Theory and Ethnography of Affective Participation at DIY Shows in U.S.

Abstract

Many scholars have argued that live concerts constitute a community. My question in this article is how is this achieved, what kind of community is generated in the process, and how do we analytically approach answering these questions? In this regard, Thomas Turino suggests that community can be generated through an active and synchronous physical and music-related participation at live events. As a corrective to his deductive model of participatory and presentational music, I propose an inductive model of socio-musical participation, based on practices of DIY (“do-it-yourself”) music communities in the US. In the article, I engage with various theories of audience participation, as well as analyze different types of DIY music participation through the ethnographic study of American DIY shows. The interaction between DIY performers, audiences, and organizers, and the various forms of their social and musical participation at DIY shows suggest not only physical, music-related, and synchronous, but also spectatorial, non-synchronous, and co-creational participation; and not only harmonious but also antagonistic participation. This approach utilizes affect theory, recognizes difference and conflict in the constitution of a music community, and refutes some prevalent assumptions about the notion of audience participation.

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