Lyndahere And Great Big Sea Fans...

On a recent post for Lynda Elstad or Lyndahere's (@lyndahere) blog Between the Rock and Hardplace (“You’d Live A Whole Lot More” Part Two – Great Big Sea XX Tour, First Leg, Edmonton to St Paul (Videos and Set Lists): The Great Big Happy and Truly Satisfying) she discussed the audience at Great Big Sea XX concerts, their behaviour and their motivations for going. I felt like she was crashing my domain (lol). However, I seriously feel the need to defend my fellow fans. I also feel the need to defend Sean McCann as a result of Lyndahere using her blog to spread rumours that this may be the last tour for a while based on absolutely nothing. When quoting from her post I have written the quotes in the correct English with no capitals for nouns out of respect for Alan Doyle.

I must congratulate her on her inclusiveness of all the members of Great Big Sea in this post who received a brief acknowledge followed by long waffly paragraphs about how Alan Doyle and his music changed her life. The photograph of Bob Hallett on fiddle wasn’t half bad although I didn’t watch the videos.

I will start off with Lyndahere states she never goes to a Great Big Sea concert to be happy or as a respite from being unhappy. No not her (although at the end of the post and much soul searching she too is happy). She goes to concerts for different reasons (the words she uses sound kind of like an elaboration of happiness for example thrilled, amused, entertained but never mind) and to think more deeply about the music. To be happy is not illegal or a crime even for just a couple of hours when I last checked in Canada or America nor is it anywhere in the Western world. Lyndahere writes “Others feel differently, I know. Many others and much differently. I have been hearing about – and witnessing the great big happy for years now, some of it on occasion a bit disquieting (especially when the great big happy transforms swiftly into the great big mean mere moments after the show’s closing cord) some of it genuinely impressive and powerfully inspiring”. Whatever the reason people pay for a ticket while interesting is not really important. I think it is fabulous and I am sure that Great Big Sea do too, that people with whatever time they have and whatever money they have left over from life decide to spend it going to a folk music concert. It gives them an opportunity away from the preoccupations of life around of a job, raising children or going to school, family and friends. Important stuff.

“But I have never before seen an equivalent depth of post-show satisfaction as I’ve observed at their first leg of the GBS XX tour shows”. Lyndahere writes “There was next to no bitching to be heard about songs that weren’t done, no jealousy spawned snide comments about who was winked at by whom and for what reasons, no immediate onset desperation about the next GBS fix. Almost all the time the smiles lasted all the way to the venue doors. Almost every time the smiles felt true…I can think of a number of reasons for this the most important of those reasons originating on stage….” A smile that lasts all the way to the door. Imagine that. Big praise indeed for Great Big Sea. Yes I can image that most of those smiles did last all the way to the door and beyond because of what happened on stage. I gather the audience were not given free beer or merchandise before they went in.

I can also imagine the reasons why the audience was generally pleased. Many of the shows were in Canada and Great Big Sea are some of their favourite sons. Tickets to the show are expensive and would only attract really interested fans or perhaps some ‘newbies’. If they were great fans then yes I imagine they would get their fix. I have never brought a greatest hits album I wasn’t happy with and according to her reports they have played many old favourites as well as some new stuff.

Lyndahere continues…“There have been differences to be found in the audiences as well. I’ve never before seen so many couples at GBS shows, an observation which made me curious enough to send me on a chatting mission with a rather large number of those couples at numerous shows. Over and over again, I was told the same story; the pair of tickets had been a gift (from the fellow to the gal, but occasionally the other way round) given for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or an anniversary. This was especially true of the tickets shows where the ticket prices were the highest: the result of a steep price tag appeared to be that the GBS show had become an evening out, an event, something to get dressed up for, to arrange a babysitter for, maybe to go out for a nice dinner beforehand – an occasion to share with someone special”…or an opportunity for her to show off her privileged and position in life to other fans.

“And therefore perhaps a bit less of an evening to get stumbling drunk, emotionally overwhelmed, and/or in a near fist fight pushing match over a prime stage side notice me position”. I seriously think that position has already been taken and permanently occupied by Lyndahere unless a fan has a favourite other than Alan Doyle. In a tweet Lyndahere wrote to Sean McCann “And you not only put on a great show, you’re a hero to all of us who have been pushed around and/or hurt at shows. Well done” 14 April 2013. I can understand why she may get hurt at shows in particular, when she insists on occupying a prime stage notice me position. People make polite requests for her not to shine that video recorder and camera in their face or not block their view. And she tells them politely to get stuffed and refuses to budge. Yes, I can see how pushing turns to shoving and someone ends up getting hurt. A great sense of entitlement will get her hurt and in particular when she is blocking someone’s view they are entitled to.

