Annoying audiences

I think I could fill pages with my bad experiences with other people in the audience. I'll just tell about last night.

I went to see Rod Picott at Arlene's Grocery, a small venue on the Lower East Side. The family and friends of the first band on didn't leave when he came on. They all stood around in the front talking loudly. The members of the first band were just as bad as their friends. They had no respect for another musician.

I, like you, could fill pages with bad audience experiences.

One of the worst was a primus show where this guy was being a total jerk... flailing around and punching at people.

He was enough of an asshole that Les actually stopped playing and commented on him at one point... but security did nothing.

It wasn't until he, at one point, actually did connect and punched this poor girl right in the face that a group of big guys finally jumped him and dragged him kicking out into the hall to a great round of applause. I'm not sure what happened to him after that, but he didn't return, and we could enjoy the rest of the show.

I think (and hope) that he probably got the ass whupping he deserved.

quite a few bad audience stories here, too. i think one of the worst was a gbs show at the 9:30 club...gordon, lawrence, and lori will probably agree. their fans were thoroughly obnoxious, and they screeched along with every song, even the soft and a cappella ones, right into our ears, and they kept pushing and shoving us until they had fought their way up to the front, in between us. ok, so we didn't travel all the way from newfoundland for the show, but we were there early, so we got the good standing space. deal with it.

They were even worse at Toads. When I went to buy a Carbon Leaf CD a woman took my spot and wouldn't give it back. My jacket was on the floor there and I put the CD in it. She stomped on it during the show. She kept pushing me all show.

Toad's PLace si the worst place for shows. My worst experience with TMBG fans was there when this kid was constantly trying to push me out of my place for the entire show and would not budge. Also the show started super late, causing a lot of the stupid Yale frat boys to take out their frustration on the opener, cursing him off and flipping him off. the opener got so fed up he at one point left his microphone stand and was ready to leap into the audience to take them all on.

At that GBS show I was in the back, so it must have been for the best. Plus I was wearing a Team Canada shirt, so I didn't get any crap from the Newfies there, who just assumed I was one too. I will from now on wear that shirt to every GBS show as a result.

It was also good that I got seats behind the soundboard for my first Guster show. I didn't have to deal with too much standing, dancing, singing-along girls at all.

there are bands i avoid seeing live now because, no matter how fun they are, i can't deal with the screaming twinkie fangirls.

It really is too bad when you can't see a band live anymore because of bad fans. Like I said, I really enjoyed Guster and didn't have screaming fans around me, but from the stories I heard, I don't think I would go see them again unless it was a venue where I could get a comfortable spot away from the fans where I could still see the band nice and close. The balcony of the 9:30 Club would definitely qualify.

well, for a while Guster fans got a bad rap because they were mixed in with John Mayer glittiots (glitter wearing-John Mayer Fishgirl-idiots) for a leg of Mayer's tour last summer...
Speaking of whom, last November I went to a John Mayer concert at RPI. Screaming girls in both of my ears made it feel as though we were behind 25 rows of people...and not the 3 we actually were.
Then again this monday when I saw him at SPAC I sat out on the lawn. There were Counting Crows fans in the mix because CC was sharing the tour. These fans seemed older and more mature and, let's face it, not solely into the band because of Adam Duritz's hot young and rugged good looks (then again, who am I to say Duritz isn't attractive? I do remember him being cute when they first came out :) ). But, at least there weren't as many 16 year old girls all screaming for him to have their babies.
I'm not used to big audiences and monday night's crowd was big and loud and I was amazed at just how much pot one could bring to a concert...
la :)
*S*

Likewise. GBS fans are among the worst that I have ever seen at a show. Two wenches pushed their way past me at Milestones in Rochester. Needless to say they spent the rest of the night with the "camera bag on their ass" treatment.

What ever happened to the "polite Canadians?"

the "camera bag on their ass" treatment?

Mike wood hit one girl on the head for "screaming during the slow songs so she could be in the movie Barenaked in America."

Needless to say, on the tape you can hear her say "Ow!"

12 years old and acting like an idiot - that's what she gets. ;)

At the time I had my old camera which had a bag that I could wear on my belt. after the hoochies pushed in front of me, they were stuckt here, so I jammed the hip with the camera bag right into their butt and left it there.

I've been thinking of buying spiked armlets and a collar to fend off space invaders. It will look out of place at a folk concert but it is oh so practical.

Melissa Ferrick shows are often filled with horrible audiences. So many people treat it like a social occasion and talk loudly at the bar. Or everywhere. It's like "date night with Melissa Ferrick in the background". And I'm not just talking places where she might *actually* be the background. These are places where you specifically buy tickets to see her. It often frustrates her to the point of losing her cool.

ok........2nd North Star show in philly........right before the hiatus.......{well, before the Oberlin show}

trace, lori, katie, dana, and i were up front....lor and trace and i were space nazi-ing coz steve wasn't there yet...then when he DID arrive, the people were just asses and crowdy...THEN when the lads came out, they were even MORE pushy and crowdy!!!!

and there have been others..i HATE hecklers the most.......

I think anyone who yells "FREEBIRD!" during a show should have the earth immediately open up and swallow them whole.

