Concert courtesy

Cafe Society
41

They’re not yelling “Woooo!”, they’re yelling “Wooooce!”

There was actually an early 90s SNL skit that nailed it perfectly.
It was Kevin Nealon and Julia Sweeney as a couple together with another couple (I don’t remember who) at a concert. In the row right in front of the two couples, there was Melanie Hutsell who was up dancing and bopping around for the entire concert.

The line that sums up my feelings was, “She doesn’t understand, people at a concert collectively decide whether they should be standing and dancing or sitting in their seats!”

If you go to a concert with upbeat fun party-type music and you are “Shocked! SHOCKED! That there is standing and dancing going on here!” then I really think you just enjoy the feeling of self-righteousness that your grumpitude affords you. You shouldn’t be shocked, there’s no reason for you not to have expected that standing and dancing might happen. If at a concert 11,000 people are standing and dancing while 4,000 people are sitting, the standing dancers are not being selfish. They paid just as much for their tickets as you did for yours (or more- since they’re in front of you).

If it’s reasonable to expect that people might be standing and dancing at the show, and you know you will be unable to enjoy yourself in that situation, then don’t buy a ticket. Really, just don’t. Do you have a right to buy a ticket and sit? Sure. But even if you love the band you’re not going to love the experience of the concert because of the reality that people will be standing in front of you. So just don’t go.

And, conversely, if you’re going to a concert with more soft lyrical type music and you don’t get why people are upset that you’re on your feet bopping around, then you truly are a self absorbed idiot. You’re being rude; your categorization of those around you as “old fuddy-duddy squares” is simply you trying to justify your own selfishness.

If it’s mellow music that plays to an older crowd who are likely to “harsh your buzz”, then don’t buy a ticket.

This idea of the crowd collectively deciding to stand or sit has generally held true to every concert I’ve ever been to. There have been times I’ve been the one who wanted to sit- I may have had a long day, maybe my feet hurt. In a crowd with people standing and dancing, I had no trouble accepting that I was the odd man out. I’d find odd angles where I could kind of peer through the bodies, spend some time closing my eyes and enjoying just listening, and spend sometime standing (against my preference) until my feet started to hurt again then I’d go back to sitting.

But I’d never stew in grumpitude that “Seventy percent of the people here are being rude to MEEEEEEEEEE!”
Incidentally, in the SNL sketch the concert that Melanie Hutsell wanted to stand and dance through was James Taylor. So, in the sketch, she was definitely the person being rude as it was clearly a case of the crowd collectively deciding that this was a sitting concert. Kevin Nealon and Julia Sweeney finally got her to agree to sit for “just one song”. Just as Melanie Hutsell was sitting down, the next song started and it was a really upbeat crowd favorite, they crowd all cheered loudly as everyone collectively decided that this was a song to stand and dance for! (And, yet, it was James Taylor. I can’t for the life of me remember or guess what this upbeat dance number might have been!)

42

Agreed that it’s a collective decision, and that dancing is the norm.

When you buy a concert ticket, you are also choosing to buy a ticket at that venue. People with strong opinions either way should look our for venues that work for them.

43

I was at JazzFest in NOLA shortly after 9/11 watching Bob Dylan once again reinvent himself. A crowd of 11 bazillion people all standing and having a great time, except for two couples right in front of us. The two men were dressed just slightly inappropriately; their khaki shorts were pressed. The women were reading, the men using binoculars, but not looking at the stage.

I’m standing there taking a hit on our joint and one of the guys turns toward me and flips open his leatherette case to show me his FBI credentials. I was gob smacked. I elbowed my gf and pointed. She elbowed our Amanda and pointed. We all just stared, slack jawed at his credentials.

What do you do in a situation like that? I just stood there, waiting for him to cuff me. I eventually ate the roach. They eventually gathered their stuff and relocated, leaving us with a story.

There’s a moral here about inappropriate concert behavior, but I’m no Aesop.

44

Nah, you’re just a sucker if you have some naive “We’re co-partners in this show and in it together” mentality. One side is paying, one side is getting paid.

But I’m willing to admit that it’s somewhat genre/venue/act dependent on standing or not. I care less about it for my own benefit – I’m a tall guy and could win a standing contest with a horse – but my wife is a foot shorter and less interested in being on her feet for hours on end.

All that said, I’m curious what a Venn diagram looks like between concert standers, airplane seat recliners and people who don’t clean the snow off the roof of their car :wink:

45

Obviously, I don’t go to many (any?) concerts these days. Thinking hard - my first was seeing Herman’s Hermits and Buffalo Springfield in the late 60s or early 70s. When I was in college (late 70s), I was an usher at the campus theater, so I saw a few there, but I guess no one stood and danced to Harry Chapin or the Kingston Trio. Then there was the standing venue in the late 80s, and I took my daughter to see 3/4 of the Monkees in the 90s. Oh, and somewhere in the 70s, I saw Peter, Paul, and Mary. And a few years ago, I was in a small club and saw Paul Revere and his latest batch of Raiders - there was no space to get up and dance, plus the crowd was borderline geriatric (my people!)

