show etiquette

> b/c it was a non-smoking venue maybe

everywhere in england is, it's the law.

― koogs, Thursday, February 9, 2012 11:19 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wow didn't know this, kudos england

> b/c it was a non-smoking venue maybe

everywhere in england is, it's the law.

yeah I know, I'm English too

the relatively new law

well, 5 years now! maybe my favourite piece of legislation of the past decade

i don't get why lex was so angry with the ppl smoking a cigarette

they didn't get it either. they were cunts

i was v happy that the two women next to me joined in with me

if it's against the rules, and someone complains, then they should either put it out or move elsewhere in the venue where they're not bothering anyone.

smoking indoors is the ultimate expression of how punk rock you are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=btx0aoH2uKI#t=272s

Where in America can you still go see a show at a smokey bar? (nb: I haven't seen a show in like 6 years).

Maryland and Washington, D.C. have had bar/restaurant smoking bands since '07-'08, which is awesome, i sometimes forget how shitty the air in clubs used to be or that people in other states still have to put up with it

Detroit still allows smoking in bars, clubs and restaurants.

i went to belgium a couple of years after the england smoking ban came in, and i remember walking into a bar and feeling as though i'd been hit by a physical wall of smoke

there were a few Low Life parties that were in the basement of this club that you could smoke in. Even as a smoker the novelty wore of in like 1 second.

Interviewed Craig Finn the other day and we talked a bit about gig etiquette. He said:

There’s a weird thing as well of people who want to be front and centre whether they enjoy it or not. There was a girl in New Orleans. Her boyfriend was having the time of his life and they were front row centre. She was crying, storming off to get a reaction then coming back and crying, then being dramatically dejected and flopping down on the stage. We got between a song and I said: “You’re really distracting me. I would like for you to leave.” And the whole crowd started cheering. Then she said: “It’s his fault!” I was like, “It doesn’t look like it to me. You look like the problem.”

He was the one who dragged her along! Wasn’t it his fault?

He was fine for her to go! They probably got married. That’s my experience with those things. Those people find each other and stick together.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/19/kate-bush-asks-fans-no-phones-tablets-london-gigs

no tablets should be a given

where's peter grant and his heavies when you need them

Wait, people bring tablets to shows?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Ecstasy_monogram.jpg

so this fucking drunk asshole muscled his way in between me and this other guy at the front of the stage for Obituary yesterday. being in a less than stellar mood, I refused to budge because I'm tired of being bullied out of my spot. but he kept drunkenly stumbling, yelling in people's ear, and rudely jabbing people. a few times he stumbled into me and I had to shove him to get him to mind his space.

the show starts, and he starts smashing into people (whereas the mosh pit wasn't within 5 miles of where he was - he was thwacking unwitting people). I shoved him hard in anger and he shoved me back and then he crashes into the guy next to me who is HUGE and immediately tells him to fuck off and that he's going to knock his head off.

I walked away because I knew if I stayed there it was going to ruin my show. He wound up crashing into about 4 other people during the night who all told him to fuck off and even Jon Tardy looked at the situation concerned, getting distracted while he was vocalizing.

Not only did the guy not get thrown out, but one of the other dudes there asked us to "leave him alone". Like he was the victim! for being "too passionate" about the music!

between that and the 'press' people who kept shoving past to shoot the show right in front of us (there is no special barricade or anything), it was an aggravating evening that still turned out to be a great show.

I feel like in these seedier, metal or punk venues, these folks who are disruptive and aggressive get seen as "really passionate" about the music so the security/organizers won't address it because they "like their energy". Whereas there was a guy at a show two weeks ago who was outright just PUNCHING people in the moshpit. When he went to crowd surf, nobody caught him and he faceplanted.

I mean I know it's aggressive music and all but unless we're in the designated "fuck shit up" area, unless it's just an accidental surge, we should be free to mind our business, no?

grr.

I feel like in these seedier, metal or punk venues, these folks who are disruptive and aggressive get seen as "really passionate" about the music so the security/organizers won't address it because they "like their energy".

As someone who has been a show organizer/semi-security person at a "seedy" venue -- I don't think it has to do with "liking their energy" -- it's more like they don't want to be like aggro security people at more corporate venues. Was there any security or venue person who could even see what the dude was doing? Unless someone complains or the person is doing something that is likely to bring about actual physical injury to themself or others, it tends to be hands off.

Not to be a dick, but it's kinda part of the experience, just like $7 budweisers in plastic cups are at corporate venues, the asshole jabby oblivious dude is part of the divey metal/punk show experience.

eh, i dunno? i mean, lots of things are "part of the experience" until they're not, y'know? norms change, it becomes understood that going around just assaulting people isn't cool or passionate or w/e. i guess we've already passed that point, since it sounds like HSB was in the majority in thinking this guy was an asshole. it just hasn't reached the point where you get kicked out for it even at seedy venues. like i think if the guy was setting off an air horn or trying to nail other people in the face with spray paint, he would be kicked out.

maybe i just feel obliged to stick up for riot grrl principles or something. there's a risk that accepting asshole dudes as "part of the experience" is on the continuum towards the show only being welcoming and feeling safe to certain people, or even being outright dangerous to others. i think the hope is that we're on the continuum away from that. like 10, 20, 30 years ago a different, i think much greater(?) quantity of asshole aggro masculine behavior was normal and part of the experience, and now it's not, or less so (?). not trying to say you're just excusing it obv!

