THE GOOD GIG
The ingredients are in equal measure: A room that suits the size of the audience, a good band, alcohol, and passion. Good gigs are sexy. The audience is all charged up at those shows and the band feeds off it and play better. Its not all about youth - a really good show will re-kindle the flame of an old couples passions as well as spark a new lustful pang.
Rooms matter. Music is sound. The sound is the whole thing - it has to be pleasing for the band to be able to create the music and for the audience to be able to enjoy it. Somehow I’ve had good shows with lousy sound though - maybe the good part kind of overwhelms the mind and everything feels better. The space matters too. Its hard to have a good show if the venue is way under occupied. My favorite shows are kind of squished. I’ve been to and performed at big shows that are sexy, but its not as easy as smaller shows.
I think you could have a good show anywhere, though. You don’t need to be jostled and uncomfortable. I’ll bet people got pretty flushed at Rachmaninoff concerts. I saw Prince at a basketball arena, and he brought enough sex on stage to overcome the inevitable dilution of pheromones in a huge space.
The availability of a boozy beverage or even an occasional one-skinner do seem to help shows along. There is a fine line between less-inhibited and annoying, which I have both witnessed and thread myself on occasion. Hopefully you’re not at the show just to drink, but to participate in a convivial, artful, joyful event.
I like it when a good gig kind of sneaks up on me. I remember loading into the venue in the video attached here, and it didn’t look good. It was a real “bar gig” - not super friendly, stand-offish staff used to the nightly grind who had no idea what we were up to. There was no dressing room, so after setting our gear up, I went to a public sauna around the corner - I’m not usually looking for the sauna, but I do need some privacy to get warmed up and cleaned up for the show. I can’t remember all the details, but I remember being pleased that there were enough fans of the band to give us a chance to overcome the bar crowd and it turned into a really special night. Bar gigs can definitely be great and when the band and the punters get on the same page, it can be sexy as hell. No offense to this video, but you can’t even get near that feeling watching TV. Being at a good gig like this one is kind of racy and a little dangerous. We are all part of something that appeared and ignited and went somewhere and disappeared in the night. And I would wager that someone kissed someone else passionately afterward.
