Talking At Concerts
 

I searched, and nothing came up that was precisely what I wanted to talk about, so I hope that it was appropriate to start a thread about this.

So, what do you think about people in the audience talking during concerts? I don't mean the normal talking about what's going on on the stage, songs being played, how awesome it is to be at the concert, or anything like that. I mean the people who just won't shut up, who talk through the entire concert about things which are completely trivial and stupid, often shouting to their friends to be heard over the band and completely ignoring the concert itself, aside from ceasing talking long enough to applaud at the end of a song then going right back into the, "Oh my God, did you see Jane's new car? Yah. Yah. It's like blue. It's like, a Pontiac Firebird..."

Does this irk anyone else? Does anyone else see this as completely fine, even going so far as to do this yourself, and is it usually accepted as good concert behavior in your opinion?

I personally almost always get stuck next to people who are talking through the whole show. I know that it would typically be douchey to just tell someone to shut the hell up during a show, because, I mean, it's a concert and it's supposed to be fun. But the talky people who don't seem to give a **** about being there irk me to no end. And they make my concert experience less fun than it needs to be. I always hope that someone else around me will just tell them to shut up so that I'm not the one who has to start the bad vibes, but GOD.

Also, do you think that this is really common at concerts, or am I just unlucky?

Man, I hate those people. I mean, I'm pretty sure I paid money to listen to some music and not learn about who's screwing who or about the strange new rashes that showed up on someone's genitalia.

Really? I never actually noticed this, I was too busy watching what was going on onstage I guess. *shrug*

I guess it also depends on the type of concert and who's playing. Really though idk who would pay good money to go ot a concert and stand there talking about "Jane's new car' or whatever it may be.

I went to see Elton John and Billy Joel about 2 years ago, and was stuck beside two women who would not shut up or stop laughing. I can't remember what they were talking about but they really only quieted down for Piano Man, which was the last song played. I'm betting that was the only song they cared about. I could hear the whole show just fine, but man were they ever annoying. Great concert, though :D

I detest anybody whose experience intrudes on my own, be that by talking or moshing or yelling for their favourite songs.

I don't think I've ever been to a concert where I could possibly hear someone nearby talking during the music, but I could imagine that it'd be just as annoying as people talking during a movie, if the music was soft or something.

this annoys me in certain circumstances, like if the song they're talking during is quiet and mellow and one you're wanting to stand and appreciate but you can't cos of people talking. reminds me of when I went to see NiN a few years ago, this couple were sat a few seats up from me and they saw this guy they knew and they were screaming and constantly talking and this was during Hurt :(

You can't underestimate the importance of idle chit-chat at a gig, until you have been to see HIM live.

I've thankfully never had to endure a HIM concert

You're lucky, I saw them years ago at Northumbria University and spent most of the show at the bar.

Then they played a Download festival sometime after that and were even worse. I wasn't even planning on watching them at Download but I caught the start of their set and it became one of those car-crash like scenarios where you know you shouldn't look at it....

I more than once asked people to be quiet at concerts.
I'm there for the music. I don't even mind when the audience sings along out of tune, I just don't mind as long as they enjoy the music, whatever way they like.
But I'm there for the band and so should they.

Ugh, I can imagine that would be horrible! I'm glad the concert was good, though, definitely! I was extremely annoyed at one Phish concert I went to - I was right in front of Mike's bass rig, and the girls to my right were SCREAMING to hear each other over the thing. During the second set, Phish started playing "Carini", which they'd not played since 2004, and I looked over at my friend and he was still trying to figure out what it was. I leaned in to his ear and was really excited and said, "Dude, it's Carini!" and those girls who'd been talking all night told ME to shut up. When I was actually referencing the show itself and having fun.

Oh, the problem isn't necessarily the volume of the music. I get stuck next to the people who are screaming over the music to be heard, and as I'm right beside them, I can hear too. It gets really distracting when I'm trying to listen to really complex instrumental sections of songs. Again, at a Phish concert, everytime I've seen them play "Time Turns Elastic" which is a very complex newer song, people take that time to chat amongst themselves when there are still a lot of people in the audience who really want to hear it.

I don't understand how people can even do it, really. If they've paid all of that money for a concert ticket, it would make sense if they enjoyed the concert and listened to it. I personally wouldn't pay $30 or more to stand around and talk, when I can do that pretty much anywhere for free.

See, I have a problem asking people to be quiet. Most of the people I've encountered at concerts seem to be the type who would get really confrontational if I asked them to stop talking, maybe even misconstruing me as being a confrontational sort of person. I'm really not - I'm super chilled out and hate confrontation. I just find them horribly distracting - it's like, I spent all of this money to see this band live, not hear about those peoples' boring lives the entire concert.

Same here mostly. I guess I've been to a few concerts that were quiet enough but luckily no one around me was chit chatting.

This conversation reminds me though of a bootleg a friend of mine had of an early Primus concert, I think from back before they had any albums out. There's this guy, who was apparently really close to the recording device because you can hear him talking to his friend loud and clear, saying something along the lines of, "Meh. I mean I appreciate that these guys are trying to do something different but they just don't do it for me."

