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.