Lyndahere discusses the behaviour of fans at concerts in considerable depth “It hasn’t been all couples and newbies at the XX shows, of course. And it hasn’t’ been all foolishness -ree or all meanness-free either.” Whether it is foolishness or meanness while not very nice it is not illegal unless it is drunk and disorderly conduct. It is also not illegal to express an opinion. I have never left a concert, event, play or sporting event where people don’t talk about what they have just witnessed. Not everyone is going to agree or have the same interpretation of the event they witnessed and it would be a boring old world if it were. It is not illegal to express an opinion that is different than her own despite what she may think. What is illegal are her actions of bootlegging entire performances without a license and stalking a person at their place of work.

Lyndahere writes “There’s a great deal of (mostly whispered) worry about how many more GBS tours the future might hold – a worry the flames of which have been definitely been fanned by Sean’s series of tweeted “farewells” as the band leaves many of the XX tour cities and perhaps some fans have decided to come while they can…” She has never written anything on Twitter about this so I find this statement kind of interesting. It is just the way he writes. Sean McCann is the only Great Big Sea member not to acknowledge her on Twitter. And perhaps wishful thinking on her part with the emergence of the Alan Doyle band permanently.

The Music Fan Pilgrimage...

I am about to set out on my fan pilgrimage next week to Canada to see Great Big Sea in concert. The band will not be coming anywhere close to where I live so I have to travel to them (That is distinct from stalking and following them around as I am only attending two concerts). I am not the first fan to make a pilgrimage to see their favourite musicians or artists perform. Fans undertake all kinds of pilgrimages from sports fans visiting the home ground of their favourite sporting team or visiting the scenes of some of their favourite movie or television shows or some other pilgrimage associated with fandom. So I feel it is appropriate to explore the concept of the fan pilgrimage and what type of pilgrimages fans undertake.

The research distinguishes two types of pilgrimages, those religious followers make to sacred sites and those made by anyone including music and sporting fans to a site of significant personal interest. The Princeton University site distinguishes between religious and cultural pilgrimages “ A modern phenomenon is the cultural pilgrimage which is also about a personal journey, involves a secular response. Destinations for such pilgrims can include historic sites of national or cultural importance and be defined as places of “cultural significance; an artist’s home the local of a pivotal event or an iconic destination”. Examples include a baseball fan visiting Cooperstown New York. Destinations for cultural pilgrims include examples such as Auschwitz concentration camp, Gettysburg Battlefield, the Ernest Hemingway House or even Disneyland. Cultural pilgrims may also travel on religious pilgrimage routes such as the Way of St James with the perspective of making it a historical and cultural pilgrimage rather than religious experiences”.

The webpage Music Pilgrims makes an interesting observation about music pilgrims “Music fans make pilgrimages to a range of sites that can be seen as culturally significant or scared depending upon the view of devotion. The sites visited include gravesites, homes, special locations and significant events associated with musicians dead and alive. As described in the website about deities, some music fans today seem to worship their favourite musicians for many of the same traits that religious followers worship their deities. Since deity is often viewed as another term for a god or goddess, isn’t the pilgrimage of fans to a famous (ie sacred) location pertaining to their favourite artist and of wanting to be in the presence of a God?

This is where the ‘secular’ pilgrimage comes in. The secular pilgrimage can be described as the journey to a “contemporary special location” and the memorial sites and graves of special individuals (Margy 2008). Margy makes the argument that these visits have a religious dimension and may even be religiously motivated (2008)…

