The Perceived Image

You hear your favorite band on the radio, you see them on stage at a local concert, but do you really know who they really are?  Better question, do you want to know who they really are?  This question can be understood a couple different ways.  One, of course, brings the question, why wouldn’t you want to know who a band really is?  I find the answer to this question is a perfect way to spot a fan who only likes the image of that rockstar or superstar and not their music.  They can do this because they are more attracted to the image of this person or band than they are tied to their music.  So the day after they meet this person or band, they can still go back and listen to their music and love it as much, or more than they did before the meet and greet.

However, there is another way to look at the question.  If your love for the band is more than just the image of the artist, you will have a perception of the band through the emotion of their music.  You might connect with the band because a certain song of theirs may hit heart to you from a certain level.  That song might touch your life so much that you decided to change your life or your lifestyle because of it.  This happens with everyone who is a true music fan, so you can’t say you don’t ever relate to a band.  Now that you have a song that you absolutely love, you have to think to yourself that the person who wrote that song must be very deep or a musical genius.  Every time you listen to that song, you can put yourself in a different place, outside of the busy real world, that helps you relax and enjoy every note.  But what if you were to meet the person or band who wrote that song, and the image that you put together of that person in your head was completely different than who the person really was?  I bet that you would never look at your favorite song the same way again.

Perfect example for me was when I went to the Kamelot concert up in the Cities back in October of 2008.  That was the first time I had seen Kamelot in concert and I was not disappointed.  It was an amazing concert experience.  Right after the show was over, we left the club and walked around the corner to start heading to our car.  But as we rounded the corner, there was Khan (lead vocals) and Thomas Youngblood (lead guitar) standing next to their tour bus.  It was a small club, with no real backstage.  Of course, I got a little excited for seeing them up close.  But unfortunately, they got on their bus before we reached them.  However, after reliving that moment a few times in my head, I realized that it was a good thing that I didn’t actually meet them.  Kamelot is one of my favorite bands, but if I would have went up to talk to them, they might have had an attitude to just get on their bus and start making the trip to the next city.  That would have changed my image of them, which most likely would change the way I see their songs.  I probably would still like their music, but every time I hear it, I would think of that moment next to their bus.  However, I did not talk to them, I only saw them from a short distance.  And because of that, I still have a perception of their band as it was before the concert.  Except now I can say I saw the band and I love their music even more now. Read the full story here.

The next concert I went to up in the Cities was Iced Earth.  Because we now knew there was no backstage, after the concert we booked it out to the side of the building where the tour bus was.  The band members came out one by one, but we chose to only acknowledge (Hey man, nice concert, that kind of thing).  We got a few acknowledgments from them (\m/), just recognizing us for being fans.  I now listen to their music all the time because our meeting was just enough for me to enhance my image of them and not ruin it.  Read the full story here.

Now, if I would have been a crazy fan and ran towards them yelling their band name, they probably would have been afraid and ran on the bus.  Then I would have to deal with knowing that the band I love doesn’t care enough to acknowledge a crazy fan.  Even if that would be the case with all bands, I choose not to go that route so that my image of the band will stay in tact.  Meeting bands is definitly cool, especially if it’s during an autograph session or next to their tour bus after a concert, but those small meet and greets are just enough to regain exictement for their music and give you a story to tell to all fans who envy those moments.

Concert Update: If you didn’t know already Shinedown will be in Rochester, MN this Friday night at the Mayo Civic Center.  Saliva & Halestorm are the opening bands starting at 7:30 p.m.

BC