How can the live music experience be improved?
 

Here's my premise: My home listening music experience has improved vastly. I still have my turntable, record collection, nice speakers but more and more I'm very satisfied with my phone and my headphones. I collected music for years but the variety I have access to now is unprecedented.

So what's been happening at concerts?

To me festivals are uncomfortable and plagued with bad sound, mostly bad music, and stupid activities.

Small venues offer the same things they always have. Some musicians complain poor sales makes it impossible to make a living. So I think, you're the artist, you're the professional entertainer, if you want to make a living at it you need to get me to buy a concert ticket. But what are they doing to give me a good bang for my buck? How is the experience being enhanced?

Let me ask this then. What musicians are doing something that will draw you in? To make you NOT want to play with your phone?

It may sound like I don't love live music. I do. But I'm not as inclined as I used to be to get out there.

Any thoughts?

I think even someone who doesn't like experimental music can be really intrigued by seeing it performed live, especially if unique instruments and improvisation are involved.

In my real life I don't know anybody who likes experimental music. I don't socialize much but if I do and I pick the music unfailingly someone asks to listen to something else. I don't even bother trying to talk to people honestly about music. I just think of the good points about whatever they like and don't even mention anything at all about my taste. If someone asks me what kind of music I like I just say mostly jazz from the sixties.

It can be hard to track people who are into it down, even harder if you never talk about it :). Still, that'd help the shows be more memorable for people who are new to it.

Sorry but to address your point, yeah, like the long string instrument for drones. Good point.

Unless there's some sort of novelty like what's mentioned above mostly what I expect to see is people clearing the room.

mobile headphones yeahhhh

Are you making fun of me?

Noise, especially, is hella live.

I'm not exactly sure how to answer the OP, but I'll say I pretty much only go to shows at small venues because the large venue experience is really not worth the time or money. I also find that there's some music I'm much more interested in seeing live and it's very tied in to whether or not the live experience is sort of the native environment for the type of music. For example, I'm much more interested in seeing jazz or metal live than electronica or hip hop.