Have audiences gotten rude?

Bro Shark · Post by **Bro Shark** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:10 pm

@?,*???&? wrote:And this is where we are headed.

Speak for yourself!

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:30 pm

I know a couple of bands who have done this (or something similar, it may not have been through that site), or have played in Second Life. I'm not against it; it's an interesting approach, and certainly as touring gets more prohibitive (gas is supposed to hit, what, six bucks a gallon soon?) this may be one way groups get out.

-3db · Post by **-3db** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 4:24 pm

Double edged sword.
The artist gets an audience that is probably wider and more diverse then they ever had, but lose the personal contact.

Tha audience gets to see artists they might have never seen before, avoids all the ripoff ticket scams, but loses the personal contact.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:04 pm

One of those edges is a whole lot sharper than the other.

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:48 pm

Aw man....i'll miss the stank of some drunken man-beast who starts "moshing" to an acoustic song and somehow manages to spill his beer on my shoes 5 times.

But all kidding aside...seeing real music performed by real people is awewome. Sadly, crowds at most shows around here aren't. Not sure if virtual venues is the solution, but it could work, I wouldn't dismiss it. Especially for people who live in small towns and can't see shows without driving several hours, or for performers who are poor, handicapped or elderly and traveling is problematic.

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 12:09 pm

I keep thinking about this show I saw in Northhampton about a million years ago. It was in a bar, and I was under age, so we must have been opening for, or been opened by these guys. They were just crazy. They spilled beer on themselves and the audience! Got it on their own guitars and stuff, and didn't give a fuck. They whipped the audience into a frenzy. It really made an impression on me and changed how I looked at live performing. That audience, those people, are really there in that room with you. That creates limitations and possibilities.

If your crowds are rowdy, maybe you should get rowdy. Are you in show business or art business. Fishbone is great at this too.

lyman · Post by **lyman** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 12:11 pm

lapsteel wrote: Bob Dylan was booed for going electric all through that tour. You couldn't hear Elvis or the Beatles with the screaming girls. .

well, at least they were paying attention. that's different. it seems like this thread is about audience members who blab to each other and ignore the music, annoying those who want to/can focus.

agauchede · Post by **agauchede** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 11:09 am

lyman wrote:
lapsteel wrote: Bob Dylan was booed for going electric all through that tour. You couldn't hear Elvis or the Beatles with the screaming girls. .
well, at least they were paying attention. that's different. it seems like this thread is about audience members who blab to each other and ignore the music, annoying those who want to/can focus.

Exactly. I'm all for rowdy, screaming, moshing, the rest of it. I take issue with people who pay for a ticket to a show they don't watch, and distract from the show for everyone else. Not cool.

Gentleman Jim · Post by **Gentleman Jim** » Tue May 03, 2011 6:14 pm

Bro Shark wrote:
@?,*???&? wrote:You should just silence the crowd:

www.stageit.com
Good lord.

Nay-say all you want, but to me this looks really fucking cool. I could see doing a series on this site from the club where I do sound, or something of that nature.

(I've posted on here before about an audio-only site that I worked for a few years back, JamNow.com. They've since gone teats up, but a few of the shows we did were really cool. I'm glad someone's doing something with this idea.)

I haven't seen anything on there yet, but if the picture and sound are good quality, then why the hell not broadcast shows? At least a venue wouldn't have to cover hosting costs on their own site.

I also know a number of artists who could use this instead of Justin.tv or ustream.com, and maybe make $50 a performance from home. It's not the biggest deal in the world, but why not?

Thanks for turning me on to this, Jeff. For all the grief I and others give you, at least twice a year you bring something to my attention that snaps my head back.

timh · Post by **timh** » Wed May 04, 2011 12:49 am

i saw Bright Eyes in Oakland a couple weeks ago. ahhhh...nothing like a thousand people singing out of key over the one guy you're there to hear. especially fun during acoustic songs.

iamthecosmos · Post by **iamthecosmos** » Wed May 04, 2011 10:18 pm

I have seen people singing along at a Sigur Ros gig (or attempting to). This confused me greatly. Radiohead did some smaller (3000 capacity) gigs a few years ago where someone considered the best time to shout 'WE LOVE YOU THOM' was during the quietest part of Fake Plastic Trees.

Some people just don't get it, at gigs or anywhere else.

percussion boy · Post by **percussion boy** » Thu May 05, 2011 12:54 am

Post deleted because people already said all the clever shit I was gonna say.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Thu May 05, 2011 7:00 am

Snarl 12/8 wrote:I keep thinking about this show I saw in Northhampton about a million years ago.

