ABSTRACT
Since the late 1960's, the studio production of rock music has frequently relied heavily on technology as a means of creating a richer and deeper sound than could necessarily be achieved in a live context by the artist. A salient example of this is Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody” a track that, along with 10cc's “I'm Not in Love,” is frequently referred to as one of one of the greatest multi-track hits of all time. Although both Queen and 10cc were also live bands, stage renditions of their respective studio masterpieces often incorporated backing tapes taken from the original studio recordings or edited versions of the track to compensate for the limits of live performance. Other bands, such as Led Zeppelin, often opted to re-articulate pieces of music utilizing studio effects and/or overdubs as improvisatory jams utilizing conventional onstage instruments when performing these pieces live. Interestingly, in more contemporary performances, each of these artists have used more recently introduced technologies, including digital sampling, midi and live looping devices to create onstage versions of their classic tracks that adhere more closely to the original studio recordings. Whereas once the obvious use of technology to mask the limitations of live performance would have conflicted with discourses of “authenticity” shared by rock audiences and taste makers such as music critics, in the era of “classic rock” and “self-tribute” the album version and its (near) faithful representation on stage have become a new standard among artists and audiences alike. The purpose of this chapter is to consider why such a change has occurred, what it suggests about the conventions of rock authenticity that previously dominated the live performance of rock and its implications for our understanding of how current audiences, including ageing fans, prefer to consume classic rock in a live context.
