OT Rant: Concertgoers Behaving Badly

[Rusty Mike]

As I mentioned in a prior thread, my wife and I attended the James Taylor concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center in NJ this past Saturday. She recently turned 50, and I thought this would be a nice evening out. We've seen JT at this venue several times over the past few years, and this year we decided to splurge a bit. We spent a fair bit of money on VIP box seats.

 

We bought the tickets online through a reputable site. When the tickets arrived, included was a note that said "Due to stage extensions, the original seats were no longer available. We've made every effort to keep your seats as close to the originals as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." I've been to this amphitheater many times, and I can never recall any stage extension at all, let alone ones that would impact seats 30 rows away. I was leery, but excited nonetheless.

 

Some of the nice things about the VIP tickets included VIP parking close to the entrance, a special VIP entrance gate and access to the VIP lounge for your own food and drink. The VIP seats are cushioned, and there is a wait staff to bring you food and drinks during the performance. We find our seats, which are about 8 rows further back from the original ones we ordered, but still great view and great sound location - about 4 rows in front of the sound board. We are sharing our box with two other women around our age. Everything is lovely so far.

 

JT comes out around 8:15 PM, and the two rows ahead of us are still empty. About three songs in, four couples (younger than us by 20-25 years) come up the stairs, and guess where they sit. My once great view is now totally blocked by the guy in front of me, who is about 6' 5" and bobbing his head back and forth between his girlfriend on the and his buddy on the right. The buddy is loud and obnoxious, acting more like he should be at a Jets game (Jets fans, you know what I mean). Throughout the first set, these four people are talking at the top of their lungs, taking pictures of each other, surfing the web on their phones and texting with their friends, totally out of place for a musical performance. To boot, it seems they are friends with the other similar people in the boxes around them, as they are all carrying on and loudly joking with one another. To my wife's left, there were two younger women who constantly talked through the lesser known songs, and then screamed out of key at the top of their lungs when JT performed a "hit." This made the first set difficult to enjoy.

 

Thankfully during the break, they left, although I'm sure to refuel. The second set started, and James did a great duet with his brother Livingston. To me, it was the highlight of the night - they sound great together. All the more enjoyable as our "friends" were still out filling their tanks. Part way through the next song they return, even louder than before. One of the ladies next to me taps one of the men on the shoulder and politely asks him to keep it down as we are trying to enjoy the show. That was enough to make it worse. This crowd spent the rest of the show yelling about how they were going to get yelled at the by lady in the back, and carrying on even more. Very disrespectful.

 

After a few more songs, the ladies next to me couldn't take it anymore and left. I am never one to leave a concert early, but my wife and I left before the first encore. I haven't been to a pop concert in several years, and it will be difficult for me to attend another one after this experience.

 

The conclusion I came to was that the VIP box seats are usually paid for in advance by either corporations or wealthy people (or at least wealthier than me). They then sell the seats to shows they don't plan to attend to brokers who then sell them to people like me. I imagine that the boxes in front of us are owned by wealthy people who probably give the tickets to their adult children. Since they get tickets for free they don't give them the same value I do, and see it as just another night out. They could have very easily been in a bar, and acted accordingly.

 

I didn't say anything to them myself for two reasons. The first was that I was the only man among the three ladies (two of whom I did not know). Second, after watching them carry on and seeing that they didn't give crap about others, I concluded that there was nothing that I could have said that would remedy the situation.

 

My wife does't understand why I like to watch concert shows on TV at home. I can now tell here that we get to see people like JT perform on the big screen with great sound and don't have to deal with the jerks like we did at the PNC.

 

Sorry about the long rant. I needed to get this off my chest.

