Steve Winwood, Raleigh July 2008. Photo by Andrew.
So I am at the Tom Petty show in Raleigh. Yeah I been to a bunch of Tom Petty Shows BUT Steve Winwood was opening this one. And I am a huge fan. It is late on a Summer day. Hot. I was close to the stage. I had paid too much for three seats. I was running on pure happiness listening to Steve perform and it was an hour or so to the Heartbreakers show. Damn life was good. I was standing thinking about how great Steve is as a musician and all the music history he is associated with. I felt special just to be there. It was a moment. I was in another world. Then this tap comes on my shoulder.
It was the lady behind me. “Sir can you sit down?” I thought “Surely you did not say that.” I looked back and saw I was one a few standing and I thought…then I said to myself in a flash as I thought about my approach to life which is “no drama please” I said “I have waited for this day for a long time. This guy is a musical legend. His presence deserves everyone in this place to stand in full attention. I am sorry if you don’t get that but I am not sitting down until the end of the show. This my dear is a rock concert.” I smiled and turned around.
Today I was reading the local Greensboro North Carolina entertainment fish wrap and I saw this article written by Timothy Finn in the Knoxville paper and I thought “Yeah, I really get it.”
http://www.knoxville.com/news/2010/jan/22/concerts-manners-rock-10-tips-concert-etiquette/?partner=RSS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The live music scene is coming out of holiday hibernation. Seems like a good time to remind us all how to be considerate to one another, whether in an arena or a small club.
Here are 10 recommendations for better show etiquette:
1. If it’s a rock show, please don’t yell at me to sit down and say, “I didn’t pay $ (blank) to look at your back.” And I didn’t pay $ (blank) to feel like I’m in my own den watching TV. It’s a concert, not a funeral Mass. Most places have accommodations for people who cannot stand.
2. Organize your beer/bathroom runs. No one likes the dudes in the middle of the row who leave their seats eight times to keep their buzzes going.
3. Mass sing-alongs are great. Give them all your gusto. Singing at the top of your lungs when no one else is, is annoying. Sometimes painful. Keep it under your breath.
4. Unless you’re Ken Burns, there’s really no need to document the entire show on your iPhone, which is usually held aloft, in someone’s line of vision.
5. If you must talk throughout the show, stand in the bar or concourse areas. We didn’t pay $ (blank) to hear in excruciating detail the story of your personal life.
6. If the band does another encore while you’re on your way out, please don’t stop and plant yourself in the aisle to listen. Move on or go back to your seat.
7. In the merch lines, figure out what you want before you get up to the point of sale. They’re only T-shirts, not automobiles or houses. Just pick one.
8. I suppose if you drop a $7 or $12 cover to get into a bar/club, it’s your prerogative to sit at the bar with your back to the band and talk — or shout — over the music, like it’s happy hour. You could also go somewhere else.
9. If the club/theater is packed and you arrive at the last minute, please don’t elbow, nudge, wedge and barge your way past those of us who arrived an hour or more early to get a good place on the floor. “Excuse me” doesn’t cut it, especially when you plant yourself directly in front of someone five minutes before showtime.
10. When it’s crowded and you’re returning to your spot with full beers, take a few sips beforehand so that they go into your belly and not on someone else’s arms, back, legs …
For more on my “beer down the back story” ask me to tell you that one in person….