Impolite Audiences

[Anifa]

A couple nights ago my daughter's school had their final vocal concert of the year. Combined choirs for all grades at the Middle School put on a presentation that rolled from Era to Era of music genres; Rock and Roll, Motown, Disco, and etc. There were several solos and several narrative parts that came in back to back with each successor holding a part.

 

It was REALLY, REALLY annoying that members in the audience began clapping at the end of each solo, while distracting from the solo entering; the same happened with the narrators. This had to be one of the rudest audiences that I have ever been surrounded by and it ruined what would have been a great performance by lots of kids that worked really hard in learning and preparing for this event.

 

Where has concert etiquette gone and why do people feel the need to applaud before the finish of a song?

[not coaster MODERATOR]

yet another reason to get the hell out of america

[blackpig]

It's better than having stuff thrown at you. An old trooper in my home town used to plead to his audience "if you're goin' to throw tomatoes, kindly take them out of the tins".

[Bbach1]

You have to understand that the parents of all these middle school children most probably do not have any knowledge of the 'concert etiquette' and they are simply offering their support for each act as it occurs. I would bet that they think they are doing the right thing by applauding right away. It would be up to the head narrator to enlighten the audience as to when to applaud. Parents aren't going to get that on their own. They are there for one reason only and that is to support their kids. The concert is incidental.

[Tedster]

At least they were enthusiastic. They could have been talking to each other throughout the whole performance.

[Flemtone]

Trouble, I'm with you 110% on this one.

 

My daughters have always been performers in school. Between school plays, Choir and Madrigals, they have a yearning to be on stage (hmm, wonder where they got that from?). This kind of attitude from the audience drives me (and them) crazy!!!

 

Around here, the 'it's all about me and mine' attitude is rampant. When one singer is IN THE MIDDLE of doing their solo, the parents/brothers/sisters/aunts/uncles/neices/nephews/grandparents/friends start with the "Go ______ (insert soloist's name here)", completely ignoring the actual performance that's going on. If there are two or more singing, then there are several family groups yelling out from the audience for their own relative. Forget the fact that they can't (so neither can the rest of the audience) hear the performance. It's more important to acknowledge relationship, anyway. As you said, forget about the next performer. They're not important, either. Continuity? Pish and tosh.

 

Then, after their child is done, the whole group(s) stand and talk on their way out the door, in the middle of the next performance.

 

Sometime, I'd like to see the PERFORMERS be the ones with the tomatoes...

 

peace,

Tim from Jersey

 

(edit-Tedster, they do that, too. Also, since they invariably bring their small children who are bored to tears, they feel the need to get them lots of snacks with crinkly paper or plastic wrappings to keep them occupied, and these little joys spend the performance running around the auditorium. Such 'appreciation of the Arts'.)

[fantasticsound]

Flemtone & Trouble,

 

Did anyone get on the PA prior to the performance to tell the audience, for example:

 

Welcome ladies and gentleman to... blah, blah. Flash photography is/isn't allowed in the theater. Also, please hold your cheers and applause until each song ends out of respect for every child's performance. Thank you.

If not, then it is the organizer's fault. You cannot expect a diverse set of parents to understand and respect the entire concert. Like it or not, people need to be reminded not to litter in movie theaters. It's called, "taking precautions".

 

That said, I do wonder about some people's common sense in such situations.

[Flemtone]

FS, the answer is 'yes'.

 

The standard announcement is for cellphones to be turned off or set to 'silent', no flash cameras, and please hold the applause until the end of the number.

 

So, of course, there are cellphones going off continuously, parents running to the front of the stage to take pictures of their children performing, and the other items I mentioned.

 

And, yes, I CAN expect a diverse set of parents to understand and respect the entire concert. These same parents would be grossly offended if it was THEIR child's performance that was interrupted. I'm not asking anything from them that I wouldn't expect from my own children, and these are (supposedly) adults. Certainly, as parents of a performer, they should know better.

