written on four pieces of scrap paper in my purse as I waited for Ray Davies to take the stage
To the drunk guy at the concert sitting directly behind us:
Hey. Don't worry about it. Going to see a rock 'n roll legend is a common experience for all of us. No wonder you felt the need to get black-out drunk and behave like a douchebag.
Anyone would.
'Coz, as you said after we politely asked you to turn your voice down: "it's all about you." Just as long as you're having a good time, well, hell, the rest of us can have your good time, too.
The person I don't understand is the woman sitting next to you. Is she the wife who has been beaten down for so long that she doesn't even notice anymore when you have alienated everyone within your decibel range?
Oh. Now. I've heard it. The familiar Ithaca plaint: "I'm sick of this fucking town." Yes. I know. Peace, love and stfu, dude. I'd be happy to see you move to some place where your ilk is tolerated.
Question is, where is that place? Wal-Mart at midnight on Black Friday?
Am I getting old? Have I always been this intolerant of your level of rudeness, or am I just becoming oversensitive to the "I'm the only one who counts" bullshit that passes for civilized behaviour these days?
So yeah.
I wasn't crazy about the opening band either. I kept my hands in my lap and clapped politely.
When you stuck your head down between my date and me and rambled drunkenly, I decided I had had enough and went to get the usher. You intimidated her, so all she asked you to do is keep it down.
I grab my partner's hand. We don't need a fight. Just keep cool.
"I have it all over these people here." Really? In the drunken asshole department?
It's actually quite fascinating listening to your drunken illusions. Yes, you are the great and powerful Oz. And your enabler is trying to have a conversation with you. Does she realize what an addict you are?
Self-aggrandizement.
Illusions.
YESSIRREEEEEE.
You say that one more time, and add the "bob" and I'll know exactly where you're from.
You want a refund? Why? Because you're not getting to watch this concert in your own living room?
Ray Davies just asked if we were having a good time.
"Not yet," you moan. "This is bullshit."
Yes. Yes. It is.
You are bullshit.
But, now the music is loud, and you are being drowned out by the crowd singing back to Ray.
What do you think now?
Oh. You're gone.
Good fucking riddance.
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Instead of continuing to try to hush him, I just wrote about him until I burned out my anger.
So, consider this a rant.
the fate of drunken louts who shout disruptive malediction
was sure to be a sorry one in venues like the Garden
where Boston’s best were at their worst and assholes got no pardon.
We’d deal with him the way the Spartans dealt with Greeks and Thracians
We’d kick his ass down flights of stairs and cave his poxy face in.
Oh for the days when instant karma ruled with iron hand
Just shut your gob you fuckin fuck and dig the fuckin band!
And no, not getting too old. People are getting more annoying after decades of not learning manners and becoming increasingly "me" centered and lost in television and gadgets and their own bullshit.
Like the style you wrote this in. Kinda jagged and wasn't sure who was saying what but didn't matter. You wrote in the style that it felt, no doubt.
Concerts just aren't what they used to be.
I saw Elvis Costello last spring seated near a similar person. It helped to imagine him alone with his dark disappointed soul and his bottle, to remind myself that he'd made his own suffering reality. How sad, to be angry and nasty bad while surrounded in the pleasure of Ray Davies. If you can't enjoy that, there's probably not much that you can.
I put up with it for a bit, because I was sure they would stop after a minute or two…but ten minutes into the play, they were still at it.
Finally I told them to shut the damn things down—that they were an annoyance. To their credit, they did immediately, but if I hadn’t, they would have gone on with their disregard for the impact of the texting lights in a darkened theater on the enjoyment for the rest of the audience.
Seen lots of that kind of thing lately…of the kind I mentioned and the kind you mentioned. Sports venues are becoming havens for drunken, unruly “fans” with little, in any, regard for language or conduct…and movie houses seem irresistible to people who want to text while others are trying to watch a film.
Not sure what that kind of crap is all about, but it goes beyond rudeness…or self-centeredness.
Glad you said something to the guy—sorry it didn’t work. I’m even gladder that it did not end up in a confrontation between your boyfriend and the jerk.
ASIDE: When the lights went up, no words were spoken between our party and the group in front. In fact, they studiously avoided even looking back toward us. Actually, I was glad of that, because they were young girls (16 –17 at most) and I felt embarrassed that I had been so abrupt in my asking them to turn their phones off. But all those kinds of things are uncalled for.
BTW, in my classes, my students know if I catch them texting in my class they get kicked out. Done. It isn't a problem in my class because they know I mean it. And I also explain it to them as a professional thing--the first time they text during a boss's talk, my guess is they'll lose their jobs.
Nice and polite like that.
My wife giggled.
I won the tickets.
As long as we're ranting about concert audience members, to the people at the Springsteen concert two years ago who yelled at Bruce to shut up when he briefly mentioned politics: Do you actually listen to his music?
Loved the way you handled this guy!
Fingerlakes, this has happened to my husband and me so many times. We wonder if we have some sort of magnetic attraction for fools and jokers. I'm glad you got to hear the featured performer, at least.
Fingerlakes, this has happened to my husband and me so many times. We wonder if we have some sort of magnetic attraction for fools and jokers. I'm glad you got to hear the featured performer, at least.
While I haven't had the experience of an annoying concert goer sitting near me at various concerts I have attended, some interesting things did happen that interrupted some songs such as the time Dave Brubeck and his group were interrupted performing "Take Five" at a fundraiser concert in CT when the president of the organization holding the concert halted the song for a few minutes to find someone in the audience whose babysitter was on the phone with a problem (those were pre-cellphone days).
I love the responses you've all offered about assholes.
My friend E has been known to move from her seat to the seat directly next to offending talkers and to say in a loud voice, "SINCE I PAID NINE DOLLARS FOR THIS MOVIE TICKET, AND I CANNOT HEAR THE MOVIE BECAUSE OF YOUR CONVERSATION, I THOUGHT I'D SIT NEXT TO YOU SO I COULD PARTICIPATE. SO, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? Her partner refuses to go to movies w/ her any more, but I'm with her.
I go back and forth between Yoga breathing and imagining going ballistic.
I was at a Keb 'Mo show some years ago, very intimate venue, and the people behind us, tits-up drunk, would not stop trying to engage with the artist, who politely replied to the first couple of things they shrieked. But when they yelled during his lovely cover of "Amazing Grace," I got super-pissed. It all worked out. As we were leaving the theater, they staggered down the sidewalk in front of us, and I decided to alert the local gendarmes that these folks had absolutely no business driving. I do not know what happened from there, but I sincerely hope it involved the drunk tank.
Two weeks ago, at a Tiger Lillies show, the women behind us whispered and giggled through each song. During the break, my friend very nicely noted that they were clearly having a wonderful time, but would they please keep it down for the benefit of we elders who are a little hard of hearing? Worked like a charm.
Glad you got to see Ray Davies.
Best,
Bikerchick94
rated