It's good not to talk
Whilst at the Theatre I noticed just how rude people are. We were sat watching a pretty intense play and the people behind us kept talking the whole way through it and insisted on making comments. Being too polite (or cowardly) I couldn’t possibly say anything to them, but it really struck me as rude. For some reason it seemed even ruder than when people talk in the cinema. In the cinema if you talk you are just being rude to everyone around you, but you can’t put off the actors on screen, but in the theatre you are disturbing other patrons as well as the actors. Having treaded the boards myself (Oedipus, Wizard of Oz, St Austell 6th Form Revue) I know how of putting it can be to have people talk in the audience (especially when you have given the performance of your life and sung “If I only had a heart”).
It reminded me of the couple of times that I have seen Belle & Sebastian. The 1st time I saw them at Brixton Academy, and they were quiet, but they are Belle & Sebastian!!! What did the crowd expect? Some people started shouting at the sound desk to “turn it up” which meant that not only couldn’t you hear Belle and Sebastian, but you then had other people telling the people who were shouting to “Be quiet”, it was like being back in school.
The second time I saw them was in the Astoria and there were a group of around 12 people in front of us, who proceeded to talk the whole way through the gig. Why would you pay 25 quid to then talk over the band you were there to see? Why not just stay at home and put the album on and then talk to your friends? It all proved too much to a guy who was stood behind us. He leant forwards and tapped one of the girls on the shoulder and asked to shut up or move away (he may have used some other words but that was the gist). This led to the girl rather than telling her friends to be quiet, telling her friends they had been asked to be quiet, and then all her friends asked who had said that and then they proceeded to have a conversation about whether it was fair that they should have been asked to be quiet.
I would like to point out that I have never had this problem at any other gig apart from once with The Tinners but that was because people wanted The Tinners to stop playing. Ok – I wanted The Tinners to stop playing. The term Blues Jam still sends shivers down my spine.
It reminded me of the couple of times that I have seen Belle & Sebastian. The 1st time I saw them at Brixton Academy, and they were quiet, but they are Belle & Sebastian!!! What did the crowd expect? Some people started shouting at the sound desk to “turn it up” which meant that not only couldn’t you hear Belle and Sebastian, but you then had other people telling the people who were shouting to “Be quiet”, it was like being back in school.
The second time I saw them was in the Astoria and there were a group of around 12 people in front of us, who proceeded to talk the whole way through the gig. Why would you pay 25 quid to then talk over the band you were there to see? Why not just stay at home and put the album on and then talk to your friends? It all proved too much to a guy who was stood behind us. He leant forwards and tapped one of the girls on the shoulder and asked to shut up or move away (he may have used some other words but that was the gist). This led to the girl rather than telling her friends to be quiet, telling her friends they had been asked to be quiet, and then all her friends asked who had said that and then they proceeded to have a conversation about whether it was fair that they should have been asked to be quiet.
I would like to point out that I have never had this problem at any other gig apart from once with The Tinners but that was because people wanted The Tinners to stop playing. Ok – I wanted The Tinners to stop playing. The term Blues Jam still sends shivers down my spine.
posted by Nick at 11:28 AM
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