Live Music, COVID, and Why Roger Waters is Wrong.
Frank Esparros
With a vaccine arriving in the next couple months (inshallah) we are viewing the possible end of lockdowns and the reopening of our favorite venues (the ones that have survived) but, like everything else, live music has been fundamentally changed. If you ask people what they miss most about life
pre-COVID many will tell you, “live music”. In the immortal words of Cinderella, “you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone”.
At the start of the pandemic I noticed a trend of live streamed shows. It was an attempt to simulate the live music experience that--in my experience--fell flat on its face. The gesture was admirable, and perhaps a necessary experiment, but the difference was striking. Those who claim that this pandemic has killed social interaction outside of the internet are wrong. Anyone who has participated in these live streamed concerts can confirm that there is no replacement for live music.
Here is an anecdote that I think about a lot: In 1977 Pink Floyd was on their first stadium tour and during the show a fan had lit off fireworks mid-set. The audience became more interested in the chaos than the performance. So, the rowdy trouble-maker got a loogie hawked his way, courtesy of Roger Waters who had been singing an acoustic version of “Pigs on the Wing”. Rogers had noticed a change in live music. He saw a barrier between him and the fans and he thought this was wrong. This became the inspiration for Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Now, despite this righteous gob being more than deserved I always interpreted this as a bit narcissistic. Of course this fan was obnoxious, but the ideas that it spawned in Waters were unfounded: the concert space isn’t just about the band, it is a social experience. In the stadium show circuit the real party took place in the parking lot (here, please watch ‘Heavy Metal Parking Lot’ below). It is a gathering of like-minded people, all assembling who have a mutual love of the band. Rodgers was remiss to think that concert goers are going just for the music--if that was the case then the live streams would be more than suitable (and spit free).
My least favorite concerts were the ones that I would occasionally attend at the Greek Theater or Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The only redeeming factor was that I was my father who would take me a couple times a year. Despite the esteem of the artists (I saw Ringo Star’s All Star band which, if you can help it, holy shit, avoid them with the same vigor you’ve avoided COVID, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Brian Wilson and, one of my all time favorites, Neil Young) There was something impersonal, and distant. And not just in the way that Rogers meant, but I mean from the people around me. They were all silent boomers, not interested in each other, but rather, the performers. There is a place for that no doubt, but that’s why there are concert films. If a stage is raised more than 4 feet then, in my opinion, the show won’t be very interesting. So, Waters is wrong. The point of a concert is band worship, but the social interaction that comes with it. The Wall is no longer the space between artist and concert goer, but rather has been replaced with our phone screens and the artist. To me, the gathering comes first--the music is secondary. So, Mr. Vaccine, tear down that wall.
My hopes are that there will be a newfound appreciation for live music and that the center of a concert will shift less towards the band, and more towards intimacy. Although the more pessimistic among us claim that COVID has ruined social interaction entirely--that we are moving towards a purely digital society--I am more inclined to say the opposite. I never thought that I would say this, but for the first time, a sweaty, packed room sounds like heaven. I like to imagine the first bar or venue I attend after this vaccine. How lively the chatter will be; the palpable buzz of excitement. That first show might be the best of my life. I can’t wait to stand there with my arms crossed, hoping that the opener finishes up soon.