Fan pilgrimages are big business whether they are tourist organisations running fan based tours or universities offering courses in examining the phenomena. The Study Abroad program at the George Washington University in America offering summer programs (at a cost of around $8000 for a unit) examines this phenomena and makes some interesting comments “The tourists have a bad reputation. We are encouraged to look at their experience as necessarily inauthentic, doomed to superficiality at best, and at worst an ongoing opportunity to insult other cultures. The fans of popular culture also have a bad reputation. Even though the media assures us that we are in the middle of a “Geek Revolution” that same media is also quick to characterise fans as over invested, sometimes creepy, but more often just sad people who need to ‘get a life” (there is no reference for this quote). They raise a whole lot of questions but the most interesting is what constitutes an “authentic” experience for the fan? Fans that are prepared to invest time and money in these types of tours and events usually have a great a deal of knowledge about the fandom already. If the experiences offered were not authentic, word would spread quickly throughout the fandom network and they would be avoided by genuine diehard fans. I think the more interesting question is what kind of fans take these tours and are they really genuine diehard fans. The reading list for this course looks interesting and a great place to start for a bit more investigation.

My ‘pilgrimage’ will be nothing quite so organised or expensive, just a couple of concerts and a good time. Everybody wants something different from the pilgrimage they take. For me I hope to visit some beautiful spots, meet some great people and experience the culture, hear and celebrate some fabulous music and have a good old fashioned time.

References

‘Pilgrims’ at www.princeton.edu /…pilgrims viewed 8 April 2013

‘What is a pilgrimage?- Music Pilgrimage: Religious Like Devotion to A God’ at www. Musicpilgrimage.webs.com viewed 8 April 2014

Fandom Pilgrimage Business...

This article “To boldly go on a nerdy pilgrimage” by Anika Chin published on 4 February 2013 for CNN discusses the tourist market for fandom.

Whether it's through film, TV or pages of a book, you may have flown a TARDIS with a time lord, walked on the moon with Neil Armstrong, survived the Hunger Games, and perhaps even fallen in love with a character of the likes of Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy.

But faithful fans aren't leaving their love for their interests at home. Instead, they're setting course to destinations where their geeky passions come alive. From the sweeping emerald landscapes of New Zealand where one can wander the trails of the cinematic Middle-earth of "Lord of the Rings" to Wales for the ultimate "Doctor Who" experience, devotees are seizing the chance to experience their fandom up close and personal.

For iReporter Alex Vaccarino, a book report in fourth grade would start a lifelong love affair with J.K. Rowling's world. Though our "muggle" world may not have magical potions to ensnare the senses, Potterheads like her can apparate (or take a plane or car) to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter , an enchanting theme park inside Universal Orlando fit for any wizard. Complete with a snow-capped Hogsmeade, a Hogwarts Castle and recognizable shops including Ollivanders and Honeydukes, fans can immerse themselves in magic that has been lifted from the series.

"Rowling's books are so rich in detail, taking a pilgrimage like this was like looking directly into her imagination," Vaccarino says. "I think I scared nearby small children with my level of excitement. It was like stepping into one of the books, which is any fan's dream come true."

For many nerds, a pilgrimage goes beyond simple sightseeing and becomes a rite of passage. Most of the readers who shared stories of their nerdy pilgrimages with CNN.com felt their experiences cemented their love for their respective passions.

The object of iReporter Daniel Fandino's veneration is tucked away in Mitaka, Japan. Designed by legendary anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, renowned for movies like "Spirited Away" and "My Neighbor Totoro," the whimsical Ghibli Museum is the perfect place to see Miyazaki's animations come to life. With a playful interior, the museum houses detailed models, artful storyboards and several exhibits that invite Ghibli admirers to pause and savor.

"The experience was very meaningful because it was a chance to see the behind-the-scenes and creative process of a major animation studio whose work I have so admired," Fandino says. "To have visited the museum felt like reaching a certain pinnacle as a fan and I felt extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to do so."

It's these pinnacle experiences that become the driving force behind a pilgrimage, but each full-hearted adventurer has a unique motivation for wanting to take one. If you're a literary nerd like Teresa Fields not only do you fall in love with imagined characters who sit on your bookshelf, but you also fall in love with the minds that have penned them to life.

"You realize that it wasn't the characters that so captivated your thoughts, but rather, it was the author who created them who you were in love with all along," Fields said in a CNN iReport.

Wanting to explore the world of English novelist Jane Austen, Fields set off from her home in Virginia to the charming Hampshire countryside -- the place of inspiration for stories that would become timeless novels like "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice." Austen fans can take a stroll through the 17th-century cottage, now a museum, where the author spent the last eight years of her life in the village of Chawton.

