It really doesn’t matter.
If there’s an atmosphere at a playback DJ set, that’s better than endless clever scratching, no matter how technical. I’m not a fan of show-off performances unless it’s a circus. And yes, some times that’s nice too. There are always exceptions.
A good “performer” knows how to read the audience, and that only comes with experience. So press play if you have to, and learn how to read (i.e. connect). The more you enjoy yourself the better.
Ableton 
i think from an audience pespective you can always have a feeling like the performer is in the moment and can change and have playability over the sound that is being heard
I feel like a more relevant distinction might artist Vs entertainer.
A lot of performers are doing it to entertain, whether that’s a DJ keeping a crowd hot between bands or a club singer belting out covers in a working men’s club. What they are doing requires skill, craft and charisma, but it isn’t really art. Not that that diminishes it, it’s great to entertain, I fucking love it.
But artists are a different thing, their primary concern is not your entertainment (though this is usually still important) but their need to express themselves takes primacy over everything else, including whether Clive at the back is enjoying himself or not.
I guess what I’m saying is that the chosen medium is probably less important than the performer’s intentions. I find I enjoy myself a lot more if my expectations are aligned with the performer’s intentions, rather than whether or not they’re playing “live” (which we’ve already established is not easily defined).
No I am.
I am just a pretty face.
But my God what a face.
No arms? Legs? Fingers? Digestive tract?
Shit are you a head in a Jar like in that Dennis Potter show, Cold Lazarus? People from the future are reading your dreams, keeping you alive but you dont know its a science experiment.
You’ve taken it to a kinda Hellraiser sort of place now.
I’ll admit it’s taken the shine off a bit.
What did you expect? Mr Sheen?
This is a good point. Entertainment is found in droves, art is rare. Maybe my cynical views on it are just that I prefer art over entertainment.
I just thought you were a miserable git.
Oh I am…
I liked, with respect to the ongoing conversation, and for a more conceptual perspective, Mark Butler’s 2014 book “Playing with something that runs” (Oxford University Press), in which he analyzes the logic (and paradoxes) of a wide range of dj and laptop performances. I especially liked the idea in the title of combining “play” and predefined, “running” structure, sequences, etc.
If the performance ends within, say 30 seconds as soon the performer is gonna take a piss i guess?? That said… some random patch created from scratch on a modular system can go on for ages. I say live is the experience of transferring the performers energy thru gear towards the crowd.
Unless it’s in conjunction with each other and the Gameboy is being fed through a Boss Heavy Metal pedal then into some crazy analog desk with every return feeding back into themselves and the crowd is all wearing leathers and jean vests and sporting 2’ spiked mohawks and safety pins through their noses and…
Sorry, what were we going on about?
If i watch a replay of a live performance called live? The original broadcast had milliseconds delay so was that live and if so after how many ms isn’t something live anymore? My heads start hurting
live performances can be recorded… rest easy my friend, rest easy…
Your right! This is uploaded 12 years ago and still live according to the title:
