# If you don't want to be with dancing people, don't go to a Pet Shop Boys concert **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 11, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027 "2006-10-11T04:59:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/21 "2006-10-11T20:58:07Z")
I suspect one reason I don’t go to many concerts (and when I do, they’re not the type to incite spontaneous dancing) is because I think I know deep-down I’m a closet anti-dancer. Please note: I love dancing at weddings, clubs, parties, etc., but I honestly think it would really bother me if people around me were dancing–not because I don’t want them to have fun, but because my idea of enjoying a concert is not having a lot of distracting behavior in my immediate vicinity. Of course, I would never, _ever_ act like the jerk in the OP who would confront people, ordering them about or applying physical force to stop the dancing. But it would still bother me, and I don’t think I could enjoy myself. When I’m at the concert, I’m there to see the act, not the fans dancing in my sightlines (this also goes for the people behind me singing along, right into my ear). I know there’s no way to stop it, and I would never presume to feel I should or had the right. But for me, it would take away from the whole experience, and concerts are expensive enough as it is that I know I’m better off not risking it. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/22 "2006-10-11T21:19:44Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] It was probably a largely gay crowd. We tend to employ the withering stare and cutting quip rather than the fisticuffs. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Funny you should mention that. When I saw this thread, I instantly mentally rewrote the title to, “If you don’t want to be with **gay** people, don’t go to a Pet Shop Boys concert.” Double snerks when I saw the OP was **matt**. 🙂 Having said that, I’m now checking to see if they’ve passed through Houston yet…I bet that would be a fun show. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/23 "2006-10-11T21:20:59Z")
I can definitely understand that point of view. And I certainly wouldn’t have danced if I would have been the only one. But practically everyone in the parterre was dancing, as I say. You know, they really should have held this at Metropolis or some other venue without seats. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/24 "2006-10-11T21:49:52Z")
Wow. Someone grabbed you by the pant loop and told you to sit down? Amazing. Why do people go to public events and then resist the notion that there will be other people there as well? My brother once had a patron tell him to stop singing along at a concert by the woman sitting next to him: “I came to hear ELTON JOHN sing, not YOU.” :eek: I would have danced. But then I’m a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/25 "2006-10-12T01:03:38Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] My brother once had a patron tell him to stop singing along at a concert by the woman sitting next to him: “I came to hear ELTON JOHN sing, not YOU.” :eek: [/QUOTE] Well, how loud was he singing? Was he singing all by himself, loudly? 😃 Cause that to me smacks of slightly loony behavior. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/26 "2006-10-12T01:04:44Z")
Wow, smiley overload. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/27 "2006-10-12T02:31:49Z")
[QUOTE=Gadarene] Quick tangent: **MGibson** , you’re consistently one of my favorite posters. Not necessarily because you’re the wittiest or most incisive, but because you always seem like one of the most all-around genuinely _good_ people here. Just wanted to share that. \ [/QUOTE] Wow, I really don’t know what to say. Thanks. I can be a jerk sometimes but I try to be decent most of the time. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/28 "2006-10-12T15:13:23Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] “I came to hear ELTON JOHN sing, not YOU.” [/QUOTE] I do say this kind of thing to my sister, who has a tendency to sing very loudly _over_ the radio music in the car. I find that extremely annoying, but usually I just turn the radio up. I would never even think of suggesting that at a concert venue. I was dragged forcibly to a Neil Diamond show last year (I confess, I had fun) and I don’t think Mr. Diamond was all that interested in singing himself, because he had his microphone pointed at the crowd most of the time. Who wouldn’t sing? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/29 "2006-10-12T16:10:45Z")
[QUOTE=Alma] I would never even think of suggesting that at a concert venue. I was dragged forcibly to a Neil Diamond show last year (I confess, I had fun) and I don’t think Mr. Diamond was all that interested in singing himself, because he had his microphone pointed at the crowd most of the time. [/QUOTE] Sweeeet Caroline. (ba ba baaaaa) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/30 "2006-10-13T11:17:51Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Nicely put, Daniel. At the end of the Blue Man Group concert we went to last Friday the band actually asked us to get up and do some Rock Concert Moves - lots of fun, with thousands of people all doing the bob in place, or the fist-pump. It makes you feel like this vast organism called Crowd, it’s great. [/QUOTE] Dunno about you, but I’m still aching from the behind-the-head-leg-stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/31 "2006-10-13T11:38:47Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] My brother once had a patron tell him to stop singing along at a concert by the woman sitting next to him: “I came to hear ELTON JOHN sing, not YOU.” :eek: [/QUOTE] And _that_ is why I don’t go to too many concerts. If I fork over $100 for a ticket to see Elton John, I’d want to hear Elton singing. If I want to hear a random, untrained, possibly drunk woman butchering “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, I’ll go to a karaoke bar for a lot less. I know that some people feel more _connected_ with the _experience_ if they’re singing along. But I just feel like your caterwauling is fucking with my ability to hear the only person in the venue who is obligated to sing. For all that person will remember of the show, they might as well just pop in their Greatest Hits album and scream away with that. ---
**Author:** ![shizaru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@shizaru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shizaru)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/32 "2006-10-13T11:59:22Z")
Hmmm…grabbing you and pulling you down to your seat. I think that would at least gain the puller a “Look, one warning…don’t touch me again.” warning. Thats pretty rude. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/33 "2006-10-13T20:19:54Z")
