Crowd Tolerance

[Woffy]

2 minutes ago, Hawros said:

So... you can't have a go at someone for singing at a gig, can you? I told him to 'leave it to the pros' and I think he got the idea. But I felt bad at the same time...

Very British this, innit.

Not a gig, but I went to see the nationwide premier of A Private War (the film about Marie Colvin) when they had a live screened Q&A with the cast / director / Paul Conroy afterwards. The cinema was only a third full. The bloke of the older couple behind me, with some sort of nervous energy, rapidly kicked my seat whenever the film got tense.

When the film finished, but before the Q&A, I moved a few seats to the right.

I could hear him and his wife talking and him saying how bad he felt...

...AND I APOLOGISED for making him feel bad and told him not to worry! WTF?

[Chef]

10 minutes ago, Hawros said:

I had a situation which caused some internal conflict this weekend. Bon Iver at APE - a guy directly behind me was singing every word, knew them religiously, but completely tone-deaf and out of tune. This completely drowned-out the actual performance of the same words.

So... you can't have a go at someone for singing at a gig, can you? I told him to 'leave it to the pros' and I think he got the idea. But I felt bad at the same time...

I think people doing this is acceptable, however annoying it may be. There are more people who can't sing than can and nobody should be barred from singing along to their favourite tune at a gig. 

 

[Hawros]

4 minutes ago, Chef said:

I think people doing this is acceptable, however annoying it may be. There are more people who can't sing than can and nobody should be barred from singing along to their favourite tune at a gig. 

 

Completely agree, that didn't negate how distracting / ruinous it was for me though. Probably a perfect example of moving rather than complaining. Which is easier said than done in a dense festival crowd.

[Chef]

12 minutes ago, Hawros said:

Completely agree, that didn't negate how distracting / ruinous it was for me though. Probably a perfect example of moving rather than complaining. Which is easier said than done in a dense festival crowd.

Yup - can imagine it wasn't much fun. At least anyone videoing on a phone nearby might think twice about doing that next time when they play it back and all that can be heard is yer man ruining it. 

Every cloud. 

[Hugh Jass]

30 minutes ago, Woffy said:

Very British this, innit.

Not a gig, but I went to see the nationwide premier of A Private War (the film about Marie Colvin) when they had a live screened Q&A with the cast / director / Paul Conroy afterwards. The cinema was only a third full. The bloke of the older couple behind me, with some sort of nervous energy, rapidly kicked my seat whenever the film got tense.

When the film finished, but before the Q&A, I moved a few seats to the right.

I could hear him and his wife talking and him saying how bad he felt...

...AND I APOLOGISED for making him feel bad and told him not to worry! WTF?

Had the same a couple of weeks ago. I was on a packed train from Liverpool to London and my daughter was asleep in her buggy. There was a group of lads on the table behind me on their way home from a stag. They weren’t being rude or obnoxious or anti-social in any way, they were just laughing and joking a little too loudly. I had to turn around and ask if they’d mind keeping it down a little as my daughter was asleep and they went silent.

I felt terrible. Ended up turning back to them and saying “look I didn’t mean be silent...”

[tjchittt86]

I was at a Ben Howard gig in Newcastle a good couple of years ago where Willy Mason was supporting. Now I'm a big fan of Willy - ahem -  but think he was lost on a lot of Friday night Toon crowd as the noise from the talkers over the top of him was ridiculous. In the bits where he played a little louder - the crowd just spoke louder. Best thing was when Ben Howard came on to rapturous applause a bit later he was absolutely fuming. For a good minute or so he stood and told everyone off, telling us how we'd shown Willy a complete lack of respect etc before he got cracking with his own set. He had a point.  

I can echo what someone said earlier about Sigur Ros at JPT too. Too many Hooray Henry's dressed in horse heads pushing to the front just to chat loudly to each other - WTF!? 

I'd also like to chuck umbrella's into the mix for annoying items at a gig especially for the 'vertically challenged' like my sister. Get a coat with a hood people and get the umbrella down!! 

[Greenelk]

We went to see Nine Inch Nails in Belfast years ago.  My wife is 5'1, so finding a good spot often tricky, but managed to find a raised bit she could comfortably stand on and actually see the stage.  Behind her was the VIP area, and it looked like quite a lot of people there weren't that interested.  Two young ladies with Chelsea accents were trying to have a conversation about their love lives during the gig.  It was NIN, it was very loud, so they were practically screaming at each other to be heard over the music.  My Mrs lost it, as they were right behind her, and asked them not too politely, to fuck off to the back of the area if they had  no interest in watching the band at all, as she would rather like to listen to them.  We go to a lot of gigs, she hasn't done that sort of thing at any other gig, but bloody hell they were loud and irritating.  Lots of people around us then thanked her when they moodily moved away.

Edited June 6, 2019 by Greenelk

[c8lin]

4 minutes ago, tjchittt86 said:

I'd also like to chuck umbrella's into the mix for annoying items at a gig especially for the 'vertically challenged' like my sister. Get a coat with a hood people and get the umbrella down!! 

Went to Primavera Porto last year and the weather was unseasonably wet (rained most of the time) and cold. Most of the people there hadn't brought proper raincoats so the festival decided to hand out massive umbrellas.

The crowd in general was quite short (apparently Portuguese people are on average 4cm shorter than English people, who knew? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_average_human_height_worldwide), which at first seemed to be a good thing as at 5 ft 9 and 6 ft 2 myself and my boyfriend had great views of the acts on. However, every time the heavens a sea of umbrellas opened and all of them with the spikes at our eye height! I was neither tall enough to see over the umbrellas properly or short enough to see under them.   

[Woffy]

3 minutes ago, Hugh Jass said:

Had the same a couple of weeks ago. I was on a packed train from Liverpool to London and my daughter was asleep in her buggy. There was a group of lads on the table behind me on their way home from a stag. They weren’t being rude or obnoxious or anti-social in any way, they were just laughing and joking a little too loudly. I had to turn around and ask if they’d mind keeping it down a little as my daughter was asleep and they went silent.

I felt terrible. Ended up turning back to them and saying “look I didn’t mean be silent...”

Bless 'em.

 

Just remembered (although I've mentioned on here before somewhere):

The only time I've had a moan at someone at Glastonbury was at the group of twats who stood in front of us at the Pyramid (which fine) in a line and then proceeded to each get a out a foldable step and stand on it.

[aidenlangan95]

I have a mate who rocked up just as Massive Attack were starting in Hyde Park. Was having a chat with everyone; he got to me during the encore and the second Unfinished Sympathy started I told him in no uncertain terms to shut up and we'd talk on the way home. He started talking again and I gave him a glare which led him back to my other mates and talked to them throughout the rest of the song. I refused to go to a gig with him for 2 years after that.

Another bad event was at LCD Soundsystem at All Points East last year where someone decided to sit on the floor until 1 minute before they came on stage. They were in the 3rd row. Someone sat on them in the end. They only left when people went mental during the first song (You Wanted a Hit) and everyone around us cheered them off.

Edited June 6, 2019 by aidenlangan95

[Penrhos]

I could have killed the person in front of me at the Richard Ashcroft gig I want to a few weeks ago. 

1) Talked bollocks loudly all through the support act.

2) Held his phone up filming most of the gig.

3) Just stood there, no movement to music, no singing along, might as well have been a cardboard cutout.

3) Had bad BO.

4) Decided to leave half way through the Encore and loudly told his mates "So he could beat the rush in the car park".

 

[Hugh Jass]

3 minutes ago, Penrhos said:

I could have killed the person in front of me at the Richard Ashcroft gig I want to a few weeks ago. 

1) Talked bollocks loudly all through the support act.

2) Held his phone up filming most of the gig.

3) Just stood there, no movement to music, no singing along, might as well have been a cardboard cutout.

3) Had bad BO.

4) Decided to leave half way through the Encore and loudly told his mates "So he could beat the rush in the car park".

 

Are you sure it wasn't Richard himself?

[Penrhos]

Touche - have an upvote!

[stuartbert two hats]

On 6/4/2019 at 1:14 PM, Honeybane said:

The Worst -

1) The Alpha Male -

The Alpha Male is someone who, down the busy front, over aggressively shields their missus from getting accidentally elbowed or pushed during mosh pits and starts fights with people who might accidentally push her in a surge - get in the bin. Go and stand at the back you melts. You ruined Royal Blood in 2017.

2) The Backpackers - 

Leave it at the tent. Nothing worse than having someone's great big fuckin backpack giving your chest friction burns whilst you're dancing to your favorite band. 

3) Talkers -

I don't know you, i don't want to know you and therefore i couldn't give how your loft conversion is going. I'm trying to watch Radiohead. 

4) The Setlist.FM Brigade -

If you've been on Setlist.FM because you want to know the order of songs that's great, you're obviously very excited for the gig and i sincerely hope you have a lovely time but please - do not broadcast it. It's so annoying and just makes you sound like a massive prick. It can ruin gigs for people.

 

On the other hand, my absolute favorite thing to see at gigs is random people embracing for their favorite songs. It's amazing how people come together through music.

 

I dunno man, that's an awful lot of things to get wound up by.

[Skelts]

1 hour ago, Woffy said:

Bless 'em.

 

Just remembered (although I've mentioned on here before somewhere):

The only time I've had a moan at someone at Glastonbury was at the group of twats who stood in front of us at the Pyramid (which fine) in a line and then proceeded to each get a out a foldable step and stand on it.

W-T-actual-F!

This is the ultimate bell-end behaviour, surely.  I bet they thought they were clever too. w*nkers.

