Pop music outdoors - legacies of The Beatles (tribute band)

collage of evening performance - Click the JPG for full-size display

During the summer there are many cities large and small where musical performances are offered, either gratis (grant-funded, normally) or using corporate sponsors to defray general admission ticket prices to pay the performers, the facilities staff, the parking team to direct cars in and off the grounds, and so on. Depending on the show, crowds can range from 100s to 1000s, most of whom have bought folding chairs to claim a spot to view the stage. People with blankets to sit on may still enjoy the amplified sound and light effects, but sometimes have a poor line of sight to the stage.

Like the open air amphitheaters of Roman and Greek and many other civilizations, the audience sits on a slope to catch the oncoming sound from stage. Small children may entertain themselves here and there when the music does not hold memories for them, or its rhythm is not attractive enough to draw them in. This particular series, Grand Rapids (Michigan) Symphony Orchestra "Picnic Pops" series begins early July and runs to the end of August. For the indoor performance season they have followed other musical companies in accompanying a feature film with their live music as the audience watches the big screen. But on this humid, breezy evening at the Cannonsburg Ski Area a few miles to the north and east of the city of Grand Rapids, the premium ticket holders sit within 50 feet of the stage and enjoy decorated tables and some light refreshments to accompany whatever (alcohol or non-alcoholic) drinks they may have brought along to rest in the ice-filled coolers prepared for their use. The general admission tickets ("lawn") is organized on the principle of first-come, first-served basis for seating. People arriving with the sun still high in the sky and hot on the ground were able to sit relatively close to the sound and the banks of speakers. Late-comers tended to sit on the slope farther away, rather than to squeeze into the gaps here and there of the earlier throng.

 

playback at youtube for full-screen video clip, https://youtu.be/WJxITW9OtTo 

The stage presence and level of expertise of the Beatles-like group, backed by the 70 piece orchestra, made for good entertainment. Beyond the surface level of "truthiness" (resemblance to the authentic band members, circa 1969) and musicality, from the point of view of cultural meanings there were so many cues and associated images and memories woven into the show. Not all audience members responded analytically to identify the elements contributing to their experience, but some of the people may have noticed these meanings, depending on their age and relationship to the music long ago and today. Other meanings observed may have been too esoteric or attached to a social science observer to matter or to be perceptible to the general audience.

First there is the longevity of this pop/commercial music, initially limited to the youth culture of the English-speaking countries and later more widely spreading to other societies and to other generations as the youth of the 1960s carried the music forward into their 20s and 30s on up to the present, as well as introducing it to their parent's generation and to their own children. As a cultural production, the idea of tribute bands is remarkable: respectful impressionists or impersonators with the wigs of period hairstyle, with clothing similar to the original fashions, with a selection of sound-bytes from decades ago actually spoken by each of the Beatles, the Fab' Four, and lyrics intoned with hints of the accent of the Liverpool 1960s and spoken, as well, in between songs when addressing the audience. Apart from a brief moment near the end when each actor/musician is introduced by his legal name and hometown or residence claimed (NYC, Huntington Beach, California; Detroit, Michigan; ?Tuscon, Arizona). There are other tribute bands, sometimes comprised of one or more original band members - or perhaps those ensembles claim the original band brand/name when presenting their playlist and performance on stages of the live circuit (convention centers, Las Vegas, casinos, summer outdoor venues). Elvis Presley impressionists are also numerous still today, with each new generation producing yet another crooner. Considering the large number of "top ten" or "platinum" or gold records sold (large volume published) to each new wave of youth generation, perhaps it is surprising that only a few bands have a big enough following to draw fans in tribute. The fan-base for the Grateful Dead is durable and diverse. It will be interesting to see if there will be tribute bands for 'The Dead' in another generation or two. And it will be interesting to see if today's tribute bands (Beatles, Elvis, for instance) will still be performing the tuneful song-stories a generation or two from now. By then most of the people seated on the grass in the photos and video clips shown here will be deceased; the small children of this event will be grown and perhaps have children or even grandchildren of their own.

