the concert fool, an essay

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Just One Request
Going to A Concert? Don't Play The Fool.

By David Segal
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 20, 2004; Page C01

Nick Lowe has just finished 90 minutes of solo music at the Birchmere, a set that included all of his best-known songs -- except one. The silver-haired daddy of British pop hasn't played "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding," a track that he wrote and that helped make Elvis Costello famous in the 1970s. So everybody knows what's coming when Lowe returns to the stage for an encore. He strums the opening chords and a ripple of delight rolls through the room.

Then stops. A man in a striped shirt has wobbled up to the stage, a hand-drawn sign in one hand, a drink in the other. He edges so close to the spotlight that Lowe has no choice but to ask what he wants.

"Zmmuphhmen," comes the reply. Or something like that. Lowe looks baffled.

"What?" he asks, politely.

"Zmmuphhmen!" There's a Web address on the sign, and Lowe gamely tries to read it out loud. By now, whatever spell had mesmerized this room is gone, replaced by confusion, which is soon replaced by rage. All at once, fans realize what has happened. Their joy has been killed -- at least for the moment -- by a Concert Fool.

There is no escaping the Concert Fool. He (and every once in a while, she) is the chronic carbuncle on the butt of rock, an inflammation that makes it hard to really get comfortable. The Concert Fool is either unglued by music, or drunk, or unaware of the invisible line that separates civilization from anarchy. Or aware of the line but past caring about it. Mostly, the Concert Fool is having a great time because these guys rawwwwk and because it's a concert and up top, dude. Rock and roll!

Ultimately, the Concert Fool is confused. He believes that the rules of courtesy have been suspended during showtime, which isn't exactly true. Though it's not entirely false, either. At a typical rock concert, you get far more leash than you do at, say, the theater or the symphony. The Concert Fool, however, misconstrues limited license for an excuse to vomit on your girlfriend's pants.

Decorum at a rock concert is actually venue-dependent; what will fly at the 9:30 club, where bands skew loud and young, will get you tossed from the Birchmere, where the acts are generally quieter and pitched to adults. You need to sit down and zip it at the Birchmere and halls like it, which seems proper for a singer like Nick Lowe, whose distorted-amp days are well behind him. But even at 9:30 -- as well as the Black Cat, MCI Center, Merriweather Post and other venues -- you need a set of manners, even if those manners fall somewhere between the standards of decency for a baseball game and the standards of decency for a kegger. Most fans settle comfortably within that fairly broad range, finding a way to exult in the show without thrashing the collective buzz.

The Concert Fool, on the other hand, finds inventive ways to annoy. A wide variety stalk the nation's pop venues, and during my years as a pop-music critic, I've seen them all. So here's a field guide to what's out there -- a taxonomy, if you will, of show-going morons. Avoid them if you can.

The Singer wants to the world to know he's got a great voice. So he sings. Really, really loud, during the lulls, during the shrieks. All the time. Fans of James Mercer met a prime example of this genus of Concert Fool last year at Iota, when Mercer, the lead singer of the Shins, closed a showcase for the Seattle label Sub Pop. Toward the end of his set, Mercer played "New Slang," his most popular tune, but suddenly you could barely hear the guy. A Singer had chimed in -- eyes closed, shot glass hoisted -- at a volume loud enough to drown out the man everyone had paid to hear.

The Reckless Smoker -- A cigarette is a dangerous weapon around people packed together tight. At a Guided by Voices show in New York -- before that glorious smoking ban went into effect -- fans were so jammed one night at a club called Tramps that you had to applaud with your hands above your head. This didn't stop a guy behind me from lighting up -- and then singeing some unlucky fan standing in front of him. "Sorry, man," the Smoker said. No doubt this made the burn victim feel a whole lot better.

The Angler -- They arrived late, and they don't want to stand in the back. So the Anglers connive to get close to the stage, which is tricky -- and rude -- at a show that's sold out. The most inventive Angler I've seen waited till right before the first song and pretended to be on the verge of vomiting as he waded toward the lip of the stage. People leapt out of his way. When he got to the front, he just smiled.

