Prose 2, No Juxt.

So last night, I went to the Ladies Literary Club, sponsored by Calvin College, to see a band I've been a fan of for several years now: Midlake. If you're interested in what they sound like, all I can do is apply typical genres and hope that generalizes them well enough, although a severe disservice I feel that would ultimately be. They've changed so much over the years, sprouting as "low-fi psychedelic electronica" (Wikipedia, but my honest discernment), then reaching into the indie/classical groove, and finally, as the band themselves claimed during a group discussion after the show, "British-influenced folk." Any genre application would just dilute their identity, which, amongst their three albums, has morphed into an earthly blend of self-realization. In coordination with this self-realization, their change has marked a great stride of maturity.

A maturity that I do believe the better lot of people should pick up on. What do I mean by this? Well, to start, when I got to the show, I was a bit late and arrived just in time for an older man in navy blue slacks and a button up shirt, tucked in, to walk upon the stage and introduce Midlake. Beforehand, he took the time to express to the audience the absolute necessity of buying music. He didn't directly say "don't download music illegally," but being an institute sponsored by Calvin College, predominantly Christian-oriented, this staff worker was obviously making said statement to the crowd. He poured his two cents of emotion into that little one-minute blurb about how music is art (duh) and how music can only thrive at its best when people legitimately pay for their music, their merchandise, and thier concert tickets; their "product," a term this man was not shy to use. Now, immediately after saying this, as if to cover up for something, he follwed up that statement along the lines of: "It's not commercial. It's just how good souls support art."

But tell me: is an organized system of "concert etiquette" really a good way to dance around commercialism? Don't expect to understand that statement just yet. I'm getting to it. What I mean is...after the show, when I mentioned previously that Midlake partook in a conversation with the crowd, the man in slacks specifically asked the bands, "what do you think makes a good audience?" And in my head, all I could say is who the fuck cares? Yes, there are certain boundaries easily surpassed that would make an audience "bad" if they, say, booed the hell out of the band or were throwing items on stage. But until those ridiculous boundaries are crossed, why would it matter? By expecting an audience to act in a particular manner, which is to buy the music, buy the merchandise, buy the tickets, "be a good audience" to the performers, it's not like you aren't subjecting them to the elements of commercialism anyways. Commercialism is all about making profit, and that profit implicitly depends on peoples' adherence to a particular order of business which will benefit that commercialist origin. Adherence is success.

It's not like I'm saying bands don't deserve money. I don't even want to get started on a debate over quality versus popularity and such, but despite how much a band may stay underground or whore themselves out to the radio, if one single person on the planet enjoys their music, then sure, let's give them a bit of money. But me? I don't really believe in total adherence. Any CD I have on my iPod, I've downloaded and not paid for it. There. I said it. But the catch is, take a look at this following, exhaustive list:


