show etiquette

I am v tall and try to be aware of getting in the way of shorter people, but it's often quite difficult to find anywhere to stand that isn't in someone's way. If I'm at somewhere like the Forum or Shepherd's Bush Empire I'll just stand in front of the mixing desk so there's no-one behind me.

Or I find some other tall bastard and stand behind him cos there's usually space there cos no-one else can see. But that can lead to a huge clump of lanky gits which probably just makes it worse.

But if I am there it is because I am watching the show not talking to people so pls don't hate me.

Lanky gits do tend to clump, 'tis true...

Sorry Colonel, I don't really hate the tall people. 99% of you are fine, just the ones who stand in front - I mean exactly in front like they deliberately lined up elbows, this is what makes it really odd how often it happens - of the smallest person for several metres even when there's plenty of other space, and then don't even seem interested.

I (used to) go to a lot of gigs more or less out of curiosity, so if I'm there just to see what's what and someone who likes the band wants to stand in front of me, no problem there. Though I tend to lurk near the back unless I like what I'm hearing or am really excited to see them. Actually there's often a spot at the very back where the shallower angle lets you see one or two band members between the heads, which is more than we shortarses get from most of the crowd.

I go to tons of shows and it drives me nuts when everyone seems to be talking during the bands, but refreshingly I don't seem to see it super often -- maybe it's the shows I go to (either so small that there's not enough of the audience to out-chatter the band, or so big that the band drowns out anyone who is talking). I'd say what Jordan did was avoidable but I kinda applaud him for doing it, I totally fantasize about doing that kind of thing but never do. closest I got was at a movie once when a guy would not stop talking next to me, and I turned to him like I was going to say something important or friendly and just went 'SHUT THE FUCK UP' and amazingly he did for the rest of the movie, which was such a great moment.

If you are in an assigned seat and can not move, then yeah, tell them to stfu.

If you can move, then move. always easiest first best choice.

I turned to him like I was going to say something important or friendly and just went 'SHUT THE FUCK UP'

heh. I did this too, at a seated GYBE gig. the exact same words, the exact same effect.

I genuinely intended to be polite to the endlessly chattering gimps next to me, but all my pent-up rage just fell out of my face.

The first time Brian Wilson did Pet Sounds in London - the OPENING FUCKING NIGHT, his first involved gig here since before the old queen died and all - there were two fellas a couple of rows bag talking at normal conversational volume throughout. Finally leapt out of my seat and pleaded with them to let the music talk. One of them told me he'd been waiting 40 years for this night and I was not going to ruin it for him by making him be quiet. That he had paid for his ticket and he intended to savour every minute however he chose.
WTF do you say to people like that, who know they're ruining it for others but completely don't give any sort of a fuck?

killing's too good for 'em...

Typical Londoners. You wouldn't get that anywhere else in the UK.

Hard to know how much of an asshole one will be. I loathe bullying, so the staring-down bs just makes me want to goad them into action. The key is for them to swing, and you not be embarrassed to dodge or back off, so that it's obvious to security that those people need to be kicked out, and you get to stay. I've only accomplished that twice in 25 yrs of shows. Usually they'll back off. Another tactic is to push past them and say you figured they wouldn't mind since they don't seem into the show, ha ha. My best experiences are showing up early and staying right up front. If I come late, I hang in the back, since I'm 6'1"+. Also, it's helped that bands I've seen lately are way too loud to even attempt to talk over.

I have heard people complain that they went to a gig where the band was so loud that they couldn't even have a decent conversation...

i prefer talking to people over going to concerts but its pretty lame that these people are paying $15 to talk in a loud bar

Stevie ... they were Glaswegians who'd come down to London for the opening night.

last gig I went to (and I don't get to many these days) featured someone shouting I LOVE THIS SONG! repeatedly throughout about three quarters of the songs. AAAAAAAH.

Ah, right. Good job you didn't try and fight them, then. Although, my name's not Stevie. xp

Sorry anagram. Misread which post I was replying to.

I was not going to ruin it for him by making him be quiet. That he had paid for his ticket and he intended to savour every minute however he chose.

This level of selfish asshattery just boggles my brain. What a frightful human being.

