Have your say & ask the experts

Recently been to some gigs - Neil Young at Hyde Park, Massive Attack at Brixton Academy, Bat For Lashes at the Roundhouse - where the evening was almost ruined by audiences that jabber to one another during the performance.

When the acts play a quieter number, the sound mix is underpinned by the distinct murmur of the audience's babbling!!!!

Is this a new phenomenon or am I just getting old?

Have tickets for The Pixies tomorrow night - almost don't want to go, just in case I end up delivering a karate chop to the throat of some bumptious little **** who doesn't know when to shut up.

All joking aside, anyone else think this is a serious problem/malaise? (If I was performing onstage, it would really hack me off.)

6th.replicant:

Is this a new phenomenon or am I just getting old?

Have tickets for The Pixies tomorrow night.....

Yes - you're just getting old!

You dont need to worry about any quiet numbers with The Pixies.

heystak:

6th.replicant:

Is this a new phenomenon or am I just getting old?

Have tickets for The Pixies tomorrow night.....

You dont need to worry about any quiet numbers with The Pixies.

Concerned re the voice-&-bass-only verses of some of their songs. There will be reverential silence during Monkey Gone to Heaven, or else!

6th.replicant:

heystak:

6th.replicant:

Is this a new phenomenon or am I just getting old?

Have tickets for The Pixies tomorrow night.....

You dont need to worry about any quiet numbers with The Pixies.

Concerned re the voice-&-bass-only verses of some of their songs. There will be reverential silence during Monkey Gone to Heaven, or else!

Someone's bound to shout "Play Debaser!"

Im with you on this one!

Whats worse however is the audience singing along a little too enthusiastically at a concert.  Now i understand the need to scream out the lyrics along with the band in a rock concert.  But if its a nice intimate gig where everyone just wants to hear the artist sing and emote beautifully, your awful, loud and drunk rendition of their song is not what I paid to hear!  Especially when your yelling into my ear!

 

Not a problem at Waxed gigs, we're too bloody loud.

JohnDuncan:

Not a problem at Waxed gigs, we're too bloody loud.

Not a problem at 'Designs Of Chaos' gigs...... There's nobody there to see us.

 

With regards to 'proper' bands, I think it depends on the circumstamces. A year or so back when we saw 'Deftones' at Brixton Academy, we paid for seats upstairs and I was getting miffed by the people standing and dancing around (You want to dance fine, book tickets for downstairs!!).

 

At 'Textures' last week at Camden Underworld, we were in the thick of it in front of the stage (not much choice at the Underworld) and the singing and moshing was an integral part of the experience.

 

Agree with JD in one respect. The louder the band (usually the norm in metal), the less likely you are to be bothered by noises around you.

Worse than that, you always seem to get the seat behind a 17' basket ball player, so by the time you come out your head is permenantly attached to your shoulder.

My concert-going these days revolves around the Glastonbury Festival, and as much as I enjoy it (massive understatement) this is one of the downsides of festivals - a lot of the audience are not necessarily fans of whoever is on stage and are there out of curiosity (or because they've been too, ahem, "dazed" too move all day). Which is part of the point of festivals - discovering new bands or music you would never otherwise go to see. But it does make for a very different experience with half the audience chatting in circles etc etc. If it's your own favourite band it can be off-putting to say the least.

margetti:

My concert-going these days revolves around the Glastonbury Festival, and as much as I enjoy it (massive understatement) this is one of the downsides of festivals ....

This year I was at Isle of Wight, & during Neil Young I didn't notice any chitchat. Yet, 2 weeks later at NY's Hyde Park gig there was much babbling during the likes of Words etc.

Seem to remember that back in the day, at a Who or Clash gig, for example, there was no audible jabbering during their quieter numbers & during a recent-ish Bowie gig (not that long ago - Reality tour) folks were quiet during Changes, Life on Mars et al.

But at the recent Massive Attack & Bat for Lashes gigs, the audience babbling was really grating. For example, a bunch standing adjacent at BFL spent the whole gig discussing - only during the quieter songs, mind you - how X & Y had just had their 2nd baby, thereafter they reminisced re X & Y's lovely wedding, birth of 1st child & its christening, how much X & Y sold their 1st house for after renovations etc, etc. Glancing around the hall, it seemed there were many others involved in similar style conflabs. Peasants!

AFAIC, such cretinism ranks alongside talking at the cinema during the film - another scenario that appears to be all-too prevalent these days.

Perhaps we're simply living in an age where people have the attention span of a crack-addicted squirrel?

Seem to find it was worse when I lived in London; lot of gigs had people chatting, which was annoying.

By contrast, I went to see Beth Rowley in a small venue in Edinburgh a year ago and it was the total opposite. Even the bar at the back of the venue was hushed and the crowd did what it was meant to do, watched and listened. The band seemed a bit taken aback - "it's great you're watching, we're not used to it", lol!

Equally a friend's partner owns a large venue in Glasgow and we got tickets to see a show there a few years back; it was like the floor of the venue was the runway to the bar. Chatting, noise, the lot. I think the more freebie tickets you get, the worse it is - people go along but not necessarily because they like the headline act.

I'm 100% with you.

At a recent Roni Size/Chorus/Orchestra concert at the Bristol Colston Hall (Roni's hometown) half of the people didn't actually bother rolling in until after the support act (Speech Debelle - mercury music prize winner no less) had finished. Half of those who did turn up on time spent most of it gassing about various inanities.

Rude. Totally and utterly Rude. If you aren't interested in what's there, bu66er off to the bar and let us listen...

And yes, there were the "I'm young really - so I have to dance to this D'n'B groove" who, even though it was an open floor (i.e. you could use your balcony tickets to access the main floor) and we were in the balcony, insisted on boogying on down and getting in the bleddy way.

Maybe I'm also getting old. But I'm only a 70s child ferchrissakes...

fatboyslimfast:

... Rude. Totally and utterly Rude. If you aren't interested in what's there, bu66er off to the bar and let us listen...

Quite so, well said!

Bit late seeing this topic, but anyway. I'm firmly in the shut up camp. I got fairly close to getting physical with a couple of people at a Pink Floyd gig some years ago. They were stood behind me and, as soon as the band struck up, they started up a conversation. In the end, I just turned around and said 'can you just shut up!'. They made a few comments and carried on talking for a bit and then stopped. Had a similar problem at a Radiohead gig in Oxford. Half a dozen idiots came along half way through the gig - looked like they'd spent most of the day stood at the bar - wished they'd stayed there. Makes my blood boil. Grrrrrrrrh.