Entertainment For Lively Minds
Aargggggggghhhhhhh! Gig etiquette: the return
I was at UEA for Doves this evening and to be blunt it was a trial.
Why does someone pay money for a ticket and then spend the entire gig talking, loudly? Why would you do that?
The venue is pretty terrible in lay out anyway and once the floor has filled up everyone has to spill over into the back which has a very low ceiling so any talking just gets bounced straight back down and gets very emphasised but in the end I took direct action and turned to the man who was bellowing off to my left and said:
"Excuse me, I paid my money to listen to Doves, not you, could you keep your voice down please? I can't see them, I'd like to hear them..." They looked at one another, shut up and moved away.
Now I just have to figure out a way to stop people walking in front of me. I wonder whether just refusing to move would work?....
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well done!
I've had this at gigs all over and it is hard to deal with politely. My inner Malcolm Tucker usually wants to help explain to other blethering gig-goers why they should f the f off.
why ?go to a gig and talk loudly throughout?
it baffles me.
I've been to gigs
which turned out to be not so good, where the band doesn't hold your attention 100% of the time, so you occasionally chat to your mates. As long as you're not bawling your head off, and it's not all the time, I think that's acceptable. It's a rock gig, it's not the ballet. It's all part and parcel of the experience.
I'd rather have that than The Luminaire, where everyone is forced to be so quiet it kills the atmosphere, and you might as well be at home listening to a CD.
but the problem is
the people talking haven't bothered to listen in the first place.
with quieter pa's and less loud bands it's a problem so why not just shut up while the bands on nothing people have to say for next hour is that important and it's not the odd word it's enitire whiny loud conversation.These people won'tbe won over by the band because they aren't prepared to listen and be won over. The whole it's a rock gig argument doesn't make sense it's the reason people feel they can be rude and spoil things for others.
I think The Luminaire is right
It's never occurred to me that people talking while the band is on has somehow added to the atmosphere, apart from maybe raising the tension in the air as anyone within earshot quietly seethes. I think the Luminaire has it spot on - talk between songs by all means (quietly though because if the person on stage has something to say I'd rather hear them) brief words on the ear of the person you're with is ok as well, the problem is really with full blown conversations where the band is treated as background music.
Ah, but
the point is that he was bawling his head off, all the way through.
And I don't agree that people talking loudly and incessantly is acceptable, rock gig notwithstanding. If they want to talk, they can stand where they won't spoil it for someone else. If they think the band are merely background noise to their conversation, they can stand where they won't spoil it for someone else. Alternatively they can stay at home, put the cd on and flick the lights on and off a few times - they patently aren't interested in seeing or hearing the band...
I'm not saying I think everyone should stand in mute silence, but it's totally unacceptable that I could hear a man and woman quite literally shouting at one another in an effort to converse over the band who were pretty loud.
I'm not anti-talking in between songs or passing the occasional comment to friends during songs, but this was totally ridiculous.
I'm just back from the same gig
Completely agree about the talking - who's got £20 to spend on a band they apparently have no interest in seeing or hearing? Lots of people, if tonight was anything to go by. Good for you for saying your piece.
Like you, I was on the low ceilinged bit (too old to push to the front) and the view was not great. You do lose a lot of atmosphere if you're not in the more open area ie the main floor or the steps round it.
There were a few loud talkers near me but it was not as bad as at many gigs I've been to. And thankfully the band were quite loud so they almost drowned them out. Acoustic gigs can be unbearable if you get a load of gobshites in.
As to why it happens so much nowadays, someone suggested it's because festivals have become so common. Out of doors you can get away with chatting to your mates more easily, thus people tend to act the same way when they step inside a venue. Not entirely sure I buy this theory but interesting nonetheless.
Sod politeness
If they aren't willing to be polite to those around them, I'm not quite sure why we feel we should be polite back.
I told a bunch of wittering idiots to shut up or go to the bar at a recent Bat For Lashes show (they had pushed to a couple of rows from the front and decided to talk and laugh loudly throughot) - apparently *I'm* the one being rude.
Once saw a comedian put someone talking the audience down by apologising to them - "Sorry, I know you were having a conversation and then someone rudely put a venue up and then a comedy gig around you..."
T-Shirts?
Perhaps a t-shirt slogan on the next Word design could be applied to this. Something in bold we can wear at gigs and just point to. Maybe a back-print that says "I didn't pay to listen to you". I'm sure there is better wording for this..anyone?
