Interactive singing may become more and more audience-led in the future, but true singing remains the prerequisite for interactive singing.
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The performance market in 2023 is exploding, and many city weekends are "contracted" by concerts. Concerts bloom, and fans don’t play according to the routine, creating many new "ways to play".
For example, "You don’t need to sing in person to hold a concert, fans sing for idols". Recently, singer Wu Bai has frequently been on the hot search for fans "singing on his behalf", and has been made numerous "terriers" by netizens. Even if he responds "This is not true, I have sung", it seems that no one cares except him – after all, after the concert, the audience’s singing is still enduring. It seems that Wu Bai himself does not need to appear. As long as the venue is packed and the performance date is announced, fans can successfully hold a "Wu Bai concert without Wu Bai".
Expressing love and support for singers through enthusiastic chorus has become more and more violent. In Miriam Yeung’s MY TREE OF LIVE world tour this year, whether it is the main songs such as "It’s a pity that I am an Aquarius" and "Small Town Events", or non-main songs such as "Kappa" and "Fireworks", can trigger a chorus; in the national tour of Mao Buyi’s "Guide to Young Birds", old songs and new songs such as "Ordinary Day", "Midsummer" and "City Evening" have all won the audience’s chorus.
From singing to singing, the audience and the performers have a stronger and stronger sense of interaction. In addition, writing what you want to say to the singer on the hand banner, creating a "sea of stars", and performing a song with the singer have also become highly accepted "concert rituals".
In 2023, people will not just "watch the concert", but "participate in the concert" at a deeper level and with more interactive fun.
From listening to songs to chorus, the key words are "expression" and "resonance"
Li Meng, a post-90s girl who works in the operation of an internet company, has been listening to concerts since she was a third-year-old. At first, she liked to sit quietly and listen. "The first time I listened to a concert was also the first time I saw my favorite singer in person, so I didn’t want the singer’s voice to be disturbed, even my own." Now she prefers to participate in the chorus, "which gives me a sense of participation, and I feel happy between singing and jumping."
Zhou Zhou, a bank clerk, went to a concert with friends during November 11. "My seat was next to the free ticket area, where most of the audience were not enthusiastic and sat quietly without a chorus." She said the whole concert was cold, which made the impression not good. But Zhou Zhou understood the behavior: "Everyone feels and expresses differently, and whether to sing or not is a personal choice."
For the chorus, Liu Jiayue expressed his disapproval. At one concert, the audience next to her sang for a night, and her voice was loud and out of tune. Liu Jiayue sighed: "I didn’t hear the singer’s voice at all, and I felt that the tickets were bought for nothing."
Ding Zigao, producer of Miriam Yeung’s MY TREE OF LIVE world tour and founder of Zhengxiang Culture and Entertainment Co., Ltd., believes that in the atmosphere of pop music culture, it is a common phenomenon for listeners to interact with singing. "Many pop music creations come from life, and it is easy to resonate, resulting in the phenomenon of chorus and follow-up." Ding Zigao said that Miriam Yeung’s songs connect the youth and memories of listeners. When the music that accompanied her growth plays again, scene after scene of memories will come flooding in.
Li Sirui, CEO of Elephant Music Group and producer of Wang Sulong’s 2023 "Party of the Century" tour, believes that the popularity of social media has made the audience’s perspective an integral part of the concert, with strong interactivity and more follow-up singing.
"Only after the audience has really listened to the song many times can they be able to sing along; only when the audience really resonates will they come to the concert site to sing along." Xin Zhiyu, the general manager of the Wohahaowa Music Business Center, the producer of Mao Buyi’s concert, analyzed that both ability and choice are achieved, and the audience can sing along. "For some young people, chorus is actually a kind of emotional relief." Xin Zhiyu believes that many of Mao Buyi’s songs are the emotional observation of ordinary people, which has an advantage in this regard.
In many concerts, the audience chorus usually only exists during a few songs, while in Wubai concerts, the chorus lasts almost the whole time. Li Shan, an associate professor at the School of Music of Capital Normal University, believes that this is special and is the result of a combination of factors: Wubai is a creative pop singer with a wide audience and a large fan base, which provides a population base for the chorus; pop music itself is closer to the public, and it is easier for the audience to sing; and in the era when Wubai became famous, the Internet was not developed, and the number of singers that the public could reach was limited, so the popular singers had a greater influence. Now that young people have more diverse entertainment methods, it is difficult for the audience to like a singer to achieve the effect of analogy with Wubai.
