Random Play by Graham Reid

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Random Play: @fltfoxz. Gr8. C u 2moro

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  • caycos,

    They might have been twittering - it's the Done Thing to make sure the world can know exactly what you're doing and when you're doing it...

    Interestingly, I think it's 'accepted' to twitter at a concert, but I can't imagine sending tweets which watching a movie (unless it was atrociously bad)

    Wellington • Since Jan 2009 • 29 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    She was probably twittering.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I was twittering about the fact that I was about to write a comment on PAS - that's how caycos beat me. Drat.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I’m curious.

    And I'm pissed off. Hey, if you don't have any respect for others in the audience how about the people on stage who you've paid (and paid through the nose, more often than not) to see?

    I think Wall Street Journal coulmnist Peggy Noonan put it better than I could:

    Cellphones are wonderful, but they empower the obnoxious and amplify the ignorant. Once they kept their thoughts to themselves. They had no choice. Now they have cellphones, into which they bark, "I'm on line at Duane Reade. Yeah. Ex-Lax." Oh, thank you for sharing. How much less my life would be if I didn't know.

    BlackBerrys empower the obsessed. We wouldn't have them if the economy weren't high and we weren't pretty well off. Once, a political figure in New York invited me to a private dinner. I was seated next to him, and as the table conversation took off he leaned back, quietly took out his BlackBerry, and began to scroll. It occurred to me that if I said something live in person, it would not be as interesting to him as if I'd BlackBerryed him. It occurred to me that if I wanted to talk to him I'd have to BlackBerry him and say, "Please talk to me." And then he would get the message.

    It is possible that we are on the cellphone because we are lonely and hunger for connection, even of the shallowest kind; that we BlackBerry because we hope for a sense of control in a chaotic world; that we are frightened of stillness and must interrupt conversations; that we are desperate to make the sale in the highly competitive environment of the Banana Republic on 86th Street and must aggressively pursue customers.

    It's also possible we have grown more boorish. I think it's that one. Many things thrive in the age of everything, including bad manners.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Peggy Noonan is an insufferable bore, and so are you. Are we bothered, offended even, by people texting now? Is it the clamouring sound of the keys, the polluting effect on our peripheral vision? Are you afraid the woman might be misspelling "boorish"? Boo-hoo! I shall make sure I warn in adance the punters near me at concerts from now on that it's either raptured contemplation or nothing during the moving solos, thank you very much. And no humming, and keep the swaying to a minimum.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Rogan Polkinghorne,

    I don't normally take my cellphone to shows, but can't say it bothers me at all either...it's not all that intrusive, so it's interesting you even noticed it...maybe the show wasn't that captivating?

    A-town • Since Nov 2006 • 105 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Bet you anything she was texting not twittering.

    This sounds like a weird and inappropriate show to be doing that at, but I don't think it's always bad. At the Big Day Out I think it's perfectly acceptable. Everybody gotta find their peeps.

    It is a funny sight, though, watching someone in the Boiler Room try and text when they've had too much E and they can't focus their eyes.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Peggy Noonan is an insufferable bore, and so are you. Are we bothered, offended even, by people textingnow?

    Giovanni: You know what I find insufferably boring? Rude cunts who drift through the world in their little ego-bubbles and think they're the center of the universe. Going to the movies or a concert or a restaurant where the food doesn't come in a cardboard box is a bit of a luxury in this house, so yeah I'm not really interested in being distracted by other people's techno-wank.

    And in the unlikely event we're ever sitting across a table from each other, I'll leave my gadgets at home and pay you the respect of my undivided attention. At the very least, if I really need to take a call I'll excuse myself from the table. What the hell, I'll just go low-tech: Bring a book and ignore you all night.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    And in the unlikely event we're ever sitting across a table from each other, I'll leave my gadgets at home and pay you the respect of my undivided attention.

    Was this woman sitting across the table from Graham at this concert? Did she get on stage and start texting in plain view of the crowd? No? Then what's the problem? I think Rogan hit the nail on the head, quite frankly.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Eddie Clark,

    Its not so much that its an annoyance, but its a symptom of people who go to gigs to be seen rather than to listen to the fucking music. The most annoying expression of this is talking. Not just saying that a song is cool, or geeking out at the band playing your favourite, but talking all the way through the gig. Indigo (sorry, SFBH) is awful for this. At a couple of quite quiet shows I went to - Bonnie Prince Billy and Joanna Newsom - half the crowd stood by the bar and talked loudly the whole time. There's no way they could have actually heard the music.

    Now texting isn't as bad at all, but its a symptom of the same thing. Hipsters who are too cool for school, have heard of the band but are not actually interested in the music, and go along to show everyone just how cool they are.

    If they're not that into the gig, they shouldn't go. Otherwise people that actually, you know, like music, miss out. The Wellington show sold out weeks in advance, and I didn't get a ticket. I'll happily take an uninterested texter's one off their hands.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 273 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Was this woman sitting across the table from Graham at this concert? Did she get on stage and start texting in plain view of the crowd? No? Then what's the problem?

    Ever been at a show or a movie in a full house where the person sitting next to you is constantly fucking around with their phone and you've got irritating electronic noises and a damn bright light source at the edge of you peripheral vision when you're trying to concentrate on what you've actually paid to see? I have -- and I've got a pretty damn big problem with that.

    And one more thing:

    And no humming, and keep the swaying to a minimum.

