A note on Japanese audiences
I now have two Summer Sonics under my Turkish coinbelt, and I have noticed a distinct difference between Japanese and Australian audiences.
Foremost, the Japanese punter is very reserved compared with their Oz counterparts. Generally, the J-fan does not sing along to songs, does not hop about, skip or mosh and rarely applauds for more than 30 seconds. Whoops are uncommon; wolf-whistles non-existent and the air is bereft of "I'm engorgingly in love with you!" or "I want to have your babies!". It is common for the visiting band to encourage the crowd to clap to the beat, but this often trails off after a minute. During The Tears' deluge of '05, and The Eds of Sunday Last, I sometimes felt as if I was the only one cheering or singing along or clapping enthusiastically, which is quite an isolating feeling among a crowd of thousands. One also feels a terrible sense of friction and wrong-doing when a foreign singer gets impatient and snaps at a shy crowd; the punters aren't usually able to understand what is said, what with muffled mikes and unwieldy Glaswegian accents and so forth.
The J-fans seemed less reserved when boppier, more cheerful music was played, such as The Rapture, The Charlatans, and Ian Brown of '05 glory. At these times they would jump for lengthy periods and clap to the beat, and holler out a variety of chants, such as last year's "Eeeeee-an, EEEEEEEEE-AN!" (Ian! Ian!).
Some people say that Japanese punters are reluctant to be vocal or expressive to darker, moodier music and apparently don't really know "how to take that kind of music"; or that they wish to listen to the English lyrics and bands' commentary carefully, so they stay quiet in order to concentrate on understanding what is sung or said. I think the latter is probably more correct. I know for certain that their reserve is not due to the fear of the crowd: just look at any baseball game with its orchestra of chants, songs and simultaneous semaphoring. It is more likely a language issue.
It would be interesting to observe Japanese audiences at the gigs of famous Japanese artists to see if they act differently - I suspect they most definitely would be bolder and noisier in this situation. Most curious!
Has anyone else observed a non-English-speaking audience's reaction to an English-speaking/English-singing band?
Foremost, the Japanese punter is very reserved compared with their Oz counterparts. Generally, the J-fan does not sing along to songs, does not hop about, skip or mosh and rarely applauds for more than 30 seconds. Whoops are uncommon; wolf-whistles non-existent and the air is bereft of "I'm engorgingly in love with you!" or "I want to have your babies!". It is common for the visiting band to encourage the crowd to clap to the beat, but this often trails off after a minute. During The Tears' deluge of '05, and The Eds of Sunday Last, I sometimes felt as if I was the only one cheering or singing along or clapping enthusiastically, which is quite an isolating feeling among a crowd of thousands. One also feels a terrible sense of friction and wrong-doing when a foreign singer gets impatient and snaps at a shy crowd; the punters aren't usually able to understand what is said, what with muffled mikes and unwieldy Glaswegian accents and so forth.
The J-fans seemed less reserved when boppier, more cheerful music was played, such as The Rapture, The Charlatans, and Ian Brown of '05 glory. At these times they would jump for lengthy periods and clap to the beat, and holler out a variety of chants, such as last year's "Eeeeee-an, EEEEEEEEE-AN!" (Ian! Ian!).
Some people say that Japanese punters are reluctant to be vocal or expressive to darker, moodier music and apparently don't really know "how to take that kind of music"; or that they wish to listen to the English lyrics and bands' commentary carefully, so they stay quiet in order to concentrate on understanding what is sung or said. I think the latter is probably more correct. I know for certain that their reserve is not due to the fear of the crowd: just look at any baseball game with its orchestra of chants, songs and simultaneous semaphoring. It is more likely a language issue.
It would be interesting to observe Japanese audiences at the gigs of famous Japanese artists to see if they act differently - I suspect they most definitely would be bolder and noisier in this situation. Most curious!
Has anyone else observed a non-English-speaking audience's reaction to an English-speaking/English-singing band?
posted by Miss Ember at 2:35 am
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