More recently, at a Bob Dylan show, a woman murmured "That's my husband" as she nudged her way to a place at a forward section on the floor of the 9:30 club. She slipped an arm around a tall man and smiled as if greeting her mate. Which he wasn't. The man gave her a confounded look and a polite brushoff. Why she thought this would work is a mystery, but I had the sense it wasn't the first time she'd tried the gambit. In this instance she retreated, muttering: "What a jerk."

The Requestaholic -- They came for one song, and they're going to hear that song if it kills them. Which it nearly did at a couple of Bruce Springsteen's solo shows during his "Ghost of Tom Joad" tour in 1996. The Boss asked fans at the outset not to shout for tunes, and in those cities where the Requestaholics wouldn't stop, Springsteen threatened to ask fans nearby to take matters into their own hands.

For performers, you can imagine the frustration, especially at a show for an album like "Joad," which was somber and low-key. Anyway, most set lists are cooked up well before a tour hits the road, so shouting is nearly always pointless. It's just annoying. One of the few things I remember about the Steve Earle show at the 9:30 two years ago is a twit who screamed "Jackalope Eye!" at least 25 times over the course of the show. Earle tried to shut him up by doing a belittling impersonation of him. But the true Requestaholic won't let a little humiliation get in the way.

"Jackalope Eye!" he screamed during the very next break.

The Talker -- The bane of nearly every show. A shocking number of ticket buyers regard rock concerts as ideal moments to catch up with friends. I can remember a pair of women nattering through a My Morning Jacket concert, a guy flirting shamelessly with a mini-shirted damsel at a Peaches show, a half-dozen drinkers at Iota who didn't seem to realize a band was in the room. The most stupefying Talker I've seen was at a Melissa Etheridge show at the Warner Theatre, a woman who called a friend on her cell phone just as Etheridge hit the stage.

"I'm at the show! Yeah, Melissa just came on! Yeah! Can you hear me? What? Can you hear her? What?" There were murderous stares from everyone in her vicinity -- and then verbal threats -- but it didn't matter. The dedicated Talker doesn't care.

The Stander -- Ordinarily, this is not a big deal. But if everyone else is sitting, it can lead to violence. At a Peter Gabriel show at MCI Center, one Stander, a thirtyish woman in jeans, had the misfortune of blocking the view of a true Concert Fool (see Grabber, below) who slapped her rear end when she refused to have a seat. She ran for the cops, and he hustled out of that section of the arena, presumably to watch the show from another seat.

The Grabber -- One who grabs. See above.

That's the list. If you recognize yourself in any of these categories, let me ask a favor on behalf of everyone else who loves live music: Stay home and wait for the DVD.

Even if there won't be a DVD.

Pretty please?

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

i hate shows.

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 12:43 (twenty-one years ago)

The Grabber doesn't bother me much since who would want to grab me? nor does The Stander since the only 'shows' i go to where people sit are classical, and for the most part, concert etiquette is a given. i haven't come across The Reckless Smoker, and smoke doesn't bother me so much. i have been The Angler, though in my defense usually b/c i wanted to stay with my friends who are shorter and therefore don't suffer as much wrath.

The Singer and The Requestaholic are the most vile of scum. i would punch them if i were more impulsive/less of a pussy

― common_person (common_person), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 13:02 (twenty-one years ago)

How about the drunken waiverer. So drunk he just stumbles back and forth knocking into you every two minutes. Also smoking and spilling his beer all over you. And occasionally throwing up the devil horns at a cure show.

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 13:10 (twenty-one years ago)

How about the guy who does that weird knee-shake dance w/ arms crossed and wears really smelly hair products.

― Thor (Thor), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 13:14 (twenty-one years ago)

i never let an angler by, ever. i ve written this essay in my head abhout a hundred times at similiar shows

― kephm, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

what about the Frat Boys who decide to start a mosh pit at a show that doesn't promote moshing.

