I went to see Fleet Foxes at the Prince of Wales last night. Great gig, excellent band and a pretty good venue despite the fire risk.
Trouble is, I'm starting to think I don't enjoy gigs as much as I used to. Perhaps I'm getting too old. I mean, jesus, they didn't come on until 11.30. Most nights I've been in bed for at least an hour by then. I have a 3 year old, you see. Further, it's hell getting to the bar, when you do the beer is overpriced and forget trying to get to the toilets unless you want to miss half the set. Then there are the dickheads filming the show on their stupid phones (which should only be used to make calls as far as I'm concerned - and I'm no luddite) and yelling out for specific songs as though the band didn't have a set list or any idea about what they were going to do next.
There's always some 6 foot 5 arsehole standing right in front of me, a dancing looney to my right and a group of 3 clowns discussing the show, their shoes, the weather to my left. Finally, for some reason, I'm always the hapless sap who inadvertanty indicates to everyone present that the path between the toilets and the bar passes immediately in front of me. I spend much of my time manoeuvring out of people's way and jumping about in pain because some lumbering dimwit has stepped on my foot. And I paid $45 for the privilege. Lucky me.
Posts
15 comments:
I mean, jesus, they didn't come on until 11.30.
Tell me about it. We try and go to day time gigs (the babysitter costs more than the tickets) but at least you're tucked in bed by 11.30
My band didn't start until 12.40 AM on New Year's Eve. Rock and roll! Except that we all had nanna naps first, as did probably this band.
That wasn't you that beat up Ron Barrassi was it?
I decided I didn't really like live gigs years ago. Reasons include:
paying for a glass of water when you've already paid an exorbitant fee to get in
too loud, can't hear what anyone is saying, hurts my ears
never enough seats
hassle of getting home without going DUI
clothes/hair smell of smoke afterwards
jet lag from being awake at almost the opposite hours I usually work
This is before I start on the other patrons or the attitude of the staff. I would much rather spend my money on the DVD and watch it in the comfort of home without the transport hassles. Having said all that, I did go to a live concert recently that had none of those problems and can honestly say that the Wiggles were great.
too loud, can't hear what anyone is saying, hurts my ears
Yes, I didn't mention the unnecessary over-amplification that many bands seem compelled to produce.
Last night was fine and you expect it from loud bands (I still have ringing in my ears from the Dinosaur Jr gig I attended at the Corner 3 years ago) but many bands just don't need to do it.
I suspect the guitarist turns himself up, the bass player turns up to compensate, the drummer bangs harder and the sound guy is stoned.
You have to look after your ears. Even though I've never really been exposed to loud noises I have tinnitus and believe me its no fun to have your ears ringing all the time.
I don't know if I have tinnitus but I do seem to have what's called "Cocktail Party syndrome", which is where you can hear normally most of the time, but when there's a lot of random background noise, it's really hard to understand human speech. And it's not like I went to that many concerts either.
Aha Boogeyman, a severe case of 'hearing what you want to hear'.
You're not my dad by any chance?
I saw Billy Bragg at the Prince of Wales last year.
It was a much more sedate crowd.
I saw Billy Bragg at the Prince of Wales last year.
Of course you did.
I'm pretty sure I did, Pers.
Or maybe it was 2007.
How's Cricket Goth, BTW.
Err.....well isnt that why they invented The Day on the Green shows.....that is for whinging old sooks who moan like that. Hey the sook brigade even get a bit of The Who this year, watch out for the dancing walkers.
I saw the same band on Saturday and found the vocals to be extraordinary, the only beef is 67 minutes from start to finish including encore.
patchouligirl - "clothes/hair smell of smoke afterwards" ...........dont you go out much any more ??
Ned
Did anyone see that lobotomy thing last night on sbs? Jesus I'm still traumatised
I saw the same band on Saturday and found the vocals to be extraordinary...
Hey Young Ned, I agree, Fleet Foxes were great, vocals brilliant and they were definitely not over-amplified. That's why I didn't mention that in the original post. It was a more of a general gripe. I'm definitely an old sook but I was a young sook too.
The reason they only did 67 minutes was they have no other material yet, but looking forward to future releases.
Did anyone see that lobotomy thing last night on sbs?
Yes Squib, my anus tightened each time I saw the vision of ice picks being stuck into patients' eyes.
dont you go out much any more? Nah, what for? Don't think of it as being a whinging old sook, its simply a case of appreciating home comforts and drawing a line at how far/often I am willing to inconvenience myself to hear live music.
Post a Comment