[J. Dan]

Several years ago I went to a Night Ranger concert at a local casino. It's only a 450 seat venue, so they do 2 shows in one evening. The seating is general admission so we got there early and mangaged to get front row to the right side. I think there were about 6-8 of us there. A few songs into the show, these guys come up and push their way in front of us to the front of the stage, blocking everyone's view, and being obnoxious. Several of the ladies around us, not in our group, were getting into it with them and they were being jerks. I hadn't said anything but was starting to steam. Finally, I was sitting, and one of the guys fell into my lap. Maybe the adrenaline had already built up, but I litterally threw him about 10' off to the corner of the room and he hit the floor. He came back all puffed up talking about how his brother or somebody is the manager of the casino or something, and he'll have me thrown out. Since my band played there regularly, I knew the General Manager, the entertainment manager from corporate in vegas, as well as several other people in management there, so I called his bluff - oh yeah? What's his name? It's not Gene, because Gene's too old to be your brother, is is Lenny? So then he tries a different route - tells me where he went to high school, which was supposed to scare me because a bunch of cops and firefighters went to school there. Little did he know, my friend sitting next to me was a cop and he and 2 of the other guys there went to that high school. So they responded, "so? we went to high school there, too....so what?" I guess that was his out to back down. "Oh, dude, you went there too? What year? " then he tries to start being all buddy-buddy. Long story short, he went away, and the dozen people sitting around us all thanked us for getting rid of them.

[MoodyBluesKeys]

If I paid for VIP box seats, I would very likely have gone out myself and talked to security to see if they would quiet the boors or throw them out.

 

What I would have LIKED to do would very likely have gotten me in trouble. (shoot one of them and let the remainder know they could be next - like Big Al used to say, an armed society is a polite society; and Big JoeBob used to say, Gimme my 12 gauge). Come to think of it, in some parts of NJ, another VIP box patron might just make them an offer they couldn't refuse....

 

At this point, I do think you need to let the venue management know what happened, and that you are likely to think long and hard before returning. If you are a PNC banking customer, you might also present your complaint to the local branch manager or VP - PNC is more likely to want to keep their customers from such boorishness.

 

 

[HammondDave]

It has nothing to do with VIP seats. Concertgoers nowadays are rude and obnoxious. Its due to the "ME" generation where the comfort and consideration of other people are of no consequence anymore...

 

This is why I no longer attend concerts...

[J. Dan]

Let's face it, part of the expectation should take into account the venue and the act you're going to see. If it's a death metal concert and the floor is a mosh pit, I don't think you should really have expectations of politeness. But VIP box at a JT concert - I would certainly expect to be able to sit back and enjoy the show.

[Blues Disciple]

I typically only go to Furthur and jamband or small venue shows and have been spared such crap from others. I do run into idiots like that tough at events like movies and baseball games (minor and major league games).

[mate stubb]

I was at a Bruce Hornsby show a few nights ago, my first live show in awhile. The people around our seats were very loud and distracting. Fortunately, we were able to go down on the floor and stand next to the sound board for the remainder of the show.

[richwhite9]

Welcome to the age of the 84" Home TV.

Live music venues will be taking another dive this decade.

 

 

[drawback]

It has nothing to do with VIP seats. Concertgoers nowadays are rude and obnoxious. Its due to the "ME" generation where the comfort and consideration of other people are of no consequence anymore...

 

This is why I no longer attend concerts...

 

Dave, you sound like a bitter old man.

 

Well said.

 

 

 

[HammondDave]

That...and the $200 tickets...

[Skinny]

Damn kids, get off my lawn!

[ksoper]

Went to Tenacious D on Saturday in Nashville. I expected a rowdy crowd--that was part of the fun. I didn't expect the drunken 30-something douchebag in the puka beads in front of us to scream every lyric at us. He wasn't watching the show--he was performing for us.

 

I'd prefer they not serve alcohol at the smaller venues. There's nowhere to go to get away from the assholes.

[Josh Paxton]

A thread for misanthropic ranting about how much people suck? I'mma get a piece of that!

 

The kind of behavior Mike described is the reason I generally don't even go to movies any more, let alone concerts. The only time I see a movie in a cinema is if it's something big and spectacular that really should be seen on a big screen (like Avatar), or it's some obvious piece of tripe that I don't care about anyway, and am only seeing to kill a couple hours with mindless escapist entertainment (like Hot Tub Time Machine). Any movie that I'm actually interested in paying attention to and enjoying, I'll wait to see on DVD in my own home, where I won't be surrounded by dolts who are too clueless to realize, and/or too inconsiderate to care, that their behavior is obnoxious and disruptive to those around them. Because I literally cannot remember the last time I had a movie theater experience that wasn't tainted by such people. I'm told the situation isn't as bad in other areas of the country/world, but where I live, your chances of not being distracted by self-absorbed idiots are as close to zero as makes no odds.

