At SC, we've been to our share of live concerts. And at both of them, we noticed an odd phenomenon. At some point in the concert, when the crowd's settled down, in the course of a song, the lead guitarist steps up, does a solo, which consists of randomly touching the guitar in a bad way, in the high pitch areas, and at a high tempo, sort of like he's having a fit. The crowd, as if on cue, goes completely berserk. Now neither does this feat result in a pleasant sound (for human ears), nor does it look too difficult to do. So the traditional reasons for the crowd frenzy are downright lame.
The search for the actual explanation took us back to 1835, the year of the first rock concert in a little known town in England. Picture an 1835 concert. The audience is loud. To be heard above the din (it was the era of no mike), the guitarist keeps increasing the pitch. The audience, now relishing a good contest, keeps up. This pisses off the guitarist and at one point, he launches into the world's first guitar solo. The audience are up to the task because of their sheer number and keep up through frenzied high pitch shrieking. Of course, the police arrive in their 19th century uniforms (kudos to our research desk!) and stop the nonsense. The microphone was invented soon but not before the shrill solo and the audience shriek had become something of a habit.
So that's how what started as a 'who can make more noise' contest became a ritual to be upheld for the next 200 years.
The search for the actual explanation took us back to 1835, the year of the first rock concert in a little known town in England. Picture an 1835 concert. The audience is loud. To be heard above the din (it was the era of no mike), the guitarist keeps increasing the pitch. The audience, now relishing a good contest, keeps up. This pisses off the guitarist and at one point, he launches into the world's first guitar solo. The audience are up to the task because of their sheer number and keep up through frenzied high pitch shrieking. Of course, the police arrive in their 19th century uniforms (kudos to our research desk!) and stop the nonsense. The microphone was invented soon but not before the shrill solo and the audience shriek had become something of a habit.
So that's how what started as a 'who can make more noise' contest became a ritual to be upheld for the next 200 years.
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