Music Stands

Kids, I know you haven’t notice or maybe you think this is the way it is suppose to be, but not all entertainment acts use music stands.

Orchestras are an exception because they have to follow all those black dots and watch the person up front waving the stick. That is hard to do.

But the little clubs and diners are seeing more and more music stands popping up.

Did they not rehearse enough to learn the songs? Do they forget the words?

A music stand is just another barrier between the performer and the audience.

Maybe Elvis had cue cards off camera? Maybe the Beatles remembered the words to the songs they wrote? Maybe Woody Guthrie made it up on the fly? How did Dylan remember all that stuff?

Not all acts use music stands. Opera and show tunes command the stage without props to assist their memory. Heavy metal bands music stands would be destroyed in minutes and besides you can’t hear them anyway.

Bring a bunch of dancers and pyrotechnics and a singer can lip sync over a pre-recorded tape. Is it about the show or getting all the words right?

Sooner or later the music stand industry will realize that is a huge chunk of real estate that can be plastered with advertisement. Put a mirror on the back so the audience can see themselves photographing from their phones. Let’s see what technology has to offer.

In the meantime, singers and musicians can hide behind big black stands that hold their books and pages and assumedly items. Maybe they are protection shields like the president’s podium?