Two concerts and one connection only

I saw two concerts this month and in both cases the musician was a top-class guitarist with his group; Eric Clapton in the first case and Pat Metheny in the second, this is to say yesterday evening here in Ljubljana. And this was almost the only similarity – the rest was very different.

You see, Eric Clapton’s gig I almost forgot already. As if it never happened. Nothing to write home about. On the other hand, Pat Metheny’s concert will probably remain in my memory as one of the best concerts I saw, right next to Bobby McFerrin a few years back.

The difference was not in the quality of playing, the quality of musicians. That was absolutely superb in both cases – Eric Clapton as well as Pat Metheny did their job flawless and we were observing and listening to perfection. The difference was in emotional connection (or lack of it), I would say, in the human bond between us.

Eris Clapton and his band seemed to be absolutely locked in their separated world and I did not observe any true effort being made on their side to bridge the gap. They came on the stage, Eric said something like: “Nice to be back in Belgrade after 30 years…nice city…” and that was about it. Then they played their songs and that was it. There seemed to be no communication in between them and no communication with us. He did not bother to introduce other musicians and back-vocalists, did not say anything but a short “thank you” after each song and we were worlds apart. The audience on one side and the musicians on the other. Even they seemed to be each in her or his own world. Perhaps Eric tries a bit harder when in Madison Square Garden or Wembley, but 17.000 people that bought expensive tickets, to my mind, deserve a bit more respect. I still like Eric Clapton’s songs, but that concert left me pretty empty emotionally, though it was technically perfect.

Pat Metheny was so different. He also did not talk very much, but he did communicate with other musicians, introduced them, drew attention of audience on them… And the most important was that we, the audience, felt all the time that the musicians were fully in the interaction with us, they were giving themselves, they were entering our worlds and opening up theirs. There was togetherness going on, a community in a way. We, the audience, were of course appreciating their music, but they were obviously appreciating our presence and our appreciation.  We were emotionally together, sometimes nervous, sometimes happy, sometimes excited, sometimes touched.

Yes, there was a mutuality going on there, a free flow of giving and receiving, playfulness, relationship, emotional connection. And that was what made a huge difference, not the speed of fingers on the guitar alone.

It always seems to really be about that, doesn’t it? The genuine connection.

Advertisement