Yeah, totally.
Though I like Mike Doughty's reaction to that, which is that everyone should start shouting "It's Raining Men!" instead of freebird.

:)

Of course, EFO does the worst possible thing to anyone who requests Freebird as one of their shows, they honor the request. :)

Agreed...at the Ben Folds/Aimee Mann show on Wednesday, there was this one guy that was behind me who kept on yelling "FREEEEBIRD!!!" at the end of every one of Ben's songs. I wanted to punch him. He even yelled it after some of Aimee Mann's songs. Grrr...

Richard Thompson almost always attracts hecklers. At a show I was at with  Shell rocks the hardest some idiot shouted out "Freebird!" RT said he didn't know it but would make a song up. He then sang what sounded like a traditional english ballad with the refrain "freebird."

oh, god, rt fans are *awful*. they've got the inner/outer monolgue confusion that bernie has, but they say everything at top volume and they think that rt will be, like, amused by them. maybe he is, but it just makes me want to smack them.
there's an andrew bird fan who's like that, too...and we end up standing by him, like, all the time.

Somebody actually did yell that out at the DVN show I was at on Wednesday. They were quite taken aback when DVN actually performed it.

One time at an efo show someone shouted out "FREEBIRD!" and they sang it very off key! It was like "Take that you moron!"

Hee. Actually DVN did a decent if rather short rendition of it. Gregory sang lead and the fisherprice recorder was featured prominently.

"I think anyone who yells "FREEBIRD!" during a show should have the earth immediately open up and swallow them whole."

I wholely agree....a moron who i actually knew (and knew to be an idiot) yelled FREEBIRD at a very intamate (the coffee house only fits about 100) Sarah Slean show in fredonia in 1999 (pre Nightbugs band)...this was right after she sang Universe and he was right behind me...i was going to say something, but Sarah made him look like an ass from stage...hee hee...sarah rocks.

the worst one i can remember was during Paul McCartney show last year in Cleveland. These tickets were not cheap and an very drunk and very loud jerk plopped down right behind us with is equally drunk (or stoned) girlfriend. He would yell loudly between and during most songs - he talked som much through "here today" that you couldn't even hear Paul singing!!!! If anyone said anything to him he would either swear loudly at them or throw food at them. At one point i tried to get security to kick him out for smoking - but it didn't work. Finally he just up and left (missing the song he was screaming to hear the whole night - "Maybe I'm amazed") and then came back later on just to scream for it again. The one saving factor was that he would disappear for 20 mintues at a time or so just to come back and annoy us. WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU SPEND $150 A TICKET JUST TO GET DRUNK!!!!!!!!!!!

The same thing happened at the Ringo Starr show at Darien Lake. The couple next to me arrived 1/2 hour late - already drunk - and the guy proceeded to spill his beer on me twice with out saying anything in the form of an apology. Thankfully they were so tanked that they left before the end of the show so we did have some peace.

I was stuck behind a jerk when I saw Paul McCartney too, though not nearly as bad as yours. He just would not sit down when everyone else was seated and it pissed me off that I had to spend a good portion of the show with my view of the stage blocked by this guy's ass. When we were all up and clapping it was ok-- but he even stood and flailed through the slow numbers. My date tried to ask him to sit down but was of course told, "I paid good money for my ticket- I can do what I want!" Yeah. Screw the people behind you that paid just as much as you did!

I guess I'm happy I didn't spend a ton of hard-earned cash to see McCartney. If I had this happen to me, I'd be in a foul mood for the whole night, and who wants to spend a ton of money to be in a foul mood?

The guy who stood up in front of you for the entire show reminds me of this SNL skit where this one insane lady stands up right at the start of the show and rocks out, even though it's slow music. Now at seated shows, I stay seated UNLESS the person in front of me stands up. If that happens, it is unwritten that you are allowed to stand up behind them. This is why I will never buy orchestra seats to a rock show ever again, it's so much better sitting in the balony where people are more inclined to sit. And a floor seat at an arena? Forget about it. Give me the first bowl of seats, best seats in the house.

He did Here Today?? Erf. So jealous. I love that song so incredibly much. I just couldn't manage to see him this tour. :(

He did Here Today. And the night he played here (in STL) was John (Lennon)'s birthday and the whole crowd sang happy birthday to him. It was strange and beautiful at the same time.

I wish I had been there.

My very first concert was Paul McCartney. I was 13 and begged my dad to take me. I've been a Beatles freak since I was 9 and that was like...a dream come true. :) I saw him again with my sister on the '93 tour. But I didn't get to see this one. :(

It was expensive.... no doubt about that. And he's already a billionaire (or so they say).

Yeah, I agree... hecklers are teh sux0rz.

Though, when a band handles it well, it can make for much amusement. :D

I remember a fruvous show at the iron horse, this guy yelled "you suck!" right at a pause in the music... so after they finished the song, they started going off on what AMAZING timing he had to hit it right on the quiet spot... and started singing a "you suck" song... the guy was so embarrased that he walked out.
:D

Another great one was at the last School for the Dead show, also at the horse.... someone yelled FREEBIRD! And henning, with his impeccable timing and deadpan, said, "Wow. Nobody has EVER yelled that at a show before. EVER." Heh.