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

these dudes are annoying but probably no more annoying than essayist advocating social control through peer pressure.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 13:20 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah i can't stand montaigne, what a pill

― common_person (common_person), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

More often than not, I've been to shows where there's so many around me who talk (er, YELL) at each other for the majority of the show... with one or more of them with their backs to the stage!
The phone thing is tres terrible. And with the picture phones. And the holding the phone up so the poor shut in can hear the this person is out doing things at events and stuff. Lucky them!
Yes, people are that insecure.

― peepee (peepee), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

And then there is the variation on the Requestaholic, the Conversationalist, who believes that the performer saying things like "How's everyone doing tonight?" are attempts to start a long-distance dialogue across the floor of the club, rather than pleasantries to fill time while someone tunes. The Conversationalist, being deprived of a microphone, therefore shouts responses across the room, trying to engage the performer in a one-on-one.

― phil dennison, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 14:37 (twenty-one years ago)

the talker is the worst IMO....god one time I went to see Vic Chestnutt do an acoustic set and these yuppie women were blabbing the whole freaking time....murder!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

These are the folks who yell out "WE LOVE YOU, DECLAN!" at Elvis Costello shows.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 14:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Yo La Tengo, in Detroit, during their "quieter" songs:

"BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH...like...BLAHBLAH........totally....
whatdya wanna do after....BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH"

― peepee (peepee), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 14:51 (twenty-one years ago)

...and bad heckling. Unless its at a US Maple show, where the bad hecklers become the show.

― peepee (peepee), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

"The Reckless Smoker"

I gotta say that going to a "smokefree" show in LA a couple of weeks ago was great in that I didn't have to get sandblasted before going to bed.

― peepee (peepee), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 14:55 (twenty-one years ago)

in philadelphia there are lots of kids who seem to vacillate between 'indie' and 'fashionably homeless,' going to clubs just to hang out, talk, and most importantly walk around with one hand clutching their dj bag/backpack/samsonite luggage, the other limply wrapped around a beer with a cigarette dangling between the fingers. and that hand is always at eye level. if i didn't wear glasses i'd probably be blind in one eye thanks to the khyber hipster crowd.

most of their conversations seem to revolve around the phrase "...put out a cdr of [his/her/our] stuff..."

― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been the Talker and the Singer many times. I was under the impression, though, that since it was a very loud concert, no one cared, and I'm pretty sure everyone else did it and I just couldn't hear them.

I've also made attempts at being the Angler when I really despair at how short I am and how I can't see anything whatsoever, but then "kephm" (see above) wins the brute force contest because he's bigger, which is why I had to Angle in the first place....

Everyone hates a Requestaholic, though. And boy does a "smokefree" show sound good...

― Richard K (Richard K), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

um, i dont use brute force.(you must be a ilx newbie cause i am far from an agressive jerk) i ask them what they think they are doing, or tell them-sorry there is no space for them. jedi mind tricks

do you talk at small club shows or at lous arena shows? there is a difference you know.

― kephm, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

occasionally I will yell out "more than a feeling" at local shows around here for no name bands. Usually its a couple guys playing in a pub. They try to oblige, but can't really get the Scholz licks down....

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

What's a good name for someone who tools for anus, other than The Guy Who Tools For Anus?

At a number of shows, I've been "surprised" by guys with raging boners getting up awfully close to my kill zones. I can only imagine what hell girls have to go through.

Rudest Angler Ever: Evan Dando. No lie. He and a friend of his once plowed his way to the front of a Archers of Loaf concert I was, spent a few minutes nodding his head to the music, then charged right back out.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I call out for "Bette Davis Eyes" at many concerts just to be silly, but only a few times per concert. I mean, it doesn't take much to get the joke.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

hmm id say worse angler ever were any of the ones at that gnr show (deerwood?) where people were stepped on until they stopped breathing

― kephm, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Are these people sexually aroused at the sight of the band? i don't think i've ever drawn wood at a show.

oh wait, i heckled The Moldy Peaches once. "GET OFF THE STAGE! YOU SUCK."

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

was this at tramps? i think i was there for this?

