| Subject: Re: Here's An Idea |
Author:
JayB
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Date Posted: 12:18:30 10/06/05 Thu
In reply to:
Tyler
's message, "Here's An Idea" on 17:49:54 10/05/05 Wed
Yeah, EXACTLY...like the Fraze in Kettering, OH or Springfield, DSO should play at these places at least 10 times a year, heeheehee!!! And all I gotta say is, has anyone ever spent time with Phish? Damn, we got it good!
>.......how about the band simply book into larger
>venues, so all of these ridiculous audience territory
>issues become the non-issues they should be.
>
>Is that so hard?
>
>I would hope the band is not revisiting (and selling
>out) these woefully under-capacity venues simply for
>nostalgic reasons (whether theirs or local fans').
>
>How many more tickets would they have sold in a larger
>venue than the Fox? And for three nights??!! How
>much more would everyone have enjoyed the shows had
>they not been crammed into an inadequate,
>ill-ventilated space, forced to constantly jockey for
>breathing room? (we have all gone through this from
>time-to-time and we all know it REALLY detracts from
>enjoying the music). I was really bummed I could not
>make the Colorado shows, until I heard how crowded
>they were.
>
>If a 3 night sell-out isn't enough of an indicator
>that it is time to move on to larger spaces in that
>market, I can't think of what is (short of a fan
>stampede, Lord forbid!). The band would be foolish to
>play the Fox again, if only for the level of
>complaints from people about the battles for space.
>The Colorado fans, of which there seem to be quite a
>few, should step up and help the band line up better
>spaces in these markets, rather than complain.
>
>Surely there have to be other options and room for
>some creativity, within the band's technical and other
>needs. Better the band undersell a larger venue by
>10-15% than oversell a smaller venue at the cost of
>everyone's physical comfort and probably still to the
>exclusion of many more willing, but shut-out ticket
>buyers.
>
>........on a side note, I have to take exception to
>the East Coast crowd-bashing, simply because it has no
>basis in any reality I have experienced, living in the
>East. Out of 100's of shows I have seen over 20 years
>from many, many bands in many, many venues, coast to
>coast, ranging from hole-in-the-wall bars to stadiums,
>I have found the most territorial, pushy, selfish
>crowds (about space) were in two places : Red Rocks
>and the Great American Music Hall.......'West Coast'
>musical meccas, to say the least. I had never seen
>such aggressive, obnoxious claim-staking in any
>general admission venues before or since.
>
>I make no sweeping generalizations from this about
>'East Coast' or 'West Coast' fans, since they all vary
>wildly with the venue and the band. To highlight, if
>GAMH was the worst I have seen, Shoreline (just 15
>miles away) is the BEST I have ever seen.
>
>On the whole, I have seen some seriously obnoxious
>Grateful Dead crowds in the East Coast, but never so
>with DSO crowds here.
>
>DSO played numerous shows in an insufferably-packed
>Funk Box in Baltimore, for example, but I never
>encountered anyone unwilling to yield a little space
>or let you pass, much less anyone so vicious as to
>start 'throwing elbows', etc.
>
>DSO has consistently played to an over-heated, packed
>State Theater in Virginia, but I never experienced the
>Gestapo tactics about space that I did, for example,
>at the GAMH.
>
>I had never been to Toad's Place in New Haven until
>this May, but found an audience willing to go with the
>flow of the crowd and work with each other in the
>tight space. Rather than obsess about holding a few
>square feet (that no GA ticket buyer has any
>legitimate right to claim, just because they stood
>there for a few minutes ahead of others), I found that
>the New Haven crowd (like other DSO East Coasters) did
>not want such distractions. They wanted their focus
>on the music and, like many DSO East Coast audiences I
>have seen, would rather just make some room and dance
>together, for the few brief shining moments they have.
>
>Philly's Electric Factory has regularly hosted up to
>nearly 1200-person (even sell-out) DSO crowds, where
>space was definitely limited, but I found the fans
>remarkably generous and un-selfish....as opposed to
>what I regularly find in the Tower Theater, just
>across town, when seeing other bands.
>
>It is not just about the venue or even the city, but
>also about whether there is a high enough level of
>appreciation in the local crowd to not ruin something
>rare and special, just to hoard a piece of common
>ground from others.
>
>Even in the stereotypical heart of rudeness, NYC, I
>have found that DSO crowds, on the whole, are much
>less concerned about marking their territory than I
>have seen in Colorado or the West Coast.
>
>At the risk of pissing off the 'West Coasters' or the
>Rocky Mountain crowds, my travels with DSO around the
>U.S. of A. have led me to believe that many of these
>folks must be pretty spoiled when it comes to seeing
>good music. I have found, ironically, that the people
>who don't get to see shows as much (such as in
>relatively spread-out East Coast venues) tend to be
>less bratty and immature in enforcing nonsensical, ad
>hoc rules about space ownership.
>
>I guess it comes down to this : kind, generous people
>act with kindness and generosity while rude, selfish
>people act with selfish rudeness. There is no in
>middle ground really.
>
>Being thoughtful of others in a tight, crowded setting
>means thinking about and acting on more than just the
>single-minded goal of one's own good time, no matter
>the cost. I have found that to get a little you have
>to give a little.
>
>Really it all comes down to whether we, as fans and
>kindred souls in the music, choose to yield a little
>ground, risking generosity, or instead choose to covet
>a little ground, guaranteeing rudeness.
>
>If everyone considers whether others are also enjoying
>the show and forgets any delusions that a crowd's
>natural ebb and flow can be controlled to one's own
>benefit, I think we will all find that any place we
>find ourselves during the show is a nice place to be.
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