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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2. Band set up time. Why can't everyone be like George Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic. They arrive, set up and jam all night.
3. Souvenier prices. You pay gigantic ticket prices for a sub par performance and you want to take home something to remind you fo this night and they want $48 dollars for a T-shirt, one cheaply printed Mariah Carey T-shirt, $48????
4. Old rockers in spandex. Let the hair go, please. find some jeans please. It is ok to grow old. So what you are a monster of metal, even Godzilla got old.
Cell phones put into my sight line by the idiot in front of me.
People bee lining through a crowd without regard to the people standing there.
...and attempts at pickpocketing.
This is not small bands, either. This happens all the time, with tickets in the $200 range. That's when it really gets incredibly rude.
This is not small bands, either. This happens all the time, with tickets in the $200 range. That's when it really gets incredibly rude.
"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude" -- Maya Angelou
the problem is the 50 yr old lady that hasnt drank in like 30 yrs deciding shes going to eat like horse and then down 15 beers , smoke a joint and then puke all over the place right next to you (stones voodoo lounge tour 3 rivers stadium pittsburgh)
or the 300 lbs 14 yr old kid whos strung out dancing like its 1966 ready to crush your wife if he makes 1 wrong move and falls (KISS 2000 erie civic center erie pa.)
I hate Txt messaging!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!