At most other events (theatre, cinema, etc), you'd be able to get an attendant to give them them "you're spoiling it for other patrons" warning, but when faced with that kind of gibbering selfishness I doubt even that would work.

The biggest problem for me is that the talking itself is super distracting, then yr own irritation adds to this, THEN one's indignance and rage takes over with a final result that you're completely removed from the moment of enjoying the music, and it can take an age to get back into that mindset EVEN IF the yapping fuckwit does shut up when asked to. Which they rarely do, ime.

Last year I went to see Neko Case at a seated show, and one girl in the audience was yelling shit loudly at the stage after every song -- nonsense stuff like "Neko, I want to have your baby!" to which Neko rightly responded with, "Uh, I think you're a little confused" -- until Neko finally asked her to please not ruin it for everyone else. Audience girl then called her a bitch, so Neko stopped the show and asked security to remove her, to thunderous applause.

There was a pretty classic discussion about this here several years ago, btw, but no phrases I'm putting into the search engine ("Talking At Live Shows," etc.) are turning anything up. Maybe it was just part of a bigger thread, I'm not sure, but somebody else can find it. Definitely also delved into the phenomenon of tall people standing in front of short people at shows, fwiw.

Tall people look over the heads in a crowd and go "Oh look there's a hole in the crowd, nobody there!"

So they go into the spot, and see it's populated by shorter people.

And then go "oh. Oh well, it's better than over there" and STAY!

The guy in front of you who insists on taking camera phone photos the whole time is just as annoying. I once had to watch an Animal Collective show through the camera of the jerk in front of me because it was packed and I couldn't move.

Also annoying to stand near: the freaky dancer.

Damn hippies.

Dealt with to some extent on this thread (but apparently there was an earlier one that talked about it more, because I mention it here too):

people who doesnt like to go to shows , although they love music, and live in a place where it's available - c/d?

Last year I went to see Neko Case at a seated show, and one girl in the audience was yelling shit loudly at the stage after every song -- nonsense stuff like "Neko, I want to have your baby!" to which Neko rightly responded with, "Uh, I think you're a little confused" -- until Neko finally asked her to please not ruin it for everyone else. Audience girl then called her a bitch, so Neko stopped the show and asked security to remove her, to thunderous applause.

I actually really enjoy between song heckling, especially if it's at all witty. Though maybe this girl was just more obnoxious than anything. But if I could be disappointed in Neko case and her fans, if that were at all possible, I might be after reading this.

I hope I never attend a show with you Master Jim. Between song heckling is almost never "witty".

And even if it is, you have to choose your marks. For one thing, you don't do it after every song. For another, Neko Case?

kinda disagree

"you don't rock" and "play the hit" were two of my favorites

when i go to a lot of shows i start to see a lot of the same people, 'specially if it's a trendy act in a small venue. i have sympathy for the idea of concerts as just an extension of your social life. but you should be nowhere near the front and respectful of listeners and if you're a ligger talking loudly i'm not sure i'd step in to save you if it led to your being beaten viciously.

I'm not saying it can't be witty, but nine times out of ten the heckler thinks he or she is 1,000,000 times more witty than they actually are.

Pretty glad I didn't go to the Girls show at teh Blue Note last night tbh

Though I would have liked to see Smith Westerns

One of my favourites concerns Bono on stage at a famine relief concert, whether true or not I don't know nor care.
There he is standing centre stage between songs and he starts clicking his fingers every 3 seconds and he starts his sermon:
"Everytime I click my fingers someone in Africa will die of starvation". He continues to slowly click his fingers to the silent crowd.
Cue heckler:"Well stop clicking your bloody fingers then!"

hahaha

xxp

there was no one there & everyone looked to be 18-20

smith westerns were really rad

I figured, with the weather and all. If I was going anywhere it would have been to the DIY show on Orr street to see my friends. The fact that no one was there and they were being really loud makes it worse. The Blue Note is so depressing when it is empty.

Pretty used to being surrounded by 18-20 year olds.

http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/bono.asp

whether true or not I don't know nor care

congrats

PaulTMA, why do you hate fun?

sarge u were in the right they were in the wrong

i almost got beat up at a gwar show in like 96 cuz dudes were trying to start a pit by the back bar

Way to rain on my parade, Paul. :'(

Don't worry ilxor, I'll tell it to my friends as if it were true.

