Live performances
have always interested me. Ever since I could, I started attending music events
and concerts of my favourite artists every time they were in town. I want to
explore this topic and think about what would happen in the future in the live
music scene. I feel this is very important because music evolves along with
technology - in all aspects. Before computers, musicians were playing
instruments. Now you can produce tracks in your bedroom. It is the same with
distribution. Before technology, you had to buy physical cassettes, CDs or
vinyls to listen to music. Now, you can stream music online or buy music from
online stores. Everything is happening online and music works around the
evolution of technology, which is why I think it is interesting to explore
this. No doubt the music performances will start changing.
Years ago, but not
too long ago, musicians would just go on stage, play the instruments and
perform (or do a DJ set) and just have a simple spotlight on them. Performances
were very basic and straightforward. In the 70s and 80s though, when disco,
synthpop and the electronic genre started to evolve, so did the performances.
There was more focus on the production of a show and lighting started to have a
bigger part in it. With lighting effects, shows started to evolve as well and
artists started to include huge backdrops, logos and LED screens in their
performances.
The idea to explore
this topic and area of the music industry came after I watched the Daft Punk
“Unchained” documentary few months back. Even though they are an electronic
duo, they’ve had a huge impact on the industry and pop culture and have
influenced many artists with their innovative ideas. Aside from music
production, their live performances have been iconic, especially the infamous
show at Coachella music festival in 2006. As shown in the documentary, anybody
who wasn’t there, wish they were. Daft Punk haven’t been touring for a while up
until that show, and Coachella tried to get Daft Punk to play every year. They
declined. In 2006, however, they decided to do a live performance and kept the
production of the show a secret. They came up with the idea themselves and
didn’t even tell their manager. Nobody knew what they had in mind and when they
turned up in the pyramid, it was very revolutionary. Playing around with robots
and futuristic themes and machines has been a re-occurring thing in the live
performance world, which is why I think this is relevant for the future of music
and how those live events come together.
Porter Robinson, who
has always stated Daft Punk has inspired him, puts his own twist on it. Only in
the past few years, DJs and producers have started putting on live shows
instead of DJ sets. To me, it shows that the electronic music scene has come a
long way and has evolved a lot, especially in the past 10 years. Porter
Robinson started out just few years ago when he first came out with his
Spitfire EP, which was the first release from Skrillex’ label OWSLA. Within the
EDM world, it became very popular and Porter got his foot into the music world.
However he decided to step away from the ‘typical, generic’ EDM sound and sets
and went down a different route. What I admire about him is that he doesn’t
mind being the black sheep and doing something different. Fortunately, this has
worked out for him because it brings him on another level. I got to experience
his live show in the summer of 2015 at the Frequency festival in Austria and
was blown away how perfectly it fit with his debut album Worlds that came out
in 2014. Porter has always been a fan of the Japanese culture; in fact the
dancing game Dance Dance Revolution has inspired him to produce his own music.
Worlds works as a story, an alternate reality that makes listeners escape the
real world and create a new one. It is very modern, atmospheric, futuristic but
emotional at the same time and he incorporates that in his live shows. Although
he doesn’t have any mecha set up on stage, he focuses more on the light
engineering and visuals that include huge LED screens that project exactly what
goes on in his head. The visuals are intense and the whole show definitely
seems much less 1-dimensional than other shows where the producers just play a
set through their laptop and go. Porter tells a story and it feels like a
glitchy, melancholic movie that is accompanied by a great soundtrack. The whole
atmosphere makes the audience connect and go on this magical journey together.
Below, I want to
include the visuals that represent this and show his voyages through Japan. It
has everything from video games and cartoons to anime.
Porter Robinson - 'Worlds' live tour visuals
While I have touched
on the topic of Japan and its influences, I want to discuss Hatsune Miku. She
is Japan’s holographic pop star and many say she might be the future of music,
which I do agree with to an extent. But would people really pay to see a
hologram perform? Short answer is yes. In Japan, she has sold out shows and
even Pharrell Williams has done a collaboration with her. Miku started out as a
Vocaloid, which is a software created by Yamaha that uses samples of human
voices which can be manipulated in any way possible. She is a huge hit in the
otaku subcultures but she also became a global phenomenon.
Upon exploring different
artists and seeing how they prepare their live performances, looking at the
visuals, stage set up and effects, I have come to a conclusion. Even though we
live in days when technology constantly evolves, I don't think that the change
of live music will be so drastic. Some say that the future will be different -
due to hologram performances or virtual reality. But if you think about it,
would both of these outputs catch on and become popular so soon? Oculus Rift is
a headset that hasn't evolved to its full potential just yet. I recall trying
it at a tech expo two years ago and even though it was cool and new, the
graphics weren't that developed. It will take a few years to catch on. It would
also create problems if it was used during live performances. But who would
really 'go' to a live performance through a headset? Most music lovers can
agree that this would just make the listeners feel disconnected from the music
and the atmosphere. Virtual reality could have a lot of hype, but it wouldn't
stay for long. It is the same as holograms. Hatsune Miku might be popular in
Japan, but it's not like there are many random pop stars that are holograms.
Hatsune Miku is popular because she is original and unique, and that is her own
thing.
Tupac's 2012 Coachella
performance was written about for a few months but fast forward to now, who is
actually putting on hologram shows? Especially in the Western world. It might
seem popular back in 2012 when it was seen as a new thing - and it was great
because it was Tupac, but it's not real and people got over it. Thinking of
artificial intelligence or virtual reality feels like too soon for the music
industry and I highly doubt something like this would become a standard in the
next 10 years.
In my opinion, the
future of the live scene is still raw and organic. Artists are finding ways in
which they can create spectacular performances that bring people together and
create their own worlds. They explore different themes to create a certain
atmosphere. In the electronic music world, I think that artists will be
incorporating more mecha and robots in their live sets. Focusing mostly on
visuals and special effects. Something that will make the audience remember. It
is still very futuristic when compared to live performances 10 years ago.
So in which direction will live performances go? I honestly think that for the next 10 years, we will be seeing shows a la Deadmau5. His shows are visually interesting with images displayed on huge LED screens. Along with the light show, stage set up and special effects, it makes an unforgettable show.
So in which direction will live performances go? I honestly think that for the next 10 years, we will be seeing shows a la Deadmau5. His shows are visually interesting with images displayed on huge LED screens. Along with the light show, stage set up and special effects, it makes an unforgettable show.
Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3833822/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOdhRIU2aIc
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/05/hatsune-miku-japan-hologram-pop-star
http://mic.com/articles/89785/how-creepy-holographic-concerts-are-transforming-the-future-of-the-music-business#.VfENzn1ri
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6141104/porter-robinson-edm-videogames
