Performances awful it's clear (8)
I believe the answer is:
recitals
'performances' is the definition.
(recital is a kind of performance)
'awful it's clear' is the wordplay.
'awful' indicates anagramming the letters.
'its'+'clear'='itsclear'
'itsclear' is an anagram of 'RECITALS'.
(Other definitions for recitals that I've seen before include "Articles (anag.)" , "Musical entertainment by one or more performers" , "concerts" , "Articles about musical entertainments" .)