Wednesday, July 1, 2009

You Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'?

I am a mere few hours from taking off to Los Angeles for a week-plus. I'm sitting on my futon in unbearable heat because I refuse to turn on my A/C and watch my utility bill triple. I am also watching Michael Jackson's Live in Bucharest concert on DVD - a keepsake that thankfully came as a part of MJ's Ultimate Collection, which I bought 3 years ago.

And let me tell you this: today's musicians need to take note of a true King of Pop. In this concert, Michael is dancing his fucking face off. Crotch pulling, spinning, kicking, jumping, moonwalking... and he is ACTUALLY singing.

You hear that, Britney? Madonna? Ladies? He is dancing AND he is singing. In a giant, open air stadium in Bucharest with over 70,000 people.

And guess what? At times he is breathless. At times he stutters. Sometimes he skips whole lyrics because his lungs just can't take it. It is far from a perfect vocal/audio experience. But you know what? It's real. It is real and it is worth every penny that these Bucharestians paid to see him.

And this is a lesson that pop and music in general needs to learn today. Ditto for our American Idol generation. Why do we expect perfection today? Because we hear it on our MP3s? It's not about perfection. It's about a real experience. Breathing the same carbon being expelled by a pop star who is actually singing.

I don't care what excuses are out there. Fuck acoustics. Fuck performance standards. Britney Spears should not be allowed on stage if she is not actually going to sing - God knows she's not really dancing either, so I have no idea what the fuck people are paying to see her for.

And we shouldn't support artists who lip sync. Who use technology and special effects to distract us. No. We should support artists like Michael, who LITERALLY gave it their all. At the end of this concert *i know this because I've watched this DVD countless times*, Michael can barely stumble over to the rocket pack that shoots him off the stage and over the crowd. He has no voice. He is bathed in sweat.

And my God, I'm crying. Michael, you really were the King of Pop. With Black and White, Remember the Time, and Thriller you invented the Music Video as narrative. With Scream you showed the world that tons of money could be spent on a video, and that it could be a raging success. And with Bucharest you showed us that when we pay to see a musician, we don't expect CD-grade spectacle. We expect the humanization of an idol.

That's what we paid for, and that's what we deserve.

xoJR
Reactions: 
at 10:05 PM Written with love by
Labels: , , , , , ,

2 comments:

  1. I'll agree that Michal Jackson definitely put on a show, the right way in his prime (ya know before he became platic and trying to look like Latoya), but I still won't give him excessive praise, I just never really liked the guy...and as far as Madonna or Britney...why anyone would pay for those shows...well that is completely lost on me...
    ReplyDelete
  2. I have to thoroughly disagree with the statement about artists not being allowed to lip sync. To me, that's like saying guys who aren't smooth shouldn't be allowed in Chelsea bars.

    After seeing Brintey lip sync through (90% of) her Onyx Hotel performance live, I can definitely say that a show that incorporates lip synching can be a worth-while and satisfying experience when coupled with amazing choreography, special effects, and slight obsession with the artist. My brother in law, who was the fire marshall for the tour when it came to my hometown, said the same performance was horrible.

    That said, I would have been pissed if I had walked into the Circus tour expecting the same level of showmanship. I didn't even bother with tickets because her TV appearances were basically walking, posing, and lip synching, and from what I heard, that's what she did the whole show.

    I feel like anyone who does a bit of research can tell if a show they're about to spend money on is going to be what they're looking for. I don't think anyone expected Circus with live vocals, and anyone who really gave it some thought wouldn't have expected knock-out (or any) choreo. They weren't being lied to. Everyone knew she wasn't on top of her game, but they still wanted to see her.

    That being said, I have that much more appreciation for live vocals, especially with choreography. I mean, I grew up on En Vogue.

    And if anyone reading this thinks it's not that hard to sing and dance at the same time, record yourself on your cell phone while you're running (after you've been running pretty hard for about 5 minutes). Or try holding a note while doing a dramatic hair toss. This is why Beyoncé lets her background singers carry the choruses on most of her songs in concert til the ad libs.
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin