don’t set yourself apart
Can an artist tell his fans what’s really on his mind? Apparently so.
…and why it matters:
categories: Uncategorized, biz, music
tags: Jeff Tweedy, noisy fans, speak out
posted by what at 11:07 pm
I’ve seen this before, and applaud him for it. I think I’m as much a fan of Jeff Tweedy’s music as of Taylor’s, but feel a stronger connection to Taylor because of how he has opened up to his fans. And his A.I. stint has a lot to do with that feeling as well.
Loved that….but I doubt Taylor would ever do it. He’s too anxious to please his audience. He wouldn’t take the chance on killing the buzz.
But I pray that the fans can fricking maintain some kind of composure when he does his acoustic gigs. I want to hear Taylor Hicks sing. If I wanted to hear screaming…I’d watch a horror movie or go visit my nearest roller coaster.
And everytime I hear that screachy broad yell “Taylor…it’s my BIRTHDAY”, I want to strangle her.
KimLoree: I’m with you — I want to hear Taylor’s voice. Something that has helped me is wearing ear plugs at concerts. They seem to kill the louder noises, but not distort the music, and I can actually hear the lyrics. Maybe the hard core screamers won’t even be interested in an acoustic concert; one can hope.
Karen it would be nice to those who do want to hear the music if the screamers stayed home for the acoustic tour, but, somehow, I don’t believe it’s about the music for them. Still, we can hope. An acoustic concert has a different vibe to it.
Whoever gave him the new stool should have painted “Quiet Please” on the front of it in neon colors.
Do you think what Jeff did there was a buzz kill?
Probably for the loudmouth idiots. I’m sure the majority appreciated it.
I still just don’t see Taylor doing that. But what do I know? He did tell all the fucking squares to go home.
Why are you saying kill? Did Jeff kill someone? Perhaps if one of the fans had made Jeff his own stool he would have appreciated it more.
Why are you telling fans not to be excited at a concert? If Taylor played a song I would do more than melt.
Bluberry, I agree that it can’t be about the music for them if they are drowning it out.
I don’t think Jeff killed the buzz. He educated some rude people. Maybe some of them left, but I’ll bet many of them stayed and hung their heads a bit and enjoyed the music. He was brave, and except for a couple of choice words, very polite about it. Wish I’d been there.
Just play that video pre-concert. That’d do.
And how fuckin’ awesome that I’ve been in that room? From the windows and chandeliers I suspected the Crystal Ballroom in Portland. And according to commenters at youtube…it is!
We’ve talked a lot about the noisy fans, but I really put this up for broader reasons. his comments could really be about anything. In all seriousness, I like the respect in this clip. Not the respect for himself or the fans already there to listen - that’s obvious and a given. I like the respect he shows for his fan-base as a whole. He talks to them like he considers them sentient beings with the same goals as he, people capable of hearing reason and changing. Beats assuming they couldn’t possibly really be interested in the music, shrugging it off as an unchangeable reality, and then playing to that impression.
I’ve seen Jeff Tweedy and Wilco once, last year in San Antonio. We had invited our daughter and her boyfriend to see LiMBO and Taylor at Antone’s so they invited us to the Wilco concert. I throughly enjoyed the concert. It was at an open pavilion in downtown San Antonio that used to be a railroad station, very nice.
The concert was about half-way through and we had scored a place to stand at the front to the side of the speakers, so we could hear really well. Everything was rocking along when suddenly Jeff Tweedy stopped the concert and asked for the lights to be turned up. Then for the next few minutes (it seemed like 20 minutes but probably wasn’t that long) he argued with one fan up front that was standing with his back to the stage during the whole concert. Tweedy was completely bent out of shape because that one fan wasn’t facing the stage. Now mind you there were probably 600 or more people there that were totally enjoying the show, but Tweedy was concerned about the one fan. It was weird and really hurt the flow of the show I thought. I couldn’t understand why he was so worried about one ass with his back turned when he had hundreds of people hanging on every note.