How's about...
'If you want to talk, f**k off outside you selfish prick'.
I prefer...
...'If you want to talk, f**k off to Starbucks'.
Or...
'Imagine how loud your voice would be through the PA.'
'If you were more interesting than the band, I'd give you the £20.'
'Is this group of people at the front playing music bothering you?'
Believe me, my anger about this sort of thing knows no bounds.
Good suggestions!
Maybe:
"Talking Is Not The Same As Listening"
"There is no such thing as listening loudly"
"Yes, you're too loud, and yes we are staring at you."
Or a superb put-down I'm sure I read on this blog once, which went along the lines of "Pipe down, you're not at the f---ing bingo, love."
Freebies
You may find that some of the rude people floating around at gigs are industry on free tickets.
I've been there, it's a cheap night out, with some industry socialising. However I always watched the band without talking loudly, or made my way to the bar to converse there.
If you've paid to see the gig though and you talk through it you're an idiot. Pure and simple.
Simon has it in one
That was what I was thinking. I recall this was an enormous problem at the short lived Ronnie Scotts outpost in Brum, where corporate shindigs bought up tables to guffaw loudly thru' whomsoever was on stage, not caring who it was as they weren't there for the music. There is a trend for the american style supper club style gig that seems to be returning, whereby you eat and drink whilst the band play on, which is a lovely idea in principle, yet marred by british mores. This sort of gig seems better understood in the states, certainly in my limited experience of House of Blues et al. Ronnie Scotts used to have cards on the table "reminding" punters that there were performers playing and that people had paid to see them: I used to walk up to a table of braying berks and sprinkle a handful of said cards on the table in front of them. I would love to say it a successful or diplomatic way of addressing the problem, but I felt the better for it, if then having to make a sharp exit at the end, should my motives be asked into closer scrutiny.....
I suspect the Brum Ronnies
suffered from being in the 'Conference Centre Quarter' so was always full of delegates on expenses looking for somewhere to go in the evening within 5 minutes walk of the hotel along with, as you say, corporate hospitality from the same conferences.
Saw Graham Coxon in Hertford
last nite - tiny venue to promote his rather fine new album. He played said LP in its entirety from start to finish. As it was fairly hot ticket in a place bands rarely play I hoped for an appreciative audience of yer more hardcore than usual fan.
I only have this to say to the audience as I managed to speak to Graham after the show and feel its something he would like to say (and half heartedly tried to during the show) but is far too nice a bloke to do so:
IF YOU GO TO A GIG AND TALK ALL THE WAY THROUGH IT ABOUT YOUR BORING FUCKING LIFE THEN YOU ARE A CUNT OF THE HIGHEST ORDER, MADAM\SIR! YOU ARE STANDING WITHIN SIX FOOT OF THE BAND AND HAVING LONG CONVERSATIONS AS IF NO ONE ELSE WAS IN THE ROOM. I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND YOU OR YOUR DICKHEAD FRIENDS IF YOU SAT DOWN AND EXPLAINED IT TO ME TIL THE END OF TIME - YOU MAKE MY PISS BOIL!
As I said ot to pop backstage afterwards and chat with him about bootlegs and the Windsor Old Trout. Can reveal that the place was awash with organic ham, Crunchies and Cathedral City cheese.
Got some of me vinyl signed and left beaming like a twat.
we have our t-shirt
please shut up -
YOU MAKE MY PISS BOIL!
Agreed
We have may have found our winner.
Specs Beard had some top ones too.
Windsor Old Trout?
You mean the Ricky-Tick, surely? :-)
Great little venue the Trout
although I never did see Radiohead there when they supported Dr and the Medics in 1992. V much an indie club with the likes of Kingmaker, PWEI, Slowdive, Family Cat, Swervedriver etc
Saw Oasis there just before they took off but never got in to either of the Blur shows. Not that Mr Coxon remembered playing there anyway.
Its now a chain pub\restaurant - for shame
http://www.geocities.com/oldtroutwindsoruk/
oh and sorry for shouting above but it just had to come out or my head would explode
Don't apologize, it's quite alright...
I share your frustration and have stopped going to see bands because of the impossibly high complete and utter wanker quotient. I truly don't understand why these people bother going...
I feel angry about this, as live concerts were one of the most enjoyable things in my life. But I just cannot enjoy music when there's some c**t nattering away next to me. Bastards...