Mac Demarco is an Alternative/Indie artist that has created many great albums that have been extremely popular on social media and in general. His 2012 album “2”, was a major success with songs like “Freaking Out the Neighborhood” and “My Kind of Woman” have been extremely successful and has paved the way for his newer music which has gotten better and better. He performed at Primavera Sound 2019, which is a musical festival that takes place in Barcelona yearly. I watched the concert on youtube due to my love of his music and due to the opportunity off of this assignment.

The performers even with the chill, synthwave music still try to vibe out and try to hype up the music. With little gestures like dancing a bit or even moving their hands a little while playing their respective instruments. Mac also has moments where he tunes his guitar and talks to the audience during intermissions. It seems like a very relaxed environment which can also be shown by the fact that the audience sings along and screams a lot during the performances beggining or ends. Also all of the audience are standing as it is a festival outside. People dress in all different varieties but summer clothing seems to be prevalent due to the heat, all different kinds of people come together to enjoy good music. What suprised me was the sheer amount of people during the show, there is at least a couple thousand there and it seems overwhelming to me personally. Compared to the concerts seen in unit 7 like Beethoven and Whiteman, it seems more relaxed and less about composure and preciseness but rather about the feeling and everybody just enjoying themselves while listening to Mac’s music.

Last winter I saw Morgan Wallen perform a concert at Madison Square Garden. Morgan Wallen is a country singer and this concert happened to be the first performance out of his whole tour. Me and my best friends love listening to country music and Morgan Wallen is my friend’s favorite artist. Her mom got the three of us pit tickets as an early graduation gift so we can see him live. Mostly everybody in the audience had on either a cowboy hat, blue jeans, or some boots. Most adults were drinking beer. Everybody chanted USA and sang along to every song. I expected all of this to be occurring during a country concert. I have been to many, and it is always the same thing. Country concerts are mainly filled with good people who love our country and are down for a good time.  In unit seven, we watched Claudio Monteverdi, “You are dead”fromOrfeo(1607). A performance like this is very different from the Morgan Wallen concert. In this opera, they had costumes compared to the concert I attended they wore jeans and a t-shirt. The audience did not sing along to this song like we did at the country concert. The music is completely opposite from each other, and the performances are nothing alike! 

The performing artist/group: Little Mix (LM5 Tour)

The genre of music they performed: Pop and R&B/Soul

The space they performed in: London, The O2 Arena 

What made you decide to attend or watch the concert?: Little Mix has always prided themselves on always wanting to do better than the previous material they have put out. Rather it be their music, albums, or the performances/tours they do. So, as a fan, you can always expect something new and engaging when they come on stage. 

Then, discuss how the performers and audience behaved (for example, dress style, interaction with the performer/audience, movement, etc). 

Performers:

There were many sections throughout the concert. So there were many themes and costume changes throughout the almost two-hour performance. The performers and dancers were in colorful clothing and patterns. For example, there was like this animal print phase and a jean and plaid phase. 

Little Mix loves their fans and often likes to interact with and involve them in their performances. Jesy is always hyping the crowd to jump and scream, and they also like to share some personal moments with the fans as well (flying over the crowd or talking about feelings). 

When it comes to dancing, Little Mix gives full choreography. The dances are always high energy and the dancers match up to that energy. The dancers also get up close and personal with the girl group to create the vibe that the song is putting forward. 

Everything from the lights on the stage and the video playing in the background on the stage was colorful and everything matched the tempo of the music. 

Audience:

The audience was singing along to the songs, they were dancing, grooving, jumping up and down, and screaming/crying throughout the whole concert. 

Did anything surprise you, or did everything match with your expectations?: Nothing surprised me about the concert, as it lived up to the expectations that these girls created for themselves. 

Compare this concert to one we discussed in Unit 7: A concert that I would like to compare with that of Little Mix at their LM5 tour is Beethoven’s Concert in 1808. Just like Little Mix’s Concert, Beethoven’s concert was the one to be at. Both of these artists are well-respected performers, so it is obvious that if either had a concert to do, people would go and watch the show. Just like the concert at the O2 in London, for Little Mix, the Beethoven concert was sold out. People were expecting to be dazzled. The Little Mix concert went extremely well and the audience loved the show. The same however can not be said about the Beethoven concert. While the sections done by Beethoven were the fan favorites, the rest of the four-hour show was disorganized and not pleasing to a lot of people. The orchestra was not well practiced, it was too long, cold, and too complex. The audience found most of the show to be displeasing for their liking so the show was not a great hit with the people. Despite the outcome, Beethoven was able to produce famous pieces that we all know today for that concert that night.

