Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Lady A Live

        Lady Antebellum has been touring since 2008 and headlining since 2010. They often tour with other big country artist such as: Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, and Darius Rucker. One of their first big acts was opening for Keith Urban at the Staple center in 2009. Origionally Sugarland was the opening act but they weren't able to perform so Lady A got the gig. At the time their biggest hit was "I Run to You" which had hit #1 on the country charts. Their entrance to the stage was very simple and humble showing that they knew the crowd wasn't there for them but they were still bale to come out and put on a good show that entertained the audience. They began with a basic intro and tried to get the fans involved asking them to sing along with them. The guitarist, Dave Haywood, made use of the cat-walk that allowed them to walk out into the crowd for the intro which lead to Charles Kelly and Hillary Scott coming in with the vocals. Charles began with trying to pump up the crowd and thanking them for helping make their "I Run to You" the number one country song. They were dressed in T-shirts and Jeans that showed fashion and were a break from the traditional western wear that most country artist have. For the Keith Urban opening the audience wasn't there for Lady A but still seemed to catch on and enjoy their act.
          Three years later Lady A came back to the Staples Center this time as a headliner and they opened with "We Owned The Night". This time they made a much bigger entrance, starting with a light show and then appearing in center stage as the platform they were on rose out from beneath it. They had Three big screens, one zoomed in on each of them (Scott, Kelly, and Haywood) allowing the sold out crowd of over 20,000 people to all see the performers move and act around on stage. Unlike in 2009 they didn't open the song with thanking the crowd and trying to get them involved but instead went for a big entrance and starting strong. They were now a headlining act and went with the big entrance to begin the show instead of the humble start that they had when opening for Keith Urban. They were still dressed in clothes that were meant to not appear over the top or big fashion statements, but were still a complete break from the western cowboy outfit that traditional country artist wear.
 
Through the majority of the song the only stage lights are centered on the main three artist but then at the end they expand out and show some of the audience and the other band members as the cameras show audience. This video shows a much stronger reaction from the fans than they had in 2009, which is due heavily to the fact that this is who the audience came to see and Lady A is no longer panning to Keith Urban fans who are waiting for someone else to come out. The Tickets for the Staples Center show were between $25 and $69.95 with a heavy majority being sold at $49.50. 
         Lady Antebellum tours are now starting to sell out everywhere, for the third sold-out stop in a row to end their Own The Night tour Lady A played at the opera house in Sydney Australia on October 3rd. They filmed the tour and are planing on releasing it this Dec. but the band shows no signs of slowing down as they have already booked many shows next year two of which have already sold-out. The band wide spread success comes from their willingness to sound a little pop and break from the traditional mold of modern day country. As the band continues to be successful and is still willing to go for a pop-country sound that many audiences around the world can enjoy they will still be able to sell-out major venues across the globe.

Lady Antebellum, "Tour".http://ladyantebellum.com/tour. Accessed (Oct. 31)

Las Angeles Times, "Live: Keith Urban at the Staples Center". http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/21/entertainment/et-keith-urban21

Orange County Register, "Live review: Lady Antebellum comfy, convincing in first headlining Staples Center show". http://soundcheck.ocregister.com/2012/03/28/live-review-lady-antebellum-convincing-comfy-in-first-headlining-staples-center-show/91648/

Staples center, "Staples Center Event. : Lady Antebellum". http://staplescenter.com/events/event-detail/3009. Accessed (Oct. 31)


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2 comments:

  1. Samantha StieffelNovember 3, 2012 at 3:38 PM

    I liked the contrast that you decided to illustrate between the two different performances by Lady A. It did a great job of showing the progression they have made from opening to headlining concert tours. It was well thought out and detailed. It is interesting that the performances were at the same venue. It was very good that you provided the data on ticket prices and capacity of the venue. How cool that Lady A got to perform at the Sydney Opera House. I enjoyed seeing the actual performances that you found on Youtube, through the links. It could have improved the blog to insert the actual videos onto it so that the reader did not have to leave the blog to see them. There were just a few typing errors, but overall the blog was well done, easy to read, and informative.

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  2. aliNovember 6, 2012 at 7:13 PM

    The blog post gave an overall great insight into the evolved nature of Lady Antebellum’s live performance and popularity, which are key factors in understanding both the placement and presence of a musician or band. I found it interesting reading about the contrast between Lady Antebellum’s stage presence when they were opening for Keith Urban and when they returned to the Staple Center after blowing up. Becoming a headline act practically overnight isn’t easy to do, especially in the vicious industry that is commercial country music, so to see a band like Lady Antebellum, who don’t even necessarily adhere to major commercial country music tropes in regard to things like fashion and musical style, come out on top, says something serious about the once again changing characteristics of country music and how it’s authenticity is defined. In what crazy situation would we have ever thought that country music acts would be headlining the Sydney Opera House someday?

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