The Horrible Esthete wrote:Well, I guess that's why I'm defending Steve's point of view here.
We're all there to watch and listen to a concert, right? In my humble opinion, those who want to do just that shouldn't have to locate / situate themselves around those who want to do something other than that, namely treat it like it's their own personal karyoke night or a sing-along, as Steve put it.
I pay The Hip to listen to The Hip play. Am I crazy for assuming that the people standing next to me did exactly the same, not to hear ME sing along with The Hip?
No I don't necessarily think you are crazy. I stated in an earlier post that Steve's opinion is his opinion. I can't fault him because I don't agree with him. There are some instances when I do agree with you (and Steve). I go to these shows with my best friend. He likes to video tape these shows. I like to sing along. I respect his right to video tape and so I don't sing along when we sit/stand beside each other. I can do that. On this past Saturday night however, I stood about 10 feet in front of him and off to the side so that I could sing along and it wouldn't affect his recording. It's a give and take relationship.
I remember one of the first Hip concerts I went to, it was a great show. One
moment in particular that I will always remember was when the band played ABAC and I couldn't hear Gord because of the crowd singing along. Since we were two rows from the very top at MLG, we could see the entire building and it was just lit with lighters. It was magical!
So I think that when you are at a concert, you have to remember that everyone there paid the exact same amount for the tickets that you purchased (within reason) and what they choose to use that time for is there own business. Much like it is yours to use the time you have paid for to do what you want to do. Again, it is a give and take relationship.
I am not naive enough to say to you there is an easy answer here. But I do think that concerts are public events which will always have something that you don't like about it. But it will also have a lot of things you
do like about it and for that reason alone you will keep going to them.