Long before The Experience Alchemists, there was music. Folk, punk, bluegrass, Americana, jazz, rock, and classical… On the radio, tape deck, CD player, and streaming service… In the car, on headphones, in the house and, most critically, LIVE. It probably comes as no surprise that the Alchemists are all big music fans but why are live, in person shows so damn special? Maybe (just maybe) for some of the same reasons the creative experiences we make are…
They’re Unique
We believe that live music has an authenticity impossible to replicate in recorded form. Every performance is unique, even when a song has been played and listened to a thousand times before. It will never sound or be heard in quite the same way. An instrument gets tuned in a higher or lower key, an ensemble changes, the venue varies in size and acoustics, the artist’s voice shifts, and the audience has a different make up. Any one of these things alone or in combination can change a musical performance. For those artists we’ve seen more than once, we notice the details of these changes and enjoy their variation. For those performers that are new to us, we soak up their originality like a sponge. In either case, we delight in the knowledge that what we are witnessing has never been seen and heard before, and never will be again. That proximity makes us feel special ourselves.
They’re (Collectively) Emotive
Another critical element of what makes live music so extraordinary is how it makes us feel. We talk all the time about the emotive nature of creative experiences but live music cuts straight to the bone on the emotional resonance meter. Sad, energized, happy, angry… These are just a few of the emotions live music has the magical power to provoke. We feel things alone with our headphones on as well. The difference in a live performance setting is that we feel them alongside others. The presence of other humans in the physical spaces around us not only makes us feel connected to a larger humanity, it gives us access to the emotional expressions of others. Facial expressions, body movements and gestures, and crowd singing abound at live music events. We observe and absorb these emotional outputs from those around us and they, in turn, drive the depth of our emotional response.
Narrative Driven
Any well crafted album tends to have a story arch. And certainly any good song provides a strong sense of the characters, place, and circumstance. That said, a live music event often ups the ante by offering yet another narrative layer. Our favorite musicians often contextualize their work in person; providing background and context on what inspired them to write a song or how a phrase came to be crafted. These off the cuff comments give us a deeper understanding of why a piece of performance art is the way it is. The narrative is further enhanced by the story surrounding the event itself. How did we come to buy those tickets? Who did we decide to go see the show with? What did we do before and after? A concert or artist story bleeds naturally into our own personal story and this cements powerful memories.
They’re Healthy
We are unsurprised to learn (because didn’t you just kind of know?) studies suggest live music events actually improve our psychological well being for many of the very reasons outlined here. Fascinatingly, there is also evidence that live music has a positive impact on our physical health. In addition to improving brain function and causing the release of all sorts of happy oxytocin and dopamine hits, regular attendance of live music events may actually extend our lives by up to nine years. If that isn’t a reason to go out and buy some tickets, I don’t know what is.