In a message dated 10/23/00 4:40:07 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << but as far as the way Joni diverted the attention, I think she was successful for coming up with something clever on short notice. >> on the dave matthews and tim renyolds cd live from luther college, you can hear a lot of calling out for songs. it's a very intimate setting and even a whisper can carry. one time, someone calls out for a song which they are going to play and he says....yea yea...we're gonna do that one..just hang on. another time, at the end, in the beginning of his closing song, someone calls out for a song and he says...yea, i need to relearn that one...but now i'm nervous and i'd mess it up...and the goes into the closer. i remember a few years ago a similar thread ran and fred spoke then and it was about james taylor...doing the same songs over and over. and the point was that each performance was a real time event that fulfilled the purpose of song. the only thing i think about with crowds yelling is that so often, individuals want to recreate an experience for themselves. a particular song that brings a good memory..and they want to hear it. they just want to hear it. and it's not where the performer is going. i think fred's point is well taken,,,songs are meant to repeat. but at the same time, where does an audience cross the line. i don't know. it's not simple. i had it happen in a setting a few weeks ago. we had prepared certain music to fill some time slots and they wanted more and we ended up stealing from future time slots to fill in the demand. then in the break, we regrouped and planned out some more music. and that time it was good because we were encouraging the people with the music and it worked. but in a different setting, it could have made us pissed. my sense with joni on miles of aisles is that she is more just recognizying the tension of performing to peoples expectations. i get the sense she is saying something, but not with a lot of frustration. more like tongue in cheek..yea yea...i know...y'all want something redone....but i'm about new stuff...oh well...let's go with it and try to keep us all happy... that's more the sense i get from the recording, but it's cool that we have people who saw the performance and can comment on it. that's very cool. patrick np. j. brooke - live song #4