 

peace,

Tim from Jersey

[Anifa]

Neil,

 

Almost ALWAYS the conductors of any of our school concerts, both vocal and instrumental, will make an announcement as to the typical etiquette... Turn your cell phones off, please hold applause until the completion of songs, if you have a child that is acting out ... it is requested that you step outside the auditorium with the child as a courtesy to others... and etc. However, this time they failed to make the announcement.

 

The auditorium went under reconstruction beginning last week to enhance the facilities as new tax provisions were passed for the school district to allow rennovations. The concert was moved to the gymnasium where viewers sat on one set of bleachers and also in metal folding chairs placed in concert form across the span of the gymnasium floor. The staged area for performance was the bleachers on the opposing side of the gym. The auditorium,IMO, was already nice... somewhat like an AMC theater, so people were accustomed to a bit more comfortable setting than what was provided; at least the gym was air conditioned.

 

I would imagine that the announcers failed to mention the etiquette as a result of all faculty members attemting to keep the seating and entry into the gym organized.

 

To top everything off, one lady jumped up from one of the front row seats and stormed across the front of the stage area while exiting and SLAMMING a door that led out of gym 1 and into gym 2 where they were housing the performers not on stage at the time. One of the conductors not leading the current set followed after and one of the vice principals did the same. I don't know what the deal was, but it nearly stopped the show for a moment with the attention that was drawn.

 

One of the highlights of the show though, was where the majority of choirs combined and sang the harmonic portions of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody... the crowd was mesmerized and remained silent throughout most of the song. The delivery of the song was incredible. It's too bad that much of the rest of the concert was lost in the applause.

[Anifa]

oops... double post

[Dak Lander]

Ban 'em. Ban 'em all. Lousy ingrates that have the nerve to come and support a child's funtion and actually show appreciation.

[Is there bass in the caR-R]

I've been in jazz bars where the audience applauds an individual solo- yes, it does wash over the beginning of the next solo, but I think it is considered perfect etiquette to do so in that situation.

 

I am kind of surprised to hear about that happening at a high school recital, but possibly the parents of the kid just finishing a well- executed solo may have had something to do with it.

 

I think the lesson to be learned here might be "save the really good shit for the latter part of your solo, after the applause from the previous solo has died down"

[Anifa]

I don't mind applause every now and then when an individual solo comes about, but the way the composition of music was arranged; a HUGE portion of the entire show was based on back to back solos or narratives. This meant the applause continued pretty much throughout the entire duration of the presentation. You could not hear what the narrators were saying when they were introducing themes, you could not hear one soloist to the next due to the continuous clapping and yelling out names. Also, given the lack of accoustical treating in the gymnasium, and the poor portable sound system they were using, much of the sound quality was already lost. The applause, on the other hand, was bouncing off of the walls and overpowering any of the performance.

[Super 8]

I think some good 'ol fashioned peer pressure would keep these parents in line.

 

The reason these people don't observe the defined etiquette is because they were once students themselves, and had to obey the rules. Now that they are adults, whenever the school tells them to do something, they smile and chuckle to themselves and say; "Yer not the boss of me! I'm turning my cellphone UP!".

 

What they need is for other parents to start telling them to shut up and show some respect. If enough people will do it, people will start to chill. I'm certain there are other parents who feel the way you do, Ani. You need to unite.

 

There's no hope for Flemtone though, cause he's in New Joisey.

 

 

Ani, why have you changed your name to Trouble?

[theblue1]

Cheer up... in the last 5 or 6 years the previously decorous and concert-etiquette-aware audience for my hometown symphony has deteriorated to the point where they seem wont to burst into applause at virtually any pause in the music. (As you are no doubt aware, sophisticates that I know y'all are, classical music is the opposite of hot jazz, you not only don't bust into clapping at the end of a particularly hot bass clarinet solo -- you're supposed to maintain a dignified silence between movements. (As our new conductor -- apparently horrified to find that he would have to lecture the audience on proper etiquette -- told the audience after one exasperating first half that saw every pause dotted with scattered applause, the pause between movements is not an applause, conversation, or throat-clearing break.)

 

Anyhow... people are dumb asses. What can I say?

[Anifa]

Ani, why have you changed your name to Trouble?

Because it's seems to be my middle name at times.