Don't get me started about the concert last night. Too late, I've started.
First, let me make an argument for why I would toss the country singers out as a serious issue. Country is becoming a New England thing. I suspect you'll find attendance at what are now a considerable number of country music concerts far outstripping attendance at any folk concerts shy of the Newport Folk Festival. We wouldn't think twice about a folk performer on stage. Country isn't a southern thing anymore.
That said, last night's performers were not representative of mainstream country. They are by Nashville standards outsiders and the outlaws of their generation. Cowboy Troy is a black country rap artist. Come on. Country artists are white, they don't rap and they don't preach love, peace and acceptance - which is what Big and Rich are about.
If they were pandering solely to the national audience, they'd have had Gretchen Wilson sing instead of Big and Rich, who haven't had near the hits she has. If they were pandering to the red states, they'd have invited someone mainstream country. I'm not sure why they picked that group of performers except that Gretchen Wilson has a set of pipes almost as good as Patsy Cline's with Loretta Lynn's sense of humor - but they didn't use her. Presumably it was because of the patriotic piece they're releasing.
I didn't have a problem with the piece they did, which was actually mostly the pledge of allegiance. It highlighted the inclusiveness of those documents, and inclusiveness is something their music emphasizes. Something that this country could use smacked upside its head.
Here's what I think the problem was. The Pops concert has too many ads and is now split into two concerts - the local one and then the national one. What the heck is the 1812 overture doing in the middle of the concert? And how about all those commercial breaks? Plus this is the Pops - guest stars get more than 2 songs - but with all those commercials, who has time? You can't put them on until you've gone national, at which point you have to fit them, a sing-a-long, plus Stars and Stripes forever into a half hour plus commercials. There's no time left.
Too many commercials; the order was off; the content was too changed; and didn't they used to ring the church bells of Boston for the 1812? Maybe 10pm is too late? The concert is too late and so are the fireworks, but it's for the national television audience.
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It wasn't the country
Date: 2005-07-05 05:00 pm (UTC)First, let me make an argument for why I would toss the country singers out as a serious issue. Country is becoming a New England thing. I suspect you'll find attendance at what are now a considerable number of country music concerts far outstripping attendance at any folk concerts shy of the Newport Folk Festival. We wouldn't think twice about a folk performer on stage. Country isn't a southern thing anymore.
That said, last night's performers were not representative of mainstream country. They are by Nashville standards outsiders and the outlaws of their generation. Cowboy Troy is a black country rap artist. Come on. Country artists are white, they don't rap and they don't preach love, peace and acceptance - which is what Big and Rich are about.
If they were pandering solely to the national audience, they'd have had Gretchen Wilson sing instead of Big and Rich, who haven't had near the hits she has. If they were pandering to the red states, they'd have invited someone mainstream country. I'm not sure why they picked that group of performers except that Gretchen Wilson has a set of pipes almost as good as Patsy Cline's with Loretta Lynn's sense of humor - but they didn't use her. Presumably it was because of the patriotic piece they're releasing.
I didn't have a problem with the piece they did, which was actually mostly the pledge of allegiance. It highlighted the inclusiveness of those documents, and inclusiveness is something their music emphasizes. Something that this country could use smacked upside its head.
Here's what I think the problem was. The Pops concert has too many ads and is now split into two concerts - the local one and then the national one. What the heck is the 1812 overture doing in the middle of the concert? And how about all those commercial breaks? Plus this is the Pops - guest stars get more than 2 songs - but with all those commercials, who has time? You can't put them on until you've gone national, at which point you have to fit them, a sing-a-long, plus Stars and Stripes forever into a half hour plus commercials. There's no time left.
Too many commercials; the order was off; the content was too changed; and didn't they used to ring the church bells of Boston for the 1812? Maybe 10pm is too late? The concert is too late and so are the fireworks, but it's for the national television audience.
grump grump grump. There, I'm done.