How easy is it to present music in a 'live'setting

A.� It can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be.�The factors involved depend on what you are producing, and how you want to present it to the public, paying or otherwise.

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Q.� So there are no hard and fast rules for this

A.� None at all, you can go from a one-man-band playing folk songs in a club with no amplification and lights, to a full-on opera with orchestra and props.

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Q.� Which works best

A.� Again that can only be based on what you want to present, and the best medium to make it work. The Beatles' early live shows were powered by on-stage 30-watt amplifiers, and they hardly moved out of such rudimentary stage presentation throughout their live career. It simply wasn't required to produce pin-sharp stereo sound when nothing could be heard above the cacophony of fans screaming for their idols during a performance which rarely ran beyond twenty minutes duration. These days, things have moved on somewhat.

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Q.� Why is that

A.� As pop became more popular, live audiences grew, and so did their expectations. Bands soon realised that an hour's concert in front of fifty people in the back room of a pub took up the same amount of time and effort as playing an hour's concert in a stadium for fifty thousand, all that needed adjustment was the presentation.

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Q.� What sort of adjustment was made

A.� Amplification and lighting both had to move very quickly into more professional systems. If you expect people to come and see a concert, being able to see and hear the band or artist is a basic requirement, so staging and overall presentation moved along with the increase in venue and audience sizes. British bands playing standard two-thousand-seater venues in the UK found themselves expected to reach ten times that many people as a matter of course when working in the United States, and they were quick to ensure that both their sound and lighting, as well as their stage shows, were up to making that leap from theatres to stadia. From there, the entire concept was re-imported back to the UK and custom-made venues like the NEC in Birmingham and the Milton Keynes Bowl began to stage the biggest shows to satisfy the demands of larger, and more sophisticated audiences.

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Q.� Have other musical genres changed with the advent of larger shows

A.� Some have, others not at all. Opera, for example, has always been presented as a visual and musical set piece with a full company, costumes, and orchestra. Since the format doesn't lend itself to anything other than a theatre environment, it means that the presentation of opera has remained fundamentally unchanged for hundreds of years.

Q.� Are there other musical styles that have remained the same

A.� At the other end of the scale, folk music has always relied on the intimacy and immediacy of communication that comes from basic presentation to a small audience, usually in a club or bar. Escalating the whole concept to stadium level is possible, but it is far from essential in order to appeal to the target audience and effect the most suitable delivery. Rock bands on the other hand positively thrive on the larger set pieces that stadium shows can offer�- everything from fireworks to the mini-marathon involved in running from one end of a stadium stage to the other. Jazz and blues are tailor-made for late night club scenarios and would probably loose a large degree of ambiance essential to their enjoyment if transplanted into out-door venues.

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Q.� What about pop bands

A.� Presentation is everything in pop�- today more than ever. In a genre where style and presentation can triumph over content, it is essential to give young audiences plenty to look at. Bands like N'Sync and Boyzone and solo artists like Madonna Kylie and Christina rely entirely on the razzle dazzle of dancers and theatrical stage sets to enhance what can sometimes be less than attention-grabbing songs and vocal performances. It's entirely a matter of matching the musical style to the appropriate setting� get that right, and everyone should be happy.

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