Concert Spaces – Taking the Stage
Concerts halls for the most part are empty, lifeless, dull, dark spaces. There is nothing very special about them until an event is held there. This is when this empty vacuum becomes something truly special and unique, but how exactly does this happen and why is it important to do so? This piece is on the concert that took place on the 29th of January 2015 by singer Jessie Ware at the 02 Academy Brixton. This feature is not so much about the performance so to speak even though it was an experience. Instead it is focused on how spaces can be made to be your own and how they can be an extension of who you are. Jessie Ware is a UK born musical artist, I use the term artist not only because of her musical talent but because of the way in which she used the empty canvas of the concert hall to create her own masterpiece and how she made this room her own. Before the concert the room is nothing to be truly admired and isn’t particularly breathtaking or awe inspiring. But the second Jessie Ware took to the stage this place becomes her own. She claims this space by the visuals she uses.
The backdrop of the stage is minimalistic with her name in black and the background in white. But what makes this truly interesting is the lights she uses. These lights flood the room and ripple along the walls with specific patterns and colours bringing this space to life and leaving the dull and lifeless behind. These lights correspond with each song that is played altering the entire atmosphere as the night progresses. The lights are more than just that, but are an extension of the music that Jessie creates and she treats the hall like a bedroom in the same way that if you were to enter someones room you are able to get a feel and sense of who they are and what they are about, understanding them on a more personal level. This is how she claimed and made the space her own by making it personal.
A lot of important thought goes into making the venue you are performing in your own. Phoenix Martins a musical artist and student of Goldsmiths University of London takes us through why for her it is important to make her space her own as she says “for me the audience are able to engage in what I’m doing a lot better, they get a sense of my world and what I’m about and what the show will be like, making it personal is how I use and claim my space”
When asked, Alena Robinson an up and coming musical artist and ex student at The Brit school which produced world famous performers such as Adele and Jessie J offered her opinion on performances spaces and she makes them her own. She brings up the point that for her, adaptability is a part of the way she goes about owning and using the spaces she performs in “you don’t know what venue you are going to be at, you may not be familiar with the stage.. it might be risen or the audience may be positioned right in front of you. You have to take these things into account when you are performing your songs so you adapt to fit the theme or the venue.”
Both Phoenix and Alena spoke about how they use the stage and own their space, they use visuals and lights but what both of them bring up, is the importance of the audience, with Alena saying “it is important to interact with the audience as they are really a part of your songs so I own my space and make full use of it by making the audience feel like they are on stage with me.. its crucial for them to feel at one with you rather than detached from you… interaction is a key part of owning the space that I have to perform… they are my space”
Owning your concert space does not just mean how you make the room look but it extends to the people that are in it and how you make them feel.
By Malachi Hamilton