[FakeEmpire]

I can cope with most things other than the relentless talkers o,r ratherm shouters.   It's the people who end up next to you or in front or behind who talk non stop, not a few bits here and there, but just full on conversations like they are in a pub only much louder so that they can clearly hear each other above the music.   I try my hardest to block it out but if you're at a gig where the artist is playing something a bit delicate or the sound system's not great then it can mean you can't really hear what you've paid to see.  Most of the time I try and move as whenever I've confronted people, it's rarely gone down well.   If you're in a good spot in a compact crowd though, it's quite difficult to move without a) spoiling your view and b) spoiling someone else's and it seems unfair to have to leave and go all the way to the back (with all the other talkers)!

It became unbearable for me at Christine & the Queens at APE.   Group behind me hadn't listened to anything and were just talking non stop about the most mundane things - how many bus stops to their house, their boyfriend's favourite meals, All Bar One, Tom Hardy movies...it was honestly ridiculous.   I reluctantly turned around and said "I am so sorry, I really don't want to be that guy, but do you mind just being a little bit quieter? Sorry."  and the one girl said "oh my god, wow, oh my god, that is so fucking rude".   Her and her mate then laughed about it for a good 2 songs with a lot of "wow", "can you believe it"s  BUT they then watched the rest of the show in complete silence.   

I don't actually expect or want complete silence, just take a few pauses here and there or just lower it slightly. 

[Chef]

1 hour ago, Woffy said:

Bless 'em.

 

Just remembered (although I've mentioned on here before somewhere):

The only time I've had a moan at someone at Glastonbury was at the group of twats who stood in front of us at the Pyramid (which fine) in a line and then proceeded to each get a out a foldable step and stand on it.

I mean this is almost funny it is so outrageous. 

 

[Madyaker]

2 hours ago, Chef said:

I think people doing this is acceptable, however annoying it may be. There are more people who can't sing than can and nobody should be barred from singing along to their favourite tune at a gig. 

 

You would tolerate someone beside you singing so loud that you can’t hear the artist on stage??? That seems mad to me. You didn’t pay money to hear them sing and they’re ruining the gig for you so I think you’re well entitled to politely ask them to keep it down. That’s what I’d do. It’s no different to talkers etc in my book.

[sophiemarie]

26 minutes ago, FakeEmpire said:

It's the people who end up next to you or in front or behind who talk non stop, not a few bits here and there, but just full on conversations like they are in a pub only much louder so that they can clearly hear each other above the music.

I have a special, simmering annoyance for people that not only do this, but then — when the song ends — stop their conversation to clap. 

You're doing it backwards! Talk between the songs!

[Ayrshire Chris]

So it seems that the main annoyance isn’t folk over enjoying the bands by exuberant dancing or being spaced out but it’s the tossers who insist on standing around talking at the top of their voices about their next holiday or what the best isa rates are at present stopping only to listen to a band when they play the one tune they recognise.

Predominantly upper middle class hoorays who just want to say that ‘I’ve done glasto you know’  why do they all have to be over six foot tall excluding their hats and then shuffle around so even if you move they still block your view. This is why I reckon that Mumford should be on every year preferably three times a day.  Might take these sorts away from the other stages. 

[stuartbert two hats]

56 minutes ago, Madyaker said:

You would tolerate someone beside you singing so loud that you can’t hear the artist on stage??? That seems mad to me. You didn’t pay money to hear them sing and they’re ruining the gig for you so I think you’re well entitled to politely ask them to keep it down. That’s what I’d do. It’s no different to talkers etc in my book.

Your book is messed up and needs to go and listen to a CD with headphones if you think singing is as out of order as talking.

[Spindles]

Aye, got to be honest, singing out of tune is up there with dancing hilariously badly as something I admire in a gig goer.  To be fair, I am guilty of both, I have the co-ordination of a newly born deer and couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.

 

This thread....I name thee demon....crowd intolerance.

[Ayrshire Chris]

I really don’t care about anyone singing along, mad dancing, and being right into what is playing. It generates atmosphere and bands respond to it.  See my above opinion to what I think of those twats who chat away loudly,  indifferent to what is playing. Plenty places they can go and have cosy wee conversations. 

[calamitymaud]

16 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Your book is messed up and needs to go and listen to a CD with headphones if you think singing is as out of order as talking.

I was drunk at a St Vincent gig once a number of years ago and I got told to stop singing along. Though wounded I think that was probably fair. I really don't think it's as bad as talking though.

These days if i'm next to a couple of Talkers, I have to move. I can't ignore it and it ruins the whole thing. It's like snoring, i'm never getting to sleep if I can hear it.

[Hugh Jass]

With singing, as with most things discussed on here, context is key. Bellowing along to the likes of Sprinty Dave and co or Oasis is fine, it's loud, everyone does it and it's generally considered part of the whole experience. You don't go to see certain bands for note perfect renditions. However for quieter, more intimate gigs or just certain songs it isn't appropriate to give your own rendition. Most people can tell when it is or isn't appropriate.

The one I'm still pissed off about was being at the RAH when Noel, Damon and Graham played Tender. I sat there thinking I was about to witness music history being made and couldn't hear a thing because of the c**t next to me shouting along to the entire thing!