The Real Deal

When Rome Girl saw Patti Smith in concert a couple of weeks ago it was a transformative experience. What shocked her was that I'd played tons of Patti Smith songs for her over the years and so had other friends of hers and she had always been bored by her music.

Then, she saw Patti in concert. Now, she's such a fan that she's even printed up pictures of Patti and taped them up behind her computer for inspiration. And this is a woman who, in general, doesn't like rock and roll at all.

"It's just so weird," she said to me the other night. "It makes me have to rethink the way I look at music."

"That," I replied, "is what happens when you see The Real Deal."

"But," she asked. "What is the Real Deal?"

"You know it when you see it," I said. "And you never forget it."

The Real Deal dates back to when I spent a few years reviewing rock and roll concerts for Gannett. You'd see the same other reviewers at shows and you'd all end up talking. Together we came up with the concept and it is this:

Most commercial music is fun, but stops there, at fun. You like the records and then get off on jumping up and down and singing along at the shows. But, it's only fun if you are into the songs and/or like that genre of music.

The Real Deal is different. It's a rare thing. Some people are so transcendently good that it makes no difference whether you know the songs or the artist or even want to be at the show. When you see these people perform your heart races and you are swept up into something beyond what seems to be there on the surface. When you see the Real Deal it doesn't matter if you don' like the musical genre. You'll get swept up in it.

The problem is that The Real Deal almost never translates to recordings - so you have no way of knowing it until you see it. And nine times out of 10 the people who sound like the real deal on CD or Vinyl end up not being the real deal when you see them.

But holy mother of fuck when you see The Real Deal it blows your mind.

The downside is that when you see it it skews you. People who have only seen the artist play on television (which doesn't translate The Real Deal very well) or heard the records will never understand your passion for these people.

I first encountered The Real Deal - though I didn't have a term for it at the time - when I was about 12 and my dad was reviewing concerts He dragged me to, of all people, Vic Damone. You can imagine how unenthusiastic I was at going. But.... the dude delivered the goods and sold me even though I hate, hate hate that type of music.

This is why I so steadfastly defend Axl Rose even though he's a world class bullshit artist. When I saw Guns N Roses in concert it was very, very clear that he's The Real Deal. For all his insanity, showing up for gigs late and just being a general asshole the motherfucker will take you to another world when you see him live.

So tell me, when have you seen The Real Deal and how did you know it when you saw it?