Satisfactory day at work, where The Survey from Hell was launched on the live version of The System From Hull.
In the evening a third rehearsal with Rosie and Fritz for her upcoming recordings. The evening didn’t start well, but once we got playing, music worked its healing power and we had a good time. Picked up Pest and pals from playing pool at Fountainbridge and headed home.
Ever attend the best gig ever, then get a tape of it and feel disappointed? Here are some reflections from mysterious record producer The Vicar:
My thoughts are simple : concerts and the recordings of concerts are
very different. A wonderful concert will often disappoint on recording,
while an unsettled experience – as with Broadchalke – may contain
jewels of wonderment and joy.Sight has much to do with it. We do not speak of "hearing" people in
concert, but of "seeing" them. Concerts are also shared experiences. We
are part of a crowd and our senses are, to some extent, not our own.
Outside influences, both negative (hatred of cigarette smoke,
photography, cold feet, tired legs, smelly neighbour) and positive
(love, lust) may colour the event.Of course, if you attend a concert, then the recording may rekindle
memories – so that you are, in effect, experiencing more than the
music. But it is always surprising how little you can judge the actual
music of an event by anyone’s experience at the time. The band
will assure you that it was the “best” or “worst” show of the tour –
and they will be reliably wrong.Or at least, they may have been right about the event itself, but not the notes that were captured on the tape.
Here ends the sermon.