2019: Plethora of acts miming/ performing to backing tracks

[Homer]

18 minutes ago, lukethekid said:

A lot of money that init for someone to play someone else’s records. I suppose there is a talent of putting the right set together and mixing it properly but regardless 80 grand to press play, nice little earner, not gonna see them in the dole queue anytime soon are we. 

Well, a lot of the EDM DJs just use a pre-recorded set. it's all linked to visuals so there is no scope for them to actually mix a set live:
 

 

[Rubber Soldier]

38 minutes ago, Homer said:

There was an EDM thread a few weeks ago. Long story short: the big boys charge too much. Don't think it would get past the Other anyway.

It’s also fucking dreadful. 

[Homer]

Just now, Rubber Soldier said:

It’s also fucking dreadful. 

Ha ha - there is that!

[Homer]

37 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

 

3 mins 20 on - you can clearly see Ed adding a drum pattern on the fly with his finger and a drumstick on a pad:
 

 

[lukethekid]

5 minutes ago, Homer said:

Well, a lot of the EDM DJs just use a pre-recorded set. it's all linked to visuals so there is no scope for them to actually mix a set live:
 

 

I know, it’s garbage init, people lap it up as well. ??‍♂️ 

[lukethekid]

5 minutes ago, Rubber Soldier said:

It’s also fucking dreadful. 

B-I-N-G-O

[Homer]

4 minutes ago, lukethekid said:

I know, it’s garbage init, people lap it up as well. ??‍♂️ 

I think they're called 'Americans' aren't they?

[lukethekid]

Just now, Homer said:

I think they're called 'Americans' aren't they?

I unfortunately have one associate who’d have his kecks off if one of the big EDM folk was announced for next year. 

[dentalplan]

4 minutes ago, Homer said:

3 mins 20 on - you can clearly see Ed adding a drum pattern on the fly with his finger and a drumstick on a pad:
 

 

But, to bring it round, most of these ‘miming’ artists do sing a lot of the words (BRC excluded) and when they’re caught out on one line then they might as well not have sung any in the whole hour. All the while, a Chemical Brother adds some percussion to a track - probably out of sheer boredom - and he’s essentially tracked all the components in the mix?

[Spindles]

57 minutes ago, Andeeroo said:

Billie Eilish was fine. Not a highlight but fine. I’m certain she sang live as well.

I enjoyed it, not something I'd listen to at home but an entertaining and energetic gig.  I believe that what goes on is that there are vocals low in the mix and she is singing on top of that.  Certainly there were plenty of breaths and minor adlibs audible that demonstrated she was singing live.

[Quark]

So first thing, miming and backing tracks are two very different things. Didn't see JJ so can't comment, but Kylie, Lizzo, Miley and Billie Eilish were all singing with a backing track. If that means they can create a performance as opposed to just singing a song, I'm happy with that.

If they'd come out and just mimed the while thing, they could all get in the bin.

Is that acceptable? To me, absolutely. I want someone like Lizzo or Kylie to be able to interact a bit because they're so damn good at it. That's part of the performance for me.

And it's a festival of contemporary performing arts, so yeah it's in the spirit of the festival. Starting to feel like anyone quoting "spirit of the festival" is shorthand for "stuff I dont like"

[Homer]

Just now, dentalplan said:

But, to bring it round, most of these ‘miming’ artists do sing a lot of the words (BRC excluded) and when they’re caught out on one line then they might as well not have sung any in the whole hour. All the while, a Chemical Brother adds some percussion to a track - probably out of sheer boredom - and he’s essentially tracked all the components in the mix?

No - but they're playing a set comprised of their own music, so, whatever it is they're doing up there (and was when they headlined the Pyramid), it's not a DJ set. (Also, to be mega-pedantic, Tom actually sings quite a lot of the vocals on the records... worry not, I'm going out to play football in a bit!).

[Homer]

Did anyone else get the impression that the The Fat White Family were miming?

[dentalplan]

Just now, Homer said:

No - but they're playing a set comprised of their own music, so, whatever it is they're doing up there (and was when they headlined the Pyramid), it's not a DJ set. (Also, to be mega-pedantic, Tom actually sings quite a lot of the vocals on the records... worry not, I'm going out to play football in a bit!).