"You get a clearer picture of how she lived and how she might have formed her characterizations by the way her environment shaped her," Fields said. "I couldn't believe that I was actually walking in the footsteps of history. Sometimes I had to stop and say to myself, 'Jane Austen actually walked this path.'"

Undertaking a pilgrimage may not be for everyone, but it certainly offers enthusiasts the opportunity to not just imagine how things may be, but to see things as they really are.

For a Whovian like Tme Hampson, what better place to come face-to-face with the "Doctor Who" universe than The Doctor Who Experience, an interactive journey that takes fans behind-the-scenes of the iconic show. On Cardiff Bay in Cardiff, Wales, the attraction showcases sets and an incredible collection of artifacts and costumes that span the 50-year history of "Doctor Who."

"I've been a 'Doctor Who' fan since childhood, so approximately 40 years. Seeing all the sights was astounding," he says. "It was a fantastic day. Not only the exhibition, but also getting the chance to visit many of the external filming locations in the area."

Though gaining a deeper connection to the show was a rewarding experience for Hampson, he said going with a worthy companion, his son, made for a more meaningful one.

"My son is 9 years old and a huge fan of the latest regeneration of the Doctor," he said. "Getting to share a visit with him to many of the props, costumes and sets made this an unforgettable experience."

The beauty of these trips is in memories that last long after the experience. The journey is almost always so brimming with heartfelt emotion and zeal that it resists being reduced to a typical set of vacation snapshots. 

And there's certainly nothing typical about finding yourself at the doorstep of a Hobbit-hole home.

With countless "Lord of the Rings" tours available, New Zealand has quickly become a place of pilgrimage for "Lord of the Rings" fanatics. Drawing new energy with the release of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" in December, Tolkienites are flocking to spectacular locations like Matamata, where Peter Jackson filmed his Academy-Award winning trilogy.

"Now I can say that I have seen Middle-earth," said iReporter Jerry C Gonzales who took a Hobbiton movie set tour to see the stunning fantasyland for himself. "I never stopped taking shots from every angle of the place. It was an amazing experience," he said. "It was more than what I expected because our tour guide even told us some secrets on how Peter Jackson filmed the movies."

As most nerds know, being homesick for a place you've never been to is not an unfamiliar feeling. In fact, it's that longing that breathes life into a pilgrimage.

In the book "The Hobbit," J.R.R Tolkien writes about Bilbo: "Then something Tookish woke up inside him and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick."

Perhaps there's a Tookish wanderlust that begs to be awakened in us all.

The Fandom Pilgrimage Experience...

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Musicians, Artists And Social Media...

The attached article “The Timberlake Brand Carried Along on a Media Storm” by Ben Sisario in The New York Times published 27 March 2013 was recently tweeted on Twitter by a friend of a Great Big Sea member.

Justin Timberlake recently released his new album and sold over 960 000 copies in their first week through a carefully planned marketing strategy over many months. This article in the New York Times discusses how important a carefully planned promotion of a new single and album are for sales. They include traditional marketing methods for example public appearances at big events, radio exposure and promoting well known brands but also the use of social media. The extended timeline attached to the original article documents the evolution of the album over the last the couple of years including some announcements and promotion through Twitter, Youtube and Justin Timberlake’s webpage.

The article states the importance of being where the fans are at including the use of social media in particular Twitter “Yet the master stroke, music and marketing executives say, was the personal touch that Mr. Timberlake brought to every aspect of the campaign, giving his fans the impression of direct contact and feeding them a steady stream of topics to amplify through social media.”… “They want to feel that they know the artists, that they are insiders, and now through social media they can literally and figuratively be friends with the stars.” Musicians and artists recognise the importance of social media in promoting and selling music. Some musicians and artists use it to inform people about concerts and appearances and promote their music. They are in control of their own publicity, can make announcements and defend themselves against the traditional media reaching millions of people with the click of a button. Musicians and artists control the personal information they release. There are those who are genuinely interested in making connections with fans and those who are not really interested in the fans and who have limited contact mainly to create good will and those who have no contact at all. But for those that do use social media like Twitter they have to carefully monitor what they write because they can say a lot more than they want too. Fans who push buttons can be quickly blocked or ignored as quickly as they are responded too and are considered friends by celebrities. A well known actor comes to mind. What ever the interaction with fans using social media it is on the musicians and artist's terms. Friendship I think not and the fans know this.