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 15:55 (twenty-one years ago)

the Angler description is a little off. Sometimes it can be someone who's been at the show the whole time, but isn't a spot-obsessive (speaking from experience). At this one Will Oldham show at Lounge Ax (RIP), I have to admit that I pulled some severe angleage, following directly behind someone from one of the opening bands who invited me to watch the show from the roped-off spot at the side of the stage (with a section-only water cooler, natch!). Good thing too, it was probably the hottest/most hellish show I've ever been to.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

No. I fucking hate the Angler. I'm one of those dorks who always shows up early, stands through ALL of the opening bands (partly because I'm a perpetually punctual dork, but also because I've been there before and I know what it's like to be in an opening band and play for 10 people who don't give a shit about your band), waits an hour for the main band to get on stage, and then gets cut off by a gaggle of giggly girls who got there at 10 minutes to midnight and who gesture to their friends "c'mon! Come up here!" and then talk to each other through the whole fucking set. If you want to stand up front, get there early. Period.
PS I am an asshole.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

nick, what if you have to pee, and you've been standing at the front since the beginning of the show? or you need a beer? you have become the very thing you hate, an angler.

we've all been on both sides of that fence!

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:24 (twenty-one years ago)

what if you're working the show and have to blast through a bunch of early-showing-up dorks who give you hassle even though you're going up to the stage to fix a line or a mic or some such?

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:26 (twenty-one years ago)

THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

this bit of air in the club has YOUR NAME on it!

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

i've also seen people mistaking band members for anglers. then the band members are like..

FUCK YOU I'M THE BAND YOU ARE HERE TO SEE FANBOY

this happened at the fall show @ boogaloo for sure

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)

prolly didn't happen to M.E.S., but I can see it happening to his 20-something bandmates.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyone who requests "Freebird", ironically or not, is the lowest form of Requestaholic.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:36 (twenty-one years ago)

or is it highest form?

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

everyone knows that if you're at the front of the hoarde at a show you are no longer entitled to either beer or a pee break. if you must go, then you thereby give up your right to the place where the heaving mass behind you crunches you into the stage, where you get beer/water spilled/splashed on you, and where you get the shoe in the head from about 50% of the "oh so hardcore" overweight, stage-diving teenagers

let it be known that after years of contending with all of this, i seldom go to shows anymore. and if i do, i stand back by the bar and just enjoy the band with a drink in my hand. so if i sound like a jaded, grouchy old man who is completely over ALL of it, then it's probably because i am.

― rentboy (rentboy), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

ditto

― kephm, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

renboy OTFM

as i said upthread. i hate shows. i hate trying to time my arrival so i do not have to sit (usually STAND) through 3 opening bands i do not like for 3-4 hours. once the band i came to see starts playing, i'm over their set after 3 songs and have the urge to leave. waste of money.

the only draw is maybe picking up girls?

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I like small shows.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

all that being said: i have no less than 20 setlists, a picture of me shaking hands with bez, the butt from the first cigarette i ever smoked (handed to me by ian mcculloch) and all kinds of ridiculous stories that i wouldn't trade for anything

so i guess there's a time for everything.

― rentboy (rentboy), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

(aka yes i was a groupie fanboy dork during school)

― rentboy (rentboy), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Sometimes there are mitigating circumstances for Anglers *as long as* it is a non-horde show. If they are meeting up with friends nearer the front or are a nice-looking girl, then I'm usually OK with it. However, those who take advantage of this situation by repeatedly walking in and out of the crowd to visit the bar/bathroom/other friends will soon end up back on the shitlist.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:48 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, me too i guess.

jaded fanboys in show avoidance shockah

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

If you want to stand up front, get there early. Period.

OTM

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

An addition to the list:

The Tall Guy Who Stands Down Front - this motherfucker is fully aware that he is blocking the view for a broad arc of individuals behind him, yet continues to remain down there in the front, although he will occasionally offer to let short, cute girls stand in front of him

I am that guy.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I am also blessed with height, and have been repeatedly cursed by many a short person for obstructing the view of a band they clearly don't care enough about it (if they did, they'd have beaten me to the spot). Fuck'em. You want a good view? Get there earlier.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree with whoever above said that angling is fully okay if you're angling past lots of jerks who are taller than you are and who, if THEY had any fucking manners, would have stayed toward the back in the first place. (Even if nobody actually said it; I didn't check.)

