Rock Theater BABY!

A lot of rock bands these days are missing a vital thing, and that's performance skills, IMHO. I watch those festivals like Reading, Glastonbury et al. when they are on TV and the musicians now are often just so boring to look at. Muse are a notable exception; the footage I've seen of them shows they have a real grasp of performance and stagecraft, rather than the 'turn up, plug in' attitude that certain UK rock bands seem to have (particularly the modern day indie ones).

 

I think Peter Gabriel's elaborate productions were great; Phil Collins said that they were eventually glad that Peter was such an extrovert because in the early days, they were boring to look at as they didn't really perform and didn't get any press! Although some of it is very much of its time, Gabriel's performance style still managed to be ahead of its time and influential, IMHO. Bill Bruford also noted that when he saw a Genesis gig in the early 70s, people used to applaud the lighting changes because they were so unlike anything else at the time. Genesis have always tried to use the cutting edge of technology on their tours.

 

One performer who took something from Gabriel's style was Fish. It's that, more than the music, which I think was a big influence on Marillion. Sometimes Fish gets a bit hammy (that whole schtick of picking up someone from the audience wearing a mask in 'Grendel) but on others, it's positively electrifying, particularly 'Forgotten Sons'.

 

Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' had an impressive stage show, and the production values for 'Pulse' at Earls Court in 1994 were very impressive indeed (particularly 'Run Like Hell').

 

David Bowie was another master of this, IMHO. Not so much the overblown 80s 'Glass Spider' or 'Serious Moonlight' stuff but the 'Ziggy Stardust' and 'Diamond Dogs' tours were innovative.

 

Keith Emerson's knife-throwing/Hammond destroying antics are fun and entertaining diversions, but not really any more than that.

 

Rock Theatre that doesn't work? I think Rick Wakeman's 'King Arthur on ice' was just plain daft, and certainly detracted from the music, rather than add to it. I've seen some of that show and it's cringe-inducing at times.

 

I've seen that 'Hare That Lost Its Spectacles' film and it made me like 'A Passion Play' even less than I did already (and that's some achievement!). However, I've seen some film of Tull in the 70s and again, they definitely had a grasp of putting on a good show.