{"id":824,"date":"2016-12-16T16:20:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T16:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=824"},"modified":"2016-12-16T16:40:37","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T16:40:37","slug":"ftv-the-thrill-of-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=824","title":{"rendered":"FTV: The Thrill of It All"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Were we nervous? \u00a0Probably, but not as nervous as one would expect playing in front of an audience of 2,000 at the spring all school talent assembly. \u00a0The reason we were not overly nerved up is because a couple of months earlier, we had played for a crowd of 4,000 who had come from all corners of the Upper Peninsula. \u00a0Playing for 2,000 students and staff at our own school proved to be much less nerve racking and the truth be told, we actually found playing for these two large audiences rather intoxicating. \u00a0Stage fright may \u00a0paralyze some performers, but once the adrenaline kicked in, we got over the butterflies and had a ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wandering around the wilds of YouTube recently, I was reminded of this memory watching a clip of AD\/DC playing for a large stadium crowd in 2011, well before singer Brian Johnson was sidelined by the threat of complete hearing loss in the spring of 2016. \u00a0Watching the crowd surge and jump as one during <\/span>Highway to Hell,<\/span><\/i> I couldn\u2019t help but feel the energy that the band was absorbing on stage. \u00a0True, there are musicians who play for the love of playing and do so in much more intimate venues. \u00a0It is also true that one can feel gratified playing for no one at all, but playing for tens of thousands of \u00a0people has got to produce a huge rush of adrenalin. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not all musicians can inspire this kind of surging energy. \u00a0I had previously watched a very young Peter Frampton playing for a sold out stadium in Oakland, CA around the time that his <\/span>Frampton Comes Alive<\/span><\/i> album was released. \u00a0I recognized the same band that I had seen in Marquette on the tour that he had recorded his seminal double live LP. \u00a0I also recognized most of the songs on his set list. \u00a0The show he gave, however, was dull and uninspired. \u00a0He spent a large part of one 20 minute song wandering around the stage from place to place looking more than a little lost. \u00a0At one point disappeared behind his stack of amps. \u00a0He ended up swapping spots with his drummer and after a couple of jamming verses that seemed to go no where in particular, he wandered back to the stage front where he tried his hand at tamborine for a bit. \u00a0The crowd roared on cue when he prompted them, but it was not a great show. \u00a0I am glad I got to see him play for a much more modest crowd at Hedcock Fieldhouse. \u00a0Perhaps he had to work harder in Marquette as his second guitarist\/keyboard player Bob Mayo was ill, forcing \u00a0Frampton to cover a lot more parts and put on more of a show than normal. \u00a0The contrast between the Marquette \u00a0show and the one I watched him put on for the full stadium was very obvious: \u00a0if you are going to perform for that many people at once, you better do something to keep their attention. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Big screen technology has come along way since Frampton was filling stadiums. \u00a0There isn\u2019t a festival or stadium show around now that does not employ one or more of the huge screens available to project what is happening on stage to even those in the cheap seats. \u00a0\u00a0When they employ these big screens behind the stage, I wonder if it is a distraction to the musicians themselves when they turn around and\u00a0see their own thirty foot tall image. \u00a0Massive amounts of stage lighting and pyro are also used to spice up big venue shows, but these have limited effect if one happens to be playing an outdoor festival during daylight hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Being lucky enough to be in Marquette during what I still think of the \u2018golden age\u2019 of the Upper Peninsula music scene, we were fortunate that there were promoters like Brass Ring Productions. \u00a0\u00a0Brass Ring\u2019s Bob Fox was a mover and a shaker in the Detroit music scene and many people don\u2019t realize that KISS owe their breakout <\/span>Live<\/span><\/i> album to his vision. \u00a0Fox, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 62, was a young promoter with big dreams. \u00a0He was willing to work with smaller local promoters in places like Marquette so many bands that went through Detroit made one off concert swings through the U.P. \u00a0I can not remember a concert I attended at either Hedgecock Field House or Lakeview Arena where the crowd reaction didn\u2019t elicit stage banter along the lines of, \u201cWe should come here more often\u201d. \u00a0Artists like Bob Seger, Brownsville Station, J.Geils Band, Savage Grace, Triumph, and Blue Oyster Cult all made good on that promise. \u00a0When BOC\u2019s Eric Bloom stepped forward at Lakeview Area, surveyed the crowd and announced, \u201cMan, we gotta get out of New York more often,\u201d it didn\u2019t sound like the typical, \u201cHey (insert city name here), how ya doing\u201d pandering. \u00a0Indeed, they were back in support of Ritchie Blackmore\u2019s Rainbow a year and some later. \u00a0Rainbow cancelled at the last minute forcing BOC to play two sets and to this day, I count both of their Marquette shows in my top 10 live events.