Cultural Pockets

Dave and I attended a wedding where the DJ -- a student of ours years ago. He can really make a party work. The interesting moment was the end the third hour where he played some hard core Hip Hop. On the floor were very young girls and couples in their early 20s. There was only a forceful bass note which never changed and a drum (beat) track. Above it all was rap. The young girls (13 years) and the young couples knew every word - and there were many many words. The DJ locked into a cultural pocket that the rest of the room did not know. Interesting. At the request of the mother of the bride, the DJ moved back to late 70's and 80's rock.

The Hip Hop group participated but not at the same level of involvement. But the rest of the group was again on their feet.

So what is good music? Bad music? Cultural identification? Hm.

Don

Prince and Football

I watched the Super Bowl half time show and was taken by how well the spectacle so often associated with Prince worked in that setting. After the past overly produced shows from previous years it was nice to have an artist whose musicianship took center stage. Playing guitar in the rain was itself interesting. It was obvious that he was singing and playing live. His musicial authority cut through all the spectacle. His guitar playing actually elevated the energy level.

It was interesting to see how the media covered it the next day. Yearning for controversy they of course picked up on the androgynous thread. His phallic silhouette was certainly good news. But all that I remember was that at one brief moment the only sound was the entire stadium singing together -- Purple Rain! -- in the rain.