Hard rock - The Tower of Babel
This becomes tricky when performing in parts of the world where English is a foreign language (EFL).
Ten years of concert going in Emilia Romagna has enabled me to weigh up the pros and cons of the the three chief methods artists adopt to overcome the language barrier in Italy.
These are:
a) The silent way
b) The full immersion method
c) The collaborative approach.
THE SILENT WAY
Many (in my view, too many) artists say nothing or next to nothing during a show, usually in order to preserve an air of mystery. They may introduce band members but even this concession is not for everybody. You won’t hear Bob Dylan sharing anecdotes with the crowd or explaining how he came to write a particular song.
This ‘silent way’ is a big advantage when performing outside your home country but the
downside is that you run a very real risk of creating a negative rapport by appearing grumpy and distant.
Van Morrison is guilty of this even when performing in the UK. I saw him once at an open air festival in Finsbury Park, North London. It was raining heavily and I and the rest of the audience were soaked to the skin by the time he and his band came on stage. Instead of offering words of consolation, he strolled on stage wearing sunglasses and said nothing.
A minimalist approach is better than this level of aloof disinterest. This may consist of little more than ‘hello‘, ‘bye‘ and ‘this song is called …..‘ but even these few brief words can make all the difference. They show that you care.
David Byrne tends to yell ‘Thank You’ at the end of each song in the manner of a shop assistant speaking to a slightly deaf customer.and while this can be repetitive, it is better than nothing.
THE FULL IMMERSION METHOD This is where artists with no knowledge of the audience’s language nevertheless have a compelling desire to forge a non-musical rapport. It basically consists of speaking at a normal speed as if addressing an English speaking audience. I witnessed this in action at a concert in Faenza last year. Will Oldhan – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy- (an artist you’d lay odds on being a silent way practitioner) was uncharacteristally chatty. This showed he was in a relaxed mood but only the privileged minority had a clue what he was rambling on about.
The communication breakdown became most apparent when he attempted to tell jokes.
The mixed response to these indicate that they more often than no go down like proverbial lead balloons.
In short, the ‘full immersion method’ is an ambitious but high risk strategy and shows where the collaborative approach comes into its own.
THE COLLABORATIVE APPROACH
Some collaboration with the audience is an ideal ice breaker. One way to achieve this is to call for translators. This can be quite an effective ice breaking tool and is one Warren Ellis of The Dirty Three deploys. His habit is to ask for a volunteer to act be an unpaid interpretor for the duration of the show. In his case this proves to be a taxing job since he likes to spin a yarn and doesn’t bother simplifying his language. As a result what usually happens is that the artist, translator, audience (or all three) get bored and the translations fizzle out leaving no alternative but to switch to ‘the full immersion’ method.
In its most refined form the ‘collaborative approach’ consists of artists speaking in a slow, clear manner using simplified language and pausing to check on the level of understanding.
If difficult words or phrases prove to be stumbing blocks a call For translators can ease the pain.
If the artist is bi-lingual but neither language is the native tongue of the audience, using non English words or phrases can be a good practice. Devendra Banhart switches between English and Spanish when singing and speaking which doubles his chances of being understood.
Showing a willingness to learn non English expressions could pay dividends but should be used sparingly. I remember The Delgados referring to an Italian phrase book throughout a concert in Rimini and what started out as mildly amusing soon became tiresome and a little patronising.
In conclusion, I would say that to impress non-English speaking fans, artists in foreign territory have to learn to fine tune their between song patter and tweek their communicative approach.
That includes you, Van!
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LOU REED’S BERLIN directed by Julian Schnabel (USA, 2008)