Ugh, that's awful. That's actually kind of what made me start this thread, to an extent - one of the Trey shows I downloaded features these girls talking obnoxiously the entire show. When they finally acknowledge that they're at a Trey Anastasio concert, one of them says, (during a really quiet instrumental section in the acoustic set) "Adam thinks he's probably a good guitarist," or something to that effect, then the guy taping says, "What? Who are you talking about?" and they say, "My friend Adam thinks he's a good guitarist." The guy taping is obviously irritated and says kind of annoyed, "Yes, he's a very good guitarist." This is after they talked nonstop the whole beginning of the show, and then they continued talking to each other.

I just remembered how much I detest those people at concerts, and realized that with my luck, I'd have probably been standing right next to them at that show. I always get stuck with the talkers.

Like, at a Gov't Mule show, during the second set, I got stuck next to this girl who talked to her friend nonstop. I was trying to listen to Warren Haynes absolutely killing it onstage, and ignoring her, then she turned to me. She saw I was wearing a Phish shirt, and proceeded to tell me all sorts of stuff about how she loved Phish - and kept saying the wrong names for songs, called the band members by the wrong names, etc. I would have been a little less annoyed if it was someone who really loved the band or something, and was just excited to talk about it, but would have wished they'd save the conversation for a setbreak or after the show. That one girl was just talking to me because her friend went to the bathroom or something and she was incapable of shutting up.

Maybe that's a cultural thing? People at concerts here (and I mean concerts of proper bands, obviously :D) are usually the intelligent type.
And then I have a beard and broad shoulders, people tend to be slightly afraid of me and keep their mouths shut. I ask politely though because, like you, I hate confrontation and I'd rather leave the concert than cause any trouble.

Overhere there's three groups of people at concerts.
You have the actual music lovers, who shut up.
You have youngsters who are just having a good time out.
And you have old people at old men concerts (Dylan, Eagles) who drink a lot and shout all the ****ing time.

Luckily I go to concerts where the average age lies between 25 and 45 and most of the people are genuinly interested in the music (e.g. The Bees, Calexico). So usually people don't talk that much and if they do, I will go and stand somewhere else.

I actually find it pretty funny, especially considering how successful Primus went on to be. :laughing: But at the same time, yeah, those kind of wet blankets are annoying as fuck.

I've only ever been to one real concert, Broken Social Scene, who I'm not really a fan of, but were pretty cool live. But these next to me just about ruined it for me. The whole concert all I heard behind me was:

"Band sucks bro... wish we snuck some beer in bro. **** look at these wimps."

Why would you waste like $30 on a band you don't even like?

That's what Dylan said to the reporters who went 'booo' when he went electric.
"If you want to pay 30 bucks for a ticket and shout booo all the time, be my guest"

I don't know bro.

I've wasted money on gigs. I've been to several gigs without knowing anything about the band, and even several for bands I didn't like but hadn't seen live, just to give them a chance.

As far as I'm aware I've never ruined the gig for other people though.

The worst i've ever experienced was during Placebo's set at a festival a few years ago. They were on the main stage just before the Kaiser Chiefs so there were plenty of wankers in the pit as well waiting to see them. Even though there were a lot of Placebo fans in the pit too i basically had to put up with wankers shouting "Who are these Placebo faggots? Bring on the Kaiser Chiefs!" and such throughout the set. Although it didn't ruin their set for me it did take a bit of enjoyment away from it.

It ended on a sweet note though as a good few Placebo fans stuck around to bottle the Kaiser Chiefs :D

It's quite rare that I encounter a situation where someone's conversation is intruding on my experience. I think the one time I really remember this happening was when I saw Ministry on the Filth Pig tour. You might wonder how anyone could hear even the person right next to you at a Ministry show, lol. Now I'm wondering myself. My memory may not be 100% accurate.

I have to report that I've also, unfortunately, been on the opposite end of the situation. The last time I saw Built to Spill (November?) my friend and I got pretty toasted, and met up with 3 other friends who were equally toasted. It was a packed venue, the energy of the music was lively and not chill/quiet, and I think we were chatting the entire time save for a few moments when I really got into a song. It helped that I'd seen them live once before. Anyway I'm sure we were loud, considering we were smashed and at a loud concert. No one said a word, though. Then again it is Seattle, and we're generally non-confrontational folks.

I think the same thing occurred when I saw The Thermals more recently than that, at a smaller venue. I arrived smashed after drinking 4 IPAs at work during the afternoon, meeting friends for dinner and drinking wine, and then going out to celebrate a birthday which involved more wine and about 3 ****tails (OMG this forum just censored cocktails). I got the venue and got a tall PBR, followed by another. Met up with 2 girls, and we just chatted almost the whole time. We were on the balcony though, so I guess (maybe?) that was better than being on the floor. Except we were actually closer to the band that way than if we'd been at the back of the crowd on the floor. Whatever, we couldn't have been that loud.

