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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That's annoying!
The band/singer sucks and doesn't sound like the recorded song. Nothing worse than millionaire singers that can't sing or carry a tune or a rock band that can't play live.
Anyway, do what I did. Get a cow bladder surgically installed. You can beer garden until the cows come home ah ha ha and then whizz like a race horse later.
If you go to a concert, expect this, unless it's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!
I don't go to see Hank JR anymore, but I DO love Hank 3 and go to as many shows as I can. He always has backstage passes for me, when the venue allows it, and it's nice to see him from a different angle. His fans aren't much different than Hank Jr's, so you EXPECT rowdy and you get it!
Someone in the first few posts mentioned how hard the band has it. Remember, they chose that life. It's not my fault they have a hard life. I pay my hard earned money to watch them perform. They worked their way up to stardom to have people like me pay to watch them perform.
In a word: they kill any joy on could derive from going to hear live music!!!
(There's a very special Hell reserved for such people. Burn, baby, burn!)
And also, the rappers: Ugh! I admit that I love old school music and lament that most performers nowadays think the only instrument they need is a microphone and a track, but if you are not part of the creation of the music, then stay the hell offa da stage!! What is up with all these groupies and tag-alongs nobody knows getting up on stage with the main performer? Get a life dude! And stay off da stage until you're performing your own song, or playing an INSTRUMENT!