Why is it that people tend to not think you’re cultured when you attend a lot of shows? That saying I’m going to see M.I.A. next weekend doesn’t garner the same reaction as saying that I’m going to see Swan Lake? Here are five solid reasons why going to shows offer a way better cultural experience than going to the theater, ballet, or the like.
-> interactivity
Concerts are interactive experiences. Audiences should only get as good of a show as they give back applause. And I don’t know when the last time the actors in Macbeth asked you to clap your hands.
-> variance
By the nature of theatrics: ballet, plays, musicals; they are supposed to be performed in a set manner. There are dress rehearsals and scripts and stage directors and such to keep every performance as similar as possible. And sure, there are quite a few large production concerts that strive for this, but mainly, a band is in your town to perform for you. There are slight variations in the way the songs are played, there’s witty banter with the audience, and there’s the unpredictable crowd. Seeing live music is indeed live.
-> inspiration
The vast majority of theater and dance productions draw from the past. The performance is an interpretation of a work that has a lot of history behind it. Going to a concert will most likely not be such a recreation. Depending on the music, the performance can draw a lot from the past, just as the psychedelic rock revival has done today. It can be very now, echoing the current trends of the masses. Or it can be very future, or, at least our concept of such.
-> reciprocal passion
As a former dancer, I would never say that I didn’t have a passionate performance on stage. I wouldn’t hesitate to agree that I never moved someone to tears, or to a screaming rage, or to remove clothing or scream at the top of his or her lungs. Now, not that I was a bad dancer or anything but people just don’t do that at a theater. I’ve mentioned time and time again that I absolutely love to watch people transform at shows, being so moved by music that they allow themselves to do something they would never do normally. The alcohol helps, too.
-> Bach and Shakespeare will never be on tour
Well, maybe Sebastian Bach. But you’ll will most likely never see the creators of the greatest plays and ballets on the stage you’ve paid to watch. I can, however, pay to see the man who wrote The Times They Are A-Changin’, or Blue Eyes Cryin’ In the Rain, or The Fragile, or First Day of My Life. I can go and hear the shredding guitar and the vibrating beats that have repeated over and over in my head, straight from the source. And, that, my friends, is the number one reason why concerts are the best cultural event to attend.
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