suites Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 What ever happened to the good old days when the concert started when it started. Back in the days when we would go to Sportatorium to See Van Halen and they come on around 10:30 if that early....and nobody cared. Now everyone no only knows exactly what time the bands will be coming on but what times they will be finishing and what the setlist is going to be. If someone was getting high near you or smoking you wouldn't go get a usher or cop. Don't get me wrong, I am as guilty as the rest with getting as much information as I can (like I needed to find out my childs sex at the first ultrasound). I am on the boards checking out setlists and such, so when I go to a concert now I have an idea of what is going to be played. I think I liked it better when I didn't know or see preview on youtube. I thing that kills me and I think kills the atmosphere is all the picture and video taking. I can understand a picture or 2 but the holding up the video is a joke. So they post it to youtube and quality is terrible and who is going to watch it. 99% of tours will have a DVD out from the band after the tour so if you want to see it wait for that. We have this venue in South Florida (Seminole Hard Rock Live) and they sell you expensive booze (always like to see that word in print) then they treat you like you are cattle.....no standing....only able to go certain concessions/restrooms...starting shows at 7:45 and end at 9:30 (Allman Brothers just last week), so they can get you to the gambling tables/slots. Just seems like the days of Rock and Roll being Rock and Roll are long gone we have moved on to a more controlled setting for these shows. What do you like better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hardwood floor Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 i'll never check a set list before i see a band but i am all for getting out of a venue before 3 a.m. i don't miss the days of standing in some dinky smoky smelly club with a mixture of urine, vomit and spilled beer coating the floor watching 4 shitty opening bands play 40-minute sets just so i can finally see the band i came for but then again, i'm not 22 anymore i'm old as shit now, have kids, work starts early, etc. picture taking & videos ... i don't notice that. the one thing that bugs me the most is people who talk during a show, but that will never change. i don't understand why the fuck you would pay good money to go see a band and just talk through the entire thing, but you can't go to a show without it happening. dickheads Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 What ever happened to the good old days when the concert started when it started. Back in the days when we would go to Sportatorium to See Van Halen and they come on around 10:30 if that early....and nobody cared. Now everyone no only knows exactly what time the bands will be coming on but what times they will be finishing.... I'm with you on most of that tirade, but I can't go along with the above quote. As an 8:30-5er (which eats up at least 10 hours each weekday) I have only a small amount of free time each evening, and I need to manage it as much as possible with as little wasted time as possible. I don't want to wait around in a music venue for god knows how long before the band decides to play. I like to know within a five or ten minute window when the band will hit the stage so I can do other things before heading to the show, such as eat dinner, run errands or take a nap. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Truth. I was fine with small club starting times of 11 PM or even midnight when I was a student, and also for a while when I was a dirt-poor 20-something dirtbag. Now that I'm older and more settled into my daily routine, it pisses me off that to go see a weekday show at the Blind Pig (for example), I'd probably not return home until 2 AM or so. I get up at 5. This doesn't work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 The thing that kills me and I think kills the atmosphere is all the picture and video taking. I can understand a picture or 2 but the holding up the video is a joke.The constant taking of photos and video is definitely a bit of an atmosphere killer. Anytime someone starts playing with these gadgets to capture a moment, they're actually removing themselves a little bit from that moment. It's like someone talking on their cell while driving; the focus isn't 100% where it should be. A rock concert should be visceral, make you want to move and be in the moment, it's not about trying to capture it (poorly) for later enjoyment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mjpuczko Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Truth. I was fine with small club starting times of 11 PM or even midnight when I was a student, and also for a while when I was a dirt-poor 20-something dirtbag. Now that I'm older and more settled into my daily routine, it pisses me off that to go see a weekday show at the Blind Pig (for example), I'd probably not return home until 2 AM or so. I get up at 5. This doesn't work. totally agree. this is why i can't go to 99% of shows in town. if it's at a theatre or something and i know it's over by 10 or 10:30, i'm cool with that. but ending at midnight sucks when you get up at 5;30. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twigboyjoe Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Yep, I concur with all thoughts here! I think there's always gigs to do it the old way (in London there are anyway) but most high profile gigs go the 'new way'... I think our attitudes change over time. If I ain't playing or it's not a day off next day, it has to be new way I'm afraid! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I agree that the 11pm start times, uncomfortable clubs, 4 crappy opening bands, etc, are experiences that I have no interest in revisiting. I also realize that this is why someone once suggested "don't trust anyone over 30." It's hard for me to wrap my 33 yr old brain around it, but I guess it's true. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rusty Shackleford Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 As a working stiff approaching middle age, I very much appreciate knowing when a band will start the show. These days I tend to go to shows by myself, so I try to stay home with the wife and kids until show time if I can. I see no reason to anger the old ball and chain any more than necessary, especially if I'll just end up standing around the venue bored for an hour waiting for the band to come on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
