Essay Collection

Tracy Chapman Concert Review

Grace Crilly
Professor Boulous
Tracy Chapman Concert Review
01 April 2022

Live performances such as concerts are how artists connect with their audience. It increases exposure, where artists make money from their performance as well as selling merchandise that's more common today. In this essay, I'll be discussing my experience watching a Tracy Chapman concert, as well as getting to know her as a performer.

Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter. Based on what I saw in my observation, Chapman is African American from the color of her skin, she speaks and sings in English as a part of her culture and as the language. The setting of this concert is at Oakland Coliseum Arena, this arena is located in Oakland, California. The duration of the concert as a part of the time period was about twenty three minutes. The time period of the concert was held on December 4th, 1988. Tracy Chapman's style and genre in music that I grasped listening to her musically and lyrically is between folk, soul and singer-songwriter. The songs she performs are all her originals that are off of her debut and second album: "If Not Now," "Fast Car," "Mountains O' Things," "All That You Have Is Your Soul," and "God Was Watching." In Tracy Chapman's concert she follows through each song by performing them straight-through. Other artists may address what song they're singing by talking to the audience, which Chapman doesn't do in her concert. Talking to the audience definitely is one of the ways the audience connects with the artist, which I would honestly construct as a lack of skill in this concert. In the inside of the concert, we don't see the audience, however, we do hear them cheering between each song, as well as during the song. What I saw inside of this concert is Chapman performing as a singer accompanying herself on guitar. Chapman is dressed in street clothes, a dark blue long sleeve sweatshirt and jeans as the concept of style shown. The clothes she is wearing, I observed, as this might be the way she is dressed might have limits based on the cost of the concert. However, it is shown she is wearing bracelets and earrings, where the clothes she is wearing might be based on choice and not money. More observations on what I noticed about her as a performer, I noticed her expression as she sings she recounts every word of her songs beneath the motion of the muscles beneath the skin. Her movements as she performs I notice that she is swaying with her guitar as she plays it.

The body movement, the concept of the body, is a form of language and expression in performing. The lighting is shown through camera angles. Functions like lighting, style, production, and staging is how the concert is presented and put together. The lighting reflects off Chapman and her guitar using transitions from different angles from seeing Chapman playing the guitar up close to an angle of Chapman seeing her face up close as a side view. Lighting is a major focus in a concert, about being able to watch them perform, but another aspect of attending concerts is people in the audience singing to the words of the songs. The lyrics of these songs are written by Chapman, which I took note of as I listened to the words of her songs, as the outside part of the concert. "If Not Now," particularly I took from the lyrics of this song, how when you love someone is that you make promises to them you can't keep, 'Then why make your promises,' that makes the person wonder, 'If not now, then when?' "God Was Watching," gave me the impression of fighting for what's truly your's, 'Who thinks this world will give you anything If you ain't fighting' underground standards that give you what you need as a parental figure, 'I tried, I tried, I tried. To love you and keep you and shelter you from harm...But you had food to eat and clothes to wear. And I had a job. There's a roof over our head,' that doesn't put a mother and a child or father and child in a position of poverty. The effort the parental figure puts in, wants the child to know the work that he/she has done and had the effort to do everything he/she could, 'If I, If I were right I failed you must know, it weren't for lack of trying.' What I thought of "Fast Car," was that I thought it was exceptional lyrics that describe a couple that wants to start over in a moment of a challenge that hits them in a moment of anxiousness, 'Maybe together we can get somewhere, any place is better. Starting from zero, got nothing to lose.' This couple is trying to make it out in the world to make it for themselves and even if it means it's difficult and that they start off with little money, 'Managed to save just a little bit of money.' Where they both continuously try to keep on a hold of hope, 'I know things will get better. You'll find work and I'll get promoted. We'll move out of the shelter, buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs.'

My impression on "Mountains O'Things," was a story of a man or woman who is rich and has all the material things he/she would want that has a narrative speaking through an argument style of how values matter more than material things such lines as 'In Everyone will look at me with envy and with greed,' and 'I hope you'll come and find me 'cause you know who we are, those who deserve the be of life and know what money's worth.' "All You Have Is Your Soul," opened my eyes into not making misconceptions about what you see, 'So don't be tempted by the shiny apple, don't you eat of a bitter fruit. Hunger only for a taste of Justice, hunger only for a taste of truth.' The lyrics of her songs have meanings through keeping values, making your own judgements, poverty, starting over in life in a relationship, telling a person promises should be kept instead of being an endless cycle of doubt and disappointment. The subject of her songs does show to me that she values relationships in family and romance as well as political issues such as poverty. Chapman as a songwriter, singing the words she wrote is what makes this performance authentic in aspects of the mind and body spiritually through perspectives on how a person thinks can be written down as a structure of a song. Overall through her voice I can hear mixing in her voice, her chest voice where you can hear her voice that has a deep, rusty, thick measure in her voice in the lowest type of a female voice, an alto. Since the concert is of Chapman performing acoustically has less production value in sound, but overall has high quality in lighting using camera angles to see Chapman and partially the stage she is standing on.

My overall impression of this concert was that I enjoyed it, I got to learn about Chapman's style in writing her songs and as a performer. As I stated previously, she performs the songs straight-through with lack of communication with the audience. Since I got to sit down and read the lyrics I learned meanings that had subjects with purpose, politics and relationships that she believes in. I got to understand the full picture as I watched and listened. However, another constructive criticism I do have is the camera angles where I don't get to see the full arena, the full stage and the audience. I don't get to see the full setting, but based on what I see in the concert, Chapman, dressed in street clothes, can show her style to be more simple. Her presents on stage told me as a viewer that she is more laid back and simple. Her songwriting told me that she's willing to tackle issues that can be complex in her mindset, that she can create detail-oriented and laid-back lyrics as a part of her sense of style and identity through music, lyrics, and fashion.

In conclusion, In this essay I discussed my experience watching a Tracy Chapman concert, as well as getting to know her as a performer.