Hand banners, posters, sea of stars… make the concert full of ritual
From singing to singing, the audience and the performers had a stronger and stronger sense of interaction. In terms of interaction methods, some people also made hand banners and wrote the words they wanted to express to the singer; some people wore specific costumes and accessories to interact with the singer… The communication modes between the two sides were also more diverse.
Shan Xiaotao, a girl from Northeast China, has attended two concerts this year. Before each performance, she will specially buy clothes and glow sticks of matching colors, think about her hairstyle in advance, and make an appointment with old friends to meet. Before entering, create a sense of ceremony.
Liu Jiayue will also make posters in advance, writing the songs she wants to listen to, hoping to interact with the singers during the song ordering process. She specifically mentioned that there is a tacit agreement between her favorite singers and fans: stand up to listen to fast songs, sit down to enjoy slow songs, and when it comes to a specific song, turn on the phone light and swing it. "Everyone uses the lights to create a sea of stars together, and just seeing this scene makes me feel healed."
Li Yi, a Mao Buyi fan, said that every time she listens to Mao Buyi’s concert, she seeks a sense of "hard empathy for migrant workers", "healing by his music", and a sense of "understanding". She loves the chat sessions between Mao Buyi’s concerts and the atmosphere of his conversations with fans. Before each concert, Li Yi will carefully "review" his "time nodes and moods" that he has liked Mao Buyi over the years, and then look forward to "marking a new scale."
Ding Zigao believes that today’s audiences have a stronger desire to get up close and personal with the performers. "In fact, this was the case in the past, but because the technology is more mature now, the effect is more obvious." For example, the audience will make their own hand banners or raise the title of the song they want to hear to attract the attention of the performers. At the same time, the audience’s requirements for the overall appearance of the concert have also increased. "In addition to feeling the performance of the singer, they will also appreciate the stage art, clothing styling, video, sound effects, etc."
According to Xin Zhiyu’s observation, the current audience’s requirements for viewing experience and viewing experience are getting higher and higher, and the tolerance of organizers is decreasing. Xin Zhiyu admitted that the audience experience is the first priority in the ranking of concert value. Before the performance, his team will conduct a comprehensive investigation of the venue, such as whether the temperature of the air conditioner is suitable and whether the field of vision is blocked.
"Listening to music, feeling the atmosphere and releasing pressure are the main needs of the audience to watch concerts." In Li Shan’s opinion, compared with more than a decade ago, young people today are more courageous and more willing to express themselves, so there will be phenomena such as chorus and wearing specific clothes to watch concerts. "This sense of ritual does not only exist in concerts, but also appears in various activities such as football games. This is a respect for the event."
True singing is the prerequisite for interactive singing, and music is still the foundation of performance
As the audience’s demand for concert experiences increases and the desire for interaction becomes stronger, performers and organizers are exploring new performance models.
Mr. Xin said that "national character" and "warm emotions" were two of Mao’s characteristics. "We hope this is a pure concert that can bring a good listening experience to the audience." Based on this concept, the team designed the performance. For example, in the interactive song ordering process, Mao is not easy to choose songs to sing according to the color ratio of the live glow stick; on the day of the 520 performance, a limited playlist is used.
Li Sirui said that Wang Sulong’s concert held this year has set up more interactive parts: preparing Easter eggs at the clock in and outside the venue; calling on the audience to bring their own dolls to the scene; when singing "Good Times", Wang Sulong will stop to perform a sitcom, and the plot of each scene is different.
Li Sirui believes that the essence of a concert is to sing live and listen to live, on this basis to meet the emotional needs of fans to see the singer in person, while allowing the stage to more fully display the music and satisfy the audience’s freshness. With the diversification of entertainment forms, how to make the visual effect more shocking, the stage presentation more rich, and the interactive form more participatory, these are all added to the carrier of the concert.
Li Shan said that although music is not easy to improvise, interactive singing may become more and more audience-led in the future. At the same time, true singing is still the premise of interactive singing, which puts higher requirements on the ability of singers.
Ding Zigao believes that concerts are not just entertainment, but also the performers’ interpretation of music. Songs are the core, and at the same time, the coordination of stage art, styling and other aspects is required to present the whole music story to the audience. Miriam Yeung’s MY TREE OF LIVE world tour concert at Encore added chat and blind box selection to bring a different experience to the audience. After the performance, the team will also collect audience feedback through social platforms to modify and adjust the tour.
(At the request of the interviewee, Li Meng, Zhou Zhou, Liu Jiayue, Li Yi and Shan Xiaotao are all pseudonyms)