Blog Post // 2020-09-03

Live Performance - Where Is The Line?

It was a recent live video I watched of a band performing at a venue I had watched many bands perform at. A small place. You could say intimate space. The band was Daughters and they just took the idea of an intimate performance to a whole new level. Quite frankly an inappropriate level. The vocalist crossed so many personal space lines, legal lines. I was shocked. If I was at this performance and had no idea how this band does things I would have been ready to leave. The crowd looked like they were quite enjoying it all. The vocalist was walking through the crowd for most of the performance as he was screaming his vocals out. At one point he bit a man’s nipple, he grabbed a girl and kissed her, he took a piece of clothing off a man, he had his face touching other people’s regularly, he rode on the back of people almost knocking them to the ground, he swung his microphone inches from people’s faces.

It got me wondering: when have you gone too far during your performance? Obviously not everyone is on the same page about this. If it is illegal to go up to someone you don’t know and touch them on the street, then it also is even if you are in a band.

When swinging something around that would do damage if it connected, it is probably best to be safely on the stage away from a crowd of people. What are you going to do if you knock someone out? I suppose keep on performing?

I suppose a lot of things go down at a metal show in a pit. People swing their fists and they connect at times. I know I have been punched by guys and never held it against them. I guess it is part of what you signed up for. And in my experience it is the exception, not the rule. More often I have seen someone fall to the ground and surrounding people help them up.

I remember hearing of performances where band members have actually been arrested for not following rules in particular venues. The vocalist for Tallah was hanging from pipes on the ceiling at a concert. In this case a venue security guard got into a fight with him over it and the police were called. Was it inappropriate? I guess it possibly might damage the venue. So, if it isn’t ok for regular people to hang from the ceiling, it isn’t ok for you to if you are in a band?

So does the limit depend on what you can get away with in a particular venue?

What about when the band seems engrossed in their own sensual experience? I was quite surprised when I decided to watch a live video of Amenra. The vocalist decided he was going to partake in suspension, which if you don’t know what it is, look it up. It is a thing that many people off stage partake in. Basically, hooks are put through the skin and weights are placed on them pulling on the skin, or for the more advanced forms, you are hung by your skin. Apparently, it takes people on a sensory experience of euphoria as they push past pain into pleasure. It could be something else that is making you feel good as I watch from the crowd. Is this something I should have to watch you do if I enjoy your music? I am there for the music after all.

My mom told me of a concert she went to as a younger woman. It was U2 and apparently the vocalist was spitting all over people in the front row. Not by accident – on purpose. I guess she left with a dislike for the band based on these actions. I personally don’t want to have any fluids that aren’t mine thrown on me during a show. So spit is out, as well as blood!

So where is the line when it comes to performance?

I think there are some bands that I will listen to only and not watch live, but that is just me!