I have been to a couple of concerts in my life including Ariana Grande, Maroon 5 and Kesha and Macklemore. But, the coolest concert I have been to in my opinion was the combination concert of Joan Jett, Posion, Motley Crue and Def Leppard. It was so different than any other concert I have been to. It was a 6 hour long concert and their concerts only were taking place at stadiums, hence the name “The Stadium Tour.” I saw it at Citi Field with my boyfriend in June this past summer. The genre of all of the performers is rock/hard rock. I have always loved and appreciated older music and the fact that I had an opportunity to go see a concert from 70’s and 80’s bands was crazy to me. My own parents who also love these bands had never even seen them in concert before. The performers were all mainly dressed in black and it was the typical rock band look with the men with long hair. Even the audience dressed in a particular way with denim shorts or ripped jeans, band tees, and a lot of black. The audience mostly consisted of people in their 40’s to 60’s and everyone was drinking alcohol and even smoking weed. My boyfriend and I at only 18 years old felt a little out of place. The way in which the audience behaved was everyone was standing and screaming the lyrics. So many people in front of us were dancing the whole time and throwing up the “rock on” hand sign. It was a very loud, crazy and exciting performance. Once it got dark outside, the colorful beaming lights and strobe lights went on and it looked so cool. Motley Crue even had a giant blow up woman for their song “Girls, Girls, Girls.” Many people in the audience were recording the concert and during “Home Sweet Home” people put their flashlights on and waved their phones back and forth. Everything matched my expectations with this concert. In comparison to a concert we have spoken about in class such as Beethoven’s, this one was loud, intense and the audience interacted by screaming the lyrics and dancing. In Beethoven’s, the audience was sitting and listening and only reacted by clapping when it concluded. Also, in Beethoven’s, the performers were very formally dressed and that was not the case for the concert I attended. Finally, in the concert I was at, the performers were dancing and they had backup dancers while in Beethoven’s concert, the performers were sitting playing their instruments on the stage.

One performance I watched online was by Michael Jackson. It was a performance he had done in 1993 at the Superbowl. During his performance, Michael Jackson performed a variety of songs such as “Jam” (with the beginning of “Why You Wanna Trip On Me”), “Billie Jean” and “Black or White” (including the beginning of “Another Part of Me”) including the ending of Batten’s guitar solo. The thing that ultimately made me watch the concert was the hype surrounding the performance. I had always heard about Michael Jackson and how talented he was as a musician so I decided to watch one of his concerts. This was my first exposure to a Michael Jackson live and I was not disappointed. I believe his performance and aura were well worth the hype as he was perfectly in control of the stage. Michael Jackson appeared in a costume similar to the one that marching bands wear. It was formal wear and in the color of black and white. During one of his performances, he wore a hat that he incorporated into his dancing. The audience was very excited by the performance as they were all cheering and yelling. He performed with such gust that most of the audience was speechless. The beginning of his performance was also impressionable as he stayed silent in front of the crowd to build the hype and get the audience riled up. The major difference between the concerts of Michael Jackson and Igor Stravinsky was the overall mood. Michale Jackson’s concert had more of a pop genre and was more well accepted by the audience. The audience loved Michael Jackon’s performance while the audience was more confused about Igor’s performance. Igor’s performance was more experimental so it wasn’t too well received by the people. 

1. The author believes that once the music began it caused laughter, however, once the dancing began the audience catcalled so loudly that the performers couldn’t hear the orchestra. Eventually, a fight arose between 2 people in the audience, and then the audience started throwing vegetables and other objects at the stage and orchestra. It’s not certain if police ever arrived at the theatre, but 40 people were forced to leave. Even though all this transpired, the ballet was performed until the end. It’s unclear whether the audience was upset at the choreography or the music composition. 

2. The author says that what actually happened that night was not a riot. They say that since the dancers’ stomping movements were inspired in part by dances in Siberia, etc, the Europeans weren’t used to these “exotic” moves, and the aristocrats laughed because they thought they were supposed to. However, music lovers, critics, etc, were appalled and responded by complaining and insulting the aristocrats. The ballet ignited anger, but the anger was not all directed at the stage. The author uses Tamara Levitz’s “Racism at The Rite,” musicological research, to defend their points. Levitz cites various sources that described the atmosphere as confrontational and impassioned, but not physically violent. There are no mentions of any fights, and much less a riot, in the early stories. Furthermore, another piece of evidence proving there was no riot is that there was another ballet, Carl Maria von Weber’s Le Spectre de la rose, also choreographed by Nijinsky. If the riot was as destructive as portrayed, it would be impossible to perform another ballet after the destruction. 

3. I was confused and scared. Now we have seen scenes of exorcism and the dancing looked just like that. The intense music made me feel uneasy and grossed out. It was creepy. If I was in the audience in 1913, I probably wouldn’t be as scared because there weren’t exorcist scenes to even compare the performance to. I think I would still feel uneasy and really confused.

