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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Jazzclub - "A place where you are treated politely, you sit at a table and have dinner and drinks with friends who don't have tats and piercings and don't need drugs to hear the true essence of the music."
Huh...I thought Miles, Trane, Bird, etc. were all heroin addicts (at least for portions of their stellar careers), so apparently they DO need drugs to tap the true essence of their music. Further, I think all three would have a good chuckle at your statement that a jazz club is "a place where you are treated politely, you sit at a table and have dinner and drinks with friends" -- I think all three would beg to differ adamantly. Finally, in case you want to see some "tats" for jazz fans (contrary to your silly statement about tats and piercings...as if that had something to do with anything), just acces the link at JAZZ.COM:
http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/1/1/jazz-tattoo
What kind of jazz do you listen to, Herb Alpert?
There have been many shows I've been to through the years and I've had a great time at all of them,my husband and son don't really like live shows, but my daughter does so she's my concert buddy.
We had driven from DC to Norfolk,VA for a Goo Goo Dolls show and I have to be honest, they really are awesome live.John also during the show took a small sign I had made saying, "Can You Give a Shout Out to My Husband Serving in Afghanistan",he took the sign and had the entire crowd give my husband a round of applause,he truly is a class act!It was surreal,the crowd was cheering and so was the band.In 2004 they had done a free 4th of July show at home in Buffalo,great show even with all the rain(we all looked like drowned rats.lol),the only bad thing was some dolt that kept screaming "Rock n Roll" and too bad for the rest of us that jacka$$ made it onto the CD they had made of the show.
When you go to a live concert you HAVE to expect the morons,it's a sad fact of life,the bands don't like this idiots anymore than we do, but don't whine about it do something or stay home.GA is a mess,but fun,get there and hold on tight.Someone starts crap a shot to the kidney will bring the biggest of idiots to their knees.And with my daughter with me I don't tolerate morons that come late and try to shove in,and some shows even have kids up front,my daughter is 19 and can handle herself, so we tend to help protect the smaller ones.
Most others at the shows are just like the rest of us,they like the band&music and just want to have a good time to,it's the small handful of social wenises that made it a bad experience for some.Another thing you could do is make friends with the security people,they'd be happy to toss the wankers out.
Just try to enjoy the show and if you get the chance when the GGDs go back out on the road, check out a show,they are worth seeing!
Have fun and my daughter and I will see you out there!
If it will make you feel any better, I'm 61, a former rock critic (820 shows) until my ears went bad, and this stuff has been going on since rock and roll began. One piece of advice. I saw the Tubes last month and had to stand through the performance in a small theater, and the standing gets harder the older you get. The biggest change over the years is the annoying cell phones waving in the air in front of you. Sound systems have fortunately improved a whole lot. Bad audience behavior has not. And what's wrong with singing along to the music. (Especially on "White Punks On Dope.") One time the lead singer of the Gin Blossoms told me I was singing so loud he didn't even need his monitor.
I am only 5'2 so it's hard for a nice girl like me to enjoy a concert when the guys in front of me are 6 foot.
It's going to be CRAZY at the Paul Mccartney concert at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. All general admission. People if you are going to this concert. Heed my warning and get out of my way. :)
Also as a musician, I find your comments to be arrogant, self-centered and just plain stupid. Obviously, you have never been to any of the following contemporary so called "concerts" -- Grateful Dead, Phish, Phil & Friends, Allman Bros, Beck. These acts all speak to the heart of American Music. Where do we start -- oh yea, the Dead have incorporated many genres of music, including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, C&W, funk, etc. into their music for almost 50 years! Phil & Friends and the Dead play an absoltely ripping Milestones, and Garcia/Grisman put out a CD of top-notch jazz material (in addition to similar C&W and folk CDs). And if you really want to hear something, check out Legion of Mary's version of All Blues from 1975. There is no other musical ensemble playing today, that I know of, that reaches the level of communication of the members of Phish...all four are incredible musicians and really know how to listen to the other band members and play off that,etc. Other than an old black man, I don't think you will find a better blues outfit anywhere -- check out Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks -- you won't find a better pair of guitarists anywhere!!!! And Beck...well, Beck is just Beck -- he is an absoltuely amazing songwriter, guitarist and producer --- you will need to decide on his genius yourself...
In closing, I think you should need to get out more before making general disparing remarks about contemporary music; remember, your Holy Mother of Jazz encompasses Kenny G, David Sanborn (later "smooth" jazz years), Brian McKnight, and Celine Dion. It's easy to pick apart any musical genre if you are general about it.
What kinda concert have you been to where you can talk and hear yourself?!
seating, larger venues tend to be better with reserved seating
plus better chance they will start close to time advertised, so far the best at starting on time, playing 3 hours with a 10-15 minute break in the middle has been Aussie Pink Floyd, least favorite is outdoors in the summer, my question is why don't these numb nuts do the outdoor concerts from mid spring to early summer (April to early June) then in the fall (Oct/early Nov) ???
Actually, it's funny that you should mention the Eagles...not just because they are one of the most high-priced, ridiculously overated live acts in Rock n Roll history, but more because of an interview I heard with Glenn Frey (of the Eagles) lamenting the fact that they have to play every song note-for-note exactly how it sounds on the LP/CD and how he wished he could just play what HE wanted to play. So, even the artists who are "masters" at complying with fans' wishes to play it exactly as the CD version, don't like doing it....It's boring! The whole point of a live concert is to make it sound different than the version on the LP/CD. I have seen Joe Jackson (remember him?) about five or six times over the past 25 to 30 years -- every time I have seen him, he has developed and played a highly modified arrangements of "Is She Really Going Out with Him" (i.e., different every time). This is what keeps me going back...
The Dead just finished a tour, where they played about 20 shows...over 150 songs were played with 40 or so only played once over the tour...now that's is what I call variety. Also, I saw two of those shows -- did not see "Truckin'" or "Casey Jones" and was not upset by this.
If you want to hear the studio version, save your money and listen to the CD at home.