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Concert Review

                A concert is live music performed before a given audience, typically by several performers or of several compositions. To the audience, concerts have the main purpose of raising spirits, socialization, providing safe outing, as well as having fun. Moreover, for the band or the individuals performing in the concert, the usefulness of the same is majorly evident during the preparation for the concert – in the process of selecting, analyzing, and interpreting artistic work for presentation. This paper is a concert review of one of the most amazing live music performances I have ever attended.

                On Saturday the 12^th of January 2019, Lynda Mortensen’s Bay Area Tributes presented– at down the Broadway Street in downtown Redwood City – a show featuring a tribute to Haulin Oats, The Police and Cheap Trick. The tribute band for Haulin Oats was a duo between Jake Morgan (Haulin) and Franklin Vasguez (Oats). What is more, a tribute band to The Police was Stung – one of the best cover band in Bay area – having single-handedly reformed the former glory of The Police. As if it was not enough, the organizers presented Cheaper Trick, a cover band popular for performing Cheap Trick songs. The whole concert was perhaps a glimpse of heaven and full fun expected from any other life-giving event. A rough total of about twenty three compositions were performed by all the artists during the whole concert that commenced at 2000 hours Saturday night.

Instruments/Voices and their Geographical Origin         

The whole concert – being a pop rock concert –fully encompassed musical instruments that persists in the sound of the same genre. The stage had huge drum sets with high performance cymbals. Moreover, all the sets performed by the artists were majorly followed by bass and electric guitars. The vocals were nothing if not the traditional amazing singing, screaming, and rapping that brings out the thrill in the audience. The instruments and the vocals ensured an interestingly changing dynamics of the songs that were being performed. Historically, the origin of the basic guitar – which later inspired the electric and bass guitars that were used in the concert – is in Spain, developed early in the 16^th century. However, it was not until the 20^th century that the electric guitar – invented by American George Beauchamp – became an integral part of pop rock culture. Moreover, the drum set – composed of the drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments – was developed in 1909 in the United States.

Compositions and their Composers

                Collectively, the bands sang a total of about twenty three songs that kept the concert exhilarated and ecstatic. “Out of Touch”, “Did it in a Minute”, “One on One”, and “Maneater” were among the most adrenaline-charged songs that were performed by Haulin Oats as a tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates. “Maneater”, written and produced by the American duo Hall and Oates, allowed the audience to experience an upbeat and the various sounds of pop rock music. The song, which starts with a thrilling upbeat and a steady continuous rhythm that gets faster as the song gets to the climax, has its composers originating in the United States. Moreover, “One on One” was a thrilling duo experience with a texture and melody that provoked several dancing styles from the audience. The song was also composed by Daryl Hall and performed by the duo.

                The Tribute band who sang in tribute to The Police – Stung – gave a stunning performance that took the audience to another dimension that is unfathomable by mere human minds. Being their second appearance in the concert, they gave their best in performing The Police’s all time best song, Every Breath You Take. The song, which was written by Sting and sung by the English origin band, The Police, had a simple tone and a tempo that started slowly and gradually increased to fill the atmosphere with extraordinary energy. Additionally, Cheaper Trick – who skillfully performed the music of Cheap Trick – were nothing but exceptional. Their performance of I Want You to Want Me gave the concert a rock and roll atmosphere with the audience jumping and dancing to the tune. The song was originally written by Rick Nielsen, produced by Tom Werman, and sang by the American band Cheap Trick. Together, the bands alternated between medium and high tempo, controlling the audience in ways they found right.

The Venue

                The event was stationed in one of the most popular clubs in downtown Redwood City – Club Fox. The place, however small, provides service qualities of a world-class club. The club possess a decent-sized stage for the bands to do their magic, perfectly arranged downstairs tables for customers, as well as a small attractive balcony with awesome views. The dancing floor, which was wittily placed next to the stage, was spacious and could accommodate a number of individuals. In some sought of way, the decent space allocated for dancing could easily suggest a rock and roll kind of music that is significantly played in the club. This is since the genre is majorly danced by jumping and other simple dance moves that is manageable in such a floor. This was later evident in the way the audience, even the ones who were sitting and drinking, took to their feet and all fitted on the same dancing floor to be fully entertained by the tribute bands of their favorite bands.

Enjoyable and Surprising things Encountered

                Personally, I enjoyed the overall performance by all the tribute bands – who, surprisingly, almost sang like the original performers of the songs. There was lots of dancing as almost everyone was dancing full-time, except the few individuals who were drinking in their tables downstairs. Moreover, the place provides a high quality sound and a cool lighting system and thus high quality entertainment. Furthermore, the venue has several restaurants nearby for dining with a close parking garage that is only a few blocks away, thus a walking distance. It was surprising and amazing that the club offered tickets online, some days before the actual event – providing ample time for preparation and reducing the hustle that comes along with long lines at entry points. Additionally, I enjoyed the serene view that their balcony had of the beautiful city of Redwood. The club treats its customers with utmost respect and care, which is both enjoyable and surprising as I never encountered any rude employee – which is uncommon with most city clubs.

                However, there is only one thing that I did not enjoy about the performance due to several reasons. Despite the high quality sound system that the club went miles to provide, at some point in the climax of several songs, the sound was very high and could be deemed as deafening. This was somehow irritating, making the music unpleasant – even if it was from my favorite band. The loud high-pitched music was the major contributor for my frequently leaving the dance floor and walking upstairs to get fresh air in their well-lavished balcony. Moreover, I tend to have headaches, and sometimes migraines, if exposed to long high-pitched music. Despite the good show and performance that was evident in the club, I never enjoyed this one major hitch.

Audience Behavior

                During the whole performance, the club was filled with energy and screaming fans with loud cheers transcending the tribute bands. The event was filled with a typical pop rock audience who control the event more than the performers would do. The audience continuously shrieked during the whole performance of the bands as others loudly sang along. There was a lot of pushing as the music got to the climax and during the introduction of a new band – a time during which the club had a huge amount of energy. Most of the audience were at their late twenties and early thirties, explaining the obvious energy that could be heard from a distance. Some of the members of the audience had colored hair and painted faces or skin, a typical norm with the global heritage of pop rock culture.

                In conclusion, it is evident that the concert at Club Fox was an amazing experience that was filled with fun as well as a safe outing. The concert ensured an enjoyable evening for all its audience with fun-filled and mentally stimulating experience that could only be evoked in when attending such occasions. The venue, being secure and excellently placed, attracts a number of people prompting me to go to the same place several times even in the future. Visiting the place has helped me learn a lot not only about my favorite band, but also about the genre of pop rock and its culture – all of which I would not have learnt were it not for this assignment.