applause during tunes?

[robviti]

i typically applaud for solos i like, and don't for those i don't like. it annoys me when people can't tell the difference between a diminuendo and the end of a solo. the premature clapulation invariably throws the rest of the audience off when the solo does come to an end, since they've already applauded and don't understand why others are doing it again.

[Morganized]

To show appreciation of a great solo, or even some idea within a solo, of course.

But it depends on how it is recorded - shouldn't be too obtrusive.

I generally reserve my applause for live performances... but hey, whatever

Edited July 16, 2007 by Morganized

[Free For All]

I couldn't imagine Miles' Blackhawk sessions without all the ambient noise. The sounds of the audience, the cash register, even the drink blender just add to the live aspect IMHO.

Occasionally I've experienced performances where a very subtle and seamless transition from one soloist to the next made applause seem inappropriate, and no one made a sound. When you can get an audience to be silent through musical means, those are special moments.

I played a gig once where a guy and his party sat close to the band and talked loudly all evening. Both the clubowner and the band asked him to keep it down, or maybe move to a table at the other end of the club, but it didn't do much good. He finally left while we were in the middle of a tune ( but not before flipping the band the finger). Now I tend not to be overly confrontational, but this pissed me off so much I put down my horn and followed him outside and confronted him. He was very surprised to see me and backed down, which was good because I hadn't thoroughly thought out my next step. It wouldn't do me much good to get my teeth knocked in.

[JSngry]

Hey, it worked for Jimmy Knepper...

[Free For All]

Hey, it worked for Jimmy Knepper...

All I gotta say is he must have been pretty pissed to confront Mingus.

[paul secor]

My feelings are like several other people's - I'll applaud or whatever if I'm truly moved by the music/solo, but the feeling's got to be there before I do anything.

[Adam]

For me, clapping in the middle bugs me when we are clearly in a quiet passage, or solo, or tune, and the applause disrupts the mood of the piece and the room. If it's a rowdy song and a mediocre solo an people want to applaud, I don't care, even if I might not. But sometimes solos, and songs, just need room to breathe when they are done, and people should wait.

[Spontooneous]

Doesn't usually bother me. Except when people start whooping and applauding over ham-handed, simplistic repeated figure in a solo. (Happens all the time in Kansas City.)

[ejp626]

Doesn't usually bother me. Except when people start whooping and applauding over ham-handed, simplistic repeated figure in a solo. (Happens all the time in Kansas City.)

Roughly 90% of all drum solos get this enormous and largely uninformed reaction.

I think applauding after every solo is its own ritual now, just like the obligatory encore, esp. in rock concerts and classical concerts (though mostly in the UK not US). I like the performers who say, well, we could leave the stage and come back and play two songs, or we could play three and call it a night.

[Kalo]

Doesn't usually bother me. Except when people start whooping and applauding over ham-handed, simplistic repeated figure in a solo. (Happens all the time in Kansas City.)

Happens all the time here in Boston as well.

[Kalo]

I think applauding after every solo is its own ritual now, just like the obligatory encore, esp. in rock concerts and classical concerts (though mostly in the UK not US). I like the performers who say, well, we could leave the stage and come back and play two songs, or we could play three and call it a night.

The obligatory encore is alive and well here in Boston, too, at just about every jazz and classical show I attend. I, too, appreciate the players who just play until their time is up, which is more common in alternative spaces rather than clubs or concert halls, I find.

One of my pet peeves is the obligatory standing ovation. Again, just about ever concert seems to end with the audience on its feet. I think that, in part, this is because people in general go to many fewer concerts per year than they did in the past, thus they have no standard for comparison. More frequent concertgoers, it seems to me, would be less likely to give a standing ovation. In a way, the folks who do so nowadays are applauding themselves for being cultured people who came to a concert!

[sal]

I only applaud if I really liked the solo.

[MoGrubb]

Sitting in the audience I feel like such a chump when the obligatory encore is demanded. I get the feeling that the audience doesn't know squat, makes me kinda glad I wasn't playing.

Edited July 16, 2007 by MoGrubb

[ejp626]

I think applauding after every solo is its own ritual now, just like the obligatory encore, esp. in rock concerts and classical concerts (though mostly in the UK not US). I like the performers who say, well, we could leave the stage and come back and play two songs, or we could play three and call it a night.

The obligatory encore is alive and well here in Boston, too, at just about every jazz and classical show I attend. I, too, appreciate the players who just play until their time is up, which is more common in alternative spaces rather than clubs or concert halls, I find.

One of my pet peeves is the obligatory standing ovation. Again, just about ever concert seems to end with the audience on its feet. I think that, in part, this is because people in general go to many fewer concerts per year than they did in the past, thus they have no standard for comparison. More frequent concertgoers, it seems to me, would be less likely to give a standing ovation. In a way, the folks who do so nowadays are applauding themselves for being cultured people who came to a concert!

For some reason, I think classical encores are far more common in the UK than in Chicago or New York. Never listened to classical in Boston, so I don't know. Personally, I blame the Proms ...

One concert in Cambridge, the conductor insisted on coming back for a 3rd encore! If I had been in an aisle seat, I would definitely have left after encore number 2.

The whole ridiculous encore ritual bothers me a lot more than clapping right after solos.

[7/4]

All the Classical concerts I've been to never have encores. I guess they've been more along the lines of "New Music" instead of "Classical".

[Hot Ptah]

I think that in Kansas City, there is an expectation that there will be applause after every jazz solo. If there is not, something is wrong, as if the soloist just failed dismally. To me, this has turned the situation on its head--the applause after a solo should reward the rare truly outstanding solo. But that is not the case here.

For both classical and jazz concerts, there is no obligatory encore. In fact, I have been surprised at how weak the effort is by both classical and jazz audiences to make enough sound to bring performers back for an encore when they have played great and an encore would seem to be objectively deserved. I often feel pressure to make more noise than is comfortable, to be a one man cheering section which tips the balance and seals the deal for an encore.

I recall a time about 15 years ago when the Modern Jazz Quartet played two great sets. I could see them standing in the wings of the theater stage, waiting for the applause that would bring them out for an encore. They were clearly going to do it. But then the applause was so weak, that they just shrugged and walked away.

Sometimes at the Gem Theater in Kansas City, at 18th and Vine, the theater administrators rush to the stage while the audience is still excitedly applauding and start making announcements, which has the effect of destroying the enthusiastic mood in the hall.

[Chuck Nessa]

Geez, I dunno...

Is moaning during sex ok?

I'd be really disturbed if I was with Mona and she didn't make a sound.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

All the Classical concerts I've been to never have encores. I guess they've been more along the lines of "New Music" instead of "Classical".

I've never been to a classical music concert where there's been an encore, either. I mean, if the programme is a Beethoven quartet, a Shostokovich nonet and a Debusy piece, all performed by different people, what's the point? Ditto for a Poulenc gig I went to; if you go along to hear a bit of Poulenc, WTF do you want for an encore? All the concerts I've been to are like that; a pre-announced bunch of pieces, or one piece.

I guess it's different if you go to see a recital by a pop group like the three tenors, but I've never gone in for anything of that nature in classical music terms.

[MoGrubb]

Moaning during sex has definitely contributed to a standing ovation.

[Shrdlu]

Moaning during sex is cool, but applause during a performance is a pest.