Are people more and more disrespectful during concerts? Or have they been always like that? I am not sure but I have attended concerts for quite some time, in small or large arena-type venues and I have been more and more shocked and infuriated by people’s attitude and behavior during shows. Why people can’t stay still for a couple of hours? Why can’t they stop chatting? Why can’t they stop drinking? I understand that they want to have a good time and beer should be part of the game for many, but it is getting out of hand.
How many times did I want to listen to the performer(s) and people around me will not shut up for a second. I complain about students’ attitude in class but their parents, big brothers and sisters exhibit the exact same type of behavior! If you are paying good money to see someone or a band, the least you could do is to be quiet and stop talking about your last weekend! Because honestly, nobody cares! Some can’t contain their enthusiasm, they become drunk and scream the whole time, like that guy sitting next to me at Paul McCartney concert at the Dodger Stadium… I don’t think he was quiet for more than 10 seconds during the 3-hour show, he was very drunk and very loud, and he had with him his young son (I guess) who couldn’t give a shit about the concert and played with his iPad the whole time… what a waste, but at least the kid was quiet.
The drunk, the talkative, the restless, you know them all, sometimes embodied in the same person… if you have been at a concert lately, I am sure you have experienced the rudeness of some people. At the last Arcade Fire show at the Forum, a girl had the nerve to tap on my shoulder to tell me I was sitting at her place (I wasn’t), insisting for a few minutes! It wasn’t even the beginning of the show, I was filming a song and I realized when I looked at the setlist that it was their 14th song… she had a glass of beer in one hand (of course) her iPhone in the other one, and I wonder where she was during the whole show, loudly chatting on her phone? Good thing she was not around. Why was she even showing up, that’s my question. Next time, check the number on your ticket, and don’t annoy people who want to listen.
I guess people don’t listen quietly anymore (or very few still do), with all the technologies that surround us and occupy us daily, we think (wrongly) we have to be multi-taskers all the time, and one thing at the time is simply not enough for most people, they get bored. They want to attend a concert while drinking cheap wine, while chatting about the last movie they saw, while eating popcorn or pizza… I actually saw a few pizza boxes pass under my nose during a Paul Simon concert at Jones Beach – it was a longtime ago, which shows this attitude is nothing but new –since the whole row of people on my left had just decided to order pizza, right in the middle of ‘The Boxer’. Call me purist or intolerant or whatever you want but I don’t need pizza when a legend sings…. Isn’t it very disrespectful too?
Then you have the accidents, the over-enthusiastic guy who drops his full glass on your feet, your arm, the drunk girl who almost vomits on your leg – it almost happened to me, fortunately she had the time to run to the bathroom and I never saw her again. Yes I am claiming this purist/idealist status. I want to be able to hear the voice of the singer… is it too much to ask? I want my concerts to be chat-free, beer-spilling-free, pizza-free, as I don’t want the smell of your onion-ed dog to go with my favorite song. I don’t care if you are hungry, eat before leaving the damn house! I can fast the whole day, wait on line for hours without going to pee once if I know I can be front row for my favorite musician,… I can shut down and run empty for hours, no problem, but I know it is just me, I love music and want to experience it to the fullest, which is not the case for everybody.
Anyway, think about it, you won’t be able sing with a mouth full, and I would even want you not to sing at all to be honest.
