[Ian] I'm practically an addict of late night live music joints; trouble is I always fall for it, buy the artist's often amateur produced CD, take it home and 9 times out of 10 ask myself why did I do that - sure it sounded better through the smoke and alcohol ?
Of course the answer is easy - dynamic quality - one time in 10 (maybe a hundred) you've found a gem that repays the disappointments. [Arlo] I'm sure the DQ->SQ transition is a big part of it, but I'm not sure its the only part. I think a lot of it has to do with moving the "music" out of the "context". When I lived in Chicago years ago, we used to frequent the Kingston Mines, an authentic, hidden, downright smokey and tiny blues club. I saw the same musicians several times, and each time was literally swept away by the experience. The same CD at home seemed impotent. When I first heard "Beethoven's 9th" performed live I was blown away, even after hearing the music on CD many, many times. The reason is that there is more to the "experience" than "me" and "object", context is always relevant, whether its a hushed concert hall or the sweaty bowels of the Kingston Mines. And don't mistake this for "live" versus "memorex", we all have songs (I'm sure) that are amazing in one context, like when on the road driving or walking across town or whatever, but when removed from that just seem to suffer. Listening to Radar Love while traveling the long night along southbound on I-79 is still almost a religious experience for me. Same song sitting in my office, not so much. And... just to tease this into a fun direction, I am convinced that the "pub" experience is also heightened by imbibing in ale. Like Pirsig's peyote experience, alcohol can serve to loosen the static perceptions and clear our mind of the static cobwebs of life. And in the right situation can leave us extra-susceptible to potential DQ moments. Of course, it can also cloud our mind as well. Balance is always the key. (Just for an example, there are ample studies demonstrating that moderate alcohol consumption can increase one's ability to learn a foreign language. Of course, too much will leave you just south of the Tower of Babel.) moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
