These concert behaviors must stop

These concert behaviors must stop

Jon Bream
Minneapolis Star Tribune
July 16, 2011

There are some things that I'll never understand, no matter how many concerts I attend. Such as:

Why do so many people insist on watching concerts through their cellphones?

Everyone wants a souvenir. I get that. So shoot a video of your favorite song or take a photo of your hero from so far away the flash is meaningless. Then put the phone away. For the rest of the show.

If you're not within 20 rows of the stage, do you think your video is going to be worth posting on YouTube? OK, send it to your friend Jen and brag how cool Donnie Wahlberg still looked at the New Kids/Backstreet Boys concert. E-mail that photo of Britney instantly to your hubby and thank him for baby-sitting so you could go to the show.

Mobile devices have become the new Bic lighter, except concertgoers somehow insist on flicking their Bicphone on every song, not just the sappy ballads. Some people watch the entire concert through their pocket video camera/phone. Some spend too much of the show tweeting (yes, you media types) instead of watching the concert.

Put away the dumb phone and be in the moment. Be one with Britney or Backstreet or Adele (if she ever shows up). If you need a souvenir, buy one or have someone snap a photo of you at the concert.

Call me old-school, but don't tell me you were born this way. All this social media is not only anti-social -- it's anti-enjoying the concert.

Why do some concerts have two or three opening acts?

At Britney Spears' concert this month, we had to suffer through two unknown opening acts (Nervo and Jessie & the Toy Boys) so the true opener, the marvelous Nicki Minaj, wouldn't have to play to empty seats at Xcel Energy Center. And apparently Matthew "Mr. Schu" Morrison was just too big of a star to be the first act to hit the stage at the New Kids/Backstreet concert Friday at Target Center. Instead we got opener Midnight Red, which was probably on the bill simply because they're connected to a manager of one of the main acts.

Two solutions: Post set times on the Internet to inform fans (First Avenue and other venues tweet theirs) or, if you're a star who is playing at least two hours (talking to you, Josh Groban), then just bill it as "an evening with." Forgo the opening act, announce a 7:30 p.m. start and then hit the stage at 8, to accommodate traffic and box-office delays.

Why does the Basilica Block Party always have so few female performers?

This year's church kegger had its strongest lineup in years. But my beef once again is: Why does sponsoring Cities 97, whose biggest audience is young-adult women, book so few female artists?

Only two of the 20 acts -- Lissie and the local band Zoo Animal -- were fronted by women. Oblivious to gender, Cities 97 plays politics, preferring name artists who will also perform Studio C concerts and possibly contribute a track to its annual "Cities Sampler" charity compilation.

Solution: Cities 97 -- which has veto power over promoter Sue McLean's bookings -- should favor a diverse set of artists who are good for a modest-sized outdoor festival whether or not they're on the station's playlist.

Suggestions: Lucinda Williams, Mavis Staples, Indigo Girls, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Sheryl Crow, Colbie Caillat, Imelda May, Mates of State -- all of whom are on tour this summer -- and oft underappreciated locals Molly Maher, Dessa and Davina & the Vagabonds.

TexasBlue wrote:These concert behaviors must stop

Jon Bream
Minneapolis Star Tribune
July 16, 2011

There are some things that I'll never understand, no matter how many concerts I attend. Such as:

Why do so many people insist on watching concerts through their cellphones?

Everyone wants a souvenir. I get that. So shoot a video of your favorite song or take a photo of your hero from so far away the flash is meaningless. Then put the phone away. For the rest of the show.

If you're not within 20 rows of the stage, do you think your video is going to be worth posting on YouTube? OK, send it to your friend Jen and brag how cool Donnie Wahlberg still looked at the New Kids/Backstreet Boys concert. E-mail that photo of Britney instantly to your hubby and thank him for baby-sitting so you could go to the show.

Mobile devices have become the new Bic lighter, except concertgoers somehow insist on flicking their Bicphone on every song, not just the sappy ballads. Some people watch the entire concert through their pocket video camera/phone. Some spend too much of the show tweeting (yes, you media types) instead of watching the concert.

Put away the dumb phone and be in the moment. Be one with Britney or Backstreet or Adele (if she ever shows up). If you need a souvenir, buy one or have someone snap a photo of you at the concert.

Call me old-school, but don't tell me you were born this way. All this social media is not only anti-social -- it's anti-enjoying the concert.

Why do some concerts have two or three opening acts?

At Britney Spears' concert this month, we had to suffer through two unknown opening acts (Nervo and Jessie & the Toy Boys) so the true opener, the marvelous Nicki Minaj, wouldn't have to play to empty seats at Xcel Energy Center. And apparently Matthew "Mr. Schu" Morrison was just too big of a star to be the first act to hit the stage at the New Kids/Backstreet concert Friday at Target Center. Instead we got opener Midnight Red, which was probably on the bill simply because they're connected to a manager of one of the main acts.

Two solutions: Post set times on the Internet to inform fans (First Avenue and other venues tweet theirs) or, if you're a star who is playing at least two hours (talking to you, Josh Groban), then just bill it as "an evening with." Forgo the opening act, announce a 7:30 p.m. start and then hit the stage at 8, to accommodate traffic and box-office delays.

Why does the Basilica Block Party always have so few female performers?

This year's church kegger had its strongest lineup in years. But my beef once again is: Why does sponsoring Cities 97, whose biggest audience is young-adult women, book so few female artists?

Only two of the 20 acts -- Lissie and the local band Zoo Animal -- were fronted by women. Oblivious to gender, Cities 97 plays politics, preferring name artists who will also perform Studio C concerts and possibly contribute a track to its annual "Cities Sampler" charity compilation.

Solution: Cities 97 -- which has veto power over promoter Sue McLean's bookings -- should favor a diverse set of artists who are good for a modest-sized outdoor festival whether or not they're on the station's playlist.

Suggestions: Lucinda Williams, Mavis Staples, Indigo Girls, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Sheryl Crow, Colbie Caillat, Imelda May, Mates of State -- all of whom are on tour this summer -- and oft underappreciated locals Molly Maher, Dessa and Davina & the Vagabonds.

Wha-hoa! Great article, TexasBlue. Thanks for posting it and sharing it with us. These people really have no idea, or they just simply don't care how distracting that small, bright light from a cellphone can be, even if it's on silent, or "vibrate". It's a small world, in the literal and figurative sense of the word, nowadays. If they're going to watch a concert on their cellphone, they may as well have stayed home and watched it on television.

Yeah, I'll pop in a DVD of a concert if I wanted that shit.

TexasBlue wrote:Yeah, I'll pop in a DVD of a concert if I wanted that shit.

Good point, TexasBlue!