My problem with live music

I have a problem. I realised my problem tonight, while standing in a crowded, smoky, hot, overcrowded bar, waiting for Neko Case to sing. The problem I have is this: While I love music, especially live music, I can’t stand live music venues. The darkness, the music that’s always just a little bit too loud, the overpriced drinks, the poor ventilation, the defying of physics by trying to cram too many people into a small space. All the social stuff as well – seeing and being seen, making sure not to be seen with so-and-so, making sure to wear the right clothes, pledge the right allegiances, don’t wear a Spice Girls shirt to a Calexico concert.

Neko Case opened for Calexico this evening at a place called the Hi Fi Bar, in Melbourne city. As venues go, it’s alright. Certainly above average, at least. It’s relatively clean and somewhat generic. Everything anyone could want from a venue. It doesn’t disappoint. However, because it’s a live music venue with too many people, too much smoke, nowhere to sit, and overpriced beer (all the stuff one comes to expect at a live music venue), I couldn’t stand it. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to realise something basic about my likes and dislikes.

So anyway, the show. Remember, gentle reader, how I said yesterday that Neko was a bit of a disappointment? Not this time. She was back, the Neko I remember. She was joking with the audience, making fun of herself and her band. She threatened to cry unless we stopped clapping for her, claiming embarrassment. She played better, sang better, and her band of two boyfriends played more cohesively too. She was, to put it simply, captivating. And that’s an understatement. I guess she just doesn’t like the Sidney Meyer Bowl. And who could blame her? It’s a live music venue.

After a short break, Calexico came on stage and played pretty much the same set as they did at the Nick Cave show. I liked it less the second time around I think – the thrill of discovering a new band with a new sound wasn’t there this time. I appreciated some of the better songs more though, and it was really good to see them close up. One song that I don’t remember from the Nick Cave show was one featuring a muted trumpet (muted trumpets melt my heart). Partway through, it simply turned a corner, changed a beat slightly and changed completely into a Chet Baker like smoky jazz number, as if that’s what they were playing all along. Like a Transformer (more than meets the eye™) – the smoky jazz was there all the time, we just didn’t hear it. Knocked my socks off. Of course, I’m a sucker for the muted trumpet. And desert scenes in movies. Give me a desert scene with a muted trumpet playing wistfully on the soundtrack, and I might die right there.

Unless I’m in a live music venue.