On Sat, Feb 16, 2013 at 2:56 AM, JW <[email protected]> wrote: > Once on Costas' Later (RIP), Stewart Copeland of the Police was the > guest, and Costas asked him about reviews. Copeland pointed out that > while audience members buy tickets because they expect to like a show, > reviewers show up because it's an event they're supposed to cover, and > so it's not a surprise when the critics don't like it as much as the > audience.
I am a Mumford & Sons fan, but I get the basic criticism of their stuff, and the genre in general. I forget whether it was Conan or Andy, but one of them posted on Twitter, "banjo banjo BANJO BANJO banjo - Every Mumford & Sons song ever" and it made me laugh. However, their breakthrough album was an ACTUAL album, not just a collection of songs. It had a tight narrative thread, at a time when most don't even have a loose thread. The first concert I ever attended was in college. The Tacoma Dome asked me and a few of my friends to capture video footage of the venue so they could assemble it to use to lure more acts. It was a country act, Brooks & Dunn and Alan Jackson. I like bluegrass-style country, but I detest with a passion the sort of whiny, twangy, dog-and-truck form of country by those acts. However, I approached the concert differently, deciding to use the audience reaction to determine how good the show was (for the record, Brooks & Dunn kicked ass, while Alan Jackson only seemed to resonate with the Bud Light swilling cougars who kept their cigs in their bras. Working on The Tonight Show, as well as several award shows (not to mention an ill-fated hip-hop dance show), I saw more than 100 well-known acts from all genres, and my approach to each was the same. I saw kids too young to know who Stevie Nicks was on their feet as she performed "Edge of Seventeen" on Leno's stage, and I saw die-hard Prince fans keep their seats, almost bored as he sang on the same stage. I became a fan of Beck at the Shrine Auditorium during a sound check when the eternally jaded and disengaged crew really got into his music. And I realized that Leno's Tonight Show Band, then consisting of Kevin Eubanks, Vicki Randall, Smitty, and the rest deserved to inherit the title from Doc and his guys (and I realized the hacks that replaced Eubanks et al aren't fit to perform at bars in Bakersfield). I can be critical of music I dislike based on the audience, largely because I know my taste is unique, but also because there is too much variety in music to assume something I despise is universally considered crap. Except accordion music. Accordions suck. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
