Post #102760 by tikibars on Tue, Jul 20, 2004 9:27 AM

Vern, you opened a can of worms for me here!

This is a huge peeve.

I was at the celebration for the grand opening of Chicago's public park this past weekend.

Thought I'd take in the nice weather Chicago is enjoying this summer, relax in the new outdoor concert venue, and enjoy some Shostakovich and Elgar.

I didn't manage to enjoy (much less hear) any of the music, because most of the audience were talking, laughing, making all sorts of other sundry noises through the whole concert. I'd say 25% of the audience were paying attention to the orchestra. It was really annoying.

At a punk rock show, I would expect the crowd to shout and act as though a riot was in progress, but don't people know that when you're going to see the orchestra, you're supposed to shut the fuck up?

Now Geeky - your observations are interesting. But I think that I wouldn't give the pot smokers so much credit for politeness. I see concerts for a living (I estimate about 2000 to date), and I have noticed that the neo-hippies who go to see 'jam bands' like Phish (and their legions of imitators) are the WORST.

The jam band crowd vandalize the venues more often, make more of a mess, smoke FAR more, are more disrepspectful to the venue staff and the venue itself, and are more likely to pass out, piss in the corner, or sneak their friends in the back door than any other scene: punks, hip hoppers, metal heads, or (pick your favorite formerly subversive musical scene).

This observation isn't based on a few shows - this is based on seeing HUNDREDS of shows, and after a while, I noticed that every time Galactic, Bug Wu, Umphree's McGee, or some other Phish/Dead-type plays, the crowd are a nightmare. Every time.

Oh, and out of the 2000-odd shows I have worked, I'd say that some jackass has yelled out "Freebird" at 1998 of them. It isn't clever, funny, original, or nescessary. I estimate that most of the people who yell it don't know that it's the name of a song by Lynrd Skynrd, and wouldn't realize that their request had been honored if that band indeed started playing it.

If any of you are the Freedbird guy out there, then stop it. Now.

Okay, thanks for letting me rant.

Now, back to TIKI!