Do your own search for a live concert; you can simply search “Live Rock Concert” or you could select an artist and include “live” in your search terms.

Address the following points:

Setting

– when? Where? describe venue, acoustics (lots of echo=”wet”; not much echo=”dry”) Band – instrumentation? vocalist? electronic? acoustic? who was the leader?

Repertory

– describe the songs they play, give titles if possible. Talk about tempo, volume, contrasts. If the program consists of many songs, compare and contrast a few which are all different. If everything they play is similar, how so? The melody? the rhythm? the texture?

Style

– In what style or styles do they play? 50’s style rock and roll (i.e., Chuck Berry, Elvis, etc.), 60’s Brill building-style “Teen Idol,” Soul, folk-rock, early Beatles style, psychedellic, progressive rock, blues-rock, etc.)
Was there a fusion of styles? Influences from other genres such as folk, country western, reggae, etc? Why did you conclude that? Musical characteristics: melody, harmony, rhythm. Did you know any of the songs?

Song forms, presentation: Were the songs simple, or structured with different composed sections? Try to talk about the form of the tunes.

Improvisation/Interaction

– was there improvisation, or was everything rehearsed? Do they seem to be communicating in any way?

Sound phenomenon opinion

– what’s your impression of the overall sound? organized? pleasing to the ear? difficult to listen to? What’s the timbre (sound quality of each instrument and the overall combination)?

What is most meaningful about the performances? The lyrical content? The skill on their instruments? A catchy melody, or a hook? The feeling of communication with the audience? The mood and energy of the music?