Bring Back Live Music

[Q. Kumber]

A Manchester man sues a theatre and wins because the musical did not have live music.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... mment=true

The paragraph I liked best (emphasis added) is:

And what about the vexed question of miming? Is it strictly legal for Britney Spears, Madonna and other luminaries to pass themselves off as live singers when so many numbers in their stage shows are lip-synched to pre-recorded tracks (and usually lip-synched rather badly, too)? Granted, most of their fans dont seem to care. Theyve paid to see the spectacle, or soak up the atmosphere, or bask in the stars charisma. But what a deliciously humbling lesson it would be for these multimillionaire chanteuses if they were forced to print the words shes miming, you know on all the tickets for their supposedly live shows.

[Dustin Stinett]

I dont know if its the same in the UK, but in the US the musicians have unioned themselves out of many jobs. Its not that the cost of one musician is too high; its not. But at issue is the requirement for the how the number of musicians is determined for a production. More often than not, where eight musicians will do, the union requires more; sometimes many more. So instead of eight people getting a gig, no one gets the gig.

I recently saw a show (a one-night stand) where the performer (who will go unnamed) had to have additional musicians added to the show to come up to local union requirements. You could tell the union players from the regulars; the union guys phoned it in big time. When the time came to introduce the band, each regular was named and the union crew was introduced as Oh, and those guys. Sometimes you reap what you sow.

My favorite musicians union story: Years ago, some of the musicians in the NBC Orchestra on Johnny Carsons Tonight Show pitched a major bitch to Carson Productions because the drummer, Ed Shaughnessy, had his name emblazoned on his bass drum for all to see. They felt he was getting more side gigs as a result. Their union agreed and threatened action. One night during the monologue Johnny brought up the situation. Johnny, being Johnny, made it a very funny moment when he handed out placards with the names of each of the players in the orchestra. Several of those guys kept those placards up until the very last night of the show.

Dustin

[AJM]

While the case quoted is an extreme one, what live act / musical show these days doesn't employ some degree of theatrical trickery?

The nation was aghast a few years back when we were informed that the sound of the dancers taps in the Riverdance shows were pre-recorded on backing track to enhance the audiences' enjoyment.

Elsewhere it's commonplace for major rock bands to employ support musicians / vocalists while on tour - either up front or back stage.
At the very least, most shows will involve the use, to some degree, of backing tracks to augment the live performance.

Cheers

Andrew

[Ian Kendall]

I'm surprised (and I suppose not that surprised) at the Riverdance quote. I remember talking to one of the dancers in a bar in Edinburgh on the night the Playhouse got a bomb threat in 97. I asked her about the recording and she flatly denied it, but not in a defensive way. She also said that mistakes were not than uncommon and occasionally you could see a stray leg flying out of the line.

As for local musicians, Chuck Berry always plays with a local band - it's in his contract that the local promoter will supply a suitable band, and pay him in cash before the gig starts. A friend of mine played for him at an Edinburgh gig in the mid eighties (and I was only a little bit jealous).

Take care, Ian

[Bob Farmer]

One of the purchasers of one of my marketed effects was very upset about the method. Initially, I found this a bit disappointing because I thought the method was excellent. Then I realized he was upset because there WAS a method -- he was expecting real magic, not a trick.

[Q. Kumber]

I dont know if its the same in the UK, but in the US the musicians have unioned themselves out of many jobs. Its not that the cost of one musician is too high; its not. But at issue is the requirement for the how the number of musicians is determined for a production. More often than not, where eight musicians will do, the union requires more; sometimes many more. So instead of eight people getting a gig, no one gets the gig.

George Johnstone raised that very point some thirty years ago in his Magigram column. He was referring to the rise of discos and DJs. His point was that venues did not object to hiring musicians but they would not be told how many musicians they had to have. Result - they chose to have none.

Nonetheless, if I attend a live show, I expect to see a live performance.

One of the daftest things I've seen in years was also at The Lowry Theatre in Manchester. It was Mozart's opera Cosi Fan Tutte and at the side of the stage there was a lady translating the dialogue into sign language for the benefit of any deaf patrons.