I don’t think to DJ means to play someone else’s songs. Or that’s not what I thought was meant by ‘do you think a DJ will ever headline?’ because obviously that’s unlikely to ever happen.

6 minutes ago, Quark said:

So first thing, miming and backing tracks are two very different things. Didn't see JJ so can't comment, but Kylie, Lizzo, Miley and Billie Eilish were all singing with a backing track. If that means they can create a performance as opposed to just singing a song, I'm happy with that.

If they'd come out and just mimed the while thing, they could all get in the bin.

Is that acceptable? To me, absolutely. I want someone like Lizzo or Kylie to be able to interact a bit because they're so damn good at it. That's part of the performance for me.

And it's a festival of contemporary performing arts, so yeah it's in the spirit of the festival. Starting to feel like anyone quoting "spirit of the festival" is shorthand for "stuff I dont like"

Also with Lizzo, she is a rapper so she needs them for choruses so she can breathe and stuff.

[dentalplan]

[mcshed]

8 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

I don’t think to DJ means to play someone else’s songs. Or that’s not what I thought was meant by ‘do you think a DJ will ever headline?’ because obviously that’s unlikely to ever happen.

Also with Lizzo, she is a rapper so she needs them for choruses so she can breathe and stuff.

Yeah not sure why Lizzo is being brought up when I also saw Dave, Ocean Wisdom and slowthai use a backing track because that's completely standard. I didn't see him but I assume Stormzy did too, why is Lizzo being targeted?

[ScarletBlaster]

 

9 minutes ago, mcshed said:

Yeah not sure why Lizzo is being brought up when I also saw Dave, Ocean Wisdom and slowthai use a backing track because that's completely standard. I didn't see him but I assume Stormzy did too, why is Lizzo being targeted?

Stormzy did indeed use a backing track.

[dentalplan]

11 minutes ago, mcshed said:

Yeah not sure why Lizzo is being brought up when I also saw Dave, Ocean Wisdom and slowthai use a backing track because that's completely standard. I didn't see him but I assume Stormzy did too, why is Lizzo being targeted?

I think Quark was just mentioning her of the acts who he had seen. But yeah as rap gets more common at music festivals it’s always useful to remind people that backing tracks or chorus tracks aren’t necessarily the devil.

[Quark]

5 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

I think Quark was just mentioning her of the acts who he had seen. 

Indeed.

[stuartbert two hats]

34 minutes ago, dentalplan said:

I don’t think to DJ means to play someone else’s songs. Or that’s not what I thought was meant by ‘do you think a DJ will ever headline?’ because obviously that’s unlikely to ever happen.

Also with Lizzo, she is a rapper so she needs them for choruses so she can breathe and stuff.

That is what a DJ is. Whilst that was not was meant, it was showing  an ignorance of what electronic music performance is. What the Chemical Brothers do in their live sets may not be recreating all the sounds from scratch, like, say The Cure, but it's most definitely not DJing. It's very different for the reasons that have already been outlined.

[Jay89]

2 hours ago, dentalplan said:

I don't believe Miley was miming. Her voice is hench.

Definitely with you on this one!

[Mrbish82]

I only had a quick look at JJ on iPlayer, but from what I saw, it looked like she was actually singing but the video screens we're delayed by half a second which would make it seem completely out of sync to anyone watching them live. 

Having said that, the moment I see a performer with energetic dance routines and a headset mic, I kind of expect them to be miming ?

[K2SO]

The only person who I was certain all weekend that I saw miming was Janet. The likes of Kylie, Miley and even Christine and the Queens do this weird thing where they have this backing track that plays some parts of their vocals, though. They were all singing live, but there's just this weird thing that is done nowadays. I don't get why they can't just get backing vocalists to do those parts, rather than play it through a recording.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Money? Days of record companies raking in enough money to fund lavish live performances is long past.

[Quark]

I was thinking timing as well. With the turnaround time on stages, how feasible is it to be able to get the necessary set up for acts that aren't headliners and have much a smaller window for setups?