Concert Critique

For my experience of a “traditional” concert, I had the privilege of being able to attend a concert from one of my personal favorite artists, Post Malone. This concert was held at Binghamton University in the events center, and sold out almost a month in advance of the show, so being able to attend a performance of this magnitude was surely an experience I will cherish. Advertised both by the artist himself and on multiple programs online, these programs were very minimal in information provided – many detailing only the beginning time of the concert and the opening performance, although it was clear by this information given the style of music performed at the venue, predominantly hip-hop and R&B. Upon arriving at the venue shortly after doors

East was dressed in all black, wearing a hoodie along with black jeans. This very informal wear was reflected among the crowd, with many of the people in the audience wearing almost precisely the same outfit. Given that hip-hop is traditionally one of the more laid-back styles of music, comparable to rock, it was definitely interesting to see this reflected in the attire of the performer as well as those in

His performance was similar to many other performances in the Rap and R&B genre; beginning with a few vaguely popular songs to warm up, and eventually getting to his post popular song within the first 30 minutes: White Iverson. While the audience danced along to his first few songs and many sang along, this was the song that had the most crowd participation. Most of the audience sang along, danced and even interacted each other while Malone ran from one side of the stage to the other, seemingly feeding off of the excitement of the audience. In hindsight, it is moments like these that I feel the DJ deserves a great amount of praise. Although he is off to the side of the stage for the duration of the concert, his ability to direct the order of these songs is key, both in the ability to warm the crowd up and in applying these climactic moments for everyone. Nettl comments on the importance of this, although his comments were on the importance of the conductor, saying: “The conductor is the general, his baton of military origin. He gets credit for victories, is listed on the album cover, but risks little from the audience, as he can’t be heard.” This is a comment I feel is dually attributable to the DJ at a concert; directing the whole performance; the presence of the DJ is of utmost performance to the success of the concert, as he is ultimately the one that