In “100 years ago today, ‘The Rite of Spring’ incited a riot in a Paris theater” the author does not exactly know what caused the riot at the show, but he knows that it ended in chaos. Angry Parisians threw vegetables at the stage. They didn’t know whether it was the music or the dancing, but the audience was angry. It could have even been a publicity stunt. It started out as a high pitched bassoon solo that had the audience laughing. Soon after the dancers came on, performing violent moves that turned the audience’s laughter into catcalling.  Even though the performance was completed, it went through hell to get there. The author of  “Did Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring incite a riot at its premiere” believes that this riot didn’t even happen. They believe that the assaults were not given directly to the stage, but were given in reviews and journals. They also state how at the end of the performance, the “dancers took five curtain calls”, and another ballet took place after which would not be possible if there was a riot. There were also no reviews that stated there were any physical fights that took place on that night. I thought the performance was chilling. I think she performed the choreography really well, even though it’s a bit strange. If I was in the audience that night I would just take it all in and realize what I am watching is a true piece if art and realize how unique it is. 

In the article “100 years ago today ‘ The Rite of Spring’ incited a riot in Paris theater” the author believes that it began with a bassoon and ended in a brawl. The author believes that during the performance things got so out of hand that people had to be evicted from the audience. Some believe that it could’ve been staged as a stunt to gain attention and some believe that the actual incident was over exaggerated. This incident brought fame to Stravinsky even though it had a lot of negative feedback during its debut. People now celebrate it’s anniversary and instead of attending the performance with hostility they attend it with the means to celebrate it. 

In the second article “ Did Stravisky’s The Rite of Spring incite a riot at its premiere?” talks about how the premiere was expected to be a major cultural event given the talent involved. Instead the audience were given ugly costumes with heavy choreography and harsh music. The audience did not take well to this surprise and booed as well as jeered at the performers. Others defended the artists creating fights all around to make it so that the actual performance was barely heard. Though this is not what the author believed to have actually happened. He points out that people who described their experience mainly came from the seating at the balcony. He believes that the already harsh sounds created at the performance were enhanced even more for people seated at the balcony making it seem worse than it actually was. The dance the performers did were not some that most of the people form the audience were used to seeing. They viewed it as insulting and did not take well to some of the parts that were meant to be seen as humorous. Despite all this, according to people who actually attended the performance, there were no fights or riots. Making it so that people who claimed there were liars.

Unlike the audience I had a little background information on what to expect when first watching the ballet so I wouldn’t say that I was surprised like they were. From my perspective it seems that the performers are displaying the people in a very stereotypical way. I don’t enjoy how they are made to be seen as primitive. If I were to watch this without anyone telling me what it was about, My first thought would never be that it was a ballet. I can see why the audience was surprised. Going to a ballet expecting to see a traditional ballet performance than seeing this would be quite shocking. I think I would be disappointed and angered.

In “100 years ago today, ‘The Rite of Spring’ incited a riot in a Paris theater,” Amar Toor writes about the public’s reaction to the debut of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet. The audience laughed and mocked the ballet from the beginning. When the dancers arrived on stage with unusual costumes and abnormal choreography, the crowd reacted so negatively and loud that the choreographer had to shout the commands from backstage so that the ballerinas could continue. There were two types of people in the audience: traditionalists and modernists. Daniel Waymouth explains that traditionalists were “those wanted things to be tame and ‘pretty’,” while modernists were “eager for something new.” A small fight broke out which concluded with angry audience members throwing vegetables and other objects towards the stage. It has been speculated that this event was a publicity stunt or an operation planned by the traditionalists. This performance led to Stravinky’s international stardom and status as the world’s leading contemporary composer.

In “Did Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring incite a riot at its premiere?” the author argues that the riot didn’t even happen. The only witness accounts of the premiere are from the people that were seated on the balcony. Their environment most likely exaggerated the sounds causing it to be overwhelming. It is unknown whether the audience in other seats experienced the same issue (11). The costumes and the choreography was supposed to represent the primitive aspect of their setting. The stomping were inspired from ethnographic accounts of dances in Serbia. The dance moves were intended as humor when they were danced outside of the actual stage where aristocrats would laugh at them. This was racist and considered disrespectful which caused a lot of outrage from people. However, it’s speculated that only those close them heard and saw these insults. The accounts mention nothing of physical violence or any riots happening. There was another ballet performed right after with the same choreographer (18). Instead of being angry at the premiere, it seems that the audience was more confused. The author uses Tamara Levitz’s essay, “Racism at the Rite” as evidence.

When I first heard “Sacrificial Dance” from “The Rite of Spring,” I felt unnerved. The music would suddenly get loud, causing me to slightly flinch. The dance was also unsettling as there were quick and sharp movements while the arms and the rest of the body would be at weird angles occasionally. If I was in the audience in 1913, I would’ve felt the same way. I would probably be pretty scared because the music would be even louder at the performance. However, I would still silently watch it until the end.