I've never understood why anyone would pay good money to see a band they supposedly like/love and then throw shit at them. A few days ago Morrissey got hit with a drink 2 songs in and walked off stage. I realize he was a twit about it but had the "fan" never done this it wouldn't be a problem. How does this happen? I realize it would be hard to predict the guy or girl next to you was about to throw their drink but once it happens how is it the audience just stands by? If I was next to this asshole I would of beat the shit out of them. If people get the shit beat out of them on a consistent basis for ruining or possibly ruining a show that costs each person 35 bucks plus I think it would stop. I am going to see Moz in Vegas with tickets and airfare and hotel it's like 500 bucks if someone throws something at him and he storms off my 3 buds and I will find that fucker and beat them. I think all should do the same. You might not care about Moz but someday it might happen to your fav artist and you will have to worry that your show will be ruined.

I think our #1 duty as fans is to put down the fucking cell phone/camera phone and actually enjoy the show.

It does seem to be happening more often & more or less indiscriminately these days.

LOL

Probably the most exciting thing to happen in years at a Morrissey show.

Good fucking luck with that. I'm about to toss my girlfriends blackberry into a wall. Look up, people! You are alive! Look up from your pathetic mobile devices!

I couldn't agree more.

It's totally bewildering that he would pay the money and throw the beer -- but what's even more mind-blowing is the fact that he probably had to wait on line for at least 10 hours prior to the show.

I seen Morrissey earlier this year at Webster Hall in NY, and I had to wait somewhere around 6 hours just to get to the front. Considering that venue looks to be about 5 times the size of Webster Hall, this dude asshole must've waited a lot longer. I just can't picture a Morrissey fan taking any sort of aggressive behavior out against him. I've been to two of his shows -- one in NY and one in London. The passionate infatuation that these fans have for him just goes against everything that beer throw stood for. I mean, FUCK, I seen a group of guys literally throwing punches at each other (let alone hitting and pushing security), just to get a piece of the shirt that Morrissey threw into the crowd (this was the London show).

Honestly, I wouldn't expect any different from Morrissey, other than to walk off and stop the show. Somehow, I don't blame him. If it was me, I would stop the show and have the audience members point out the asshole that was responsible and make a fool out of him.

I just can't hold it against any of these performers for acting the way they do when a so-called 'fan' throws shit at them. Just like in the case with Jay Reatard. He got a pitcher of beer thrown at him -- which spilled all over his gear. I think he was totally entitled to cancel the show.

It drives me crazy. So many people at concerts either spend the whole time texting, or watching the whole concert through their camera view finder. What is the logic behind this? Recoriding it for yourself, so you can watch it on your computer screen again later? You watched it through your camera screen the first time when you were there! You are at the concert, it's happening 20 feet from you, experience it!

And it would seem that the iphone/twitter obsessed culture might feed a disregard for the show, because it denigrates the show to be simply background music for this person's life, as opposed to the focus of the evening.

Yeah, I'd say in general, America/the world could use more focus.

Multi-tasking is great for work, but don't ask me why people think it's also a great way to "play".

But I digress-- fans have always thrown their drinks, and all musicians have to learn when to duck, or not make a bigger deal out of it than needed. But where have all the bouncers gone?

unfortunately indie has become cool so we seem to be getting more people at gigs "to look cool". Hell, they may even have heard a single on a commercial radio station.

I really can't stand when people

!. talk through gigs. fuck you. Especially when they shout at each other when to be heard over the music or at quiet gigs. scumbags

2. people trying to copulate during a gig. fuck off.

3. I'm not against you taking a picture but no videoes please. I've watched parts of gigs before through viewfinders.

Yeah guys. Let's all stop boarding.

how bout listening to the fucking music you paid money to see!!!

i cant tell you how many times ive been to a show and people are yapping away about shit that has nothing to do with the show/music...

if youre at a show and something happens on stage or you know something cool about the song etc and are talking to your friends about it - cool

but when youre standing there with your gf and shes yapping about her firend whos a bitch i have no problem letting you have it if it keeps me from enjoying the show

i swear the wrens show i went to at schubas a couple months ago there were these two couples who knew each other and all they did was talk until me and this other dude told them theres a bar outside where they can happily carry on their conversation...

