I will post birthday weekend part two and three in the coming days, but I have been thinking about this for a while.
At the America show, I thought to myself that I really missed seeing live music and live performances and should see more of them. As it happens, I was able to go out the next night to see The Barefoot Movement and last night went out to the Bowl to see the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Pentatonix. Both events were a lot of fun and I will post more details in the next few days but BOTH events had me wondering about the following question; WHY do people feel the need to TALK and SING during quiet musical performances? The people behind me at both shows acted like they were in their living room, keeping up a running commentary, observations so inane, I felt like slapping them. HELLO Captain Obvious. Then the singing. I'm sorry, but I did not pay to hear YOU sing and I really would like to be able to enjoy the professional performers I DID pay to hear. I mouth the words to songs I feel the need to "Sing" along with. Last night, the orchestra played a song that had special meaning to me and the drunken millennials behind me chatted through the whole thing. Gee, I'm glad YOU were having a good time, but you ruined it for me. If you want to talk and sing drunkenly along, off key and with the wrong words, GO TO A BAR. If you want to talk, GO TO A BAR. When I was little I was taught to be QUIET at the symphony. Now it's like a sporting event. Even a good dose of the "Hairy eyeball" did not shut these people up. I hope I ruined their video, I kept shifting and stretching and ant one point stood up. Ok, maybe that was uncalled for but I was annoyed. At the Barefoot Movement show, Chris SHUSHED the chattering women behind us. It only lasted a few songs, but the silence was blissful.
Weigh in here. How do You feel about chattering audience members and people who seem to need to perform in their seat? How do you react to it? It won't stop me from going to live shows, but there must be a way to handle this, or am I overreacting?
Oh, Robyn, you are SO NOT overreacting. Most people alas have no manners and cannot (or will not) distinguish between how to behave alone at home and how to behave in public - talking, singing along, putting their feet, bare or not, on furniture......drives me nuts.
ReplyDeleteOver the years, Miss Pauline and I have attended several events where we dfid more than give them the hairy eyeballs, as you call it. At a Pink Martini concert at the Wiltern, we actively shut them up - and so did many others. At the bowl, Pauline had to go and get an usher. And one night got into a slanging match with some women behind us........................who told her to shut up! Basically, they want to talk or sing, and to hell with what everyone else wants. This is one of the reasons I go to concerts, or even movies, less and less. Sigh. And by the way, generally, the ushers won't help.
Tom