Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Duty Hollers
Damn it all anyway. Today I have to do a bunch of phone interviews but my throat is killing me when I speak above a whisper. All thanks to the Barenaked Ladies and my goddamn sense of duty.
Long-time readers and real-life friends will know that I once worked in politics. Once upon a time, I was seized by a sense of commitment to a Big Cause. Now, that in and of itself is no big deal. Every college student and bored housewife has a Cause these days, usually demonstrated by the heroic act of wearing a rubber band on one's wrist. These things come and go like the latest fashions. People usually make an effort for awhile until they get tired of tilting at windmills or just get bored with it all.
But my case was a little different, since I had an education in How Things Work and How To Make Things Happen. I was deprived of the easy cynicism most people enjoy. I couldn't tell myself "I'm just one person. What can I do? I can't make a difference." I knew full well that I had the skills to make a difference. Along with that knowledge came the curse of knowing that, if my Big Cause failed, it would fail in part because I had not tried hard enough.
The Minstrel Boy - The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem
So from that day forward, I was a slave to that Big Cause, much to my woe. Thank god the Big Cause was finally victorious, or I'd still be a slave.
What does any of this have to do with the Barenaked Ladies? It has to do with this goddamn "I can make a difference" delusion I've been saddled with.
The Ladies were in town last night for a concert. Great band! Very down to earth. Even in the midst of a big arena show, they manage to come off like a bunch of your old college drinking buddies who just dropped by to jam and raid your beer fridge.
If I Had a Million Dollars - Barenaked Ladies
But even though BNL put on a great show, the crowd was totally lethargic. The crowds in this town are always lethargic. Maybe it's the cold weather, maybe it's the fact that this is a bureaucratic government town. Whatever the reason, it always seems like pulling teeth to get my fellow citizens off their asses at a concert.
Just like in my Big Cause days, I take this all on myself. I feel a personal responsibility to get the crowd whipped up. I always feel like personally kicking the asses of everyone who has the temerity to stay seated during a rock concert. I don't do that of course but I do whatever I can to encourage people sitting around me to get into the spirit.
My wife hates it, I'm sure. She hates seeing me making an idiot out of myself. And of course my throat hates me because I always go way over the top in setting a personal example for the rest of the crowd.
But it's not really my job, is it? That's what the warm-up act is for. And, if the main act has decent showmanship skills, they should be getting the crowd whipped up on their own.
Rationally, I know it's not my responsibility, but when it comes right down to it I just can't sit on my hands and leave such jobs to others. Never have, maybe never will.
I have a two part question for you, dear readers to go along with this post:
- Do you have any more or less positive qualities that you wish you did not have?
- Do you have any funny anecdotes of lethargic or otherwise inappropriate behaviour at concerts?
posted by Mentok @ 2:01 p.m.,
7 Comments:
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At 9:54 a.m.,
Grumps said...
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Have to disagree with you, Mentok. Getting up and dancing is for night clubs. Arena shows are like movies, if you move out of your seat, you're ruining it all for others.
I won dream tickets to see Dylan when he came to Grumpsland in 1998. They were third row and a high point of my life. Unfortunately, the crowd rushed the stage and we ended up being about 10 rows back. It was a bittersweet note to a great night. If I had paid money for the tickets, I would have demanded it back.
That's the problem I have with live music. You have to put with so much crap that you can't control. I really prefer listening to music in my car or with headphones - then I get to hear it the way the artist intended. -
At 10:09 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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Yet it is an axiom that musicians are energized by a good crowd and give a better performance if the crowd is enthusiastic, right? Not Dylan so much, of course, but other musicians not yet suffering from senile dementia ;-)
I dunno, whatever you say Grumps, when the band itself is saying "C'mon, get up" and "Let's hear you", then I would hazard a guess that the show is supposed to be interactive. To then look around and see row after row of people sitting on their asses with their arms folded...
I mean, jeezus, it's a rock concert, not the symphony! -
At 3:15 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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Yeah, I see your point, but, if that's what's required to go to live shows, then count me out. That's not what I enjoy.
BTW, this senile dementia guy just won his 9th and 10th Grammy Awards. -
At 3:51 p.m.,
mjrc said...
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ah mentok. i have a couple of tales to tell.
most recently, i saw lily allen monday night, and have consequently lost my voice almost completely. i had a cold going in, and that combined with the shouting, singing and general whoo-hooing made for one bad case of laryngitis.
long, long time ago, i saw james taylor at an outdoor venue. as the crowd was leaving, everyone had to funnel over a narrow bridge, rather like a herd of cattle crossing the road. so my friend and i started to moo--vociferously--and we got the whole crowd to moo along with us! that was one of the best experiences of my early concert-going days. we were wasted, of course, but so was everyone else. good times. -
At 4:09 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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grumps - 10 Grammys, you say? Well, maybe if he tries just a little harder he can catch up with Michael Jackson's 13 Grammys. I seem to recall that MC Hammer won a few Grammys as well, so I guess Dylan is in some pretty distinguished company ;-)
marcy - on the other end of the spectrum from rock and roll, your story reminds me of our experience leaving Disneyworld at the end of the day. Tens of thousands were leaving the park at the same time; everyone looked haggard. The kids were all crying. The parents were desperately clutching their bags of belongings. It was like a scene from Schindler's List! -
At 7:27 p.m.,
mjrc said...
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i feel guilty for laughing at that image (oh, the horror) but it's so true! i can just picture it.
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At 3:04 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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Mentok, you'll be proud of me. Took BabyGrumps to the Chantal Kreviazuk concert for her birthday and we both stood up for several parts. That's because it was amazing! I was only partly familiar with her songs as Baby is the real fan but I loved every minute.
Chantal played piano and was superbly backed up by drum, violin and cello with Raine Maida (her hubby and former Our Lady Peace guy) playing bass occasionally. There wasn't a bad song the entire night.
For one part of the three-song encore, she sat on the edge of the stage and played the guitar while singing a song using no mics! It was incredible.
Definitely one of the best concerts I have ever been to.
