Down in front!

[harley]

Whoo! Were you back behind me at the Trombone Shorty concert last week? I don't think I sat down the whole time. My biggest complaint was that the chairs were so narrow that my personal boogying space was limited. I had to be careful not to bump into the people dancing next to me.


I sat down at a classical music concert once.

 

[Mulligan]

People keeps their mouths shut because they reasonably fear violence. We are getting to a point where public venues are often not much fun.

Ha

That is me. When faced with one of those situations I assess the situation to determine if things deteriorated would I have a reasonably good chance of whipping their ass? If not, I remain quiet.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[papadad111]

I Just saw the Rolling Stones and everyone was standing including me. The average concert goers age was at least 50 ... Not a generational thing. At Large outdoor venues I think most assume standing is ok since not everyone has brought blanket or Lawn chair and even if they did its not too comfy.

The smaller intimate indoor venues tend to have people sitting as seats are built in ... but not always. ... Depends on the music. Saw CSN and no one was sitting. By the end of the show ... no one could stand ... Guess it was high quality green product being smoked. Ha ha.

It's a concert. Music moves people. Let them dance !!

I saw the Eagles in China a few years ago. The venue ushers and public security police made everyone sit ... It sucked. Can you imagine sitting to hear the Eagles !

Not the proper way to watch Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh let alone the Eagles!!!

Let them dance !!!

 

[Midpack]

Not sure how this ^ relates to the situation this thread is about. But the variety of POV/replies on this thread has been "enlightening."

 

[ERD50]

not sure how this ^ relates to this situation this thread is about.

+1

-erd50

 

[papadad111]

Whoo! Were you back behind me at the Trombone Shorty concert last week? I don't think I sat down the whole time. My biggest complaint was that the chairs were so narrow that my personal boogying space was limited. I had to be careful not to bump into the people dancing next to me.


I sat down at a classical music concert once.

+1. Many (most?) outdoor concerts allow standing ...

If one is too old or feeble to stand, go sit your lawn chairs to the sidelines and let those who can and want to stand /dance do so, front and center!!

 

[Music Lover]

I saw the Eagles in China a few years ago. The venue ushers and public security police made everyone sit ... It sucked. Can you imagine sitting to hear the Eagles !

Yes, I can. My ears work just fine when I sit, and my level of enjoyment doesn't increase when I'm on my feet. And, of course, the Eagles are not really known for their highly energetic dance tunes...

 

[steelyman]

I saw Ringo last year with the All-Starrs. Great seats, first row center, balcony, no obstructions.

About 10 seats to our left, same row, these girls (really, women) decided to start standing and doing something that resembled dancing. If I'd been behind them, I'd have been very ticked and would have told them to sit so I could see too.

I think their primary reason was to draw attention to themselves ("oh, can you stand how cute/sexy/cool I am?"). Sorry, chiquita. Your butt is a lot better sitting down in your seat.

 

[Midpack]

+1. Many (most?) outdoor concerts allow standing ...

If one is too old or feeble to stand, go sit your lawn chairs to the sidelines and let those who can and want to stand /dance do so, front and center!!

If you're too selfish or oblivious to consider those behind you who made the same effort to attend and don't want to be forced to stand or dance, move to the sidelines and let those who want to see and hear the band do so, and dance your brains out!!

Another variation...

 

[marko]

While on the subject of seats at concerts:

We once paid top dollar (several hundred each) for front row center seats at a concert by a popular folk artist.

We were quite happy with the seats until the second song when about 200-300 people left their seats behind us and all came down and stood in front of us between the seats and the stage barrier and in the aisles, dancing and having just a great time for themselves.

We had to leave our seats and stand way behind the crowd because it just got way to crazy to be there.

When we ordered the tickets it was clearly stated that fire regs would not allow anyone to be in the aisles or standing, but there was no way to move all those people back short of stopping the concert.

I was so happy to give up my $300 seat so that someone who paid $50 could selfishly push me out of the way in order to enjoy themselves.

At the break, the fire dept did move everyone out but by then, we had lost interest.

 

[marko]

If you're too selfish or oblivious to consider those behind you who made the same effort to attend and don't want to be forced to stand or dance, move to the sidelines and let those who want to see and hear the band do so, and dance your brains out!!

Another variation...

Midpack, I'm thinking (hoping) that papada111 is just being sarcastic. One couldn't be that oblivious.

 

[steelyman]

One more possible motivation for the wanna-be Ringo Rockettes: since they were in the front row and there was a possibility the show was being filmed (by something other than the cell phoners), perhaps they were thinking they had a better chance to get on-camera if they shook the merchandise.

 

[John Galt III]

There's an outdoor music venue I attend often. It's in an amphitheater shape. The ground slopes uphill away from the stage. All grass, no benches or seats. There is a dance area in front of the stage. (Mosh pit). Sober-faced security guards in khaki prowl the perimeter, peering into the crowd. People sit on the grass or set up collapsible chairs. Something must be right, because there's never a problem. The music is free but if you feel guilty you can buy an overpriced bud lite for $6 a pint.

 

[ERD50]

Midpack, I'm thinking (hoping) that papada111 is just being sarcastic. One couldn't be that oblivious.

I think you may be oblivious to just how oblivious some people can be (like the people who talk above the performers!)!

Or were you being sarcastic?

-ERD50

 

[FUEGO]

I'd see what they were drinking and/or smoking and see if they might let me partake. At least then I'd be dulled to the annoyance of seeing but not hearing the concert.

This is also why I tend to skip concerts, sporting events, etc. Long lines, crowds of the 99%ers, body stink, $11 beers, etc all make viewing a game or concert in HD from my couch with a pause button much more attractive.

 

[Sarah in SC]

One of my favorite musicians, BJ Barham, does a series of solo acoustic shows at clubs each year. He starts off by announcing, with plenty of colorful language, that if you talk while he's playing, he will embarrass you in front of your girlfriend. No talking!

But when he plays full band, loud, he doesn't dispense with the advice. And just plays over the talkers.

At outdoor shows, you just adapt to whatever is happening. And you really can't expect that the seat you started with will work for the whole time. Sometimes you have to move to see or hear better when the crowd fills in. I do love watching the hippies dance, including Harley!

Mingling with the GP requires lots of flexibility and patience. Otherwise you might be better off staying home with the hifi system. This may be something that becomes more noticeable with age.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I googled photos of the biggest performance crowd I could think of -- and was amazed that almost everyone was sitting down as they listened to the artists at Woodstock. There was an occasional person standing up dancing but they were almost always young women without shirts on, so the overwhelmingly male audience was probably not too annoyed with them.

 

[Options]

Not saying people never speak up anymore, but it takes something pretty egregious nowadays it seems.

...

Not at all in my case.

If anything, I've become much more aggressive in the past several years in confronting people who "invade my space." Were I at that concert I know I would have approached those people quite aggressively, because I do that regularly (because a variety of situations like what you described happen almost constantly here; in fact, it might have sounded like an LA concert except that a lot more people would have been standing up blocking others' views).

I've become so good at addressing these situations that I believe these types of people either think I'm mean or anti-social. So much so that I began to become concerned about my behavior. Regardless, my approach always works to remedy the situation. I'm sure this has a lot to do with where I live. People are just completely unconscious, it's the whole LA/entertainment thing, everybody knows it, (almost) nobody likes it, and yet everyone still does it.

OTOH, in the last year or so I've been working hard on letting situations like this just roll off my back. Peace is the operative word these days.