Thoughts on teaching, technology, learning and life in an era of change.
 
Live concert audiences then and now
March 21st, 2009

I have been frequently listening to two live recordings by Neil Young of late. One was recorded at Massey Hall in 1971 and the other at Canterbury House in 1968. They are brilliant performances. Neil Young on acoustic guitar and piano. Another album I have been listening to a great deal lately is Live At The Corner Hotel by Jeff Martin, another Canadian performer. He was formerly with the Tea Party.

I really enjoy all three live albums yet the two Neil Young concerts are particularly appealing because of the audience that were entertained by Neil Young. Why is this so?

With each Neil Young performance the audience claps, cheers and whistles at the end of each song and then they settle down to either listen to Neil Young speak or to wait for the next song. Sadly, with the Jeff Martin performance there is a core of self-centered imbeciles that have to call out, yelp and holler at the conclusion of each song. Why can they not applaud and cheer like everyone else? They must really like the sound of their own voices.

This is not a recent phenomena. Concerts and television performances recently recorded live in Australia and the USA seem to suffer from this mindless calling out. You know what I mean. A quick listen to the two brief audience recordings that are linked below will give you an idea.

Live audience recording #1
Live audience recording #2

Another piece of the puzzle that constitutes the decline and fall of Western society.

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