22-20s
311
AFI (x2)
The Agony Scene
A Life Once Lost (x2)
Alesana (x8)
Alexisonfire (x2)
AM Taxi
Angelic Vomit (Now "Decompose My Darling Daughter")
Angels And Airwaves
Animosity
Anthony Green
Armor For Sleep
As I Lay Dying
As Tall As Lions
At The Throne Of Judgement
Atreyu (x4)
August Burns Red
Avenged Sevenfold (x2)
Baptized In Blood
BearVsShark
Before Their Eyes (x2)
Behold The Man
Beneath The Massacre
Between The Buried And Me
Billy Talent (x2)
The Black Dahlia Murder
Black Label Society
Black Tide
Blessed By A Broken Heart
Blessthefall (x2)
Blink 182
Bloc Party!!!
Born Of Osiris
Born Ruffians (x2)
Brighten
Bring Me The Horizon
Bullet For My Valentine
The Burial
Cancer Bats (x2)
Carawae
Cattle Decapitation
Chance Jones
The Chariot (x2)
Chester French
Chiodos (x7)
The Christmas Lights
Circa Survive (x2)
Coal Black Horse
Cold War Kids
The Color Of Violence
The Crowned Virgin
Cynic
Damiera
Dance Gavin Dance
Daughters
A Day To Remember
The Dear Hunter
Death By Dancing
Death Cab For Cutie
Despot
The Devil Wears Prada (x5)
Devin Townsend Project
The Dillinger Escape Plan
Disturbed
Doctor! Doctor!
Downtown Brown
Dragonforce
Drive-By
Drop Dead, Gorgeous (x3)
Dwarf Corpse
Dying Fetus
Ed Gein
Eli
Emarosa
Emmure
Emonday
Empty Orchestra
Ensiferum
Envy on the Coast
Escape The Fate (x3)
Evergreen Terrace (x2)
Every Time I Die (x3)
The Fall Of Troy (x3)
Fall Out Boy
Fear Before (The March Of Flames) (x4)
Finch
Folly
For All We Know
Four Year Strong (x2)
Foxy Shazam (x2)
FRANZ FERDINAND!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Fray
From First To Last (x3)
Gallows
Genghis Tron
Gojira
Good Old War (x2)
Greeley Estates
The Groodies
The Handshake Murders
Haste The Day (x4)
Hatebreed
Hawthorne Heights
Heavy Heavy Low Low
Hella
Holy Fuck
The Honorary Title
Horse The Band
Hot Hot Heat
The Human Abstract
Humataria
The Hush Sound (x2)
I Decay
Idiot Pilot
If He Dies He Dies
It Dies Today (x2)
I Set My Friends On Fire
iwrestledabearonce
Job For A Cowboy (x2)
Kaddisfly
Killswitch Engage
Kiros
Knife Crazy
Kottonmouth Kings
Lacuna Coil (x3)
La Dispute (x3)
Lamb Of God
Lightspeed Champion
Light This City
LoveHateHero
Lydia
Machinehead
Mae (x2)
Man At Arms
Man Man
Manna & Quail
The Mars Volta
Mayday Parade
Meg and Dia
Memphis May Fire
Mental Infestation
Mia Dusa
Midlake
Misery Index
Misery Signals
Mobile
Mod Sun
Modest Mouse
Mose Giganticus
Motion City Soundtrack
Mute Math
My Children My Bride
Necrophagist
Norma Jean (x2)
The Number Twelve Looks Like You (x3)
Of Choir And Chaos
Of Mice And Men (x2)
The Offbeats
Oh, August!
OkGo
Olympia
On The Front
Once Was Lost
Origin
Ouch! Me Arse
Our Innocence Lost
Panic At The Disco (x2)
Parkway Drive (x2)
Phantom Planet
Pierce The Veil (x3)
Poison The Well
Ports Of Aidia
Portugal The Man
Powerspace
Premonitions Of War
The Pretty Reckless
Protest The Hero
Ra Ra Riot
Ratatat
The Reason
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
Rewards
Rise Into Ruin
Rogers Met An Iranian
Rogue Wave
Russian Circles
Saosin (x2)
Scale The Summit
Scarlet Grey
Scary Kids Scaring Kids (x4)
See You Next Tuesday (x2)
Senses Fail (x2)
The Silent Years
Silverstein
A Skylit Drive (x3)
Sky Eats Airplane (x2)
The Sleeping
The Spill Canvas
SMP
So Many Dynamos
So They Say
Stick To Your Guns
Stolen Babies
Suicide Silence (x2)
Sweet Dreams For Alice
System Of A Down (x2)
Tera Melos (x2)
Therefore I Am
These Dying Words
Think About Life
Thursday
Tickle Me Pink
Tokyo Police Club
Trivium
Tub Ring
Twin Atlantic
Underoath
The Used
View From Ida (x2)
Vinacious
Walls of Jericho
We Are Scientists
We Came As Romans
We Shot The Moon
Whitechapel
William Control
Winds Of Plague
Winter Sets Fire
The Yellow Sign



That there list is a complete account of every band I've ever seen live in my life. You can't take a look at that and say my soul is completely black, for I clearly have given my fair share of money to a great deal of bands. And, as I take this statement from a close friend of mine, it's not like bands make the greatest portion of thier profit from CD sales. Despite the fact that the CD is giving you the most direct contact with what that band represents, the record labels those bands are on get more money from the CD sales than the bands do. I've bought my concert tickets, and I sure as hell have bought my fair share of merchandise too. You expect me to be perfect and get all three? If so...well...okay. There are probably a lot of people out there that religiously follow said practices.

But I'm not afraid to say I have numerous flaws, or at least perceptible setbacks that infringe upon many other peoples' lifestyles or ideals. Downloading music is one of them. However, every piece of art has flaws too. For instance, the final band I saw, called Rogue Wave, was an alright sounding band. I've never listened to them before, but I think when glancing about the LLC last night at all the various faces, (I wasn't analyzing them, I was just looking for people I knew. Get off my back!) I saw PLENTY of dismal-looking faces, either caught up in their own thoughts or maybe so engaged in the music that their countentences moved none. They were just there, watching the band, hanging out and being an audience. But personally, what I associate with an audience that REALLY likes a show is people singing, dancing, doing whatever they please, so long as it shows emotion.

AND GUESS WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED? The final song came around, and everybody stood up for it. People were five times more active then than the rest of the songs. And then? Well, after Rogue Wave announced their last song and exited the stage, the crowd began to pound their feet as a stage worker brought out some additional equipment, not to start taking down the set, but to do the obvious: make sure the stage was ready for them to come out and do their encore song.

Oh shit. Did I just use the word "obvious?" Well, it has pretty much become that way with every show I see now. I don't think there have been more than ten shows in all of those that you see above that have gone without a final, encore song from the headlining band. But isn't an encore reserved for an audience that legitimately enjoyed the music, and also for a band that rightfully earned that honor to come out and play one more song? Personally, what I think an encore entails, as equally as an appreciative audience, is a band who engages with the audience, and engages with them well. And it's not to say that Rogue Wave didn't do a good job or that they are a bad band, but they only got the crowd to stand up on their last song. To me, that just doesn't seem like it needs an encore. I don't know what portion of the audience was doing it because they liked the energy, what portion of the audience was doing it because they liked the band, or what portion of the audience was doing it because everybody else was doing it. I'll admit: I stood up when everybody else stood up for not wanting to look like an oddball out, but I didn't romp for any encore. It just didn't seem suiting, but what do you think happened?

The band came out and played an encore song. Straight forward. But did they come out looking surprised? Did they come out and start talking on the microphone and say, "Golly gee, what song should we play now?" No. They came out with a song in mind, and their confident gant gave that all away. I think it's pretty ridiculous that bands need to expect an encore song now if they are headlining a show. Some people just might not fully understand this rant I've just unleashed until they've gone to enough shows as I have, but encores are all planned now. And NOT ONCE - for if this didn't happen, encores wouldn't happen - did the audience get an encore without pleading for it, be it with stomps or the typical chant: "ONE MORE SONG!" Over and over again, they say it.

I have to say, with the extensive list of bands I've provided, the aforementioned statistics of encores sounds pretty successful right about now. The crowd expects it. The band expects it. The band procures it. The audience receives it. The encore finishes, the band gets off stage, the audience leaves, and it's all done. That moment is thus gone, all except for the memory it makes. But people can remember their broken computers and crashed-up cars they scrapped ten years ago just as well as an encore, if not better. The encore has just become a commodity, a commercial.

People need to give themselves enough freedom to fail, and stop expecting so much perfection. We should all look toward advancement in a mature way. That doens't mean "growing up." Fuck it. Be a baffoon for the rest of your life. This world needs more goofy people. But do try to advance yourself beyond expectancies, and fail a little bit.

PROSE THAT, PROBRO