 

I've developed a solution that I would pitch to local movie houses if I thought there were any chance of it being adopted: have special screenings that are specifically tailored for people who are actually interested in watching the movie and know how to conduct themselves in public, and are specifically, unapologetically designed to weed out people who don't. Call them something like "Premium screenings -- for people who really love movies" (because "Draconian screenings for surly, snobbish misanthropes" probably wouldn't play as well). The deal would be, they cost twice whatever the normal admission is. For that extra fee, viewers get the following perks:

 

No one under 21 admitted. Doesn't matter if it's a Disney cartoon, no kids allowed (though obviously such a movie would be an unlikely choice for this type of screening).

 

No cell phones or other mobile devices in the theater. At all. Period. No, we don't trust you to keep them turned off. Either leave them in the car, or else check them at the entrance -- a service paid for by the extra admission fee. If you're seen with one, whether you're doing anything disruptive with it at the moment or not, you're kicked out.

 

 No late entry. If you're not inside by the time the movie starts, you're not getting in, and your money is cheerfully refunded (provided you don't whine about the fact that you're not getting in).

 

 Bouncers. Okay, they would probably just be called ushers, but the point is, they actually hang out in the theater throughout the movie and remove anyone who's being disruptive. (In my fantasy world, a removal would be accompanied by pausing the movie and having a spotlight follow the offenders out while the audience sings a rousing chorus of the "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" song, though I realize that would be unlikely to be implemented in real life.)

 

I would be more than happy to pay double the usual evening admission price to see a movie under those conditions, rather than being surrounded by idiots whose mama clearly didn't raise them right.

 

The other, more feasible option, which I've considered semi-seriously, is starting a Meetup group for people who share my inclinations, and having the members collectively pay to rent out a theater for a private screening once a month or so. The tricky part would be getting enough people to agree on a movie, day and time, and then not flake out at the last minute, which is the main reason I haven't actively pursued the idea.

 

I never considered how to implement a similar scenario for concerts, though now I'll have something to think about while I fall asleep tonight.

[CEB]

People are usually well behaved at the symphony.

[Rusty Mike]

Dan, I agree with your point that it's really about the context. Reading back, my story sounds rather sedate. But it was a JT concert, and speaking volumes were louder than the band, so the bad behavior was amplified. And there is certainly a level of expectation given the performer and environment. If we were at a metal concert, the behavior I described would have been considered extremely sedate.

 

Ironically, I took my son to see Rush at the same venue about two years ago, and I was amazed by the considerate behavior of the audience. The only thing that bugged me was that the crowd stood for almost the entire show. That was more about my expectations rather than the crowd's behavior; I never attended a concert like than and did not understand that people don't sit. It did not take away from the concert experience at all, but rather enhanced it - Rush fans are so into the music that they can't sit down!

 

FKS, I don't go to the movies much anymore either. My wife and I go occasionally for a date night, but it's rare. I have quite a nice audio/video system in my family room, so there is little incentive to go for the quality of the movie. Other advantages:

 

1. The popcorn is much cheaper

2. I can start and stop anytime I want

3. I can pause the movie to pee (I'm getting old, you know)

4. I can watch the movie again if I feel like it

5. The company is 100x better

 

But I digress. I think I'm going to stick to small jazz clubs for future live performance viewing.

[HammondDave]

I wish that we were back in the late 60'- early 70's Pink Floyd era... when the audiences were too sedated to act like idiots.

 

But seriously... audiences have changed. Music has changed... the experience has changed. When you pay $4 to see Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple (sometimes both the same night) you see how attentive the audience was to the music. Just watch one of those old videos...

 

When modern audiences pay $200, they expect a whole different experience. Video technology projects the performer 30 feet high so everyone feels "intimate" with the artist. Visual expectations have increased as well. Again, you watch an early Pink Floyd concert (probably the most high tech at that time) and you are watching a lighting rig consisting of 24 Par Cans, a police beacon, and a mirror ball.

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm_zJFZ9vMA

 

 

The Division Bell tour had over 300 Varilites, lasers, two projectors, the worlds largest mirror ball, and a crashing airplane into the cheap seats.

