to put on a show that gave people the impression he was there for them? Whether or not artists realize it anymore, they are there for one reason only: the fans. In any successful business, you have to be able to read your customer and react to their needs. It was clear from the first note on, that John had no intention whatsoever on doing that. He seemed bored, out of it and entirely too impressed with himself to take the time to notice that his fans where not as impressed with him as he was. When it's apparent to your fans that you don't care, they certainly aren't going to carry that load for you as well. I speak for myself when I say that I won't be giving John Mayer any more of my hard earned cash to see what he calls a performance any time soon.

Then there's the debacle that Guns N' Roses pulled at both Reading and Leeds a few weeks back. I won't get into the pro's & con's of whether or not this particular incarnation "is Guns N' Roses", that's another post for another time. Despite all prior baggage that comes with the name "Guns N' Roses", they were booked to headline both festivals. Another thing I'm not going to get into is the infamous late starts that GN'R have been known for since roughly 1991. But what I do have a problem with is GN'R claiming to that their fans didn't get a full show because the promoter cut their power. The facts are these: Guns N' Roses fans didn't get a full show because GUNS N' ROSES chose to show up late and show total disregard for the curfews imposed by the cities both festivals were located in.

This means that GN'R is the sole cause for their fans not seeing a whole show, not some outside force. But the problem I have is simply expecting their fans to be stupid enough to lame blame anywhere other than those responsible: GN'R. In the days following both shows, GN'R lit up Twitter, Facebook & message forums explaining over and over again how sorry they were to their fans that someone else intervined that was the reason their fans did not get a complete show. Again, you cannot treat your fans with such disrespect or take them for fools. Both festivals were running on time, GN'Rs stage was set and ready to go ON TIME. The reason that the show did not start on time is because GN'R chose not to start on time. And the reason the power was cut was that the curfew had been reached, show over. To go on and on through social media sites about how much you care about your fans when you are the direct reason they were cheated is insulting on every level. It's just plain unacceptable to insult the intelligence of a fan base that has the resources (YouTube, Google, first hand reports on fan sites, etc) to prove that you are lying to their face.

Directly opposite of the two above shows are examples in recent memory of what artists should be doing these days; The Black Crowes and the Jay-Z/Eminem shows recently in Detroit. The Black Crowes brought their "Say Goodnight To The Bad Guys" Tour to the Fillmore Theater in the end of August. They went on stage around 8pm and played straight through to 11:15pm with the exception of a short break so they could switch from acoustic instruments to electric for the second half. I went to this show with a few people who had seen The Crowes prior and two people who hadn't. I can tell you that the passion, energy, talent and dedication pouring off of the stage made life long Black Crowes fans that night. All the Crowes did was come out, play with passion and entertain themselves as well as their fans. One of the people in attandance with me with also with me at the John Mayer concert a few weeks prior. She was one of the people who had been previously excited to see John Mayer. The Black Crowes were only about 25 minutes into their 3+ hour performance when she turned to me and said "THIS is how it's supposed to be!".

I was only able to go to one of the Jay-Z/Eminem shows of the four, but they both example the right way to give people their money's worth. While you could tell that there was no ego battle between the two, it was apparent from the beginning that Jay-Z knew what he was up against, so to speak. After he finished, I found myself wondering aloud if Eminem was going to be able to top him. Standing in a stadium full of Eminem fans, in his home town, I seriously asked myself that question. I was in doubt as to whether or not Eminem could deliver a performance equal or greater to that of Jay-Z, that's how focused and energized the show Jay-Z performed was. Jay-Z didn't have to do that; it wasn't his home town, it wasn't his turf. He could've shown only some of his hand, seeing as the pair were heading to New York the following week. It would've been absolutely acceptable to the vast majority in attendance too! But he didn't do that, he wasn't focused on anywhere or anything else. Other than delivering a strong performance to those who had paid for it.

When Eminem arrived on stage it was clear that he knew he had his work cut out for him. He was a man focused, razor sharp and on fire. He delivered a show equal to that of Jay-Z which was quite a feat but he pulled it off. It will be quite some time before Comerica Park is filled with such a fortunate crowd as those that night. On a different scale & genre, the two rappers had pulled off the same thing that The Black Crowes had a few weeks back. They delivered on a promise that they gave when they put tickets on sale for people to watch them perform. They treated their fans with respect and dignity and received the same in turn from their fans. Something that both John Mayer & Guns N' Roses had failed so miserably to do recently, and in return their fans gave them what they deserve. People left John Mayer early en masse, people such as myself will not be giving him a dime for any live performance any time soon. Guns N' Roses fans were left even more divided and splintered than prior. Many who went to those festivals with an open mind were confused at first, then outright hostile when their intelligence was so openly insulted by Guns N' Roses in the following days.

At the end of all of this, I want to say that I think live music is amazing. There's nothing quite like seeing an artist put their all into something. If any artist today wants to continue a successful career, I think they need to use the words above from Roger Waters as their personal mantra going forward.

-Russ