If people are talking loudly on cell phones next to me at a show, I'll catch the name of the person they are talking about and respond "hey, how is Jim doing? Is he coming out tonight?". This usually gets them to quiet down really fast.

Dude, first off -- it's a Morrissey concert. Not Converge.

I don't think you would 'not make a bigger out of it than needed,' if you were getting nailed with beers to the head. Morrissey's signature thing is to kneel over to the audience members and grab a hand or two. So now he's supposed to watch out for flying objects?

I think it's reasonable to assume that people who spend their money and time coming to see you perform are not going to project random objects at you.

Same thing I thought at the Louvre. All these Asian tourists, camera up to their eye taking pix of these paintings. You know they make coffee table books with gorgeous prints of these exact works of art...is what I felt like saying.

No-one threw a drink AT Morrissey, someone threw a drink forward and it happened to hit Morrissey.

Considering thirty years ago people had pint glasses lobbed on purpose at them things have improved considerably.

As said above, the most important thing to do at a gig is shut the fuck up.

Not necessarily. Singing along is acceptable.

Not if I can hear you it isn't. Unless it's Sir Paul McCartney and everyone is joining in the coda to 'Hey Jude' I don't want to hear anyone else's attempts.

too many think it's acceptable to do this AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS and they don't know the words.

Hell yes sing alongs are accetpable at a rock show.

Well, yes, I was thinking more on the lines of those anthemic sing along types like Mitch alluded to. Listening to 20,000 people sing,...loudly I might add... the entire opening verse and chorus to Springsteen's Hungry Heart while he just soaks it in is rather joyous.

Depends hugely on the show yeah. Aside from idiots talking, permanently taking photos and throwing stuff the one thing which is guaranteed to piss me off at a gig is clapping in time with the music. I realise a lot of bands encourage this and lead the clapping but jesus it makes me cringe.

I understand your frustration, but vigilante justice is never a good solution.

Cell phone camera picture taking is the worst. If only for the fact that the photos taken by cell phones suck. You're just wasting your time. You're sacrificing enjoyment of a concert for a low-res photo you won't even look at cause the quality is so low.

i try to take about 30 secs of video at every show i go to. the quality sucks and it will never be worthwhile to anyone but me, but i've found it to be a good way of chronicling my concertgoing. when i go back to them, that brief clip is usually enough to bring back the detailed memories of the entire show.

i've gotten the "hey asshole" look on rare occasions when i pull the camera out for a few seconds, and love the irony of someone being distracted enough by my camera and concern over my level of "appreciation" that they can be pulled away from their intent enjoyment to give picture people the stink eye.

They're not giving you the stare-- they're trying to stare down an entire cultural seachange. Have you been to a movie theater, lately?

I think I want to only go to the theatres that I know have ushers who might actually do something, or to at least a place where the sound is so loud it drowns everything out. I fucking love it when it seems like the "turn your cell phones off now" msg is going long. It never goes too long for me.

None of the stuff in this thread really pisses me off. I can count the number of shows I've attended on one hand where conversations could rise above the music. So that's really a non-issue.

As for cell phones/cameras, that's stupid, but what do I care if people spend a show taking low-res pictures and screaming inaudibly into a cell phone. It doesn't detract from my experience.

That said, what I don't like are people who forget that it's a rock show, and act like assholes because they think they're entitled to an opera experience. A few months back, a guy confronted me after the show because apparently I elboed his girlfriend (it was a very packed show). I obviously didn't know it happened, it wasn't intentional, and I offered to apologize...but that wasn't enough. He wanted to fight. Lucklily I could just walk away, but it was still a stupid argument. I wish that was my only such experience. So here are some things I wish people would remember as facts of life:

It's a packed club, you're probably going to get a little beer spilled on you. Don't wear clothes, pursed, shoes, etc. that can't survive a little beer.

At some point, someone 6 inches taller than you is going to stand front of you and block your view.