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0J.Geils sat opposite Johnny Carson and answered Johnny\u2019s question (\u201chave you had any notable gigs lately?\u201d) by stating, \u201cWe just did a show at a college in Marquette, Michigan and the crowd was so great, we can\u2019t wait to go back.\u201d \u00a0When the band feels the energy on stage, they would rather go through a little more trouble to play in the hinterlands than a so-so gig in areas where the crowds are more jaded (and sometimes snobby) about the concert scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While the WOAS West Coast Bureau was still in Los Angeles, I was able to catch two Black Crowes shows when they were still talking to each other. \u00a0The crowd reaction was good and the band was clearly enjoying themselves but to my mind, there was a lot of posing going on in the audience. \u00a0I go to see the show, not watch the crowd. \u00a0There were a significant element at those shows who seemed to be there to be the show. \u00a0No doubt, some of this goes on at shows everywhere, but I probably was too wrapped up in the music to notice. \u00a0The bands, however, always notice when the crowd appreciates what they are doing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Gordon Lightfoot was touring as a trio in the years before he started putting hits on the radio, he actually yelled at the crowd seated at Hedgecock. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t a large crowd so they had a small stage in the corner and everyone just sat on the floor. \u00a0They started clapping along with a song and Lightfoot actually hollered, \u201cShut Up.\u201d \u00a0He finished the song and then somewhat contritely explained that he couldn\u2019t hear himself in the monitors. \u00a0He was clearly uncomfortable knowing he had alienated his audience. \u00a0He more or less apologized a couple of tunes later when he said, \u201cLet\u2019s see if you sing better than you clap\u201d as he slid into the chorus of <\/span>Me and Bobby McGee. \u00a0<\/span><\/i>The moment was quickly forgotten, but I would bet Lightfoot learned from it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As for playing in front of an audience large or small, my experience was always pretty much the same: \u00a0a few butterflies before we started, a little less so once we had a song started and then pure enjoyment when things were in full swing. \u00a0With a double gym full of bodies, one really can\u2019t see more than the first few rows in front of the stage. \u00a0Even playing a teen dance at Lakeview Arena gave us a peek at this phenomenon: \u00a0there were only 200 or so kids at the dance, but with the house lights down and the stage lights on, we had the illusion of playing a gig in a bigger venue because all we could see was the crowd at the front of the stage. \u00a0\u00a0The UP Winter Games dance in the Marquette High gym was the same way: \u00a0\u00a0knew it was a large crowd but didn\u2019t really process what an audience of 4,000 people looked like until they lights came up at the end of the dance. \u00a0Bass player Mike took the words right out of my mouth when he surveyed the mob heading for the exits and exclaimed, \u201cBoy, I am glad they didn\u2019t turn the lights on before we started!\u201d \u00a0Maybe that is what spooked Peter Frampton in Oakland those many years ago: \u00a0he was playing in broad daylight and had no choice but see the tens of thousands of people in attendance! \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The first time Measured Chaos appeared at the Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts, the size of the crowd was perhaps 1\/3 of the house or slightly larger. \u00a0Band leader Al Jacquez peeked out from stage side and stated matter of factly, \u201cYeah, we can play for this house.\u201d \u00a0The band must have liked the reception they got because they came back a couple of years later to do an afternoon matinee for the Ontonagon Area School kids and an evening show for the general public. \u00a0As Al told the crowd on their second visit to Ontonagon, \u201cMan, I wish we could start all of our tours, here!\u201d \u00a0Anyone who has had the privilege of performing on stage can relate to what Al was feeling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece video: \u00a0Brian Johnson era\u00a0Highway to Hell\u00a0<\/em>FOR 2009 – AC\/DC could get a good crowd reaction and I am sure they felt it from head to toe on stage!