― chuck, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

We can't help being tall, Chuck.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

multiple x post, believe it or not, wow what timing!

― chuck, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 25 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

It shoudl be noted, though, that "industry shows" usually fall prey to that sort've thing: people schmoozing at shows they didn't have to pay to get into.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

The thing is, Alex, people go to rock concerts for way more reasons than just to "see a band they care about." Live rock music is a social event as much as a musical event, and you know that when you buy your ticket. People go to meet dates, to be around other people, to drink alcoholic beverages, to show off, to bounce around and stuff. Rock bands KNOW that. Or at least they should, if they're not totally full of their own self importance. Symphonies and Shakespeare troupes and small jazz combos and coffeehouse folk singers might be another story, obviously (but not necessarilty).

― chuck, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Re: Evan Dando

was this at tramps? i think i was there for this?

It was absolutely at Tramp's. If memory serves, Dando wanted to do an impromptu encore with the Archers of Loaf, but I think I left to catch a train before I witnessed that.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:45 (twenty-one years ago)

If I ever found myself forced to attend a Live show, I would be throwing fuckin ice cubes.

Paid to != forced.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:47 (twenty-one years ago)

The thing is, Alex, people go to rock concerts for way more reasons than just to "see a band they care about."

Maybe so, but there's a difference between someone acting boorish at a bar and someone acting boorish at an event you had to PAY to gain entry to. I just think it's a basic courtesy to pipe the fuck down when you're in an environment wherein actual paying fans are present.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Paid to != forced.

I'd still be throwin ice cubes. I'd aim for Ed Kowasakicheck's (whatever his fuckin name is) dancin feet.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:54 (twenty-one years ago)

(multiple cross-post) This whole issue of losing one's place through repeated bathroom trips is one of the reasons I drink scotch instead of beer at shows.

― Collardio Gelatinous (collardio), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:55 (twenty-one years ago)

i totally agree, alex, but:

piping the fuck down =/ whispering like you're at midnight mass

and

merely talking =/ acting boorish

it's different when some loutish asshole is yelling and shouting like they want *everybody* in the place to hear them; that sucks, and bouncers should throw those jerks the hell out on the ear. but people i don't know talk to each other at shows where i'm paying attention to every word the band sings all the time, and honestly, it doesn't bother me AT ALL. (if it did, i'd probably be inclined to blame the soundman!) so when i hearing people hushing each other, they strike me as control freaks who've never been to see live music before.

xposts

― chuck, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Context is everything. For some genres/historical moments (most obviously 70s punk), hostile audience reaction is most def. part of the show. In others it's not. While I agree with Chuck's sociological observation that people go to rock shows for many reasons, I personally prefer to see *some* reaction to what's on stage, even if it's outright hostility (heckling, throwing objects), rather than blatant indifference (whatever that looks like: talking on the cell through the show; loud conversation during an acoustic set, etc). People are entitled to be indifferent, of course, but it's just more of a bummer for all concerned, IMO.

― Collardio Gelatinous (collardio), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I think we're actually in agreement. I don't mean TOTAL, ABSOLUTE SILENCE, but rather being respectfully quiet. There used to be an insufferably pretentious "jazz bar" in my neighborhood called Arthur's (if memory serves...it's long gone now, replaced by an identityless bar called Reservoir) wherein if you went in and simply asked for a beer from the bartender, you'd invariably get a chorus of irritated "SHHHHH"'s from jazz-loving patrons trying to hear the sax player in the back of the bar. It was most annoying.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Whenever I play, I have no idea with people talking. As long as I get my pay-out at the end of the night, I'm fine.

That said, I'll tell you what I really hate. It's when I go to a bar or club where someone's playing a solo acoustic set and getting all persnickety about the room's atmosphere. Most of the time, I'm there to get a drink and see some friends, and I'm sorry if my social life is interfering with your tribute to Elliot Smith.