I'll try to keep it down next time, guys. ;)

I had psycho temper tantrums telling people to shut the **** up with an obvious threat of violence at Townes Van Zandt, Kristin Hersh, and Mazzy Star. I am not tough at all, but if you ruin one of the great experiences of my life I will fight over it. At a Swans concert I was at Michael Gira tried to do some acoustic stuff and people were so noisy it was like a fraternity party before a football game. He called the audience '****ing idiots' and left the stage in a huff. I can't stand it people even whisper between movements at the symphony. And it ticks my wife off even more than me. It's hard for me to understand why it's so hard for people to be quiet. Don't they ever get sick of themselves? If they want to chat why don't they just go to a regular bar or out to coffee or whatever. I appreciate how Mingus and Art Blakey really tried to keep the audience quiet. If I had ever gotten the chance to see one of those jazz greats I would have hated to be distracted by some idiot's banter.

Yeah, music banter is the worst. ;)

Brixton Academy. Polvo are wrapping up their set with a crescendo of mathy rhythms. I've had a perfect experience thus far. They exit. 20 minutes go by. My spot is still perfect. The lights dim. Modest Mouse Appear. A 93 ft guy and his 2 ft girlfriend saunter into the pocket of space previously kind to me. He tells her he loves her. She asks what he said. Modest Mouse open their set. He shouts I LOVE YOU over the noise. She shouts back I LOVE YOU TOO. They kiss. He then unnecessarily shouts his love for her again. I've missed the opening to Breakthrough because of their smoochy shit in my face. I'm livid.

They than proceed in having sporadic yells at eachother throughout the first half of the set. I eventually up sticks and push my way forward, attempting, but failing, to elbow the guy in the spine as i pass through them.

Speaking of Michael Gira and talking at concerts...

I saw Swans recently and they were so loud that no talking could possibly have been heard during the music. Of course, we were a very respectful audience who obviously adore him.

On the flipside he told us, the audience, "Too many tattoos - not enough labia piercings. Get with it, people!" We weren't offended though.

I used to play in coffeehouses sometimes, and the worst thing was when the music was the quietest, and everyone was talking. It made me feel like no one had been listening when we were playing. It felt disrespectful. And we weren't bad, you know? I'm not saying I'm the best and everyone should listen, but I'm definitely saying that it's should be common courtesy. Just because we're playing music doesn't mean we can't hear you speaking at a normal volume.

I've never minded moshing, in fact I've quite enjoyed it on some occasions. Never been a fan of designated pits for it, though. It's one thing to jump around to the music like an idiot. It's another to run into somebody for no other purpose but to prove you're a badass. I've ran into situations where I wasn't paying attention, and I was right on the edge of one of these, turned towards the band, and some dumb meathead spears into my back.

The mass of humanity, however, is fun as all ****.

To the topic, however, talking annoys the hell out of me. Almost always it's a couple, and almost always it's obvious that it's because one half of the couple really doesn't want to go, but wants to get laid.

Ug... I wish we didn't live in the world of "Doesn't matter what my mate actually thinks, just so romantic that he, or she is vaguely pretending to have the same interests because that's romantic" style dating.

I go for the music, man. I you want to show your mutual love, do what the one couple near me at a concert did. Quiet during the whole thing, then when the encore is done, start jumping, and orgasm screaming "I love love love love love" you once it's done.

Firstly, that helps the atmosphere because everyone is feeling a variation of the same excitement.

Secondly, it shows respect to who is playing.

I really REALLY think that people need to scrutinize their mates more in the situation. If he or she doesn't actually like the experience, dump the ****er right then, and there. There's no reason this activity needs to be promoted.

Me neither bro.

Exactly. I've never attended a "large" enough concert where that would be an issue. If I'm not at the front of the stage being crushed by 50 strangers I'm doing it wrong. There's no way anyone would be having a conversation in that.

Although.. I am going to Guy Clark this summer. Wonder how that'll turn out.

I think it all depends. How were these shows booked? If an already healthy, busy venue allows you to play there then they are really just hiring you to come and play for their customers and therefore there isnt much of a courtesy involved.

I will however say that I have been to pub gigs or open mic nights and really wanted to hear the artist playing and haven't been able to thanks to people chatting around me and that really annoyed me. I can imagine it's even more annoying to be on stage.

Most concerts are too loud for conversations like that to be audible.

That's one thing that really pisses me off. One of my friends is an aspiring singer-songwriter and i was at one of his gigs in a pub in town a couple of weeks ago. In the pub there just happened to be a load of women there on a work party and they did nothing but talk loudly and laugh during his set and not pay any attention to the music. My gang had to sit down at the back because there was nowhere else to sit and i could just about hear him over the sound of women talking and he was playing an absolute blinder and giving it 200%. I just wish people weren't so ignorant.

This is the thing though. The pub are just hiring for entertainment. In a way they are booking background music. The group of women would be there whether there was music on or not, so nothing changes.

I like to think I'm not ignorant as such in these situations. I mean, I have a strong interest in music so I'm gonna listen to the band in the pub, but chances are I went there to sit and talk to my friends, so I'm gonna do that too.