The Legendary House Band

Abstract

Abstract Since the emergence of live music as the opposition of studio recorded music, many forms of liveness have been conceptualized. While live music used to be the logical counterpart of studio recorded music, there is no longer such a clear binary distinction. With the transition from studio recorded music to live music on television to shared videos of live performances on the internet, I state that the concept of liveness is redefined. This thesis will focus on The Roots and how they construct liveness with their performances. With their regular (online) sharing of selected segments of the show in which their performances can still be considered as live performances, I argue that the current house band of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: The Legendary Roots Crew are an important part of said transition. By focusing on the specific combination of forms used to construct the liveness of the house band’s performances, as shown in a selection of videos over the years, I discuss how The Roots characterize the renewed definition of live performances. With the online sharing of their live performances on The Tonight Show on websites such as YouTube, I argue how this is a part of this ongoing transition of liveness. My elaboration on the interactivity, spontaneity, mediatization and fidelity of their performances will form the main arguments on why the hip hop band is redefining live performances and thus the concept of liveness.