People are still going to smoke, even though it's illegal (funny how cigarettes have now taken on the aura of weed).

The beer will be overpriced...and the tap lines will be dirty.

Make sure to poop before you come out, because: (a) there's no door on that stall; (b) even if there was, there ain't no toilet seat; and © even if there was a toilet seat, that shitter's backed up and the fecal water is making it's way on to the floor, as someone else's turd meanders above the water line, plotting its great escape.

And that's another thing, who the fuck wears flip-flops to a show, and complains about getting there toes stomped. Even if there's no chance of your little piggies getting crushed, why would expose them to the aforementioned shit water?

Anyway, just remind yourself that it's all part of the experience, and if this stuff is too bothersome, then it might be time to stop going.

In their defense: when you first pull out that camera, they don't know if you're that person that just wants a few quick shots of the band of if you're gonna be that guy that's holding up his phone/camera for 3/4 of the show. What you're doing is fine, but the guys who are doing it the whole show are irritating.

i really only see this at the congress and riviera anymore.

i was at a halloween show a few years ago and the guitarist for one band got hit in the face with a toy gun. they played through the song. at the end of it, he yelled at the person who threw it. then they continued the set. it's a fucking rock show. things get thrown around.

enh, I dont really find anything wrong with people singing along if they know the words.

I always felt some type of camaraderie with a bunch of people singing along, all sweaty with pupils dialated screaming the words to undone sweater song or something. Don't you people meet new people at concerts? even just for the night?

i definitely don't want a bunch of people there quiet as fuck nodding their heads. fuck that all day.

Definitely this. I always dread that when the guy in front of me pulls out a camera, he's going to keep it there, right in my line of view for the rest of the show.

what a pussy.





Edit: And Morrissey too...I'd like to see him get hit but a drink like this...

Well next time I'm in a fairly small venue listening to a quiet acoustic number and there's someone caterwauling along over it I'll bare it's all part of the fun.

yr so right, every time I go see Morrissey I always leave disappointed thinking dammit another show and no flying pig what a ripoff!

No shit. Call out the motherfucker, berate and embarrass him in front of thousands of his peers, have his ass kicked out, and then go on with the damn show. Christ, I know Morissey is a little emo bitch, but grow a pair.

Like so:

did Angus just steal that guys nose?

I know a girl who records every concert she goes to (and is super pissed if a venue will not let her bring her massive fucking camera in). It annoys the shit out of me - I asked her once why she does it and she went on some big holier than thou rant about having to archive it..."I simply must get it all on FILM."

First of all, digital cameras don't use film. Second of all, how you can possibly be letting yourself go and taking the ride (which is the whole point of a live show) when you are worried about getting the right angles and shots is beyond me. Also, by holding your camera at some crazy angle, you're probably blocking someone elses view or at least distracting them. I just don't see how a show can be enjoyed like this. And from my observation, it really isn't. These people never seem to feel the music, and in the end the video just proves as validation of their cool points for others. Look at what good taste I have, I went to this show...blah. Who cares! Since when did it become so absurd to actually want to experience life as it happens?


And anyone who feels the need to throw shit needs to just grow up and leave the show - if you aren't here for the music and are there to try to make yourself into some sort of smartass star, just fuckin leave! Rarely does "witty" banter with the band work, either.

You know what's always hilarious? People yelling "Free Bird." Never fails to have me rolling on the floor laughing. It's even funnier the earlier in the show you start to do it. Pure comedic gold.

Even funnier: scream out a request for the song the band just finished playing.

here's how it's done people.

isaac brock responding to a fan screaming out for "old shit" after they just played "dramamine" which is one of their oldest songs

"you just pushed my grump button". ha

hate the Free Bird thing. just heard that one not long ago at Kurt Vile. made me cringe so hard it hurt

in response to JeffTweedy....i'd be willing to bet that girl has some sort of disorder. maybe OCPD or something like that.
i feel the need to chronicle the shows i go to too. like someone else said, i just take like 30 seconds of video and maybe a couple of pictures and that's it. when i'm taking video, i hold the camera directly in front of me so it's not in anyone else's line of sight. and if i snap a picture, i usually do it when somebody else is already taking one. i'll snap like 1-5 depending on how much i like the band and then put it away for the rest of the show. generally i just try to be as unobtrusive as possible. i know it's lame bringing the camera at all (and even lamer that i keep a scrapbook of my pictures, setlists, ticket stubs, and a writeup of the show) but i really like having it. it's a hobby. plus i was starting to forget some of the shows i went to....it's nice to be able to look at it and remember all the cool stuff i've seen.