That’s my Jeff Tweedy story. But I do like the guy and think he’s a terrific songwriter.
(I like Taylor’s voice better though.)
Are people so used to sitting alone in their living rooms entertaining themselves that they’ve forgotten how to interact in a larger group? You see the same behavior at movies, restaurants… the cell phone/ipod generation where everyone is alone in their own little universe, oblivious to how their behavior affects those around them…
“It’s what you do when you go to a concert, you’re a part of something. You feel yourself being in a room full of people with thoughts and feelingd..and it’s joyous”
That’s so true. Isn’t it strange then, that some people would want to fight that feeling? I think it’s the intimacy that gets to them, they feel uncomfortable. Or they could just be assholes.
I applaud Tweedy for that.
I once saw David Gray (well before he broke out with his first big hit) cuss out (”you f**king people”) a crowd at an Alabama show for being loud (they were) and not paying attention to his performance…and he was the opening act. Pity, ’cause he was really good, just him and his guitar. You’d think that a crowd that had come to see Shawn Colvin (the headliner) would be somewhat respectful, but they apparently didn’t want to have anything to do with an unknown musical quantity. He had said meltdown in the middle of a song, finished the song, then stomped off-stage - not quite the finesse and humor of Jeff Tweedy, and no one (including me) left with a good opinion of his maturity level, though I did like his set.
And on a somewhat related note (referencing karma), I attended a talk by Ken Burns this afternoon that was a promotion for his new 14 hour film on World War II. He spent a couple of minutes talking about American social behavior in the ’40s vs today, and was somewhat critical of people today doing everything in solitary: we drive alone, we listen to the radio alone, we sit in front of the computer for hours alone, etc. It was different 60 years ago, for sure, and some - I guess Ken Burns would be one - apparently think that then was better. For the most part, I find it hard to disagree. Though we have definitely progressed in many ways, in so many others we have regressed - and lost a sense of community with others.
DP, that’s what I was thinking when he just wanted them to be quiet. “Doesn’t he know how uncomfortable some people are with silence?”
I relish the silent moments I get. I don’t get many, but they’re more than many people get.
At the Clearwater concert with Taylor Hicks I was at, he was tagging the Maze – so beautiful- and sang “Can you feel the silence..” So of course someone had to shout OH.MY.GOD right there in the middle of feeling the frickin’ SILENCE.
Live audiences can be uncomfortable with intimacy, any live audience, also theatre audiences, who’ll laugh during moments when others are writhing in pain. But parts of Taylor’s audience seem so needy for intimacy – and instantly freak out once they get it. And manage to hog the space that should be available to all. Intimacy pirates!
Somehow, though, I can’t imagine Taylor Hicks telling off needy fans at this particular point in time.
“Needy Fans” there’s an understatement. I thought what Jeff did was very ballsy. He created a moment and a cool one at that. Sometimes you need to tell people what they’re missing.
If that’s what the artist is feeling, he should say something. I don’t see Taylor ever doing anything like this.
As far as Taylor telling the “fucking squares to go home” that’s the lyrics to the song. If you listen to the original they say it, just with someone else’s name.
There are times when I have been to a concert and could’nt hear a thing but the constant chatter of the audience,even when a song denmanded silence. I can understand the excitemnt that you can feel at a concert,but to talk all the way through it kind of defeats the purpose of attending.
You’d think “ssshhhhhh!” - repeatedly - might do the trick. But no.
For some reason, when I see a band at a bar or a club, the shouting and talking seems appropriate, not too excessive and sometimes even adds to the performance (maybe it’s the gin). And for the most part, the performer feeds off of it, but the crowd somehow seems to recognize without being told when to quiet down. I don’t feel the same way when I hear it at a larger concert - for some reason, the word desperate comes to mind. I give this guy credit that he was able to engage the audience the way he did - probably pissed a few people off, but that happens. On a larger level, that he needed to do what he did, speaks volumes about our society, but he certainly had a good take on how to address it. He got their attention.