Silence in the Room: Why Live Performance Still Matters in the Age of Reels

In a live performance, your presence is impermanent. 

You are one of many. 

But you are one of many like a star is one of many in a constellation. You become part of the art much larger than yourself. 

Silence in the Room

I pressed ignore on the Instagram reminder of crossing my daily limit for the 4th time that day and still kept scrolling. It wasn’t curiosity that kept me going, it was the quiet fear of missing a moment I never actually lived. Fear of my own thoughts if I stopped and simply listened.

It got me thinking-

What am I so afraid of in the silence of the room?

The silence in the room is thick and viscous- but what comes next?

We Have More Content Than Ever. So Why Does Something Feel Missing? 

We keep up with everyone's life not to feel joy, but to feel we haven't missed the moment everyone else shared. We document moments before we live them. Ironically enough, all the things we do not to feel left out happen to be the very reason we do miss out. 

The more content we consume, the less content we feel.

Why does something feel missing? 

When all the facts of the world are on the tips of our fingers, accessibility and information is not the problem, experience is. And this is where creative communities come to the picture.

What a Room Full of Strangers Can Do That a Feed Cannot

The first time I had attended a live jamming session

In a room full of strangers at The Soiree House , I wanted to run away. The room felt cramped and it felt too sticky with awkwardness. But I could not run away from my feelings. I couldn't scroll the discomfort away. I couldn't skip. And guess what, I happened to have more fun than I thought I could. It turned out to be one of my favourite evenings of all time. 

This is what live performance gives you that a feed cannot. You cannot curate, predict or build the algorithm of real life. In the real world, life happens to you. You have to live through the bit. And that's what being in a room full of strangers can do that a feed cannot and this is why live performances matter in the age of reels.

Presence Impermanence

In the discomfort a room full of strangers provided me, it slowly started turning into something else. There now was a creative community. In which I had a presence. I was not one of a million likes anymore. Here I made eye contact with the performer and I felt their nervousness in my skin. Smiling at them to encourage them was not part of any script- it was as human as it could be. In a live performance, the show isn't just by the performer and you are not just the audience. Your presence is impermanent in a way that makes it unique. You cannot plan the stuttering in between the lines, the accidental microphone screech and casually laughing out a little too loud (oops). 

What Happens to a City Without Third Spaces for Art?

In the metropolitan age where neighbours hide from each other in fear of having to talk to one another, third spaces give us a soft respite from the constant pressure to avoid basic human interaction. Instead it embraces the unpleasantness of an introduction. 

We go through life spending so much time struggling with the way we are perceived- Is my hair ok? Am I being too loud? Am I trying too hard? Am I being annoying? Am I un

derdressed? Or worse, overdressed? On the contrary, third spaces let you take up room without having to apologise for it. You discover yourself in a way you have never before.

In a rare moment when everything is not about you, it might simply become about you.

In a city filled with deadlines and where everyone has to be somewhere and it feels like there just isn't enough time- if one wants to have a village, one must become a villager.

The Particular Case for Open Mics & Intimate Gatherings

Unlike being in a commercial event where everyone knows everyone except you and people talk less and network more, open mics provide a space for intimate gathering with a limited number of people who are all looking for the same feeling but with no expectations - to experience.

To experience feelings, to experience being alive. 

Unlike a reel which you can rewatch, a movie you can unwind or an ad you can skip- live performances like an open mic night and jam sessions give you an exclusive event which cannot be replicated.

Follow @the_soireehouse to be a part of the next unrepeatable room.

Being in the Room Is an Act of Participation

Inconvenience and discomfort are the price we pay for experience. 

Being in the room of a live performance makes you go from a passive observer to an active participant. You are now accountable for what you feel.

In a live performance, your presence is impermanent. 

You are one of many. 

But you are one of many like a star is one of many in a constellation. You become part of the art much larger than yourself. You are the community. 

And come on, let’s be real, one or two Instagram stories, which are not posted by every other person on your feed, isn't the worst thing in the world.