Now, going to a show with the intent to see the artist at a musical venue is on thing. But glorified lounge singers need not get into such a huff about crowd noise.

Oh, and The Requestaholic who kept screaming out "Chickamaugua" at the last Wilco show I went to was actually kind of funny in a weird Andy Kaufmanesque way.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 21:38 (twenty-one years ago)

The last (and only -- and that's no accident) time I saw Interpol, people were shouting out "Isolation", "Transmission" and "She's Lost Control".

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Boy, I made some weird typos in that post.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The last (and only -- and that's no accident) time I saw Interpol, people were shouting out "Isolation", "Transmission" and "She's Lost Control".

This would be even funnier if they started crying.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 21:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Back when Pussy Galore covered all of Exile on Main Street in 1987 or so, some friends and I (including Barry Hennsler of the Necros/Big Chief, if I remember right) used to go and yell out song titles from Appetite for Destruction. That was somewhat fun, I have to admit.

― chuck, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 21:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, though, come to think of it, I just decided that I'm going to get really steaming mad from now on if people talk when I'm DJ-ing. What ingrates, you know?

― chuck, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm going to go and shout out request for Kix tunes.

"PLAY 'MIDNIGHT DYNAMITE', YOU BEARDY FASCIST!"

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:05 (twenty-one years ago)

What if you shouted out "Freebird" at a .38 Special show?

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Moshers and Me by Ken Stringfellow of The Posies. No less true today than it was when he wrote it ten years ago.

One of the funnier ways I've seen a performer deal with an obnoxious audience member was at a Lilys show in Cleveland. (1996?) Some guy right up front was constantly heckling the keyboard player -- calling him "Bill Bellamy" for some reason, which made no sense because he's white with red hair -- so when one tune came to a guitar/percussion breakdown, he picked up a cowbell and mallet, and started whacking the cowbell on the quarter note, hard as hell, right in the heckler's face. Beautiful.

Requestaholics and other annoyances are actually blessedly rare at Birchmere shows.

― phil dennison, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)

in philadelphia there are lots of kids who seem to vacillate between 'indie' and 'fashionably homeless,' going to clubs just to hang out, talk, and most importantly walk around with one hand clutching their dj bag/backpack/samsonite luggage, the other limply wrapped around a beer with a cigarette dangling between the fingers. and that hand is always at eye level. if i didn't wear glasses i'd probably be blind in one eye thanks to the khyber hipster crowd.

most of their conversations seem to revolve around the phrase "...put out a cdr of [his/her/our] stuff..."

and this is exactly why i thank the sweet sweet lord that they opened the second floor of the khyber as a lounge.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:27 (twenty-one years ago)

at most really loud rock shows, there is a spot toward the back, maybe near a bar, where people can pretty safely carry on conversations without interfering with people listening to the music.

i talk at shows sometimes, usually it's just stray comments or responses to friends. i think that's typical, and different than carrying on a conversation.

i think the list in the first post needlessly forgot Overenthusiastic Guy, the seemingly-somewhat-not-all-there guy (usually much older than the average of the crowd, and often wearing some telltale thing like tee shit-tucked-into-pants) who stands up at the front, screams "woooooo", pumps his fist, etc. often the crowd this gives this person a wide berth, so there is a little four-foot-wide circle around them, even if they are right up by the stage.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

tee SHIRT

yikes

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't worry, amateru!st. I hate that other guy, too.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

BUT... i really dont care what people do at shows.

as someone who books shows, i found this article alienating, like the writer is creating a scenario where "you must be this tall to ride" or in this case, "this 'cool' to enter the club."

as long as it doesnt infringe upon the safety of the other audience members, people can stand wherever they want and talk/sing as much as their hearts desire. its a show and i think we've forgotten in the digital age that they are social events.

― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

there is definite overlap between Overenthusiastic Guy and the Requestaholic

i should add that i don't really find any of this TERRIBLY annoying unless it's taken to ridiculous extremes (rarely)--it's just part of the concert-going experience.

xpost!

