The Four Most Annoying Things About Seeing Live Music
I love seeing live music. On average, I probably go see bands play twice a week. (BTW, I just saw Phoenix last Friday in New York City. It was great. Super tight, super catchy, and nicely unpretentious given the band's Frenchness.) I know that catching a couple shows a week may not sound like a lot, but it's something I do far more than see movies or attend the theater or witness any other form of entertainment that requires me to leave my apartment. So I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that going to concerts is my favorite social activity. Ah, but in accordance with the laws of space and time, there are irritating yings to my otherwise pleasant concert-going yangs--things that prevent me from venturing out to rock clubs even more than I already do. Below are my four most irksome live music pet peeves. I'm sure you've got your own. Vent your spleen in the comments section!
1. The Standing Around: This just makes me sound like an old fogey, but it's true: I get tired of standing. Sure the occasional rock show takes place at a venue where there are seats, but the vast majority of gigs happen at small clubs where you stand around for a couple hours. Especially when you live in a city like New York, where you've most likely walked to your destination, your dogs are gonna be barking long before the band has played its final note.
2. The Interminable Waiting: Why can't concerts be more like movies, where you know the show will get underway at a pre-arranged time? Instead, even when a gig is advertised as starting at, say, 9 p.m., you've got to factor in arriving early to get a good spot, whether or not there are opening bands (and how many), the amount of time between sets, and so on. You could be killing time for two hours before the band you're there to see finally goes on. It's no better at stadium gigs, when presumably everything is better organized, but you can still wait for a seeming eternity for the headliner to hit the stage. What is the band doing that prevents them from being punctual? I don't know. But I know this: Rock 'n' roll is full of time thieves.
3. Audience Stragglers: You get to the show early. You get a good spot in the crowd--somewhere in the center, near the front of the stage. You enjoy the show for 15 or 20 minutes, happy to have secured such prime real estate. Then: uh-oh. The people around you start stepping on each other's toes--someone is coming. A late-arriving straggler is encroaching on your hard-earned territory. Unless you want to start a fight, there's little you can do to stop him. Now, instead of watching the band, you're counting hairs on the back of your rival's head.
4. Beer: I love it. I drink it too fast. Then I spent the night shuttling between the show and the bathroom. Add this problem to the previous three and it's clear: If there weren't any music played at concerts, I'd probably never go.
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Thats part of going to a huge rock/pop/punk and even country concert! Audience participation. I think it is great!
If you want a clean studio version pop your cd in your player at home... and if you want a clean quiet 'live' version, then jump on over to AOL Sessions.
To me, I love the crowd so long as every keeps their clothes on, people don't get obnoxiously intoxicated, and just keep things safe (fights / throwing things etc - last concert I went to a girl in front of us flicked a LIT CIGARETTE into the grass - to get it away from her but landed it about 3 ft from someone elses blanket - not that is crappy etiquette PERIOD).
As far as cell phones, again, yeah in a smaller venue in a quieter type of show maybe it is not appropriate to have phone conversations and ringers on - but what is wrong with texting or taking video/pictures?
Last concert I went to - my fiance was (is still) in Iraq! My friends and I had a good time and I wanted to let my fiance know that I missed him at the show, and that the show was good (what songs were playing, what kind of people watching scenes were going on etc).
Damn people, lighten up.