A concert, also referred to colloquially as a gig or show, is a live musical performance given by a musician or group of musicians. It can range in size from a single performer playing alone to large groups like orchestras and bands. It may include other elements like visuals but the primary focus is on the music being performed. The concert can be a one-time event or part of an ongoing series, with concerts in the same venue being referred to as a tour or run of shows.
There are many kinds of concerts, each with its own specific genre of music, instrumentation, venue, and audience. For example, a rock concert is very different from a classical orchestral performance. Some concerts even incorporate theatrical performances, with singers and actors acting out a story accompanied by music. In addition to the musical genre, there are also many venues where a concert can take place; these vary from small private houses and clubs to arenas and stadiums.
Concerts are often a social experience, bringing people together to share a common experience of listening to music. The social aspect of the concert goes beyond a simple enjoyment of the music; it is about connecting with other individuals who share a similar cultural heritage and enjoying a shared social experience. The concert is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience for listeners, and it can be very emotionally intense for some.
When a person attends a concert, they will usually have to pay an entrance fee to enter the venue. The money earned from this is often used to pay the performing artistes, producers and organisers of the event. Some concerts, however, are purely for charity, and either all or a portion of the ticket sales are donated to the cause.
For the musicians in a concert, they often feel that the act of playing together as a group is what gives them their identity as musicians. For many performers, this is the primary motivation behind their career choice. A concert is often a very emotional and intense experience, which can be very stressful for some performers.
As a whole, a concert is a very unpredictable event and it can be difficult to determine beforehand how the works chosen will relate to each other. There are many ways in which works can be related, including by historical, thematic, instrumental, genealogical, formal, national, generational, and monographic links. There are also many ways in which a work can be connected to other works through references, quotations and allusions.
Concerts can also be a space for encounters with different times, through the discerning of heritages, genealogies and obvious borrowings, and by provoking transhistorical encounters between works that cannot be matched up in any other way. These dimensions are specific to the concert and allow it to be at once an aesthetic experience, the object of contestation, a space of inter-workings and a fruitful confrontation of disparate strata of history.