Do people care if "Live" music is mimed or "canned"

[Bill Walker]

Ive been interested in this subject for a while now. Ive been on quite a lot of cruise ships and seen many of the shows. Its obvious to me that in a lot of cases the band isnt playing or the singer is lip syncing. This is becoming commonplace now in Musicals and traveling concerts.
When I told my wife after one big production she was pretty surprised about this but after a while she said she didnt really care as it was a visual spectacle. I asked a couple of people during the cruise and nobody seems aware of it, I guess as a long time semi-pro musician I have more of an interest.
Nowadays of course many shows, travelling musicals, famous bands use backing tracks and click tracks where the drummer can execute that harpsichord or trumpet solo, equipment and things like pro tools can blend live music with backing tracks. Lets face it, some singers dont sing live anymore, and some of those vocal backing tracks arent live..

Do people even care these days when attending a big concert or show whether the music is pre-recorded ?

Im posting a video here by a guitarist who has worked in that area, he explains it well.

"I think a lot of audience members would be surprised to find out that the "live stage production" they paid so much to attend is massively over-produced with pre-recorded instruments, MIDI sequencing, and backing vocals. Broadway, The West End, cruise ships, touring acts, even major rock shows like Trans Siberian Orchestra, overproduced tech metal shows, and most of the top 40 Billboard artists - they're all running a click track."

 

[I'm With Stupid]

I'll be honest, it all seems like the sort of stuff I would never pay to watch. But yeah, if I went to see a proper band and they weren't playing it, I'd be a bit miffed. I also think there's a difference between having backing production to add something, and standing there pretending you're playing/singing something that you're not. The Flaming Lips would be a good example of the former.

 

[Bill Walker]

It's not recent but....Gene Simmons accuses ‘dishonest’ Rolling Stones and U2 of using backing tracks during gigs​

Gene Simmons accuses 'dishonest' Rolling Stones and U2 of using backing tracks during gigs

The Kiss bassist has criticised bands and their live reputations

www.nme.com

 

[maccadon]

I would excuse gene Simmons of stealing a living. Especially after that bull crap school of rock show he did

 

[Octavian]

They’re all at it.

 

[blueinsa]

I’ve seen U2 live and there wasn’t a hint of a backing track as far as I am concerned.

 

[MCFCTrick]

Hello Mr Pot, Mr Kettle is here ....

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

OK, this is really an “old skool” position, and I'm aware of it, but if it's mimed or pre-recorded, it isn't live. It may be something else, but it isn't that. In the very early days of pop/rock on television, “Ready Steady Go” was live. “Top of the Pops” was mimed. Even I, as a young kid, could clearly see the difference. I always say that RSG was, in its pioneering days, the best rock show there's even been on telly. It was rough, it was raw, it was messy, there were mistakes, it was exciting — in short, it was live.
Edit: I'm very fond of Supertramp's Crime of the Century (hate some of their other stuff, I should add), but I would never have paid to go to see them, because all clips I've seen of them seem to indicate that they sought to reproduce — indeed replicate — their records down to the tiniest musical details. What's the point?
Further edit: first gig I ever went to: the Stones at the Harrow Granada in 1964 (taken by my hip elder brother, of course). It was live, in the fullest sense of the word! Rough, raw, and you couldn't hear them very well, because all they had was Vox AC amps, and there were several thousand shrieking harpies around us, with pubescent hormones coursing through their bodies every time Jagger moved his backside. Quite frightening, actually. Grand stuff.

 

[asgoodasitgets]

I just think it adds to the occasion when somebody can actually sing . I could stand up there and mime a couple of numbers if I fancied it .

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I’d never knowingly pay for a mimed show. I’m not really interested if someone can dance when I’ve gone to hear someone sing.

Autotune has changed the music industry from one where the best musicians are the most successful to the best looking models with the best PR team behind them being more successful.