When I hear Kris sing, I'm listening closely to Kris. Or any singer. I'm not hearing it as a whole, I guess. I'm separating the voice from it in my mind. The background is just background. If a band really sucks, then I notice it.
I don't mind CSA with the guitar (and Kris had a mohawk because of the wind, LOL!). I've seen a lot of shows where the artist stands center stager, playing guitar and I've never found it boring.
Ha, I think you got it in one. I think he got self-conscious. I actually don't mind at all that he changes things up so much (I actually love that about him.. organic.. lol) And, I don't really mind whatever he does, but you're right the freedom and theatre of that performance was all kinds of awesome without the guitar.
Here's the thing (as Kara says). If you got it, you must flaunt it. You really must.
Now, I agree. I don't mind it if a singer stands center stage and sings, with a guitar. I didn't mind when Ingrid Michaelson did that, recently, when I saw her, and I also didn't mind that Kris and his band just sat and played/sang. They were fantastic.
But I doubt Ingrid could have done much else. She's just not one to bop around the stage to a song. It's not in her. A hundred other singers who stand center stage without moving do it because they have to do that, that's who they are. Kris is also someone who can dance, and bop around. Feel the music and express it physically. It's part of him. He's the kid who danced around his bedroom like Michael Jackson. I'm pretty sure Tom Petty, for example, was not that kid.
What that makes him is a little bit more interesting and exciting to watch than all the other guys who can just stand there and play guitar. It sets him even more apart.
Basically he let it out, he showed he's got that entertainer/showman side -- now it would be some kind of crime to get all inhibited and pack it away. That's just how I feel. YMMV.
ccasion7: