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OT: Keller Williams / jam bands/ rc50



Okay, I admit this is getting a bit off topic now....

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Miko Biffle" <biffoz@arczip.com>
>
> So yeah, maybe thousands could pull it off, but what would be the point? 
> It
> would be insincere, and most audiences can smell that a mile away-so 
>while

Do you think this is a true statement? Hmmmm.  I guess I'm skeptical. 
Given 
how well marketing, even the most blatant and superficial, works with the 
masses, I've always been inclined to think that the "herd" falls for just 
about anything if it is pitched right. How many pop stars can you think of 
that are completely contrived in their show and act, but the crowd just 
eats 
them up. The herd loves in insincere. Since when was honesty in the 
entertainment business a plus for the hoi polloi? This is why people 
looooove Vegas so much...it's pure cheese and superficially. Now maybe 
Keller has a unique following of special people who managed to weed out 
the 
herd instinct, but  that would be surprising. I would take the newer dead 
or 
phish head scene (even with the neo-hippie punks who drive to concerns in 
their parents BMWs, but haven't showered for weeks and are wearing dirty, 
filthy dreds) as an example of a crowd that flocks to the contrived, but 
that would be a thread on its own. :)  Again, this does not reflect 
negatively on Keller. I think he knows what he is doing. All people with a 
good business mind and an understanding of the mass mentality do know what 
they are doing.  The herd is a massive potential of untapped financial 
potential. And if I was comfortable with playing mediocre music and 
dancing 
around like a white-boy clown, I'd be doing the same thing!  Heh 
heh....sorry, I haven't had my coffee and I'm sleep deprived from staying 
up 
with a sick kids...

> it might sound similar: competently played, no offensive mistakes, even 
> some
> fake passion-there would probably still be something missing.

Fake passion, real passion, purple passion, purple people eater 
passion....the entertainment industry could care less. Like I said, 
sometimes playing the "I'm sincere" card backfires, because people flock 
to 
insincerity. It adds touch of mystery and inaccessibility to the artist 
that 
keeps fans guessing and hoping.  Good entertainers are often good actors 
as 
well, so it is difficult to tell whether what they are doing is a real 
reflection of their selves and personal life story.

> When music is distilled down to it's mechanical nuts-and-bolts, it's 
>easy 
> to
> think you might be able to quantify and decode an event-I find it hard to
> believe that maybe you've never witnessed a magical moment where "simple"
> music, played by an "ordinary" player, (maybe even with a few clams 
>thrown
> in) moved an entire roomful of people.  For a creative guy, you're 
> sounding
> somewhat intolerant.

It's not intolerance...it's sincerity. Couldn't you tell that I was 
playing 
a role of the devil's advocate? Partly, and partly not...that's for you to 
figure out, I guess...but you sort of validate my point above. With little 
effort on this list, I "could" write response after response and no one 
will 
ever know whether I actually believe what I'm writing or not...this can be 
the case for anyone, and even music performance....looping or not.  I can 
take on any persona I choose, and in the end only my closest friends and 
musical colleagues understand my motives and thinking processes.  But, 
seriously, yes, I have experienced many magical moments from utterly 
simple 
pieces of performances.  I don't see your point, though. I was 
intentionally 
marginalizing his performance with the observation that what he does is 
not 
particular difficult to do or that original and creative, and magical 
moments don't negate that fact.  But it does stand true that he is 
successful at what he is doing. I'm just not going to put him on another 
type of pedestal when his act doesn't warrant it. From entertainment 
value, 
yes, he's a winner...from a creative music, artistic value...he's lost the 
race, in my opinion.  I wasn't at Keller's concert, the one in the video), 
but it certainly doesn't sound like one that would give me any of those 
magical moments (it's all subjective). But I admit, it is hard to tell 
what 
can happen at a live event. One can't always control his/her own emotions. 
Who knows, maybe I could become a Keller fan! I could learn to love Vegas 
afterall.

>
> I'd just like to suggest that intent and context might be important 
> aspects
> of a performance and those admiring audients appreciate something the
> performer provides; to quantify them as stoned simpletons only highlights
> your own prejudice.

> Oh ja . . . there's my boring 2 cents.

Well, it's more than 2 cents. I've managed to write all this criticism of 
a 
performer, fully admitting it is my own perspective, without personal 
attack - suggesting someone is intolerant or prejudice. That is one skill 
in 
the art of debate, being able to argue a point without committing the 
fallacy of Argumentum ad Hominem. We are exchanging ideas here (true or 
not, 
probable or improbable), which is a 2000 year old tradition that has 
proven 
success without personal attack. The beauty of respective discourse is the 
ability to stay at the level of ideas, and not involve the character or 
alleged character of the person, which has no bearing on the facts.  No 
respect take, however. I'm used to it given my academic background.

....now back to looping.

K-