    Well, if you can't carry a tune and keep your Balanchine dance stylings out of my space, your restraint would be appreciated. Or I might forget I'm not in the living room, get me kit off and start twirling around in my undies.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    If they're not that into the gig, they shouldn't go. Otherwise people that actually, you know, like music, miss out.

    Seriously, the woman texted three times at a concert. She could have had all sorts of reasons. She could have found it boring, or wanted to share with a loved one how much she was enjoying herself. She wasn't talking loudly or singing along at the top of her voice. Where the hell is the problem? Is it transfixed attention or nothing for you people? I've seen less pompous intolerance at the last Bartok retrospective I attended.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Eddie Clark,

    Well, yes. I acknowledge that. I'm generally a gig curmudgeon, and I missed out on a ticket, so I'm bitter and twisted. Plus it was an excellent excuse to rant about gig talkers, who really DO piss me off. Texting doesn't piss me off, per se, I just don't understand while one would be texting in the middle of a song.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 273 posts Report Reply

  • Kerry Weston,

    Is it transfixed attention or nothing for you people?

    Actually, yes. I'm picking the txt-addict pulls up at the vinegar stroke to txt someone and let them know they're coming.

    Manawatu • Since Jan 2008 • 494 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Well, yes. I acknowledge that. I'm generally a gig curmudgeon

    In the next piece of James Bond fanfiction I write, the evil mastermind is going to be called Gig Curmudgeon.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Eddie Clark,

    Yes. And as torture he should be forced to dance in public. Possibly to Boyzone.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 273 posts Report Reply

  • Eddie Clark,

    Or, wait, the evil mastermind does the torturing. Bah, my fiendish plan doesn't work, Mr Bond. And I've wasted all this time explaining it to you.

    Heh. Writing that makes me think of this

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 273 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    I blame the rise of alt-country-folk-whatever. At a rock or dance gig, most people are too busy thrashing about dancing to text or talk, and even if they did there'd be too much noise and motion for everyone else to notice.

    If it's the sort of concert where the audience is expected to listen with rapt attention to every pluck and croon, then shouldn't it be at a venue with seating, where you can sit down in comfort and stroke your chin? Being at a stand-up gig stuck among hordes of motionless indie-kids standing around facing the stage like so many op-shop pod-people is a very disconcerting experience.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    wait, the evil mastermind does the torturing

    It might still count if he dances wearing undies, a la Craig. :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Or, wait, the evil mastermind does the torturing.

    Not the way I write James Bond.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    And look, the next xkcd gem.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Rogan Polkinghorne,

    I don't really care what someone two seats down/standing behind me/propping up the bar is doing...when I go to a gig, I'm there with my mates, to see a band play music that I like. If you wanna pay to stand there texting your mates who were too lame to come to the show...shaaaame!

    It takes a little more than "irritating electronic noises and a damn bright light source at the edge of you peripheral vision" to distract me on most occasions...in fact it usually involves the next drink being handed to me and/or boobs...preferably both.

    A-town • Since Nov 2006 • 105 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Its not so much that its an annoyance, but its a symptom of people who go to gigs to be seen rather than to listen to the fucking music. The most annoying expression of this is talking. Not just saying that a song is cool, or geeking out at the band playing your favourite, but talking all the way through the gig.

    Eddie, you are me and I am you. The nattering on and ON drives me mad. I do not care whether you think their last album sounded like Judy Collins and/or Steve Vai, or whether you spent a couple of days at Hahei with Johnny Fairplay from Survivor: Pearl Islands and he was actually a pretty nice bloke. Do. Not. Care. Can we listen to the peeps play their songs, please? The Kings Arms, particularly, makes me all stabby.

    Although I have a certain sympathy for Tom's 'op shop pod people' thing, too. The twee are so earnest. Is there no happy medium?A little bit of bopping, generally rapt attention, occasional 'yay!' or between-song chat to your friends? It's what I aim for.

    There was really nothing to complain about at Fleet Foxes, though. Well, not from up in the balcony, anyway. Also, I didn't expect them to be so funny! 'You've been a thorn in my side for too long, bean-man!'

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Josh Addison,

    A couple of years ago, I saw Anika Moa at a small bar in the CBD (I forget which one). There was a small group of people at the bar who didn't appear to be paying any attention to her at all, and just chatted through the whole thing - at times taking the piss out of the music. They weren't loud enough to actually interfere with the show, but for those of us in the crowd who were standing near them, it was a bit off-putting.

    I assume that that bar was their regular, and they weren't going to let the fact that a gig was playing there put them off. Or maybe they were just pricks who'd got free tickets.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report Reply

  • Eddie Clark,

    Although I have a certain sympathy for Tom's 'op shop pod people' thing, too. The twee are so earnest. Is there no happy medium?A little bit of bopping, generally rapt attention, occasional 'yay!' or between-song chat to your friends? It's what I aim for.

    Danielle, you are me and I am you (that sounds familiar). The funniest twee incident I can recall is going to Grayson Gilmour at Happy on a freezing Wellington day (howling southerly, hail etc) to find a crowd of twee hipster girls, in op shop sun dresses, barefoot! They appeared to have come to the gig like that. Heh.

    As for Tom's general point - in Wellington at least the problem is one of venues. The quiet-type acts like Joanna Newsom, Bonnie Prince Billy, the Mountain Goats etc that might do well at a seated venue just don't have the fan base to support a gig at any of Wellington's seated venues. So they all end up at Indigo or Bodega. While indigo generally has good sound, its not best set up for intimate gigs like that. Gillian Welch played at the Paramount once - I didn't go, but I wonder how that'd work.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 273 posts Report Reply

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