Elton in your living room
Published Friday September 5th, 2008
It was a no-brainer Elton John would be a seat filler. The Maritimes is clearly on a high right now with so many talented musicians coming to play in our little neck of the woods.
The Eagles concert was a huge success, with 50,000 people showing up in person to hear Hotel California — 50,000 people getting drunk, bumping into each other, cramming as close to the stage as they can get just to say they were inches from Don Henley.
That's all part of the fun right?
Of course it is, but on the other hand, a new wave of concert-going experience is taking hold with a vengeance — and you'll be so close to Elton you'll be able to see that bead of sweat dripping from his bejeweled glasses.
It's the concert on film. And it seems no one goes on tour these days without a camera crew behind them in at least one of the cities they stop in.
When The White Stripes stopped in Atlantic Canada last year for their tour promoting their latest CD, Icky Thump, the Savoy Theatre in Cape Breton was camera-filled.
Walking into a huge conglomerate music store these days means you're likely to see as many CDs as you are DVDs of a musician.
Its not technically new, this idea of watching a concert on TV, from the comfort of your couch or movie theatre.
Martin Scorsese made one of the greatest concert films of all time back in 1978 with The Last Waltz — featuring The Band's last concert together.
The media form, however, is taking hold in a whole new way, particularly with the tools to remaster sound and image and technology of DVD and Blue Ray — not to mention the giant HD TV screens in more and more living rooms these days.
Now you can even see that thing hanging from Neil Young's nose in The Last Waltz and the clear rumble of Dr. John's voice as he sings "Sunday Night."
Indeed, watching Dr. John live at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival 2007 I couldn't help but note the clarity of the DVD was just as polished as the speakers in that big tent.
The beauty of the film concert is not only the apparent cash grab for the studio — which is what I'm sure they love about it: hold one show for 50,000 people and then resell it to 3 million more people.
It isn't hard to see why watching your favourite band on DVD is such a popular idea.
Many of us live in places where big shows still don't come.
Some of us are claustrophobic and don't like the crowds — and some of us can't go to a 10 p.m. show on Wednesday night when we have work the next day.
And many of us have pocket books that don't allow us to get to that big show.
But for less than $30 you can see Mick Jagger up close and personal with Shine a Light — and if you took in the IMAX experience he would have been literally bigger than life.
Or maybe you did go and now want to relive the experience over and over — and show it to your grandchildren.
Forget about sneaking out that camera you hid in your purse — these days with those camera phones not only is no one trying to stop the amateur photographer, it is just as easy to film the concert yourself with your little phone — sound and all.
Scanning youtube.com there are literally thousands of these little four-minute amateur videos of concerts.
New technology has done more than make voices clearer and faces sharper — it can keep us in touch with our favourite memories of a performance. I'm never been one to pass up a live show — but since I'll never get to see The Band play live, this seems like a good runner up.
More Community
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
