How to Fix the Biggest Problem with Live Music
I attend less concerts, on average, in London than I did while living in Vancouver. This isn’t for a lack of options, not having access to tickets nor a declining interest in music. This excellent article in Esquire analyses what I’ve been frustrated by for a while: a shift in the behaviour of live music audiences, which I assumed was cultural (“a London or UK thing”) but perhaps it isn’t.
In my experience, a noticeably large portion of the audience at gigs (especially big shows and festivals) are more interested in “having been there” and spend more time talking to their friends, drinking, and using their phones than absorbing the show. As a music fanatic and someone who loves to dissect a live performance, this is really disheartening and has played a part in why I’ve chosen to spend more of my time and money on theatre.