Music Monday: Live or Recorded?

Posted on 08.03.08 in General and there are 16 comments.

(This post is a part of Music Monday. Join the fun. Write a post about music and add your link below.)

A Rift In Our Marriage

Jimmy and I have a rift in our marriage.

You see, I love concerts and he loathes concerts.

I don’t understand this, but I am trying to accept it.

He also loathes live albums. And puppies.

(Ok. I’m lying about the puppies...)

I suppose it makes sense that he doesn’t like concerts. He is a very responsible, organized, stable, incredibly handsome kind of guy. He likes well produced final versions of albums as opposed to live recordings or demos. He likes to actually understand the words and clearly hear all the instruments. Concerts just don’t sound as good as the album.

I on the other hand love concerts and live albums. I love hearing the raw talent and imperfect passion in the music.

Speaking of Concerts...

So instead of going with Jimmy, I’m going with a minivan full of girl friends to the Brooke Fraser concert on Wednesday. As you can imagine, I’m quite excited about it.

I’ve instructed my friends not to speak to me or make any audible noises once the music starts. Do you think that’s rude?

Your Turn

What about you? Do you prefer live or recorded music? What’s the best concert you’ve been to?

Join in on the Music Monday fun. Write a post about music and add your link below. Simple.

The Comments:

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I like studio recorded music, but I also LOVE concerts.

It’s hard to say which is the best I’ve been to.  I went to a No Doubt show in college that rocked pretty hard.  More recently, I saw Monk and Neagle and Bebo Norman together and that was really cool, too.

Oooh, live. Live, live, live. Like you said, I love the “imperfect passion.” I like to see them show-off a little bit, play new versions, play things I’ve never heard before. I like the rush I feel when I realize my favorite song has just started, and the anxiousness of never knowing what’s coming next.

The best I’ve seen was John Mayer last summer. It was as much the whole experience as it was the music alone (Ben Folds opened, we danced in the rain, I was with best friends), but he was amazing. His new live album, “Where the Heart Is” is fantastic...I definitely recommend it. Even if you don’t like his music, you just can’t deny how talented he is!

Kat,

Live is better than canned, but canned allows you to become familiar with the music, lyrics, and artist’s personality.

See you at the concert.  I’ll have to remind my friends not to freak out and be like, “OMG, ITS KAT JACOBS!” while jumping up and down, pointing, during a song like “Arithmetic.”

Yours in Christ,
Chris Livingstone.

I like both and sometimes it truly depends on the artist!  I love concerts and recordings of concerts and I love when an artist adds a little something to the live version to make it stand out!

Love the studio versions, but I also love the live music.  With live, you really get a lot more personal expression from the artist - stuff that just doesn’t translate in studio or for something to be played a million times on radio.

I also love both studio and live, but how an artist performs live makes or breaks them for me.  For example, my top 5 favorite Christian concerts are also my top 5 favorite Christian artists. Here’s my list:
1)Shaun Groves-his wit, passion and personal lyrics just hit you on another level live, especially “Here I Am” and “Jesus”.
2)Jars of Clay-was saved by listening to them and literally cried during “Oh My God” and “Liquid” last year when I saw them live.
3)Downhere-witty Canadian guys, “Unbelievable” vocals, and one of the best songs I’ve ever heard “A Better Way” is a completely emotional worship experience live.
4)Derek Webb-amazing communicator, completely passionate and great guitar player & vocalist.  “Lover” and “Wedding Dress” live takes him to another level. He’s coming to my church 8/17: http://resonate.typepad.com/blog/2008/07/resonate-hosts.html
5)Third Day-did you see them on “The Tonight Show”? Wow. Their energy, passion and talent really comes out live, especially during “Love Song” and “Thief”.

I LOVE live music and HATE live albums, pretty much with equal passion.  The best show I’ve ever seen was probably the Down from the Mountain documentary taping at the Ryman Auditorium in May 2000.  It was all the music from O, Brother, Where Art Thou?, about six months before the movie came out.  Unbelievable to see Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, and Gillian Welch sing “I’ll Fly Away” together.

I love live music, and have been to lots of concerts. 

My favorite live concert:  Jerry Lee Lewis at the Prison Rodeo in Huntsville, TX circa 1972.

Mrs D and I are looking forward to Brooke this Wed here in Dallas.

Best concerts:
Peter Gabriel on the So tour.  He toured with African singers and drummers that year.

REM Document tour at the Taft theater in Cincinnati before they started appearing in their own videos and album covers.

David Crowder Illuminate tour.

I like both live and studio recorded music for different reasons. The best and one of the only concerts that i have been to was Mark Schultz with Big Daddy Weave!

I prefer live recordings. Live concerts are the best (ah the passion), but I’m really cheap so what happens is that I count how many cd’s I could have purchased with my concert ticket. When I consider a cd with, theoretically, endless hours of music vs a night of fun I start to break into a sweat. So, uh, I may be neurotic but I prefer live recordings! And yet, can a cd replace attending a concert with all your girlfriends? I think not…

I haven’t been to too many concerts, but I really LOVE live music.  I love to see the creativity and I can connect a bit better with them when I can see the instruments and such.  The best concert I’ve been to was at the Gorge in Washington state (do people even know about that place, or is it just a PNW thing?) and it was the Dave Matthews Band--they were incredible. 

I’d love to be joining you and your girlfriends to see Brooke Fraser this week, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it.  I’m sure you’ll have a blast! 

Live concerts can be great.  I am sure I would like Andrea Boccelli live and many others.  What I don’t like is sitting in an outdoor pavilian in June, July, Aug.  I have done that a few too many times following my wife around in Houston.

I will also remind you Kat of that one lonely New Years eve when we were dating and were in different cities and I went to a Carolyn Arends concert all by myself because I knew that’s what you would want to do if you were there.  Remember that?  Do I bring that up too often?

I like concerts and studio recordings for different reasons.  Since I’m in Nashville, I try to make a concert a week, sometimes a couple a week.  Some artists, I like when their performance is close to the studio version of a song, others, like Steven Delopoulos who is incredibly talented, I love all of his concerts because of the subtle differences in every performance.

The Caedmon’s Call concert I saw at the Festival of Faith and Writing back in April was in my top five concert experiences.  And I’ll go ahead and say the Bruce Springsteen concert I’m going to in 17 days will probably be in that top five as well.

For studio stuff - it’s all about the quality of the music.

I don’t think there’s anything that can compare (musically) with the visceral sensation of experiencing a quality live performance.

The best performance that I have seen - which is also the best performance that everyone else missed:  Martin Sexton.  Period.

I LOVE live music, but my hubby doesn’t, which makes me quite sad.  I have been to a bunch of concerts, so it’s hard to pick my favorites, but I definitely would put Steven Curtis Chapman’s Declaration tour concert near the top of my list.  It was such an amazing experience, as he focused a lot on missions. 

I also love seeing Jason Mraz in concert because he’s so creative and energetic and innovative, and Tommy Emmanuel gave a stinking amazing concert in Knoxville that blew me away.  Live music is so, so good.  I don’t buy a whole lot of live albums, though, which is kind of odd, I guess.  I prefer polished music on an album.

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