I guess I’ve never been to a rock concert and I had no idea what to expect. So now I know.

46

Most of the above posters are correct. This is the result of poor planning. Who expects there to be seats at a Janet Jackson concert? Everyone was dancing.

47

I agree, the band feeds off the energy from the crowd and vice versa. I’d rather see a show where the band is enjoying themselves and then putting on a better show, than one where they are going through the motions. It’ll probably still be okay going through the motions, but it’s not the same.

But I also agree with you, I follow the crowd. If the crowd is standing, I’ll stand up, and if the crowd is sitting, I’m not going to be the only asshole standing up.

Yeah, if it was some really mellow band, or some band aimed at old people, then everyone sitting would make sense. But if I was at some regular show and everyone was sitting down, I would think that they didn’t like the band. It would just be weird.

I view dancing around the same as the choice to stand or sit. If the crowd is dancing and flailing or jumping around, you can either join in, or stand there and not mind if you get hit some. But if the crowd is clapping and waving their arms but mostly staying in place and not dancing, then you’re kind of a jerk if you’re dancing around and hitting people. I’ve run away to a safer area when I’ve gotten caught up in a mosh pit type area, and I didn’t hold anyone any ill will. But I’ve been at really packed concerts where you can’t move around much other than to clap your hands, and someone was trying to dance and that was getting on everyone’s nerves.

Ha, wow. What a bizarre situation. I imagine he didn’t arrest you because he’d have to arrest roughly 75% of the crowd.

48

Out of curiosity, who was the performer? I’m guessing it wasn’t Stravinsky night at the Symphony. Probably not a prog rock act, either, though you never know.

49

I’m a concert veteran, probably been to between 150-200 shows. In general, as far as standing or sitting goes, it depends on the venue. Some venues may or may not have seating, but if it’s general admittance, one can sit, stand, dance, whatever, and if someone doesn’t like it, it’s on them to move. If a venue is all assigned seating, then it’s generally rude to stand; I don’t mind it if it’s a particularly well known song or the encore, but because there is no option to move, it’s rude to impose on those around you.

And I don’t buy the argument about whether or not there’s a dance area. A given artist or their promoter doesn’t just end up in a random venue, they will tend to be at venues that are appropriate for the type of performance they’ll put on. For example, it’s very rare in my experience to go to a metal or rock show and have assigned seating, and even if they do, they still usually either have an area where one can go, or have certain sections where one can buy standing room only admittance. And for metal and rock shows with assigned seating, I can still thoroughly enjoy the show and be quite energetic and animated while remaining seated. After all, I’m definitely there to SEE the artist perform and, particularly those I’ve been to like that, they tend to have much more visually impressive shows, whether it’s lighting, stage antics, technical musicianship, or whatever.

50

Ideally I think if there are seats you should be sitting, but I realize that isn’t always realistic.

In practical terms if the people in front of you stand then you pretty much need to stand, and so on all the way back.

The best venue layouts have a dancing area up front but you still have assigned seats if you want to sit.

51

She went to see Billy Joel. I wouldn’t consider him to be a dancing-in-the-aisles kind of act, but since I’ve never seen his show, I have no idea.

52

Billy Joel is more soft rock and I would expect people to be seated. Regardless, everyone agrees that it’s rude to be standing at any concert when it’s just you and everyone else wants to sit.

53

Billy Joel is kinda in the middle. When I saw Melissa Etheridge, as soon as the first guitar riff played everyone was on their feet. When I saw Natalie Merchant, everyone sat the whole time. I think Billy Joel could go either way.

54

Hah! I took the wife to see John Cale. There was a moshpit and he was urging everyone to dance - only one couple did, half-heartedly for a while, then abandoned it.

A couple of weeks later I took my youngest daughter to see Patti Smith.
There was no mosh pit. Dancing forbidden.
After about half an hour Patti said to the audience to get up and dance if they wanted. A girl in the front row said “We can’t they’ll hoy us oot”

Music stopped. Patti sat on the edge of the stage and asked the girl, firstly what “Hoy us oot” meant (Geordie, this was in Gateshead) and means will be required to leave forthwith.

She then said, “Get up and dance if you like, if you all do it there’s no way they can chuck you all out!” followed by “I don’t think I’ll be invited back here” with a big grin.

Have to say John Cale was terrible, deadly boring, but Patti was amazing.
Can’t attend concerts any more but Patti was one of the best ever.

55

Ummmm, phrasing!

56

I’ll let him answer that!

:smack:

57

I consider Billy Joel to be just a bit more “rocking” than Barry Manilow. And ya gotta get up and move to “You May Be Right” but “Piano Man” is definitely a sit and listen song.

58

Judging by the video (for example, at 0:43), the correct way to listen to “Tell Her About It” is to remain seated but rock back and forth in your seat and clap your hands.

59

I think that finding something less rocking than Barry Manilow would be very difficult. Yeah, Billy does have a dance song or two but mostly people will be in their seats.

60

I’ve been to four John Denver concerts. The last one had a rock song (“Johnny B. Goode”) in it.