Let Jack be Jack (White)
Posted on September 29, 2012 | Categories: Life is Fun
Just got back from a Jack White concert (Sean’s a fan and we go to every show). It was a very memorable concert indeed. Partly because it’s Jack White (and he’s pretty brilliant), but mostly because of the outrage that has shaken the Radio City crowd because he did not come out for an encore set.
Let’s talk about expectations. 99% of people who came to see the concert came with an expectation that it was going to be a pretty standard thing: an opening act, then half hour break/setup, then the main headlining act, 10 minute break, an encore. And the fact that their expectations were not met caused massive disappointment, booing, tweets like “I’m going to delete all your music from itunes”, and forum flame wars.
Now, everyone came to the show because they like the performer. I think we’d all agree with that statement. Then, everyone should have enjoyed an hour long set from the said performer. Correct? Why then, after being supposedly robbed of another 15–20 minutes of additional singing, everyone is suddenly angry, outraged, disappointed and depressed. Are you people kidding me???
If you are a true fan, you would have enjoyed that full hour (which was a good show), then after learning that it was over (for whatever reason), went home and chilled. Some might say that ticket prices were high and after paying $80+ for it, they expected a lot more. Then my question is – if you really like the artist, and bought the ticket for that price, wouldn’t you just be glad to give that money as a reward for the art? (I agree that scalping is a big ugly issue with ticket buying, but that’s a separate topic). And also, if you appreciate art/music, you would try and understand that it’s hard for people to be “on” all the time. It did seem that the energy was slightly off today, as Jack shouted something about people being quiet and eating popcorn and taking photos when they were asked not to do it.
I am not really writing this as a defense argument, more of an observation of your average person with high expectations. It’s easy to whine and complain and throw an angry cry into Twitter and “boo” when you’re a part of a crowd. How about you go home and make art and create your own following, and then deliver your best performance every single time you’re on stage? I bet it’s not going to be as easy.
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