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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who is next?panic at the disco and Boy George or maybe that long awaited Wham Reunion.
music lives on...as opposed to some new groups that will never sustain..But they move....Big Deal ! If i want movement i'll go to a strip club. Most of the idiots that are screaming and shouting at your shows probably don't even listen to the music...they just wanna be there. If I pay $100. to see a performer I want more than jumpin' around. I don't want people screaming while i'm playing my tunes. Shut The F**k up and listen.
I paid to see YOU perform the song, I didn't pay to come here and sing it for the band.
It's time to get serious about the REAL most annoying things about going to see live music:
-$20 to rent a six by 10 parking spot for 3 or 4 hours!
-Cops picking their noses when they should be directing traffic!
-Security guards who think they are cops!!!
-Insufficient facilities for eats/drinks: lines, lines, lines!
-$10.50 for a lemonade and a soft pretzel!!!!
-Insufficient bathroom facilities - more lines and worse!!!
--Bands/tour promoters not spending enough money on the sound system (i.e., the sound sucks even though you paid $50, $100, $200 or whatever to see the show).
-Price of concert tickets/ticketbastard charges -- TB charges about $10 a ticket just to process your order (I am really glad Amazon doesn't do that -- we'd all be poor). In the early 80s, I used to sit on the law at the Mann Music Center for $8. That same "seat" in the same venue (now dilapidated and outdated) costs up to $75 (depending on the act) -- in case your not good at math, that's nearly a 1000% increase in 20 years. I am really glad milk and gas, etc. didn't increase that much -- a gallon of milk would costs between $10 and $20!!!!
I was just at the old E-Center in Camden, NJ (now it's something else...can't keep up) to see Phish about a week ago. All of the above happened at that show. After waiting forever to park (because the cops getting paid overtime were standing around), paying my $20 extortion fee for parking, getting sexually abused by security on the way into the venue, waiting to use the bathroom for over a half hour with hundreds of other people (while other less-patient concert-goers pissed in the sinks and trash cans), waiting in line for 20 minutes to get a pretzel and lemonade that cost me $10.50 (this is not a misprint!), I finally got to my lawn seat and started getting ready for the show. That's when a security guard came up from behind me and confiscated what was between by indian-crossed legs (I ask you - how much more discrete can you be; I hadn't even sparked up yet!). A few minutes later, I saw 10 to 15 of these [profane]s congregate at the top of the lawn and systematically work their way through the crowd, causing major problems along the way. Yes, if you are wondering, all of this BS went on before the show even started!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am 42 years old professional, clean cut, was there with my wife -- collectively, we have probably seen close to 1,000 concerts. These issues are not annoyances; they are total hassles. I got less hassle when I'd go to Dead shows back in the day with hair down past my shoulders, a headful of acid, and fat bag in my pocket (that's right, I didn't have to shove it where the sun don't shine just to get a little buzz at the show)!!!
After all the shows I have seen, I have never expereienced something so ridiculous in my entire life. I will not be returing to this venue ever, and suggest you do the same.
Also the people that are sober or just afraid of feeling the good vibes. They just stand there and feel nothing. Makes for a boring crowd.