At a play, I can understand but at an opera, where regardless of the language the opera is sung in, no one can understand the words anyway. :confused:

[Mark Pettey]

And for all of you who think it's cool to use pop music recordings for your act....

Some of my greatest memories of my road days were not of the concerts I did with big name bands for crowds of 80,000, but instead playing trumpet in the touring pit band for Joe Eddie Fairchild !

Yes, back then in the 1980's, Jim Nordmark's touring production, The International Allstar show had an 8 piece live band that played for Joe's illusion acts which comprised the bulk of the show.

I was so jazzed when I got the DVD of Blackstone,Jr. working in Atlantic City, and heard the live band playing from the pit. It is a completely different kind of energy than what the audience gets from the canned, monotonous synth beats so many Vegas and Vegas-wannabes use these days.

When was the last time you saw magic with a live band ?

Those were the days....

[Mark Pettey]

By the way, for those who complained about the union dictating the size of the musical group, this is hard for non-musicians to understand.

A full pit orchestra, like Broadway uses these days can be anywhere from 18 to 25 people. It used to be twice that size 20 years ago. A large orchestra sounds completely different than a small ensemble.

When producers of shows began to get greedier and greedier, the first thing they decided to slice from the budget were musicians. Although the composers, arrangers, conductors, and yes, even the musicians tried hard to explain how it would not sound the same with less players, the typical response from the front office was "no one will notice".

It is very frustrating to try to make a small band sound like a big orchestra. I know this from decades of trying to "make it work" with less than needed in pits and onstage behind even very famous stars, much less community or regional productions.

This is the main reason the AFM went to bat for minimum size ensembles for pit band and orchestras. Believe me, no one in the music industry gets rich except the superstars. Most sidemen in show bands make less income than a waiter.

[pixsmith]

Apropos of what Mark said, here is an article about a local "King and I" production
King and I review

that actually used a full 35 piece orchestra for first time in a number of years. It's amazing what a difference it made for the audience and for the performers.

Mark is right -- the per show rate for musicians isn't much -- and the jobs aren't that plentiful, and more and more producers want to replace string and horn players with synthesizers. Musicians run into the same issue of wondering why a magician ought to get $200 for a 45 minute show. Musicians aren't making that much for a sitting.

I am reminded of my friend Judy Brown of the Bob Brown puppets, who had a client say, "$200 for a half hour birthday party? My husband is a brain surgeon and he doesn't make that kind of money!" She replied, "I know, it's the whole reason I left brain surgery and went into puppetry."

As a producer, I understand the frustration with orchestra minimums, but as an artist, I respect it, and have to support it.
Live music? Bring it on.


FWIW

[Timothy Hyde]

When was the last time you saw magic with a live band ?

Those were the days....

As the Blackstone line goes, "vaudeville isn't dead, it just moved onto cruise ships"...working that market does allow you to work with a live band and many of us take up the opportunity. As mentioned it introduces a great new dynamic and energy.

There's also plenty of routines and bit's of business that can incorporate the band or the MD, who are usually outgoing and well liked personalities on board a ship, apart from just straight accompaniment.

There is a routine in my first book that I developed around Musical Telepathy, that was a lot of fun and uses the band.

[Gordon Meyer]

Earlier this year, at the banquet show for the Theory and Art of Magic Conference, Mark DeSouza performed his act while accompanied by a live pianist. It was wonderful and added a lot to the performance.

[mai-ling]

Uncle Jay would never have Lefty perform "If I Had My Way" to a recording.

Even if it meant me accompanying him with a harpsichord.

As Dustin said, unions did create it to be difficult.
Not just for the musicians themselves but for magicians
who used ethinic music for their act.

If you ever watch video of my father performing on Bozo,
the band performed "Dance of the Siamese Children" since
it was the closest to Asian themed music.

There was a point where there were so many incindences
at one time, particularly when my parents first got married
that my dad paid a friend who was an arranger to write
original music for the act. (He was a III Sheeter too).

I mean for each effect he did from the flowers to the
Chicken Vanish.

How often did that music got used?

I have no clue.

My mom said it wasn't cheap!

But I know where the music is stored and someday would
like to try to figure out what it sounds like.