Performing to expand your music library
I have decided to move my blog to a different URL in the hope of attracting more of an interested target market. I’m also able to play with a new look and feel of my blog, which fits in with the tone and atmosphere much, much better.
Please feel free to visit my new blog page frequently, as I will post all my future updates to that site.
http://musiclivereviews.wordpress.com
Thanks fans, I’ll see you there!
-BC
If you’re planning on attending a concert soon, you should know that there are some things you can do to prepare yourself for the best concert experience.
Depending on how well you know the band will make a big difference. If you know the band, melodies and lyrics really well, you probably think that you’re the most prepared you can be before you go. Well that may be true, but you could also be setting yourself up for wearing yourself out. But if you don’t know the band at all, you might have some work to do before you plan on buying a ticket.
I have some steps that I go through a few weeks before I go to a concert. They differ for each band and each concert, but they basically follow the same idea….
1. Freshen up on the tunes
I’ll listen to a lot of their music, especially if I don’t know their latest album or haven’t listened to them in a year. Otherwise, if I’m familiar with their latest and greatest, I’ll just turn them up from time to time to keep their melodies and idea fresh in my mind. I’ll start listening to the band about 2 weeks before a concert and keep listening to them up until a few days before the concert, if I need to relearn their songs. And I’ll also start listening to the band 2 weeks before the concert if I’m up to date with their music, but I’ll keep an assortment of other bands by my side so I don’t get sick of the band.
2. Check out setlists from earlier venues, if you dare
Sometimes I don’t like to do this, but if I don’t know the band very well, I want to have an idea of what songs they are going to be playing at the concert. I’ll burn a mix of most of those songs, but I won’t try to learn every note and every lyrics, just enough to consciously understand the melodies so I can recognize the songs at the concert. However, sometimes I want to be surprised. If I know a good amount of songs, it’s fun to be anxious in transitions from song to song. If you would like to find a setlist, I like to use setlist.com.
3. Lay off a day before
Instead of replaying songs over and over to make sure you know what they’re going to play, lay off from their tunes the day before and the day of the concert. You don’t want to wear out their music and then go to the concert and be sick of hearing the same melodies. Instead, listen to something in the same genre and style, but keep up the anticipation of seeing the band. You’ll probably still be singing their songs in your head anyways.
4. Compose yourself
On the day of the concert, you will probably know if you are prepared or not. If you are prepared, you will have butterflies and can’t wait for the show. If you don’t feel that, don’t worry, you can still have a great concert experience. When you go, depending on the venue, take in the venue before the band comes on. Take a look at the crowd and feed off of their energy. Step back and ask yourself, “would you like to be anywhere else right now?” I always say no.
5. Lights on
The concert will start and you may be singing along to every tune. If not, it’s okay not to sing, but just watch and enjoy. If you don’t know the words and try to look like you do, please stop, you’re not fooling anyone. :P Also try to breathe in certain moments of the concert, that you know from listening to their songs 2 weeks earlier. The mental pictures are going to be the ones you remember when you go to sleep that night, when you drive to work/school the next day and when you look back a year later, you will always want to remember those moments.
At the moment, I am going through these steps for a concert on February 6th. I will be going to see, for the first time, Epica at Station 4 in St. Paul. I’ve been to many concerts at Station 4, so I know the venue pretty well. Except this time, I get to do something I’ve never done before, meet the band. We have meet and greet tickets, which will be held before the concert. Look for a picture of Simone Simons and me on my Epica concert review next month!
One’s heritage can say a lot about a person; how they communicate, what they like to eat, where they live. But does music follow that same instance? For many, the music that surrounds them happens to be the music they tend to listen to. However, I’m more content with finding the music that is not well known. Why, because it is pure. More or less, my search for gold music, the unknown treasure.
With living in the States, more precisely Wisconsin, there are a lot of music genres to go around. But my treasures follow my European heritage. In the continuous search for new music, my brother came upon a band with connections to some of our other favorite bands. With symphonic melodies and soothing lyrics, my first impression was that this band was worth listening too. However, I wasn’t blown away by them.
But I made a mistake in my thought process of categorizing their music. Although, their lineup is similar to many of my favorite bands. Although, they come from the same area on the map, which creates similar influences to their music. And although, they are one band of many to form under the same genre, they began to stand out to me.
For many bands/groups, there is one particular artist that stands out in a band. Most of the time, the vocalist is that person. There are too many bands in the States that use their star’s name as the band name, ugh. So when you listen to their albums, you can clearly hear that star’s voice or instrument louder than the rest of the group. In some instances, that’s great, i.e. Oscar Peterson. But to be able to put together a band that fits all as one, without a standout artist, that’s hard to come by. That statement might be difficult to believe since everyone has a different view of what music is and should be. But to me, it takes a special touch to not expose an instrument too much, which can ultimately affect the purpose of a song.
To add, this band also brought power and emotion to an equal mix of instruments and lyrics. Which is why I haven’t been able to put them down for weeks. However, I have one more reason why this band stands out to me. All bands have an overall message that they write about. Whether that be fictional stories or political ones, they write for purpose. They just hope their messages come across as intended. But my feeling that came across with this band was a message of hope. Although rough some days, the possibility of tomorrow is infinite.
With those words, I introduce you to Delain.
Delain is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by the ex-keyboardist of Within Temptation, Martijn Westerholt. They are currently touring off their second album, April Rain. Co-writer and vocalist Charlotte Wessels brings a lovely touch to the band. Trained in both classical and jazz singing, she brings a great balance to the melodic keyboard passages and flowing melodies on both albums. Delain also has brought in well-known guest artists that help compare their sound with the best of them. Most notably, Marco Hietala, bassist and vocalist of Nightwish. At the moment, it seems that Delain will keep their tours overseas. But I can only hope that one day they will make it to the States, preferably the Midwest; we have a high concentration of underground fans here. ;P
Rock, BC
In the spirit of the holidays, homeowners like to decorate the outside of their homes with bright lights. Whether or not you choose white lights or colored lights, you probably can’t beat this display.
Looking for some good jazz this weekend? I highly suggest that you check out the Jim Piela Quartet at the Bodega this Saturday night. Jim is a saxophone player that is well known through the area’s jazz community. He’s played in bands like Three Beers ’til Dubuque, Shoeless Revolution, and Somethin’ Jazz. And now he’s in his own quartet with Dan Collins on piano, Andrew Steeno on bass and Josh Shively on drums.
Show starts this Saturday, December 12th, at 9:30 p.m. at the Bodega in downtown La Crosse and goes until 1:30 a.m. The show is 21+, but no cover charge.