Live Music

Last Monday, we discussed live music versus recorded music in class.  This is something that I feel strongly about, considering amount of time I spend on Youtube watching live versions of my favorite songs.  Obviously a recorded song sounds more polished and perfected, but there is something about a rough, imperfect version of a song that appeals to me.  The song sounds more meaningful and true to me when I know it hasn't been cleaned up in a studio.  I feel as if I am right there when the song is being played.  When I listen to a studio recording I feel like I could be a million miles away, or even in another universe.  

I don't even mind it when you can hear the crowd cheering or singing along.  To me, that just adds to the authenticity of the performance.  I am aware that some people don't like a noisy crowd when they go to a concert.  Their argument is, they paid to hear the band play, not the people around them.  They think that everyone should sit in silence and watch the band.  While I can understand the frustration of excess noise when you are trying to listen to a concert you paid a lot of money to see, I believe a live performance is an experience everyone should participate in, not just the performer.  If the audience is having a good time and they want to cheer or sing along, than that is their prerogative.  They also paid to be there; therefore, they should be allowed to make the most out of their experience.  This ties back into my previous entry, where I argued that music is about participation, not just listening politely and simply applauding once the song ends.  Any reasonable performer would want their audience to have a good time with them, and as long as it's not distracting, they should welcome audience participation.

Although live versions of songs often sound rougher than studio recordings, I believe that listening to the same studio recorded version of a song gets boring.  Listening to a live version has many advantages.  You can hear a more true version of a song that means a lot to you.  You can get closer the experience of a live performance without actually being there.  My question is, what is the difference between hearing a recorded live performance and actually being there to hear it?