It has been a couple weeks of great musical entertainment for me. Wilco at Central Park Summerstage, Jon Brion at Le Poisson Rouge, and Deadmau5 at Roseland; all of them wonderfully different and uniquely fun. Wilco rocks as hard as any band with a rare restraint that pulls you forward as a listener. Jon Brion is the best musician I have ever seen, playing solo and recording drum, piano, glockenspiel, guitar and bass loops, building his songs with sweet harmony and jaw-dropping skill into some absolutely beautiful sonic collages. Deadmau5 is one of the biggest DJs in the world now and performs his bass-blasting vibrations perched high on a stunning light-and-projections visual set while the kids dance hard.
I love all music. From around the world, with any instruments, I listen to everything. Rhapsody and now Spotify have made that even easier, making music virtually free and offering allowing a diversity of taste and consumption previously unimaginable. Recorded music is now easily and instantly accessible, which is a cultural bonanza, but also creates the problem of too much information. How can we differentiate between all the artists creating this music? It is, in my mind, a live performance that makes the music truly memorable. When the music is performed and captivates the audience, it creates an ephemeral experience that can last a lifetime; a moment in our brief lives that can never be replayed endlessly on the internet. In a world of supply and demand that dictates value, infinite access decreases a work’s worth, while a unique and powerful live experience is truly priceless.