De Temps Antan Lotus Music Festival

Concert Report 1 De Temps Antan is a French-Canadian folk band with a unique style and a lot of energy. They performed recently at a small music stage in the middle of a park during Lotus Music Festival. They played mid-afternoon on a clear and warm day. The stage could fit around four to five performers and had speakers sitting in front of two stone pillars holding the roof. Unlike most big concert stages this stage was very open and anyone could easily run onto the stage in the matter of seconds. The stage was also not elevated and was easily viewable. Most of the audience brought lawn chairs to sit and enjoy the show while others sat on a nearby hill to get a better view. There was a gift-shop tent that blocked a significant portion of viewing space for the show sadly. The area around this park was mostly residential with one side being commercial. The streets around the park were shut down for foot traffic and many Lotus Music Festival banners were hung on street lamps. Other areas of the park included a hoola-hoop area for kids and a fountain in the middle of the park. The audience at Lotus Music Festival mostly consisted of family’s. The family’s ranged in size but almost always included small children and parents. Some of the audience included more music and concert oriented people. They were more easily recognizable by having backpacks, bandanas, and by not having children or family with them. In conclusion, the people of Lotus Music Festival varied greatly. The music structure of De Temps Antan’s songs varied greatly from song to song. Some of their pieces were polyphonic with solo performances interlaced within the song. Each instrument played its own piece in the song that was not similar to what the other performers were playing. Other songs were homophonic which got most of the audience participating via clapping and even some dancing. The homophonic songs had all the performers playing the same melody together. Most of the songs had call and response between the performers. The songs that had the audience participate had a very fast tempo and a metered rhythm. De Temps Antan’s instruments included a guitar, fiddle, harmonica, and an accordion. Overall their music structure and performance had a very wide variety that greatly depended on the style of song they were playing. De Temps Antan had some physical and musical cues throughout their performance but mostly enhanced their performance by participating with the audience. Most of the interaction among the performers was non-verbal and came as I would say naturally to them. They signaled to each other when to start songs or when to begin certain pieces of a song through eye contact. Some songs were started by one of the performers counting down; three…two…one…*music starts*. The performers gave energy to their music in such ways as standing up and running around the stage while playing. They also enhanced their performance by having some of the performers dance during solo pieces. The performers who sat down would bounce their legs to the beat as well. Overall, the energy they put into the song greatly enhanced their performance and the audience’s view of their performance. The audience response to De Temps Antan was very positive and included a lot of participation by the audience. Many of the small children ran right in front of the stage and would dance with the music. While their dancing was fairly random was to the music as they would stop when songs ended. Most of the parents of the small children would stay behind sitting or standing and clapping with the beat. The concert-goers would generally just sit and enjoy, sometimes clapping along. The end of the songs would generally be praised by whistles or cheering from the crowd. Solo pieces were also praised by clapping or whistling but were always ended quickly by the performers continuous playing. Overall, the De Temps Antan performance was excellent on a very casual level. This concert was very laid back and simple as can be implied by the audience. Most of the audience came to have a good time and to listen to new music; very little if any of them came for De Temps Antan or had heard of them before. Their music style was very unique with a lot of energy and audience participation as well.