The touring musician: Repetition and authenticity in performance

Abstract

The research of popular music performance from the perspective of musicians is an under researched area. Drawing on research with pop and rock musicians in the UK, analyzed through Deleuzian concepts of time and repetition, this article explores the motivations to perform music live, what such a performance means and, in particular, how the almost unavoidable repetition of a tour of performances affects a sense of authenticity in the experience of the musical performance. What are the special or memorable moments in a performance for the musicians? How do these moments occur and is it is possible to repeat them? Deleuze's syntheses of time are used to help explain this phenomenon.