How about the famous Montreal meltdown, where Waters tells the crowd "fuck you", and then later spits in the face of a fan. You can hear Waters raving like a madman to the fan "come on boy.....all is forgiven...come on boy!!!!! Come on son, just a little closer...yeaaaaaahhhhhh"

Then Waters gets into it again with people up front. In the last part, Gilmour storms off the stage for the last encore, lol! These incidents led Waters to build "the Wall" between the audience and the stage for the next album/tour.

At the end "we're just going to play some slow blues for everyone to go home to, everything will be alright", lol! and the GIlmour-less Floyd breaks into an improvised blues number. Remember that this was a crowd of 90,000!




Waters goal, every since the Barrett days was to "intimidate the audience into sumbission"(direct quote), which was why they pioneered the quad sound, the effects, screens, theatrical type shit, etc.

Some witness snippets from that show:

He called into the audience and pointed at a kid somewhere off to my right - just in front of him. He called the kid up to the stage, like you would a dog. "C’mon boy... come back... all is forgiven... just a bit further... there’s a good boy..." I could see an exuberant teenager climb over the barricade and with the help of a roadie, he was lifted up to the edge of the stage. I’m sure he thought he was going to meet his idol... until Mr. Waters let fly with a wad of spit that was as remarkable for its volume as it was for its accuracy. "Sch-plaugh" - right in the kid’s face! Dazed, the kid was tossed, like garbage, back over the bars into the darkness.


Blues: (Final encore) David never came back. I’ve read that he watched this song from the soundboard, but I was right there and I didn’t see him. While Snowy, Roger, Nick and Rick played the blues, roadies quickly tore down the equipment around them. By the end of the song, only Roger and Nick were left - Nick was down to just a snare drum and high-hat. Roger’s flat "Good-bye!" signalled the end of an unforgettable night.

really? I don't recall ever finding this an issue at a show much less coming up at all?

Two words : lawn seats.

My biggest gripe is 18+ shows, for the most part. I don't know if anyone went to see Modest Mouse @ Aragon back in August, but it was fucking awful. If you were anywhere near the front, you had kids trying to out prove who's the bigger fan by trying to mosh at the most inappropriate times.

I think if they played "Float On," I probably would've left the venue. It would have been unbearable. Yes, I know it's a rock show, but I don't go to all shows expecting to push and be pushed.

While I certainly can appreciate 21+ shows now, I remember being 16 and pissed that I couldn't go see one of my favorite bands cause I didn't have a fake. So yeah, young'uns can be a little annoying, but good for them getting out to a show...and if the music's good and loud enough, it takes a lot to upset me.

i hate when people get pissed because of my loud singing, obtrusive and injury inducing dance moves, and ongoing beverage splashing while i am trying to enjoy a show. stay home please.


word on the street says lesbian oral lessons were given on the floor of the metro during this past october type o negative show.

"Don't ever yell 'Freebird' unless you are willing to pay the consequences."

Yep. I tripped over a guy fucking his girlfriend during "Amazing" when I went to see Aerosmith when I was about 14 or 15. One of many reasons why that show was hilarious.

your problem isn't 18+ shows. it's listening to a band like modest mouse that, in the eyes of some, compromised their sound for wider appeal and, hence, drew in the type of people who'd act like that at a show. you got what you went for by seeing modest mouse in 2009. there are plenty of 18+ shows that go smoothly.


this is it. rarely, even at an all ages show, do i see many people younger than 18 unless there's a band with a very young following. what i would've given 15 years ago to be one of those kids at dozens of shows i couldn't attend... good for those who are going out and enjoying themselves.