[QUOTE=Only Mostly Dead] And _that_ is why I don’t go to too many concerts. If I fork over $100 for a ticket to see Elton John, I’d want to hear Elton singing. If I want to hear a random, untrained, possibly drunk woman butchering “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, I’ll go to a karaoke bar for a lot less. I know that some people feel more _connected_ with the _experience_ if they’re singing along. But I just feel like your caterwauling is fucking with my ability to hear the only person in the venue who is obligated to sing. For all that person will remember of the show, they might as well just pop in their Greatest Hits album and scream away with that. [/QUOTE] Actually I’d argue that if you want to just hear Elton John sing, YOU ought to pop in his CD. Live concerts are different because (drum roll, please) PEOPLE will be there. They’ll be clapping, they’ll be dancing, and they’ll be singing along with the band. It’s all part of the experience. And if you’re not into it, then you really ought to stay home. I daresay Elton John himself would far prefer to have the fans, drunk or otherwise, singing and dancing along, too. The performers feed off the crowd. “Crocodile rock” is a whole different animal performed live. And therein lies the beauty of a live performance. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/34 "2006-10-13T20:43:00Z")
Well, there’s appropriate singing (singing softly, or singing along with refrains along with the crowd) and inappropriate singing (loudly singing, particularly drunkenly or with wrong lyrics). ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/35 "2006-10-13T20:46:16Z")
[QUOTE=fluiddruid] Well, there’s appropriate singing (singing softly, or singing along with refrains along with the crowd) and inappropriate singing (loudly singing, particularly drunkenly or with wrong lyrics). [/QUOTE] A Dylan concert can be hilarious, as the crowd sings the album lyrics, and Dylan sings something altogether different. I’m not sure who’s inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/36 "2006-10-14T00:10:30Z")
[QUOTE=Rube E. Tewesday] A Dylan concert can be hilarious, as the crowd sings the album lyrics, and Dylan sings something altogether different. I’m not sure who’s inappropriate. [/QUOTE] You can understand what Dylan is singing? We saw him a couple of years ago and were hugely disappointed – we couldn’t even recognize the _melody_ of most of his songs, let along make out one single discernible word the entire evening. And it didn’t help that he hid in the back corner of the stage all night and would step out of the light the second a song ended. If there’s only one person standing up and dancing, then maybe they should get a clue and sit down. But sitting down at a PSB concert? It sounds to me like it would be as inconceivable as sitting down for an enitre Great Big Sea show. It’s just Not Done. ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/37 "2006-10-14T00:33:44Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] Actually I’d argue that if you want to just hear Elton John sing, YOU ought to pop in his CD. Live concerts are different because (drum roll, please) PEOPLE will be there. They’ll be clapping, they’ll be dancing, and they’ll be singing along with the band. It’s all part of the experience. And if you’re not into it, then you really ought to stay home. I daresay Elton John himself would far prefer to have the fans, drunk or otherwise, singing and dancing along, too. The performers feed off the crowd. “Crocodile rock” is a whole different animal performed live. And therein lies the beauty of a live performance. [/QUOTE] Sadly, the last two expensive concerts I’ve been to, people don’t even seem to be paying attention. There’s always large groups of people talking loudly on their cell phones and/or pissing off their friends. I couldn’t help overhearing someone tell this group of people how big his dick was while Tom Petty sang Free Fallin’. It boggles the mind that anyone would pay upwards of 60 bucks for a ticket and then not even pay attention. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/38 "2006-10-14T01:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] You’ll have a great time. (The thing that amazes most people is not so much the music, which they more or less expected, but the staging. This one will be no different. They’re practically a theatre troupe.) [/QUOTE] Cool. Too bad only the people in front, standing up and dancing, will be able to see that. A short person, who lost count of the number of times I’ve paid good money to see a show, then had to tell people “I was there, but I never got to see the band” because people were standing up in front of me. I might as well stayed at home and listened to the CD. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/39 "2006-10-14T18:02:58Z")
[QUOTE=born too late] Sadly, the last two expensive concerts I’ve been to, people don’t even seem to be paying attention. There’s always large groups of people talking loudly on their cell phones and/or pissing off their friends. I couldn’t help overhearing someone tell this group of people how big his dick was while Tom Petty sang Free Fallin’. It boggles the mind that anyone would pay upwards of 60 bucks for a ticket and then not even pay attention. [/QUOTE] Heh heh heh. My parents go to a lot of Tom Petty concerts. The most interesting experience they ever had at one of his concerts was when two girls smelling fragantly of something illicit, turned around and asked them if they had a match. Apparently the girls had left home without a lighter or any other firesource. The disappeared for a little bit and found a match apparently, because they were even more fragrant when they got back. Once The Heartbreakers started playing, the two girls began spinning in circles with their arms straight out – like you do when you’re little and being dizzy was the best ever. They did that for the _entire_ concert, taking a break only when the band did. Spinning for over two hours. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Push\_Up\_Bra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/edb3f5/32.png) [@Freudian\_Push\_Up\_Bra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Push_Up_Bra)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027/40 "2006-10-15T02:05:19Z")
I don’t like being touched inappropriately and what that guy did is way up on my list of “Bad Touch”. Whenever I get groped in a club (rare as it is, I still loathe it), I use my reflexes to grab the hand and twist the wrist. Everyone thinks I’m a huge bitch but I haven’t actually hurt him (or her as it once was) and I don’t care what they think, NO TOUCHY! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-dont-want-to-be-with-dancing-people-dont-go-to-a-pet-shop-boys-concert/376027.md?page=3)