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km50A_7qL2c

 

These early shows were about listening to the music. Loud, obnoxious people were just not tolerated, and were subdued or evicted by the audience. Just listen to the lack of yelling during Atom Heart Mother...

 

 

[Joe P]

Mike,

Too bad about that show. I've seen a lot of great shows at the Arts Center.

 

I had a similar experience, though not quite as bad, when my wife and I went to see the Levon Helm Band at the Welmont in 2010. There was "I'm gonna scream woo hoo at the top of my lungs in between songs in case they make a live album from this show" guy, and there was "scream out Don't Do It in between every song all night" drunk chick.

 

We were near the huge bar at the back of the place so if you go to the Welmont, try to stay away from the bar.

 

Regards,

Joe

[marino]

People are usually well behaved at the symphony.

Ha ha, right. I once attended a piano recital with a friend of mine, and brought the scores for the pieces that were to be played... So my friend and I followed the concert with our eyes to the score, and every now and then, made some little comment about the performance.... after the second of third small comment, someone behind us said "SHHH!!!" in a rather violent manner, so we just shut up.

 

Another time, at a symphonic concert, I sat next to an older man, who spent the whole time before the concert talking with a younger lady, making, you know, "artistic" statements, how music is important in everybody's life, and so on... then as soon as the concert started, he immediately proceeded to fall asleep, and SNORING very loudly! The younger lady tried to wake him up discretely, and the whole time it went on like that: He snored, she woke him up, in an endless pantomime which ruined the concert for everybody around.

Fortunately, they left before the second piece.

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

We got so annoyed with the crowds at some shows that we started getting there really early so we could stand in front when it was general admission. That way, at least most of the crowd noise was behind us. It seemed like many of the people there were there for a night out and didn't give a hoot about the show so they spent the evening chatting with their companions.

 

Of course, being up front has its disadvantages. There's the drunk guy who decides half way through the show that he needs to be up front and pushes his way through to yell at the singer, "yeah Malcolm! Yeah yeah!" (the singer's name is Malford...). Or the drunk gals who do more or less the same thing, taking advantage of the fact that no one will hassle a "lady" for doing that. I always love the ones that I have to point out that the woman next to me is my wife, so could you go to either side of us? Yeah, thanks.

 

What gets me are the people here who say how bad Houston audiences are because of things like this. I've seen similar complaints from people around the country. I've even seen concert DVDs where during quieter songs, you can hear the audience talking. I think it's like when people say the drivers in their town suck. I'd like someone to show me where they don't.

 

___

 

Do any of you have these listening rooms popping up in your area? There are a few around here, and they're quite cool. Some are even quite strict during the performance about No Talking and they don't serve drinks once it starts either, it's that quiet. You sit, and you listen.

[CEB]

.... I think it's like when people say the drivers in their town suck. I'd like someone to show me where they don't.

....

 

My parent company was based in Houston and I still report to Houston. I-10 in rush hour has it's challenges but it is nothing compared to Boston. New York isn't a cakewalk either.

 

But nothing prepared me for Rome! Over there driving looks like a contact sport. If you are in Italy and need a car rental get the insurance. LOL

[HammondDave]

Disrespectful behavior is not limited to music concerts and cinemas, but to live theatre as well. Our undergrads come to the theatre armed with cell phones, and many talk, text, or surf the web during the performance. The theaters are very intimate and everyone can hear/see them. We have confiscated cell phones and evicted some unruly students as well.

 

There just seems to be an utter lack of respect and consideration to their fellow students and audience members. This is a generational change...

[Rusty Mike]

Joe, I've seen my share of great shows at the Arts Center as well. Of course, I'm talking back in the 80's when it was owned by the Garden State Parkway, and they had only classical, jazz and mild pop performers. I think Chicago was the heaviest act performing there at that time. It was actually great for me because my mother was a GSP employee and they got first dibs on the tickets. I was a huge Al Jarreau fan at the time and got really choice seats for several performances. Ahh, those were the days.

 

There was a time at the Arts Center when no alcohol was served, you couldn't bring drinks to your seat and the ushers made you sit down for the entire performance (or at least stay out of the aisle). But, like Dave said, it was a different time altogether. The entire audience was there for the performance, and there were no cell phones or total sense of entitlement. When the Parkway turned it over to PNC, the rules, venue and quality of the place changed. Chasing that almighty dollar down to the least common denominator.

