How many times can you see the same artist before it gets boring? For me, it depends on their stage presence, not just the novelty behind their name. If it’s a legacy band, I probably won’t be jumping on the opportunity to buy tickets the second time they come around. But it is so artist specific, I’ve seen both Guns N’ Roses and Rod Stewart, I bought tickets to Rod out of the novelty, because nobody is saying, “Let’s go see Rod Stewart!” Whereas Guns N’ Roses had massive anticipation for their tour between promotions and word of mouth.
Well, Roses sucked. They managed to play three hours of songs that all sounded the same – same bassline, same 5-minute Slash solo, same tone. Rod Stewart on the other hand, was fantastic. It was corny, but he knew he was corny. He played into the ridiculousness and put on an amazing show. It was captivating!
Angela Chacon / Pexels
If you frequent shows, you must have a similar story. Especially is the case for local bands. These groups often have a venue they frequent in town, where they build up a cult following. Building anticipation towards a performance is often the downfall of many of these big acts – it is the waiting game that gets you. I’m an advocate for keeping it local and trusting our home bands here in British Columbia.
Many venues across Vancouver are regular stops for British Columbia’s local bands. I recommended The Fox Cabaret and The Rickshaw Theatre. Both are extremely popular locations for good reasons, and I hope you experience a local show at either at least once in your life. The show doesn’t have to be a big name to be amazing, it just has to captivate you.
I find there to be a number of ways a performance can captivate me; sometimes it’s the music, sometimes the stage presence, or sometime even just the crowd’s energy can hook me. For all of the alternative bands in British Columbia, at least one of those things apply.
You can probably imagine the feeling I’m talking about because a concert isn’t just about the name on stage, it’s so much more! What was the last band you saw, did they fully captivate you?