remphish1 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I am all for things starting on time and not ending late. Yeah I may be only 29 but I get up for work at 6am. I hate shows in NYC that start 11pm on a weekday but I love live concerts! I go but am wrecked for the whole week because I get a few hours of sleep because I get home at 2am. I also like early starts and small down time because as stated by others I might bring my wife along and she has no patients so a smoth transition between bands with little downtime makes for a better time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Aren't the new and old times just a few years apart? I remember when lots of stuff (nearly all) started late and some clubs you had to buy at least two drinks (and the clubs had chairs.) Hell I remember when you could smoke ANYWHERE!!! LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Hell I remember when you could smoke ANYWHERE!!!LouieB That's one thing I like about the "new" way. It's nice coming home from a show and not smelling like an ashtray. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tinnitus photography Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 big shows are tightly orchestrated in terms of start and stop times because of things like a hard curfew...venues pay sizable fines for overstepping these limits. club shows still have this this sort of environment though. i was at a show last night that the band didn't get on until 11:15 or so. yeah it was later than i'd have liked, and i have a 30 mile trip back home afterwards, but it won't kill me. that said, i don't get up at 5. more like 7. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sonicshoulder Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I can remember walking 30 miles uphill both ways to concerts with burlap bags tied to our blistered feet only to have your stash and lighter confiscated during the intense pat where after you will are forced to buy $6.50 beers(one at a time) and leave with no encore. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouisvilleGreg Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 The constant taking of photos and video is definitely a bit of an atmosphere killer. Anytime someone starts playing with these gadgets to capture a moment, "they're actually removing themselves a little bit from that moment." It's like someone talking on their cell while driving; the focus isn't 100% where it should be. A rock concert should be visceral, make you want to move and be in the moment, it's not about trying to capture it (poorly) for later enjoyment. "Every moment's a little bit later." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tongue-tied Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 The constant taking of photos and video is definitely a bit of an atmosphere killer. Anytime someone starts playing with these gadgets to capture a moment, they're actually removing themselves a little bit from that moment. It's like someone talking on their cell while driving; the focus isn't 100% where it should be. A rock concert should be visceral, make you want to move and be in the moment, it's not about trying to capture it (poorly) for later enjoyment. All they are removing themselves from is the "moment" you prescribe as best. Why can't videotaping be part of their moment? I appreciate a good concert video on youtube. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nobody Girl Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Hell, I don't start work until 4 in the afternoon and I still like to know set times. I normally like to get to shows before or around the time doors open. But sometimes I have other things to do or just don't feel like hanging out at the venue or know the opening act is terrible, etc., so it makes my life a whole lot easier to have a firm time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Why can't videotaping be part of their moment? I appreciate a good concert video on youtube.I don't begrudge members of the audience that want to do this at all. To each their own. Really I'm just an old codger longing for a bygone era where concerts were more about music and less about technology. Nowadays a typical concert includes tapers, people videoing, photographing, holding up cellphones so friends can here, twittering/texting setlists as the show is happening... it all just seems a little too much sometimes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Where does this idea of the "old way" come from, anyway? Was there ever a time when it was the norm for bands to take the stage whenever they felt like it? It seems to me that the "old way" was for there to be two shows per night, or more, as was the case with Bill Graham productions at the Fillmore and Winterland. With two shows per night, you can't start/end late or you'd cause problems for the second show. When bands do start late, fans don't usually seem to be very happy. Remember the Guns n' Roses riots after Axl Rose started making a habit of showing up late? I saw the Strokes twice. The first time they took almost two hours to start after the opening act was done. Nobody appeared to be happy about that and the venue erupted into cat calls, boos, stomping, garbage being thrown onto the stage, etc. The second time I saw them, they took over an hour to hit the stage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
drop dead ed Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 I don't know why I enjoy taking pictures at concerts I just do. I guess it doesn't matter to me because I only take pic's during the songs I don't really care for. And as for being a jerk with a camera it slightly doesn't bother me because I'm already tall to begin with and I'm sure I've already ruined some aspect of the concert for the people behind me. It sucks being the jerk at the concert. Maybe camera's at concerts are imperfect mediums, however that's only an opinion that Tweedy loves to express. Lately I've been using my camera for shows rarely and I'm not going to lie, you tend to get more engrossed in the show, but to me, it's not really that much more because I'm always leaving the show talking about the songs and the way it was played, the gestures, attitudes of the crowd and band, and I like to look at photos I've taken to trigger those concert events even though I don't need to. The most I had to wait for a band was Rage Against the Machine at Voodoo Fest and that was only because of the amount of compaction, tugging, pushing, and elbowing that occurred for the hour long wait. I was drenched in sweat that wasn't my own. Terribly awesome stuff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.