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I recently downloaded a live mp3 of Paul Westerberg warbling through "Kentucky Rain". As soon as he was done, almost before the applause started, this one guy started screaming "UNSATISFIED! UNSATISFIED! UNSATISFIED!"

I almost glad that I wasn't there.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 23:02 (twenty-one years ago)

There's this guy who I've seen at two shows in Chicago now, at different venues, who always stands right in front of the stage and rapidly bounces up and down in place throughout the entire set, even through the slower songs. He is weird.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

i think that's the man on whom i modeled my caricature, in fact

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

tee shirt tucked into pants without belt, i should add

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

The Guy Wot Walks Through Ridiculously Crowded Areas Precariously Holding Multiple Beers For His Friends Up Front - aka The Spiller.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

The Not Sneaky Doob Smoker

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Nickalicious

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

why be sneaky?

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

So you don't get kicked out/burn somebody's hair with yer doob cherry.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:36 (twenty-one years ago)

god, i don't know if it's more frightening or refreshing to know that rock audiences are everywhere made EXACTLY by the same people...anthropologists should investigate this.

― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:36 (twenty-one years ago)

i found that audiences in paris had basically the same "types" as audiences in america.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember seeing Gutterball at Tramp's during a mid-90's New Music Seminar (or was it a CMJ thing?) and the crowd was so damn noisy that the band took to leaving the stage with their instruments and playing in front of people who were talking.

One time when I was watching Archer Prewitt at Lounge Ax, there was this one super-obnoxiously loud, shall we say "Lincoln Park trixie"-ish type woman in front talking in very over-the-music-audible Fran Drescher-esque tones. One of Archer's horn players told her to shut up from the stage. That was kinda nice.

Chuck is right in that any kinds of shows, not just rock ones, are social. But there are contexts, and blabbing away while other people are trying to listen (esp. if its music where some concentration is involved, such as free jazz or other "experimental" sorts) is freakin' annoying.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

there's concentration involved in free jazz?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

One time at a Blue Oyster Cult show I ate my gf's ass.

― blueoystercultty, Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

"i found that audiences in paris had basically the same "types" as audiences in america".

absolutely the same...at least for what i experienced here in italy

― Marco Damiani (Marco D.), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Who me? I'm just tying my shoes down here.

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

amateur!st your new super-disingenuous posting habits do not wear so well.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:43 (twenty-one years ago)

any music without amplification requires more concentration in a live setting, otherwise i'm not quite sure what you meant.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

that is what I meant.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

ok.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry to have tried to bait you.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to say, going to shows in Philly for 15 years, I hardly ever had problems with crowds or people in crowds. Over-crowding could definitely be a problem as anyone who has ever been in the Khyber Pass when its packed in the summer and the air-conditioner isn't working will tell you. There were plenty of times when i wished that the crowds at Philly shows were MORE rambunctious. But maybe that was just cuz I was drunk. I know lots of bands who liked playing there over the years too. And I definitely saw lots of bands with surprised looks on their faces at how well they were being received. Overall though, even at loud punk/metal shows, the crowds were pretty cool.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 22 July 2004 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

when I was on tour last summer, the Khyber was memorable because I got stabbed something like three times with a lit cigarette while moving amps/merch through the club.

― hstencil (hstencil), Thursday, 22 July 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, it's too tight in there. Scarily so, sometimes. If you are up front when it's really packed you aren't going anywhere for a while. Unless you hop across the stage and out the door to the street. That is actually the one comfort about being near the stage there. You are the one closest to the exit.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 22 July 2004 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

thats exactly why they shut down the khyber for a week or so in march '03 -- the city got hip to its blatant fire code violations. the club i used to book [doc watsons] wasnt much better because it was on the second floor but at least i counted 3 accessible fire exits.

scott, like you i often wish philly audiences would show more interest in the bands they've paid to watch. of course who cares about bands when there's dj nights? *sigh*

― maria tessa sciarrino, Thursday, 22 July 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.