During Vance Gilbert's Performance critique, he talked about hecklers. He said that the best way to handle a heckler is to confront them. There are more people in the audience who lkike you then there are of the heckler, so it's okay to make the heckler known. A wisecrack is definitely the best way to go, make them look as stupid as they are.

I saw BNL back on the Stunt tour... their first really big preppy tour... and these guys were yelling something at opener Rufus Wainwright, apparently some sort of slur at him for being gay. When BNL came out they scolded the audience for this and then went right into their usual schtick, which was a little jarring...

Speaking of BNL...

I am sick of a) hearing people scream "ONE WEEK" during an intro. for a much better song (read: anything other than "King of Bedside Manor") and b) coming home from shows with powdered cheese in my hair.

Less than a year ago I went to a DVN concert at the Godfrey Daniels. We drove through the first snow storm of the season and were uberexcited for the show. All during the show this obnoxious woman kept making comments in between songs and trying to talk to DVN...during the show!! It was a very small, intimate venue (I got to sit right behind Hsu's piano), but still there is intimate concert and then there is being a big distraction and pain in the butt. Grr!

oh I've got WAY too many stories about yappers, loud people, idiots who tried to most to Matthew Sweet, etc. but my least favorite on a consistent basis in the past were Jackopierce fans. They're a band that gets lumped in with the Dave Matthews type frat crowd, unfortunately, so you get TONS of young drunk people there, and then you get a lot of them trying to push up front yelling "I know the band! HEY JACK!" etc. At one point on an *ulp* open bar New Year's Eve show I was right against the stage and this guy was pushing against me so hard that the road manager actually ran onstage and pried the dude off. Helps to have great attentive folks like that working for ya...

Ani Fans

hahahahaha

They Might Be Giants Fans

I like TMBG fans. They are friendly and well behaved. I only had one bad experience at a TMBG show and he was not a hard core fan. Nobody knew him and everyone hated him. He kept hitting me in the head. We almost had a physical confrontation.

I've never had a problem at a TMBG show either. Everyone was nice and there was no more than the usual amount of space-invading.

Yeah, TMBG fans suck too. There was a chronic stagediver at one of their shows in Columbus many years ago. He had hard boots on and kept kicking people in the head as they passed him around (including me). Someone was bleeding from a previous dive. I was so fed up with it that I nailed him, with an incredible amount of force, straight in the testicles. As he was coiling in pain, the funniest part is that the crowd didn't let him down.

my problem with TMBG fans is that at everyone of the 32 shoes I have been to there is always at least one girl yelling about how they love Linnell, one guy that needs more attention than he deserves, and plenty of pot smokers. It has made me never want to go to another show of course I keep saying this but have been to 32 shows.

"tonight, we have a really great shoe" ;-}

I'm glad somebody said it.

really *big* shoe, but close enough. heeee. :)

Many years ago EVERYONE was moshing to EVERYONE. Even during quiet songs people would mosh, it was quite pathetic. TMBG started calling crowd-surfing "pass the dude".

It has certainly calmed down now, and Josh, if you ever want to give a TMBG show another chance, you must come to a NYC show.

I have been to mainly ny shows they are the ones that have pissed me off.

ahh I guess its not that bad


how about at big concerts when girls think they have to take off their shirts...and guys think it is acceptable to yell at girls to take it off...how many of those guys would feel comfortable with 30 girls yelling at them to get their cocks out?

Worse is girls who try to crowd-surf. Within two seconds, all the guys have stripped them naked, not to mention being fondled.

Ani Fans? Agreed. ::glares::

That girl who sat infront of me at the budgie dome that kepted asking eric scwartz stupid questions durring his budgie dome set. "Do you have a girlfreind and are you in trouble or do you not have a girlfreind and this is why or..." ect and so on.

Good lord, we were there to see Eric Scwartz not who ever she is!

I hate people like that who try to become part of the act by asking dumb questions durring a show or answering retorical questions. I bet she would have done that, too!

I can not stand people that yell out requests, or things they think are funny mainly cause they are trashed. I thought it was just younger bar crowd shows but was proven wrong when I went to see Elvis Costello and the 50 something man sitting next to me kept screaming and whooting.....what exactly is ment by WOOOOOOO!
ans whistling when has that ever been a good thing to do

I remember I once saw a Fruvous show where some drunk guy in the audience thought they were talking directly to him and tried to talk directly back to them. and of course, Jian made it worse by taking the sarcastic approach of "I wish you had a microphone, so I could hear you," which, instead of sending the hint of "shut up," made him yell to them even louder. ugh.

I totally hate that. It's just like that obnoxious girl at the budgie dome.

Bush concert. About 6 local band opening, so the crowd has been there for hours and hours drinking beer and smoking pot. Great idea. Bush comes on at like 10:30. People are breaking down the barriers by the stage. Band walks off stage. House lights go up, the concert is going to be cancelled. People go nuts, one person is taken out on a stretcher. Finally Bush comes back, but only after everyone calmed down a little.