totally agree with Hutch on this... But you can't keep the Bros and Soccer Moms from hearing that hit live. It's gonna be a great show where 2k "die-fans" will have to put with a whole bunch more "fans" yacking away waiting for the hit, and leaving once it's over. And the Gotye must be a masterpiece as well..
personally i'm waiting for Dry The River to return with their no-hits selfs and listen to a real masterpiece live for the first time. They have played twice at the Black Cat Backstage, once at Iota. Waiting for DC date for Milo Greene as well...
Personally I think this new paradigm where bands explode on the internet and go from playing coffeehouses to arenas in a few weeks is very problematic.. there is no way these bands are going to be able to put on anything remotely resembling a decent performance without having actually put in the sweat and developed their performance and a stage act... People like James Brown or Mick Jagger worked for years to become quality performers. A guy like Elvis developed his stage show over a substantial period at the hayrides etc.. The most disturbing thing is the crowd probably won't even care as live performance sort of went out the window in the 1990s with the "you got to look like you're not trying to entertain people" approach
its a shame that bands no longer really have to earn it the hard way... I remember when bands would play the black cat a few times, graduate to the 930, play that a few times and maybe the lucky ones go up from there... nowadays these fly by night one hit on spotify (whatever that means) acts skip all the paying their dues/learning the ropes... but hey good luck to them and their fans.."
I agree with Kosmo and Hutch...I just don't understand how a band with a single album gets booked at a place with more than 2K seats as anything other than an opening act. Now I'm not talking about pop sensations that are just commodities with huge, lip-synched stage shows. Let the kids go to that circus. It's not a real live show, anyway. But with supposedly legitimate artists, I don't think it serves the artist or the audience to have a band with about an hour's worth of material headline a huge venue like MPP. I like The Lumineers, but I thought their appearance on SNL demonstrated how they get swallowed up on a stage bigger than Iota's. We no longer give artists time to cut their teeth and learn how to fill a room with their sound, command an audience for more than the hit song, and get them interested in something more. Artists would be well-served by the experience. Yes, the Lumineers have been playing for more than a few months, but they still don't have more than about an hour's worth of material. I wish we'd let artists grow into a venue like MPP instead of getting as much cash out of their fans as possible based on one hit song.
i have seen artists with one album put on amazing shows. For example CSS, Santigold, Of Monsters and Men, Keane. With great stage presence. Crowd singing along to every song. I don't think there are many artists with no matter how much experience that can put on better shows than them. You either have it or you don't. You have bands that still just stand in one place and mutter an occasional thank you to the crowd after playing together for 30 years.
People want to see a band you put them in a large venue. Otherwise everyone is just going to take advantage of the situation and tickets become only available at unreasonable prices. If artists only have an hour worth of material it just means there will be more openers.
And it is more than one hit song. Every song on their album is fantastic. You act like their fans have only heard one song from them. They have sold over 800,000 copies of their album. I would think most people listen to more than one song on an album when they buy it.
My Morning Jacket has had zero hits and they headlined MPP many a time.
And at least with a band with one incredible album you don't have to here their crappy new songs that no one likes.
Don't get me wrong, I've seen artists with one album put on great shows, BUT not at giant venues (This applies to virtually all of the artists you list. Of Monsters and Men's last show was poorly paced, IMHO). Having been to many a sold out show in DC, I can say that most neophytes of the "Next Big Thing" spend the majority of their time at the shows talking or texting or anything but listening until the big song is played (whether it is officially a "hit" or not), and then they stream out of the venue once that song is played. Yes, these people will pay money to go to the show, and the poor artists have to cope with their shitty audience behavior. As for paying their bills, these artists are lucky to recoup their advances and lucky if they don't go bankrupt. It's not that I would begrudge them a larger audience, more album or single sales, or more ticket or merch sales. It's just that, I don't think it serves them or their fans in the end. Yes, I am an idealist. And as an idealist, I can complain all I want about it.