Second there is the modern and also the historical concert-going culture. During the song, "Imagine," much of the orchestra was idle, since not many Beatles songs were performed or recorded with full orchestras. A few musicians in the string section lit up their cellphone flashlights to wave slowly in time with the music so that audience members could see and respond by mirroring this motion with their own beams of light. Eventually more than 100 of the lights were flickering on and moving side to side overhead across the grassy slope. This action echoes the 1970s concert experience when disposable pocket (cigarette and marijuana joint) lighters would be ignited briefly until they became too hot to hold. When the light was dim indoors or the sky was dark outdoors the effect of the many lights flickering on and off in a large expanse was like a field of fireflies in mid-summer. Another feature of concert-going is for some people to stand up to dance at their seat or to gather near the stage-front to dance. On this night there were not too many people owhose inhibitions were low enough to overcome performance anxiety in order to move their bodies to the beat of the music. Sing-along was another thing that came up at this outdoor event; so many people know the chorus, and sometimes the verses, that quietly or loudly they hummed or sung along. During the penultimate "Hey, Jude" the band called out for all people in their 20s and younger to sing the chorus; the next time just the women (more numerous than the men); and finally the men before calling for one-and-all to raise their voices. Near the intermission (termed 'interval' in the British fashion) the band invited audience members to shop for CDs and T-shirts from the tribute players. It becomes a hall of mirrors when a musical ensemble goes beyond playing a song as a cover and actually dresses up and expresses some of the signature accessories (glasses, jewelry, hat), mannerisms, quotes, and accent to perform that cover song *as if* the musician being tributed now is present. When recordings of the cover song as performed by the tribute band are being sold, it is a reflection of a reflection; or it is a reflection that is a few steps of separation away from the year, the location, the (living) person being imitated, and so on.



Third there is the economics of this pop/commercial music production. It is a logistical wonder to bring all elements into coordination as the director's baton falls and the first note of music rises from the stage and speakers, filling the hillside slope with familiar chords and melodies that audience members may first have heard on car radio, transistor radio, a friend's 45 rpm record or a long-play (LP) vinyl album. Younger audience members might know the tunes from movie (or YouTube) sound tracks, advertising on TV or Internet, or possibly from college "music appreciation" classes. Others might have discovered some of the songs from browsing online - one song triggers similar ones for the listener to consider selecting. Logistics includes synchronizing schedules of the 70 piece orchestra members and staff (including marketing, sales, facilities), as well as the featured tribute band's travel, accommodation, stage needs (costume change, refreshment/rest space, toilets) and payment. Then there are the host venue details of security (emergency response plans and practice in case of natural disaster or human-caused terrorism, health crisis, traffic accident, robbery, and so on), stage set-up and packing up at the end, preparing the site for portable toilets, vendors, ticket sales and collection, lost-and-found, petty cash and electronic payments on debit or credit card, or perhaps by digital money associated with phone app.

looking over the ski slope concert venue - click image for full size view

Audience members themselves must coordinate their schedules to arrive in a timely way, pass the ticket barrier, claim a seating position and transporting their own picnic or other refreshments (or purchasing something from vendors on site). Since an important part of the financial support comes from corporate sponsors, well before the event itself there is a lot of effort put into attracting financial support and publicly acknowledging that sponsoring role. Reflecting on all of the behind-the-scenes preparation that leads up to the 1.5 to 2 hours of live entertainment, truly it is a wonder. Without the convenience of mobile telecommunication, digital financial relationships, desktop publishing and online promotional efforts, it is hard to imagine how it would be possible to draw an audience keen on reliving old melodies in a wide-open, outdoor space in the company of other summer music lovers. And yet the 1960s music weekend at Woodstock, New York somehow was carried through with no cell phones and Internet. Going back at least to the Ancient Romans and before that the Greeks, not to forget civilizations outside of the Mediterranean and long before that Western Golden Age, there have been outdoor drama and music performances. So modern electronic communication, amplification, and transactions are not necessarily needed to produce an event. However, the myriad details can be controlled and re-purposed more rapidly and supplely now than would be possible before the time of electricity.

final notes in the concert - click image for full size view

In summary, the experience of outdoor summer music on this scale and filled with the creative work of four young men of northwest England is much more significant than merely embracing a bit of musical nostalgia and enjoying fine musicianship. It is a sign of the times when something long ago can still be relevant to consumers who normally dwell on current fads and the Next Big Thing. This cultural production touches on history, commerical/pop genre of music, stage performance and live music traditions, lyrics embedded in a time and society different to today, and involving complicated logistics of time, technologies, resources, funding, and public appeal.