Although musicians and artists using social media to promote music is nothing new it raised the issue of how important it is for marketing to be carefully planned. It involves a lot more than a few bootlegged videos, photographs and blog by an over enthusiastic fan floating around on social media.

“The Timberlake Brand Carried Along on a Media Storm” by Ben Sisario in The New York Times published 27 March 2013. (No copyright infringement intended)

The term has become shorthand for all the ways a star can exploit popularity through product endorsements, media partnerships and side deals. As a celebrity career strategy it has become de rigueur.

But for an illustration of celebrity branding elevated to the virtuoso level, look no further than the marketing of Justin Timberlake’s comeback album “The 20/20 Experience (RCA), which sold 968,000 copies in its first week out, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The campaign behind the release was a barrage of media. Mr. Timberlake was in commercials for Bud Light Premium and Target and made a breathlessly promoted appearance at the Grammy Awards. iTunes streamed the album before its release, stoking huge advance sales. Then there were his performances around the Super Bowl and South by Southwest his fifth time hosting “Saturday Night Live” a full week as a guest on “Late Night Live with Jimmy Fallon”.

Yet the master stroke, music and marketing executives say, was the personal touch that Mr. Timberlake brought to every aspect of the campaign, giving his fans the impression of direct contact and feeding them a steady stream of topics to amplify through social media.

“Now everyone wants V.I.P. access,” said Jayne Charneski, a marketing executive at the Intelligence Group, a division of the Creative Artists Agency, who was not involved in the Timberlake campaign. “They want to feel that they know the artists, that they are insiders, and now through social media they can literally and figuratively be friends with the stars.”

The planning behind the campaign began last summer, according to Tom Corson, the president of RCA, through meetings with Mr. Timberlake’s manager, Johnny Wright. (As Billboard has documented in an extensive timeline though, fan expectations have been stoked for years.)

But when it came time to announce his return to music after nearly seven years Mr. Timberlake insisted on doing it through his Twitter account and Web site, well before the news release and radio promotions.

“Justin smartly wanted to deliver the news to his fans directly, through the tweet and the countdown video,” Mr. Corson said. “The single went out across all radio formats, but it felt organic because it came from him.”

“The 20/20 Experience” is only the 19th album to sell more than 900,000 copies in its first week of release since SoundScan began keeping accurate count of record sales 22 years ago. Of its sales last week 47 percent were digital.

While album sales have slid precipitously over the last decade, nearly each year tends to bring at least one blockbuster with around one million sales in its opening week. Last year Taylor Swift’s “Red” had 1.2 million; in 2011 Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” had 1.1 million, and Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter IV” had 964,000.

The campaigns behind these albums show how high the bar has been set to market a megahit. The advertising budgets of big consumer brands or major retailers is essential, as are appearances galore and a constantly evolving story for social media.

The extent to which a high-priority album can be promoted wherever fans might be is startling. When Ms. Swift released “Red” she was promoted not only by Target, Walgreens and Keds sneakers, but also on pizza boxes from Papa John’s.

As the center of power in the music industry has shifted away from record companies, top artists also require resourceful managers and agents who can book those deals, sometimes independently of the record company. In the case of Mr. Timberlake he and his management control his image rights, while the label controls only his music.

For the thousands of artists who lack the benefit of such marketing blitzes sales are less impressive.

Also on the Billboard album chart this week, Kacey Musgraves’s “Same Trailer Different Park” (Mercury Nashville) opened at No. 2, with 43,000 sales; Bruno Mars’s “Unorthodox Jukebox” (Atlantic) is No. 3, with 41,000; Luke Bryan’s “Spring Break ... Here to Party” (Capitol Nashville) is in fourth place, with 38,000 sales; and at No. 5 is Pink’s “Truth About Love” (RCA), with 36,000.

David Bakula, a senior analyst at Nielsen, noted the disparity between the few Justin Timberlakes of the world and everybody else.

“No one will look at No. 5 and say, ‘Oh, those numbers are great,’ ” he said. “But the top of the top is doing really well.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: March 28, 2013A previous version of this article referred incorrectly to the brand of beer featured in a commercial with Justin Timberlake. It was Bud Light Platinum, not Bud Light Premium.

 A version of this article appeared in print on March 28, 2013, on page C7 of the New York edition with the headline: The Timberlake Brand, Carried Along on a Media Storm.