The Grateful Dead, 10/9/89 Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA. The show was billed as "Formerly, The Warlocks". That night the band broke out Dark Star for the 1st time since 1984, Death Don't Have No Mercy for the second time since 1970, and Attics of My Life for the first time since 1972. The show was monumental and moving, but the best part was when the lights went on immediately after the show. Everyone suddenly saw everybody else and we all let out a collective scream at the top of our lungs for what we had just seen. It doesn't get any better than that, and if my system ever comes even close I'll be very scared.
"Emotionally involving" music and your system...
I recently attended a concert performance of Brahms' 1st Symphony and found the experience, quite frankly, overwhelming. I had previously heard this piece at least a dozen times on my system. I had also attended roughly a dozen live concert events over the last several years. While I found each of these listenings on my system enjoyable and each of these live performances interesting, none had any real emotional impact. On this occasion, however, I felt swept up by the music. By the time the last few chords came crashing down in the final movement I felt emotionally drained and had shivers running down my spine. I still cannot explain my reaction. Perhaps I felt that same sense of exhilaration that Brahms must have felt as he composed those last few bars, casting off the great shadow of Beethoven for at least a few brief moments. When I returned home I put a copy of this same work on my system. It had none of the emotional involvement of the live performance.
My question, then, is this: What pieces of music have you heard performed live that have had this effect on you? Have you been able to duplicate this effect at home via a recording? (I am sure some of you might think my system needs an upgrade, and I agree, but I will save that for another post.)
My question, then, is this: What pieces of music have you heard performed live that have had this effect on you? Have you been able to duplicate this effect at home via a recording? (I am sure some of you might think my system needs an upgrade, and I agree, but I will save that for another post.)