It is a technically legitimate excuse. The phlegmatic buildup from acid reflux can affect the vocal chords. This was Ashlee Simpson’s excuse after an embarrassing showing at her debut Saturday Night Live performance.
As her voice came on with “Pieces of Me,” Simpson wandered around for a few moments, microphone by her side, before finally walking off-stage and leaving her band to rock out. So why, with the valid defense, is there focus from the press and public on Simpson’s faux pas? Working a mere one night a week can be hard, hard work for a young girl’s voice. It is common knowledge many pop artists use backup tracks. Singers have been doing so for years. Need there be a Milli Vanilli revisit? When Beyoncé was flipping around at MTV’s Video Music Awards last year, no one seemed to criticize. No one called out Britney’s validity with the absence of any labored breathing as she sang and stripped on stage. Yet words said, not to mention sung on key, while jumping around like that come out less than melodic every time. So Simpson was not quite quick enough to recognize and remember the words to her own song. Is her transgression, then, her inability to hide better her use of the track? Is the public up in arms because she did not sing or that they now had to admit it? Simpson’s SNL incident brings up a very important issue in the music world, that of the live performance.
Over the years, shows have significantly evolved. At one time, a guy sitting down with his guitar, plucking the string, shaking his head and tapping his foot to the rhythm were enough to leave a crowd silent in awe and appreciation. The experience of hearing a genius in action was worth every last penny. The focus now, however, seems less on the music. Unless there are fancy, flashing lights, excessively hyperactive running and flawlessly choreographed movements on stage, many people leave a large venue wondering what the hell those sixty dollars were spent on. The pleasure of hearing fabulous music no longer seems enough entertainment with visual aesthetics as in demand as the auditory. Or is the music the problem?
Do not mistake this as a strike against mainstream pop music or its idols. There is nothing wrong with those sounds. Highly produced tunes, every now and then, never actually hurt anybody. Perchance, there might not be a place for it in the live context. Especially when it is difficult to remember a time when the musical numbers came off as anything but exact replicas of the CD everyone owns. There are reasons Knowles, Spears and the like do not put out live albums. With the quality of a song coming from that studio production, perhaps the artist need not tour, especially if it ultimately brings controversy. Maybe he or she ought, instead, to have scheduled sightings of sorts. With the well-known songs pounding through speakers, fans could still pay their outrageous ticket prices to sit hundreds of feet away from the artist, screaming and pointing to their hearts’ content. Isn’t that really what they go to these shows for anyway, to see a singer in the flesh?
Simpson, among many other nationally known names, tests her vocal strength once or twice a week, often in large venues. Many smaller bands generally only have a day or two off. It is not likely that Simple Plan’s Pierre Bouvier will be claiming acid reflux phlegm after a month straight of touring. And his venues will be of the beautifully small sort, where circulation is a foreign thing, quite unheard of. The smoke and elements filling the venues are anything but helpful for the vocal chords, and yet he’ll joyfully shout out to the crowd night after night. These are the shows worth attending. There may not always be a lot of pretty things to look at. There might be restrictions on any lighting or extracurricular visuals — all the more opportunity for the music, the beats, the rhythms, the voices, to be put back in the limelight. Without having to worry about how they look, artists are able to demonstrate their abilities, showcasing spontaneous riffs or new arrangements of an old favorite. Such performances prove music to be an active craft with a living existence, not a stagnant one restricted to the whims of studio producers. There is triumphant appreciation when an artist stands up on stage with a microphone, guitar or piano, and amplifiers, extensions of himself he offers to the listeners.
There is no need to suddenly boycott Simpson and her pop pals. They are indeed entertainers and have a talent with that trade. If the public acknowledges them in this light, there will certainly be less disillusionment when the singer does not match up with the song. Leave the live shows to the musicians. Whether in small or large venues, known or up and coming troupes, they will never disappoint nor desecrate the virtue of the live performance.
