Concert Comparison: Glass Animals vs. Miami University’s Percussion Ensemble
Hi! It’s been a while, but I thought I’d put this blog to good use. This semester, I’ve been taking a class called “Great Ideas in Western Music.” The class has made me appreciate different types of music a lot more. For the final project in the class, I have to reflect on the differences between two different concert experiences, a “classical” or Western art music performance, and a pop concert. So, here goes!
Over the past few months, I’ve gone to so many good concerts. In September, my boyfriend Kane and I went to see Sylvan Esso at Bogarts. We really got into Sylvan Esso over the summer, and their song “Die Young” means a lot to us. I also went to a lot of concerts at school this semester, including the wind ensemble’s, the Oxford String Quartet’s, and lots of senior recitals. But out of all the concerts, my favorites were the Glass Animals in Columbus and Miami’s percussion ensemble.
On September 30, Kane and I made a trip to Columbus to see the Glass Animals. We met some high school friends for dinner before the show, then headed into downtown Columbus. The show was at Express Live, which is probably one of the best outdoor concert venues I’ve been to. There was a pit area like normal, but the rest of the venue was tiered and grass-covered, so if you didn’t want to be right in the action you could spread a blanket out and relax. Of course, we wanted to be as close as possible, so we got in as soon as the doors opened and stood within 30 feet of the stage. As we walked in, we saw people wearing pineapple print clothing, carrying blow-up plastic pineapples, and even cradling real pineapples. We all knew why—it was a reference to the Glass Animals’ song “Pork Soda.” The stage was also decorated with a giant, golden, light-up pineapple and palm trees.
The opening band wasn’t announced before the show, so I didn’t know what to expect. When the band came out onto the stage, they exploded with energy and groove. When they played a song that had shown up on my Spotify Discover playlist the previous week, I realized the group was Amber Mark. We generally go to concerts because we know we already like the band, but an opening band is a way to discover new music that we don’t normally get when we listen to recorded music. Since the concert, I still listen to Amber Mark at least once a week.
The Glass Animals finally came on at about 10 p.m., but it was worth the wait. I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of good shows in the past year, but they were probably the best. They burst onto the stage with incredible energy, and the show was a non-stop dance party from then on. They played one of my favorite songs, “Season 2 Episode 3.” The Glass Animals use lots of different instruments in their songs, such as guitar, bass guitar, vocals, electronic sounds and recordings, and a wide variety of percussion. Because of this, every one of their songs has a distinct sound. “Season 2 Episode 3” is no different; the intro uses electronic sounds, and reminds me of a classic Mario video game soundtrack. The form is alternating verse-chorus, and the harmony is ambiguous—it alternates between major and minor at different points in the song. The verse and chorus both have their own melodies, and they are mostly conjunct and consonant. The tempo is fairly slow, so it was a song that made the audience sway more than jump.
After a long, awesome show, they closed it out with another of my favorite songs, “Pork Soda.” It was the reason lots of fans brought pineapples to the show and the audience went crazy when they played it. As if things weren’t already exciting, the lead singer walked out into the audience and danced on a railing while he sang the final song of the evening. “Pork Soda” begins with recorded traffic sounds, and then famous “Pineapples are in my head” vocal line enters. After that, the song really kicks off with a catchy electronic motive. Like “Season 2 Episode 3,” “Pork Soda” uses a lot of electronic sounds. It is also fairly slow in tempo, and alternates between major and minor keys. There are a few disjunct leaps in the melody, but they resolve by moving in downward stepwise motion.
The entire concert experience was a night to remember. The next day, I was scrolling through Instagram, and saw that both a guy I met at drum major camp and a girl I played soccer with as a kid had been at the show. It hit me that concerts have an amazing power to bring people together; that show united thousands of people in a shared experience. To me, that’s the major difference between live and recorded music. People can relate by sharing similar musical tastes, even if they’ve only ever heard the music as a recording, but a live show is a pure social experience. The audience experiences the music and the excitement at the same time, without the barriers created by speakers and other factors. Live concerts bring people together.
On November 8, I went to see Miami’s percussion ensemble. I was interested because I haven’t heard much music performed by exclusively percussion instruments. When I picked up the program, I knew I was in the right place. The concert program included a piece by Phillip Glass, and a piece titled “Van Gogh from Space.” I sat down in the auditorium with high expectations, and the concert didn’t disappoint.
The Phillip Glass piece, titled “Piano Etude No. 2” was (obviously) originally composed for the piano, but it was arranged to be played on vibraphones for the percussion concert. The piece is in a shifting meter, has a lot of dissonance, and is mostly in a minor key. Despite these things that make the piece different than normal “happy” music, it made me feel calm, relaxed, and a little nostalgic, like waking up on a rainy morning as a kid.
I was so excited to hear “Van Gogh from Space.” Attached to the concert program was the image that inspired the piece, a photograph of phytoplankton taken from space by NASA’s LANDSAT satellite in July 2005. The phytoplankton is swirled in colors of blue and green, and indeed looks like a painting by Van Gogh. I love Van Gogh, the ocean, space, and music, so I was intrigued by the piece before it even began.
When the first note sounded, the audience shifted forward in their seats. The pitches on the vibraphone were bent to sound like something from outer space. The piece continued with the eerie, spacey sound. The instrumentation was very unique, as metal mixing bowls were played alongside a vibraphone and drums. The piece had no center of pitch and rarely a tempo; it wasn’t music as we normally think of it, but it was an amazing auditory experience. It really made me feel as if I were drifting through space.
The major difference between the “classical” percussion ensemble concert and the Glass Animals show was the way the audience and performers behaved/presented themselves. The performers in the percussion ensemble wore all black, as is the tradition with most classical concerts. The performers in the Glass Animals wore casual, colorful clothing to add to the complete audio-visual experience. The audience for the percussion ensemble sat down and clapped only when was appropriate, between pieces and movements. The audience for the Glass Animals stood, swayed and danced to the music, and clapped and vocalized both between songs and anytime they liked something. The percussion concert felt more rigid, because there is a certain etiquette for classical concerts, and the Glass Animals concert felt a lot more casual. Though the two concert experiences were very different, I loved both.
