offkey

We’re living in a very transitional time for media, and some moments make that very clear. I saw a concert last night that brought together a number of assumptions about how communication and performance work that are all changing so rapidly that a few years from now it may be hard to tell exactly when they changed. So, for the benefit of future sociologists, I will document them here.

The particular concert was Joanna Newsom playing at Carnegie Hall. It was the end of her tour and a packed crowd that loved the show.

Carnegie hall, like all of the performance venues I have been to recently, felt the need to send someone out before the show two make two important announcements. First, everyone should turn off their cell phones so that there would be no distracting ringing during the performance. People either complied or we were lucky, because the audience was quiet throughout the show. Second, we were told that all photography, and audio or video recording was prohibited.

This prohibition on recording is always interesting to me because, again like all of the performance venues I have been to recently, Carnegie Hall was not prohibiting any recording of the show, just any recording done by members of the audience. The hall itself is lined with microphones strategically placed to best capture the performance, even when the acoustics of the room requires hanging microphones floating out in the air at very what look like very awkward and precarious angles. Naturally, recording happened anyway.

Beyond the announcement at the beginning, and the ushers who showed us all to our seats, the only other communication from the venue was through the Playbill, printed on paper and used mainly to advertise other programs at the Hall, commercial products, and to list the donors to the Hall for that year. The bit about the actual performance that night was a single sheet inserted into the exact middle of the booklet, where it could be most easily assembled and stapled together. The text of that insert was clearly written by Joanna’s record label, badly. It is attached for your reference. In particular, notice the discussion of how surprising it is that internet distribution didn’t cut into the actual sales of her recent album. they write:

“The briskness of sales was even more surprising given that a prominent music website had unwittingly leaked the album in advance of the date.”

This was particularly amusing to me given that Joanna is currently dating Andy Samberg, one of viral video’s biggest stars. Presumably she has had a first hand look at the positive career impact of the internet.

The final bit I’ll talk about came at the very end of the show. The set was finished, Joanna and the band received a standing ovation, and left the stage. And came back. Of course they came back. Encores are a fixed part of performances today, as are, almost, the standing ovations that precede them. There’s no reason for that. The crowd was enthusiastic but equally mild mannered and not likely to start a riot for want of that last song. It is just how things are done.

These once exceptional events have become part of our everyday expectations. In the future, as all these expectations change, we can look back on the records that we make now and remember how things were different.

Happy holidays everyone.