I recently purchased two wonderful double live albums- Ben Harper’s Live from Mars and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones’ Live Art. I highly recommend both. And while I can understand the general appalause at the beginning of a familiar loved song, or after a solo, and at the end, what the fuck is up with those few assholes who scream right in the middle of a song? Are they icemen who don’t know the etiquette of our modern culture, and as Phil Hartman would say, are “scared and confused” by this new thing called music? I ate more culture in my morning yogurt than these heathens could ever hope to have. Buttnuggets, utter buttnuggets. I hope they suffer something akin to what these guys are going thru. Well, maybe not that bad, but it still really grates.
You have to understand–someone out there has the CD on right now, and can say to his friends, “Listen! Right here, 1:26 into Bela’s solo, right at the quiet part! That’s me, d00d!” And that realization, and subseqent gloating, will be the high point of his pathetic little life.
As a big fan of live albums, I can’t say this has ever bothered me. If anything, it puts me more “into the moment”.
Congrats on your purchase of “Live Art”, though–you won’t be disappointed. Don’t let the occasional bastard ruin it for you.
Dr. J
Live Art is awesome, listening to it right now in fact. The guy that really gets me is during Vic’s solo of Amazing Grace. Not only does he make a loud noise, it’s a very annoying one. I paid to hear Bela, not you, assmunch. I agree with you as far as feeling like you’re at the show. But I don’t care for it much at concerts, either. Such people didn’t get enough attention as a child, I guess. Or perhaps were raised by wolves.
These are the same people who hack like Doc Holiday during all quiet parts of a nice classical music concert.
::slow, beautiful violin piece::
::HACK- COUGH- AAAACCCKKK::
Zette
Not his fault he had tuberculosis. He was quite the educated man, after all.
Plus he shot Michael Biehn in Tombstone! You ain’t no daisy! You’re no daisy at all!
Gotta love Holliday.
While most everyone was watching the WTC telethon, I was watching a tribute concert of classical music on the BBC. At one point, the conductor stopped to make a little speech about the piece he was about to perform, and about its solemnity, and he requested the audience not to clap at the end.
They had a closeup on the director’s face as the piece ended. He winced when they started clapping. He seemed positively startled.
That would have been the Last Night of the Proms, Leonard Slatkin conducting, and the Barber Adagio for Strings specifically. I think he was a bit disappointed that people had forgotten his request for silence by the end of the piece. But at least it was an easily understood error.
Much worse are those who feel compelled to clap the EXACT NANOSECOND the piece finishes, as if there was some prize for being first. People need to realize that the silence afterwards in part of the piece too; that’s why the conductor doesn’t always put his arms down right away. Show a little respect for the music, folks.
Sorry; that should read “is part of the piece”.
During REM’s “Green” tour there was a funny short film they showed at the beginning that had “Rules” for the concert, one of which was:
“DO NOT WAIT”
“FOR THE QUIETEST PART”
“OF THE QUIETEST SONG”
“TO YELL ‘RADIO FREE EUROPE!’”
Yes, that’s the one, for some reason I remembered it as “The Poms” and I knew that wasn’t correct so I didn’t cite it more accurately.
But I still don’t understand. The piece wasn’t so long that people could forget, and it seemed like about 20% of the audience clapped. I can only posit these explanations:
- They deliberately ignored the advice of the conductor
- They were asleep during his speech and were unaware
- They were drunk
Oddly appropriate, especailly if you’re Australian. 
It’s short for “Promenade”.
Probably a combination of being on autopilot (“Piece is over, I liked it, I clap now, oops…”) and liberal amounts of alcohol, such as is consumed on such occasions.
dr_mom_mcl once went to a concert at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, in which one of the pieces’ emotional climax is a beautiful, serene fadeout, getting quieter and quieter as the last few notes die away. So the orchestra was playing this last, soft diminuendo, when -
beebeebeebeebeebeebeebeebee
She says she could see Charles Dutoit’s neck stiffen. I’d have found the twit with the cellphone, taken it away, and jumped on it. Gaaahhhhh.
dr_mom_mcl, of course, always sets her pager on vibrate (or “stun”, as she puts it), or more usually refrains from going to concerts when on call.)
I think alcohol is involved with the chich who screams real loud during Roses from My Friends on Live from Mars. She sounds like my friend when she’s in druken sorority mode. The guy on Live Art is probably stoned. Still, that takes nothing away from their philistine-ness.