Is Watching A One-Man-Band Live Compelling?
 

There seems to be a resurgence of the one-man/woman-band over the past few years with artists like Ed Sheeran and Grimes that either use loop pedals or a combination of live instruments like guitars and synths with backing tracks.
What do you guys think of this presentation live? Is it compelling or is it a gimmick? Would you prefer they have a live band?

As far as Ed Sheeran is concerned, I'd prefer he didn't play at all.

How could you not find them entertaining?


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CY5CbmvUQAAeKtJ.jpg

Depends on the artist. Ed Sheeran's music is boring so he sucks live, but someone who makes good music can be great live.

I mean, he was no Frownland, but I'd paid to listen to this guy for hours.

:beer:

Michael Hedges was the bomb. I wish I could have seen him live.

I'd love to see Thy Catafalque's or Mirrorthrone's music played live, but it would be impossible for the artists behind those projects to do it alone. I know that some one-man-bands like Nine Inch Nails hire people to play live. Sadly, though, it's not financially feasible for most other artists.

That reminded me of Andy McKee

You bring up a really good point. I'm a huge NIN fan and I know Reznor decided to get a band when he started playing live as opposed to just being alone with a guitar and a backing track. But, like you said, it's not always financially feasible, especially when musicians are starting out.

I'm personally more interested in what you guys think of that sort if idea: trying to recreate songs with dense arrangements, kind of like what Grimes and other electronic artists are trying to do, as opposed to the Ed Sheeran type of one man band.

I've never actually seen an act like that live, so I'd be interested to get perspectives from those of you who have. Is the energy high? I've watched a few videos of Grimes playing live and it just seems very, very awkward. The crowd seems to enjoy it, but if you compare it to artists that have backing bands it seems like doing it alone loses impact as it becomes more of a technical type of performance (as you see with Grimes doing a lot of microphone tricks and so on) as opposed to necessarily focusing on the songs.

Thoughts?