It may be a part of the experience, but it's one I'm growing tired of.

This guy almost knocked over a husband and wife who were deliberately tucked in the corner to avoid getting clobbered.

Obviously shit happens. When I take a collateral damage hit from a collective surge, I usually laugh about it and wear the bruises as battle scars.

This guy was not even trying to incite a mosh...he was just flailing about like it was his own private space. The lady in question SCREAMED at him and her husband almost swung on him.

Idk like...I often go to shows to throw elbows and don't usually get too up in arms about it but the dude last night just felt....diff I guess.

yeah, if it wasn't bro on bro aggro behavior, I would look on it a lot differently.

yeah that stuff to me is all in good fun (and I like to join in often, less so now that my back is iffy). one of my fav memories was at Repulsion at Maryland Death Fest, going in a pit with guys that outweighed me by 100 pounds, getting flattened, falling in the street, cutting my knee and having blood gush from it, leading to an infection. we all laughed it about like friends afterwards and I wore my field dressing with pride.

can also be a cross-generational bit of fun - I remember starting a pit with a kid 15 years younger than me and although he could run circles around me (I'm out of shape) it was a blast. nice kid too.

between that and the 'press' people who kept shoving past to shoot the show right in front of us (there is no special barricade or anything),

These are even worse than the obnoxious "passionate" guys...

what killed me is one of them didn't have any kind of quality equipment and was getting terrible angles so I'm like 'wtf is this *really* for'?

"...and the crowd were turning so you hear on the video they were whistling and it got very uncomfortable in the room."
Read more at http://www.nme.com/news/finley-quaye/86898#gZdRhYIhUYR3gz4L.99

Is whistling bad etiquette at concerts? I thought it signaled approval.

What kind of fucking show starts at 9pm sharp?

Quaye has encountered various problems in recent years. In 2012, he was found guilty of aggravated assault. The singer also admitted possession of cannabis in 2003.

What a troubled soul.

"I am sorry, I will not sit here and pollute my venue with bullshit"

is this guy the Yngwie of promoters or

"And I considered that there could be magic, so that we would get him on."

Am I the only one thinking the promoter was rather brave and OTM for pulling the show? If you watch the video, you can see why.

lol definitely: https://youtu.be/FcdA_4FlKuw

4:13
"I suffer from alcoholism and stuff"
"Woohoo!"

hahaha. I wonder how long that riff had been going before the video begins?

It says in YouTube description: video is last 5 minutes of 30 odd minute set.

What kind of fucking show starts at 9pm sharp?

― everything, Tuesday, July 21, 2015 6:40 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Uh, when do gigs usually start?

Finley Quay's second album stiffed because he's such a dick that he pissed off everyone he worked with at the label, at distribution, in radio plugging, in his management team, that no one wanted to work with him anymore. So a promoter pulling him offstage 20 years after he had a bona fide hit - not a surprise.

xpost. Last three shows I was at (Young Fathers, Owen Pallett, Spriing) all came on close to 11:30pm maybe? Maybe this is a regional thing.

an american thing, yes.

uk band shows still finish around 11 due to licencing laws. which usually means a 8 pm start.

Depends on the venue; the Cavern in Exeter was(is? I'm too old to go there now!) licensed until 1am or later as a nightclub, so bands would go on at 11pm when I went to shows there.

last night, at Rockstar Mayhem Fest, the show was so undersold that they decided to make it a General Admission show. This means that everybody who bought lawn tickets were upgraded to seats/pit, etc.

I bought a pit ticket, noticed this, and shrugged. Another fan blew up on social media and is publicly and loudly demanding a refund of the difference cos she paid premium price.

idk, what are thoughts on this? my thought is the promoter doesn't owe the fan anything if he/she got exactly what she paid for, and that this type of thing happens all the time (I got upgraded to a lower bowl seat at a Meek Mill show when I purchased upper for the same reason). Live Nation almost always offers a "pay $10 and upgrade to a seat" deal the day of for shows that haven't sold out, too. It seems to be arguing "other people should have paid MORE, so reimburse me!".

while I wouldn't argue with someone giving me back money, it seems a pretty o_O demand to make if your seats weren't downgraded.

(note the purchase of said pit ticket was months in advance - I didn't buy day of or anything, and neither did the fan that is complaining)

Yeah, feel like this is sorta like if you buy something that's 30% off and next week you go back and they've knocked them down to 50% off... that's the way it goes, and you got the benefit of securing the purchase early, which probably was worth something to you.

i dunno, i kind of empathise but i wouldn't throw a shit-fit. if i'd spent significantly more than the people who got upgraded for free, i'd kind of feel a bit annoyed.

My main source of annoyance would be my area suddenly being way more crowded than it would have been otherwise, more so than the cost.

people get upgraded on flights

eat the rich

NA that I could see - in this case, it was so undersold that the pit was like 40% full, so it didn't really make a diff.

Doctor that was exactly my thought - I got the security of knowing I had a pit ticket on the day tickets went on sale (also paid extra for a 'souveneir' ticket). so some other people spent less. who cares.

yeah, if the pit wasn't even full after they let everyone else in, then it's hard to fault the venue.

side note: Atlanta heat in July is nothing to fuck with. I almost passed out during the first set and my shirt was covered in a slime that, while technically was just sweat, felt like the shit in the subway in Ghostbusters 2 probably felt.