Down In Front!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, on Friday we went to see Ray LaMontagne in concert. The show was at the Orpheum Theater and acoustically it was a great show - everything sounded amazing. Also, visually the show was good - we were up in the balcony and while there wasn't much to see, we had perfect sight-lines in case something came up. However, spatially, the theater left quite a bit to be desired. Like Fenway Park, the Orpheum was built a very long time ago, back when the average person was much smaller. That also means, like Fenway Park, I outgrew the Orpheum when I was about 12. I was totally crammed into my seat. I can't even say my knees were in the back of the chair in front of me, because that would imply I could sit with my legs in front of me. The reality is that I had to spread them to either side of the chair in front of me and fold my legs under my chair with my knees next to the ears of the guy sitting in front of me. Even worse, we were in the middle of the row and I swear the aisle got narrower the closer you got to the middle. It wouldn't have been a big deal at most concerts because I would have simply opted to stand the entire time. Alas, an acoustic evening with Ray LaMontagne is not exactly the kind of show which lends itself to standing and rocking out - I was left with hoping he would take his time before coming out for the encore. Still, a lack of legroom was not the biggest annoyance I had at the show. That distinction was reserved for the rest of the crowd.

Admittedly, I'm not the biggest concert goer, probably because I do not really enjoying listening to music in a big crowd. This reluctance to share my listening experience is not a result of the fans around me usually try to sing louder than the speakers, even though I like to quote Matt Damon when he hosted "Saturday Night Live": "I came here to hear Bruce Springsteen, not the shipping department of Circuit City." It has more to do with me just having a very low tolerance for drunk people and concerts are teeming with them. Again, you wouldn't think an acoustic evening with Ray LaMontagne would lead to a night of drunken debauchery and I'm sure the number of drunks in the crowd was much lower than the average show at the Orpheum, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in annoyance. For example, these drunk people loved to yell out requests. Now, I know how disappointing it is to go see a musician only to have them not play the your favorite song. However, if you want to have that much control over the playlist, I would suggest staying home and listening to your iPod because this was an actual musician and not a DJ - at no point did he ask for suggestions. Also, the least the drunks could do was pay attention to the music because at one point LaMontagne did play "Trouble" (his biggest hit), only to have a very drunk girl request it a couple songs later. [Sidebar: his response was great - "I already played it. Were you getting a beer? I have bad news for you - I sang the hell out of it."] Apparently, no one told her concerts don't feature a repeat button. Even worse are the drunks who were trying to be funny, because no one told them no one came to hear their thoughts on the playlist.

Another thing the drunks love is taking pictures. The ticket said no flash photography, but it was clear the Orpheum was going to let it slide. I don't blame them - in this day and age you can't people to turn off their phones for 2 hours and every phone is also a camera, so fighting that battle is a lost cause. I only wish camera phones came with picture limits because a few of these people were way too excited to be breaking the rules. Honestly, on more than one occasion there were so many flashes going off from the woman behind me I was afraid I had accidentally wandered into a rave. The thing is it was a very simple set and concert. What, exactly, are you taking so many pictures of? If nothing has changed since the last picture than why don't you put the camera down and actually listen to the music for a minute or two? You may discover it increases the concert experience by leaps and bounds. But, more than that I couldn't get over the constant moving. Admittedly, I probably treat shows such as this like going to a movie - once I find my seat I am there until the show ends. However, the section in front of me clearly didn't feel the same because after every song at least 10 people got up to head elsewhere. I'll grant you that maybe they needed a beer or to go to the bathroom, but several people seemed to get up every other song. Why did you buy tickets if you aren't planning to actually watch the show?

I seriously don't want this post to sound like a had a bad time, because I really didn't. The music was great and for the most part the crowd was well-behaved. But, as you know I have a habit of people-watching and the people who are acting out of the ordinary tend to draw my eye, which naturally made them the second show of the night. I guess my confusion regarding their actions also stems from the fact I simply don't see the appeal of getting so drunk you forget you were at a show. I remember back in high school I was working security at a Dave Matthews Concert and as the crowd was filing out after the show I ran into a very drunk classmate of mine. I asked him what he thought and said, "It sucked! They never played 'Ants Marching'." It would have been a fair complaint... if the band hadn't finished that very song not 10 minutes earlier. Seriously, if you plan to spend the night getting black-out drunk, why even go to a concert? Stay home and tell everyone you went, because you will apparently be able to get the exact same amount of details correct. At least by staying home the only person whose night will get impacted is you. Trust me, the rest of us won't even notice you're gone.