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Originally Posted by Johnny Stew
The only types of concert-goers I don't understand, are those who get so totally blitzed that they can't possibly be enjoying the show, or remember it the next day.
When I saw FM at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh in 1990, during "You Make Loving Fun," I noticed the entire section in front of me was looking back to the left.
I wasn't about to turn my attention from the stage during a song, but my uncle nudged me so I'd look. When I turned, I saw the blond guy we had already noticed returning to his seat after every third song with a new beer, vomitting all over himself and the aisle. 
That was the dumbest thing I've ever seen... he paid all of that money to see the band (of course, much less so than he'd pay now!), and then drank until he was sick.
He could have saved himself a great deal of money by popping 'Greatest Hits' into his CD player, and downing a six-pack at home by himself! |
i saw tom petty in 1995...we had gotten to our seats maybe half hour to forty five minutes before the show started. we had really crappy upper level seats at the (then) knickerbocker arena in albany, ny. anyway, we were right by the stairs. some bunch of loser kids were trashed and someone had puked and it leaked onto the stairs. obviously, people going up and down the stairs were clueless and were stepping in it. my friend and i were fixated on this the entire time before and even at the beginning of the show. it was the sort of thing that you would turn away from, but you just had to keep peeking and snickering.
we smoked a doob when the show started, then for some reason, we had to move. i really can't remember why. anyway, i get completely uncoordinated and clumsy when i'm stoned, so walking down the stairs was like "right leg down...balance...while left leg begins descending...don't look at the lower levels and you'll be fine."
anyway, our new location featured an androgynous creature ("it's time for androgyny...it's just pat" if you will) several rows in front of us that found the uncontrollable urge to hold his/her beer in his/her hand and shout out "TOM PETTY!!!" in a sort of spastic, yet, not really loud howl.....if you say "oh" and keep your mouth that way and then say "tom petty" you can achieve the same thing. try this at home while you're vacuuming the dust bunnies under your bed, for example.
it keeps me and my friend in stitches to this day. and i have no idea what happened to those acid-tripping-drunk-pukers in our former locale.
anyway, back to the question....i used to scream and whistle a lot. not much of a dancer but i have been known to air drum once in a while. i don't scream anymore but i do whistle. i usually have seats in the first ten rows so i think i'm too close to whistle. i used to be the one to try to get stevie riled during the breaks after "dreams unwind, love's a state of mind"...we thought if we coaxed her on, it would get the engines going for the finale. i'm not really sure that it worked. when you don't get any responses from acting like a whistling boob, you tend to feel stupid doing it. addtionally, i have heard some really assonine comments being shouted out and i'm embarrassed for the person saying them. at boston, 1996, this woman was holding up a budha statue chanting, "take the budha, bless your soul." i think the same woman was the one who was doing her own rap version during "gold dust woman", blurting out the chorus, "DO you know HOW, PICK up the PIECES and go HOME!"
incidently, i am tempted this sunday (jones beach) to mimic the 1979 st.louis guy "rock and roll" during "sara". i doubt i'll do it since i won't have a friend with me to egg me on.
but mostly, i kind of just stand for the entire show and soak it all in. i have been known to get a few beers for $10 each but i don't get sloshed. i used to smoke at shows but i want to remember it so i don't do that anymore.