Am I the only one who feels let down at concerts?

 

Am I the only person who’s not overly keen on going to concerts to see artists? I’ve been to a lot but come away feeling underwhelmed at over half of them.

I think I know what my problem is. As much as I love certain artists, I’ve grown to love them because of their recorded output. I’ve bought records and listened to them over and over and when I’ve been to see them live, it’s not the same.

I’ll grant you, the atmosphere is usually great, but I find that it covers up for the inadequacies on the stage. Sometimes the sound quality is poor making the artist sound worse than they are. Sometimes, you feel the tiredness in their voices, particularly if they’ve been on tour a while.

I’ve never been a huge Michael Jackson fan. The ‘Off The Wall’ album marked a high-point for me with everything else struggling to come close. I didn’t want to go and see him live, but I did eventually go to one of the ’Bad’ tour dates at Wembley.

The show itself was spectacular. Visually it was excellent. Great dance routines, and his voice was close to his songs. But...I couldn’t understand why he sang every song too fast. I felt every song was ruined because it was like an express train. And yet I seemed to be the only one who noticed.

I walked out of a Chaka Khan concert inside 15 minutes – the sound quality was awful and she didn’t sing a word. She just shouted. Once again, I seemed to be the only one who noticed.

I can talk about numerous artists who’ve not done it for me when I’ve gone to see them live.

Perhaps it’s just that I like to hear a song how it was meant to be.

My two favourite concerts ever were James Taylor and Bill Withers, one in Bournemouth, the other in Cambridge.

Both walked out on stage, sang their songs, told little stories about them and made the hours spent with them feel intimate and immensely enjoyable. They didn’t mess with their songs too much, and when they did, they did them differently enough to make them sound like a completely different song, James Taylor’s ‘Shower The People’ with backing singer Arnold McCullar doing a magnificent solo section being a highlight.

Lisa Stansfield, back in 1992 when I saw her, was just stunning. Her voice was exactly like it was on her singles and albums and when she did some versions of Cole Porter’s songs, they were superbly pulled off and made for a great sidestep to show her talent.

I was so happy that I got to see a musical hero of mine, Lonnie Donegan in concert just a few weeks before he passed away.

He was a stinking cold that night but still showed an enthusiasm for performing that kept me spellbound. I didn’t realise how ill he was until I met him after the gig when I realised how blocked up he was.

It turned out that he didn’t have a cold, he died of pneumonia a couple of weeks later on the same tour.

I enjoyed seeing The Stylistics. I’ve always liked their music and it sounded as good as always. I think that because I’d also gotten to speak with members of the group and that we’d got to spend time with them backstage a few times as well, it colours my perception too.

And perhaps that’s the thing about concerts because seeing them live is as much about actually being in the room with them as anything else.

And yet I’ve so often felt disappointed.

I know I prefer seeing an artist in an intimate venue than going to an arena when I’m not really seeing the artist, I’m watching a massive screen.

I’m much the same with watching concerts on the TV. Or listening to a concert album. They lose the bit you gain by being there I think. The atmosphere nearly always seems lacking when I see a concert on the box.

There are exceptions of course. Stevie Wonder at Wembley Arena on his 40^th birthday was one. And I was more than shocked to watch a band I didn’t like, Take That, and be really surprised at how good they were. Another was Kylie Minogue.

And generally, I don’t like live albums. Not being able to see them performing (which, after all, going to see them live is about) makes me feel like something's lacking.

But once again there are exceptions. George Benson’s, ‘Weekend In LA’, Peter Frampton’s ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ and Slade’s ‘Slade Alive’  are for me, magnificent albums, but so many live albums leave me cold.

I’m pretty sure it’s just me. Every concert I’ve been to, as I look around everyone else is having a ball.

I’ve turned down going to see a lot of people because I didn't want to feel disappointment when I’d seen them live.

I think it’s down to the fact that so much of my love of artist’s music is tied to memories and when I hear them, I get taken back to that memory. And yet, when I see them live, it doesn’t feel the same.

I get why I don’t like seeing concerts on the telly. I don’t like watching sport on telly much. I’d rather do and see them live.

And I know that makes me seem like I can’t make my mind up. But it is how it is.

There are some artists I’d have liked to have seen live; George Benson when he was at his peak, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Barbara Streisand to name a few.

But musically, I like what I’ve heard on their records. When I see them live, I don’t want to hear them go into a jam session in the middle of a song that I love – it ruins my night.

I know I’m missing something.

I’m sure I’ve missed out. But over the years I’ve found that with a few exceptions, the concert-going hasn’t paid off for me.

I would love for you to explain to me what it is that everyone else sees that I don’t.

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