WHAT MAKES A CONCERT SPECIAL?
What makes a concert special? A truly satisfying and memorable event? When you go to as many concerts as I do, simply going to a concert in general, is not necessarily special. So what does make one special?
Is it perhaps that this is the first concert in a brand-new state of the art venue since it’s official re-opening? Maybe the fact that Missy Higgins, a household name in the Australian contemporary pop scene is giving this new venue a whirl? Is it the staff and accessibility of the venue, or perhaps none of the above, and just simply the performance and sound and nothing else?
Now because this review is, well, special, I’m going to do things a bit differently. Because there’s a lot to cover, I’m going to pick and choose selecting things to treat you to, like a gourmet meal, so bon appetit!
First, the staff and venue accessibility entrees. As soon as I enter the Eastern foyer, staff, namely Patricia, greeted me to assist with signing in and then gave very specific and helpful directions to my companion. When this venue was in it’s planning phase, it was described as “the West's answer to a second Opera House”. Quite a tall order! Now, we all know and love the iconic Opera House, but as far as accessibility goes, it isn’t without fault, seeing as the venue was built in a time before elevators I suspect, or at least before a great need for them. As a result, despite adaptation over the years, there is at least one instance in which stairs are unavoidable. This venue on the other hand, has been built in a time where elevators and OH&S regulations are required, so as a result, getting from the Eastern foyer to the theatre is not only easy thanks to constant support from staff along the way, but also because there are completely level walkways and elevators throughout the venue, regardless if you’re ticketed to sit at the back of the balcony. This has an effect much like a sweet and succulent entree to warm and invigorate the taste-buds before the main meal.
The main course, being the performance of course, is a complex one, so I’ll break it down into four parts. First we have the ingredients, which in this case are the songs Missy chooses to play and the talking and crowd interaction throughout the set. Second, there’s the quantity, so at the end of the show, are you feeling satisfied, or are you left still hungry for more, or are you bloated and feel the meal was too big. Third, you have the sauce and seasoning, which is the sound from the band, acoustics of the venue, and sound mixer. And finally, how well was everything cooked? If you can’t put that metaphor together yourself, pretty much, did Missy and her band perform each song well?
The songs and talking/crowd interaction; Normally from what I’ve experienced at concerts, the most effective way to open a show is to head straight into the first song, which should be an energy lift, to raise the energy and get the crowd excited, and then after the first or second song, then talk to the audience. But this is a, well, special show (if you’ve made a drinking game from everytime I say well, special, you’re probably getting quite smashed by now!), so when Missy, and if I’m correct, only Missy, first walks out onto the stage, she greets us, not a shy or simple “hey Sydney, thanks for coming! This first song is X and goes something like…”, no, Missy slices through everyone’s expectation and breaks out well-rehearsed and tasteful humour! Example being “wow, what a beautiful venue! Honestly this is all I know of Rooty Hill”, Before introducing her first song, a delicate and raw song that is only her exquisite voice and well garnished piano playing which brings a more relaxed casual essence to the atmosphere in the theatre. This humour is spotted throughout the set after most of Missy’s songs, interacting with her audience in instances such as when a woman yells out “can my girlfriend sing with you?!” which Missy replies “uhm, that’s not really in the set, how loud is your voice?” and the absolutely priceless instance in which Missy combines a personal anecdote of her life and how the song links to the moment, in which Missy tells us how she was given the opportunity to record a song for a TV show on Foxtel, and how she’s not up with the whole Foxtel-y world but “I figured out a loophole. Sign up for Foxtel on demand, do the ten day free trial, watch the series in ten days, then cancel the subscription! Bob’s your uncle!” which is followed by an eruption of laughter! and how before playing a particular song, she told us the story leading up to it in which she went through a phase of not knowing if she could continue with the demands of the music industry, keep writing music so she “as cliche as it is, had to go and find myself, I went to India, got diarrhea etc etc and eventually it lead me back to music”.
Now as far as the songs go, after the first delicacy of the piano and vocals solo, Missy then introduces the rest of her band, including drums, bass, keyboard, guitar and backing vocals. These musical ingredients give the set a wide range of textures to play with! The set flows from one song to the next according to the rise and fall of musical energy more so than the most popular songs being last. This is the equivalent of a multi-course meal tailored to introduce each flavour one after the other in the most complementive way. Another noteworthy technique is adding a couple of acoustic solo songs roughly in the middle of the set, giving the palate a cleansing break to emphasize the the burst of flavours in the second half. One of these acoustic songs by Missy features her on a Ukulele giving a funky flavour twist to the typical pop music elements.
As far as the sound goes, the sauce and seasoning, there’s a few points that need outlining. The first, is this theatre is one, fully carpeted and by the sounds of it, has lots of sound absorbing materials and well crafted shaping of the roof and walls to best manipulate sound, A.K.A, good acoustics. The problem with the Opera House is that the Concert Hall I’m fairly certain, was designed for non-amplified sounds, commonly well, opera singing. So the Concert Hall’s design is to best carry and resonate sound throughout the venue, which can be tricky to tame for contemporary music of today. This venue however, was perfectly tailored for optimal performance from the sound system which brings a whole new meaning to loud and clear! This of course, is nothing without the sound mixer doing a good or bad job of the performers’ sound, which in this case, is superb! All sounds on stage are perfectly complementive to one another, whilst highlighting Missy’s vocals, and the backing vocals just shy of power to Missy’s. It also elevates and highlights the guitar solo’s in a few songs’ bridge sections, likewise with the piano solo’s in others. So does that answer the point of the bands’ sound? If not, let me spell it out for you… S, c, r, u, m, p, t, i, o, u, s! There is so much musical colour and tantalizing elements as I mentioned before, to the blues vibes in popular tracks like ‘Scar’ and ‘Ten Days’, which the latter has a more enriched blues energy for this live rendition, which is uplifting and delighting despite the emotional content of the song. Not to mention the contrasting darker feel of ‘Cemetary’ which paradoxically has a potent dance aroma to it.
And to sum it all up, am I and the rest of the audience satisfied? Did the show not have enough? thus were we left wanting more? Or are we bloated? Well, a little bit of all the above I guess! I’m thoroughly satisfied on all counts, and it was the perfect amount/proportion, but because it was so delicious, and I consumed it as much as I possibly could, I am quite bloated, but it’s the same feeling like when you’ve eaten a whole bunch of your mum’s homemade Baileys, white chocolate and Maltesers cheesecake…
More please! That’s what makes a concert well, special and memorable!