 

I've never been to the Welmont. There have been a lot of smaller PACs that have popped up around here as you know, and they seem to attract decent names. I've gone to a couple of those and the audiences are generally respectful, aside from the idiots who can't silence their cell phones.

[Tonysounds]

People suck.

 

RedHot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar tour, late rainy October in Chicago. Last band on bill of 4. Very rowdy crowd, general admission. We got there early so we could be in front, and we were. But after 3 openers, it was so hot and humid in this place, I had to go hydrate. Sure enough, as Im pounding my 3rd water, the Peppers take the stage. I fight my way back to my spot in the front row, and fucking meatheads are stage diving.climbing on top of us, and jumping on the stage. Security stops the show and warns them that if anyone else does it, theyre out the venue. 2 minutes later some bro is now stepping on my head as hes surfing the crowd. I look to my pal, and we grab this asshole, and throw him onto the stage. 2 security guys run up, grab him by both arms, and take him right out the back door on the side of the stage. YES! (we think!) Thatll be the end of that. But no, another bro is stepping on my shoulders, so we grab him and launch him onto the stage, and away he is whisked. It just didnt seem to matter to these drunk tools. So the next turd that steps on us, we launch him onto the stage, but when security yanks him, we yank off his shoes! He is pulled shoeless from the stage and shoved outsideinto the wet alley. And so it went. By the end of that show, there were at least 25 shoes in a pile in front of the stage.

 

At a Rush show, you only have to put up with air drumming old guys.

 

Fleetwood Macs The Dance reunion tour. My wife and I went, and these drunk ass yuppies just scream-talked to each other the entire show. And kept getting up to get more beer.and piss..and buy more beer.and buy food. And yell more fun at each other. My wife actually told them to just stay in the aisle as she wasnt getting up for them anymore. Hey lady, its a fucking CONCERT! Hey douchebag, quit treating it like a block party and let me enjoy the MUSIC!!! I decided to intervene: listen Friendo, if you do just a little more coke, you wont need to keep getting up to get hot dogs, however, Ill feel compelled to pull security over here and have you and your friends taken out, so either leave, shut up, or move to some other location, but one way or another, this is done. He looked at me strangely for a moment.then coalesced a second though, and moved.

 

And dont get me started about Jimmy Buffet fans.

 

[Joe Muscara]

.... I think it's like when people say the drivers in their town suck. I'd like someone to show me where they don't.

....

 

My parent company was based in Houston and I still report to Houston. I-10 in rush hour has it's challenges but it is nothing compared to Boston. New York isn't a cakewalk either.

Yeah, I get a laugh when people complain about traffic here. I mean, it can be a hassle, but it usually moves through relatively quickly.

 

[if you ever have time when you come to town and you want to get together, PM me and we'll do it.]

[marino]

nothing prepared me for Rome! Over there driving looks like a contact sport. If you are in Italy and need a car rental get the insurance. LOL

Well, they say that if you've learned to drive in Rome, you are prepared for every driving situation that you could come across around the world...

I'd be careful in China or Russia, though.

 

 

[Ken Beaumont]

In Saudi Arabia there were 5 year olds driving their mothers around because women weren't allowed to drive. It was awful!

 

I rode a small motorcycle in the community around Aviano Airbase Italy in 1991, it wasn't too bad. Up north it wasn't as urban as Rome.

[Mexico Charlie]

Back in the 60s, The Whisper Room in Cincinnati was one of my haunts.

 

They had signs on all the tables saying, "Please do not converse during the performance."

[HammondDave]

Love it... The Whisper Room...

[CEB]

Sounds like a boring gig to play.

[MuzikTeechur]

At the JT concert this past Sunday evening, we went with friends. Had seats up about 15 rows, off to the side (Stadium seating) so we were looking down on the band. Our friends had seats directly across the arena, but lower and more out front (so the sound and view were better).

At the intermission, they called us to say that the seats beside them had been empty and we should come sit with them. So, we went.

Unfortunately, there was one lady who insisted on waving her arms, and singing loudly (off key - WAY off key) to every song. Even more unfortunately, it was OUR FRIEND so we couldn't say anything; she and her husband were our ride home!