Northampton is the only city I've ever played where someone actually jumped up on stage between the set and the encore to start showing off their hip hop freestyling skills. I don't know what's more amazing, the fact that these people actually did this or that the sound guy didn't turn them off. Rude audience? I'd say so.

But THIS actually happened to me about two weeks ago. Amazing, the timing on this situation, given that this thread is active:

I took my wife down to Hilton Head, SC to see Mose Allision about two weeks ago. I love Mose's music and a friend of mine has been playing with him off and on for abotu 20 years. This friend of mine was doing this recent gig in Hilton Head and said that Mose is really getting up there (he's 83, I think), so we figured that we really ought to make the effort to try and see him.

It's about a four hour drive from Charlotte to Hilton Head. The tickets to the show were not TOTALLY pricey, but the club that was hosting it was. I'm not complaining because the food and drinks were excellent and the vibe in there was really nice. I'm just pointing a few things out.

The show was good. Very vibey. Mose was great to see, even if he is getting up there in age. I'm guessing, but there were probably 75 to 100 people in this place. All seated. All the chairs in the place basically face the stage. The lighting is directed towards the stage. The sound in there is great. My favorite part (and my wife commented on this as soon as we sat down) was that they actually have signs at every table that say

"With consideration for our musical artists, we kindly ask that you keep conversation to a minimum during the performance."

Man, slick. I like it! The owner of the place comes out and makes an announcement about who Mose is and how proud they are to have him there, etc. The show starts and it's very pleaseant in there. It's really a nice place, clearly geared towards having live jazz performances.

There were also a bunch of idiots who just started talking at the beginning of the second set. Now, everyone was totally quiet during the first set. Classic jazz club, who just won a Downbeat award. All the tables face the stage. THERE ARE SIGNS ON THE TABLE ASKING PEOPLE NOT TO TALK DURING THE PERFORMANCE. There were multiple people going "Shhhhhhhhhhh" and this tabel just didn't get it. I got so frustrated with it that I finally got up from our table, picked up one of the "no talking" signs from another table, walked right over to the table of people yapping and slammed the sign down on their table before turing around and walking back to mine without saying anything or looking at them. They shut up and a few minutes later, they left.

Afterwards, three patrons from the club and one waitress made a point to come up to me and thank me. Apparently, that kind of thing happens there a lot, but the wait staff doesn't feel like they can be aggressive about curtailing it for fear of losing their tips. I understand that. Man, was it stupid. I was so embarrased to do that, but I felt much better when those folks came up and thanked me afterwards.

I took a picture of the signs. When I get around to pulling it off my camera, I'll post it.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

agauchede · Post by **agauchede** » Thu May 05, 2011 9:53 am

This must be an issue of particular importance for Mose. I saw him probably ten years ago in Cambridge, MA in an audience of similar size. Every time there was conversation or noise from the audience Mose would glare at the culprits. I guess he has a hard time hearing himself mumble over the solos. So, it's appropriate that there would be no talking signs!

Thanks for sharing,
Chris

Mudcloth · Post by **Mudcloth** » Thu May 05, 2011 10:25 am

Great story Chris.
A few weeks ago, in Austin, Cornell Dupree played a somewhat surprise set at the Continental Club in their upstairs lounge. I say somewhat because the place was packed to the fire code. Word had spread quickly. Cornell Dupree is one of my favorite guitars players of all time and I wasn't going to miss this show. For those of you who don't know, he was in King Curtis and the Kingpins; a band that included Billy Preston, Bernard Purdie, Jerry Jamont, and, of course, King Curtis. He also founded the group, Stuff, and played on the legendary Live album from Donny Hathaway.

Anyway, the lounge was mostly filled with local musicians. I was talking to my friend who had played in the band that played the first set when a trumpet player came up and asked him if he could sit in during Cornell's set. My friend said he didn't have the authority to invite him up. The trumpet player persisted and finally my friend said it was probably not going to happen.

What did happen is that during Cornell's set we all hear the sound of a trumpet coming from the hallway where the restrooms are located. He was playing along, presumably hoping someone with authority would hear how great he was and invite him on stage.
I happened to be sitting next to Mr. Dupree's wife [before the set she told me some cool stories about the recording of the Donny Hathaway Live album]. Mrs. Dupree leaned over to me and asked, "Why would anyone do that?"
I immediately got up, walked to the back and and told the guy "We can all hear you, and not in a good way. Please stop."
He did stop and was rightfully embarrassed.

Even musicians, who ought to know better, can be incredibly rude, selfish, and insensitive to the performers on stage.

Don't get me started on all the gigs I've played where someone in the audience starts playing a harmonica during the set.

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