Oh, I rarely heckle myself. But I do enjoy it. Not if its overdone, true. But I like the way it deflates the typical show dynamic a bit. My favorite example, I guess, is at the end of some bands set and before they went offstage to wait out the inevitable encore, some guy yelled "play another song you fucking faggots!" Admittedly not witty, but it made me laugh. Now that I think about it, I only really like it when there's a roomful of people all rapt over some sensitive soul up there sharing their intelligence and genius or whatever. I like seeing that deflated.

xposts

this is how it's done
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/files/2009/02/soybomb.jpg

I think the thing is also that what even constitutes heckling or rude behavior at a show is going to depend a lot on the type of show it is. Like say a punk show and an indie show and a metal show and a jazz show are going to have totally different norms of behavior. Heckling is funniest at the indie show, and most obnoxious at the jazz one.

some guy yelled "play another song you fucking faggots!

Anyone that laughed at this is a disgusting savage imo.

Heckling is funniest at the indie show

Everything is funniest at indie shows. Indie music is funny music.

Admittedly not witty, but it made me laugh.

typed with all the pride of a man boasting about the size of his last turd.

I only really like it when there's a roomful of people all rapt over some sensitive soul up there sharing their intelligence and genius or whatever.

yeah god forbid people go to shows to appreciate and enjoy artists they admire.

tell you what'd be funnier than "play another song you fucking faggots" - punching "mister jim" in the face

sometimes a man boasting about the size of his last turd is pretty funny

i think ur wrong there

Xp that's what I was saying!

every time someone yells out free bird a band should just immediately do a 20 minute version of marquee moon. the nerd free bird!

but wait back up on this thread what do classical audiences do that makes them the worst? i must know.

every time someone yells out free bird a band should just immediately do a 20 minute version of marquee moon. the nerd free bird!

xpost Security told me that for the outdoor shows, half the audience claims to know somebody high up - the mayor, the head of the orchestra, whatever - and they are all relentless and demanding and obnoxious trying to jockey for better seats. Imagine hundreds of entitled tipsy people saying "do you know who I am?" and then trying to sneak or push past you to get to the front.

The point isn't whether the song Free Bird is a good song, it's that shouting it at shows to be funny is stupid and way beyond expiry

How did this start? Does it go back to the call-and-response on the live album?

yes

Pretty sure Yes has never covered "Freebird," but I bet they would *not* do a good version. Well, actually, I think they could do OK with the first part, in the mode of the first part of "I've Seen All Good People," but not the soloing section (oddly enough).

I dunno. The "jamming" section of "Yours Is No Disgrace" leads me to believe they'd have at least a puncher's chance.

yeah but the accents would be all wrong

If oy stye here tomahrah

looool

at first I thought it was your parents posing the question, and after further thought, I will stick to this interpretation.
― assert (matttkkkk)

for what it's worth my dad would often jump the gun and ask me and my brothers "what song is it you wanna hear?" before the band got around to it

bands should get into it.

someone shouts Freebird.

The band announces "This next song is called Freebird"

Then they play whatever song was next on their set list

rinse and repeat etc

"play it pretty for Atlanta"

Steve Howe could totally do the gnarliest version of the Freebird solo you've ever heard, it's Jon who I don't think could pull it off

I don't think Steve is loose enough for the solo. Not that the "Freebird" solo is not tight as hell, but it's as much about feel as it is about precision.

that's why they don't do it, it would take him 2 months to compose the solo note for note but when it was done I bet it would rule

Starship Trooper is Yes's answer to Freebird, or maybe the other way around.

https://www.concertarchives.org/image_uploads/photo/image/672277/large_Chicago_Tribune_Sun__Aug_8__1976_.jpg

Same planet, different worlds

1976?? 77?

Starship Trooper is Yes's answer to Freebird, or maybe the other way around.

Very similar. The codas of both are guitar solos over three chord patterns: Yes is I - ♭VI - IV and Lynyrd Skynyrd is I - ♭III - IV.

Ooh someone knows some theory!

1976?? 77?

1976! Someone taped the Yes set:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kquodhaWXqQ