I’m Obsessed With That One Video of Greta Van Fleet
Yeah, that one. This has become a meme recently, it’s popped up on my TikTok For You Page multiple times in many different forms, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
There’s a lot of elements to this story - the already-existing stigma surrounding Greta Van Fleet, the long and slightly messy history of Saturday Night Live’s musical performances, and live TV performances in general.
Let’s start with Greta Van Fleet, because that’s kind of how I set this up. It’s not like you have much of a say in it anyway.
Their debut album “From The Fires” came out in 2017, and people immediately saw through their whole thing. It’s just supposed to sound like it came out in the 70s - blistering solos, howling vocals, and shirtless dudes just rockin’ out.
Initially, I was actually excited for them. They weren’t Led Zeppelin, but they were trying to be something similar, and that was worth at least one chance. I’ve often said that there really aren’t culturally relevant rock songs or rock stars anymore, and GVF was trying to do that. Cool idea, but that image was shattered once they started performing live.
One of my favorite initial reactions comes from pop music critic and Bay Area reporter, Jim Harrington. He aptly describes the band as “[coming] across as a Saturday Night Live skit.”
He absolutely lampoons their live performance, calling them boring and lacking that rockstar stage presence. He theorizes that if GVF is rock’s biggest hope, “rock is in big trouble”
Harrington accurately predicted the future, because when the band released their most recent album this year….
Yeah.
(By the way, “a cathedral of neo-Zeppelin overkill” is one of the best descriptions of ANYTHING I have ever heard.)
The music world’s sentiment surrounding Greta Van Fleet seems to be “I get it, but no.” I’ve been trying to dance around it, because the band hates the comparison, but if you’re trying to be Led Zeppelin, you’re gonna have to try a little harder.
Okay, 1/3rd of context established. Let’s watch the video again! Just as a reminder! I can quit anytime I want!
Now, let’s talk about SNL. That stage has been graced by some incredible performances by some incredible performers. Bowie, Prince, R.E.M, Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West (DROP DONDA PLEASE KANYE I BEG), the list goes on forever.
There have also been some performances that are memorable in the wrong way, which can only be expected from a long-running show like SNL.
During a fantastic musical performance, Sinead O'Connor stirred up controversy by tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II. Ashlee Simpson lip-synced in 2004, which might fly for other live TV performances, but is a no-no on the SNL stage. Kanye West and Lil Pump were water bottles.
No offense to SNL, but that stage just doesn’t seem to be conducive to live performance. It’s small, the live sound mixing is rough, and the audience is just a few rows of people seated in front of you. It seems like a performer’s nightmare.
When a legendary performer absolutely kills on SNL, I think it’s DESPITE the venue, not because of it.
When a band like Greta Van Fleet, who aren’t known for their live performance, steps up there…
Now, let’s talk about live performance in general. I sort of touched on this with Ashlee Simpson - A LOT of modern TV musical acts are pre-recorded and lip-synced.
Lip-syncing is apparently a musical taboo, but what’s the alternative? A lot of those sets, like SNL’s, are not made for live musical performances. They’re made for a guy named Jimmy or Johnny or Conan to crack some jokes.
We can go back to the 50s and 60s for shows like American Bandstand and the Ed Sullivan Show, where every band played live. Those shows were made to showcase the latest in music, and everyone really liked watching them.
Modern talk shows are not made to showcase musicians, so booking an act just kind of feels like a formality.
A musician could be on Fallon or Kimmel or Colbert or whatever because they need to fill time, because a record label paid for it, because the musician is a pop culture icon outside of their music (see: Miley Cyrus, etc.), or because that’s the way it’s always been done.
From my perspective, it seems like the host doesn’t want the musician to perform, the musician doesn’t want to censor themselves to be friendly to a middle-aged late-night TV audience, and everyone just kind of has a bad time.
There is definitely an audience for a TV or streaming outlet similar to American Bandstand or the Ed Sullivan Show. I would absolutely watch that. You can bring the newest talents to a general audience, but I don’t think late-night TV is the place to do it anymore.
Alright, I think that covers it. Now, we’ve gotten our context.
GVF is a rock band trying to be a different legendary rock band, but lacks the stage presence.
SNL seems like a difficult stage to perform on, despite some memorable performances.
Late-night TV just doesn’t seem like the place to introduce new people to your music anymore.
With all of that in mind, let’s watch one more time.
So, that’s why I’m obsessed with it. The meme itself is funny on the surface, but there’s so much more that goes into it. That’s what makes it all the more hilarious. Also, the faces he makes are funny.
Thanks for reading. Yeah, alright, I GUESS you can have a playlist this week, with minimal GVF, and some Led Zeppelin as a palette cleanser, and some modern rock, because I feel like it.
Appreciate you, talk to you next week.