Even the Stones take the stage on time these days (well close, anyway).
Concerts are a mature business. Dominated by a few companies that have the infrastructure and management down. You can't sneak in backstage, never mind sneak in at all. Act out of line and you'll get tossed. The free-for-all days are gone. It's organized. From buying the tickets online to the security scan to...
The high ticket prices. This is not a cheap night, going out to drink beer and ogle potential suitees, this is a regimented affair, a chance to see your favorite up close and personal. As for the charisma, the distance of yore...
That's history. It used to be exotic. A band from across the land, across the sea, was in your own hometown. And it tended to be your own hometown, you didn't board flights to go to a show, you might drive a few hours, but that was it. So to see David Bowie in person, whew! You pinched yourself that you were in the presence of greatness, of stardom. But today stardom is all over the internet, 24-7. Not only can you see pictures of your heroes, read their words, you can even watch the show you're going to see online beforehand, on YouTube.
So if you're trying to titillate the audience, get them ready, foaming at the mouth, you're out of touch. They're just waiting for you to go on. It's not much different from Vegas. Do your show so they can leave and get back to if not gambling, their regular life.
The Stones were legendary for going on stage late. The anticipation was out of control. When they took the stage heads exploded, metaphorically, at least.
And then there was Guns N' Roses, who couldn't get it together to get on stage on time. I can't say it enhanced the experience. Then again, in the interminable time it took for the band to appear cameras roamed the audience and put images up on the big screen. This was the first time I saw a woman lift her shirt and show her t*ts. Shocked me. This was before you could Google boobs. And it didn't reek of freedom so much as misogyny.
But now Axl Rose is 61. And Madonna is 65. People still want to see them, in droves, but the experience is different. They want to relive their memories. It's no longer cutting edge. Isn't Madonna finally doing her greatest hits, to ensure that she can sell tickets at prodigious prices?
Everybody comes down to earth, it's the songs that remain in heaven.
This was Rock 101. You made the audience wait and you never ever played until the sun went down. It was dark. You know, leather and pool cues. (Well, at least at Altamont.)
Things have changed. Bob Dylan told us that in a song a couple of decades back, and you've got to change with the times or be left behind.
It's one thing to go to a club to see a newbie band. But if the act has traction they're owned by the audience, you have both a bond and an obligation to the audience. You must respect the audience. If for no other reason than it's fickle and it's overwhelmed with choices. They don't need to see you as much as you think. They love going out, and if you make it too hard they stop.
Now in the old, pre-internet days, this lawsuit would have been big news, all over the MTV News, part of public scuttlebutt. And although I caught the news online yesterday, and can see some more news stories when I Google today, not a single person has e-mailed me about this. Because they don't care. There are very few acts that have total penetration of society. And even those don't penetrate as deeply as media purports they do.
You're in bed with your audience. You must respect people, or they move on.
So what is Madonna achieving by going on late? Illustrating how cool she is? Well, the people are in the building, and at this point it's a lot of the same people every tour, they're already in bed with Madonna.
Anticipation? It's not like the old days, where you stand there absolutely bored, waiting for delivery. No, these days you're on your phone, surfing, the same way you do at the doctor's office, waiting for your plane, pissed that no one is on time anymore. Being late doesn't bond people to you, it makes them resent you. In a world where every moment is precious.
And it's one thing in New York, which is a late night town, but on a weekday, and outside the Big Apple?
It's a bad look.
Do I think Live Nation is guilty, should be held liable? No. Everybody in the concert business knows that the act is king, or queen, everything revolves around them, they make all the decisions. Concert promoters are nothing without the acts, and they know it.
This is Madonna's call.
So what does she lose by going on on time? Well, maybe a bit of anticipation, a bit of fervor. But what does she lose by going on late? She's angering the people who support her.
This is not the old days, people have multiple choices for concerts, oftentimes on the very same night. They've come to see you and you're treating them like dirt?
I applaud these guys for suing. And, I hope they don't settle, not for a while anyway, at least not without a public mea culpa from Madonna. Oh, that will never happen, the promoter takes the heat, Live Nation will deliver the mea culpa and Madonna will take the stage closer to on time.
It's not 1984 anymore. As big as you think Taylor Swift is, Madonna was much bigger. Because she was all over MTV and radio when everybody was watching MTV and listening to the radio. Everybody knew "Like a Virgin." "Like a Prayer"'s video debut was an event.
But those days are through, nobody has that kind of mindshare anymore. The cheese has moved and Madonna hasn't moved with it.
The greats adjust to change.
If the public is paying all that money to see you, much more in adjusted dollars than they did in 1984, there's a covenant that they will have a professional experience. Good lights and sound. Respect.
It's not rock and roll anymore, it's show business.
It could be rock and roll once again, but then someone would have to break all the rules and they don't want to, because they can't turn down all that money, they want the corporate cash, they want the media love, they don't want to risk marginality. But everything new and different worth paying attention to is outside and pooh-poohed, it challenges our beliefs, our societal mores. And that's what Madonna did. But that was forty years ago. Today if you kill somebody you're only in the news for a day. Shoot up a school and it might be a bit longer, a week. Some "artist" taking a stand? Most people are not going to know about it. And then there are others who are going to say grow up, to stop being an adolescent.
You can be old and push boundaries, test limits. But our classic rockers have blinked. They get plastic surgery, they wear wigs, to try and remind us of what once was. But that was not the deal in rock and roll. If anything, you were supposed to live fast and die hard, soon. But if you lived, you've got to evolve.
So most people don't know Madonna is taking the stage so late, most people don't care what she's doing whatsoever, it's a small subset of the public.
And most people are not paying attention to new music, it's too overwhelming, incomprehensible, and the industry does nothing to combat this.
So some old woman (and she is a woman, this is not sexist, it can be a man too) goes out and performs ancient hits to those running on fumes, i.e. memories. Kudos that anybody wants to go. But don't tell me it's a cultural event. Don't ask me to care. And when I find out you're going on so late... I might still go, but most people will not.
Hell, Jamie Lee Curtis got more ink asking old rockers to do matinees!
So much has changed. When was the last time you had car trouble? Even back in '84 people wouldn't show up because their car wouldn't start.
Remember when you couldn't get ahold of people? Remember when answering machines were a breakthrough?
Remember when the food at the arena was awful?
You can't get away with that anymore, and you can't get away with going on hours late either. It's a losing proposition. You're angering your fans, and they're the ones supporting you.
Time to wake up.
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