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Concert Etiquette

9/21/2010

4 Comments

 
Last Thursday Anali and I attended the opening night of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra's 2010 season.  Because of my busy schedule, it had been some time since we've been able to attend concerts regularly.  Before I dedicated my life to teaching at BASIS, we attended concerts all the time, including the full PSO and AZ Opera seasons. Then as school duties took over, our attendance dwindled little by little over the years until we were left being lucky to attend just a handful of concerts a year.  (And, no, my own concerts didn't count).  Now, however, we plan on once again making regular concert attendance a larger part of our lives.  We missed it and we're glad it's back.

One of my favorite sensations of concert attendance, especially when watching an orchestra, is the pre-concert warmup.  There is a unique aural sensation only found when sitting in an audience and listening to the mixture of the different instruments as they go about their pre-concert routines.  Some of them are warming up with scales, some are playing passages from the night's repertoire, and some are simply playing whatever they feel like (that's usually what I do).  And, mingled with that quasi-tonal cacophony is the undercurrent of conversation from all of the concert goers.  The sound is musical, in its own way.

Then there is the moment when the concert is about to begin and the room is hushed, the lights dim and a calm and stillness settles over the crowd.  I love all of this, and years ago I likened the experience to that of going to church. Not only is there something reverential about the setting, but the routine of it is comforting and satisfying.

The end of the concert, too, has it's own routine.  People stand, they clap, they cheer (bravo!) and, in general, they show their appreciation to the many people that devoted their time and talents for our pleasure.  This is proper and fitting.  The musicians expend a great deal of effort in their performance and the audience expends an equal amount of effort in showing their thanks.

Yet, this past Thursday, I saw that there are quite a few people that do not see it that way.  They cannot be bothered to applaud, and they made a beeline directly for the exits as soon as the music stopped.  Let me clarify--I'm not talking about a few people, but a LOT.  What drives them to be so disrespectful?  Are they are more concerned with getting to the parking lot to avoid traffic?  Are they are more concerned with getting home than with showing their appreciation for what has been accomplished for their pleasure?  I guess there is something extremely consumeristic about this; they have paid for a service and once the service is received they feel no obligation to do anything further.

I can see this issue from many angles, but I'm interested in what others have to say.  What are your thoughts on concert etiquette?  Is it old-fashioned beyond use?  Why is it different for other kinds of music & media?  Am I unfairly judging these people?
4 Comments
Moses
9/21/2010 03:41:25 am

I have a lot of thoughts on concert (performances in general) etiquette.

While in Tucson, Kerry and I attended many concerts at the UofA. One thing that was...charming(?) about Tucson's concert goers was that about half would be dressed to the nines and the other half would be in shorts and a tanktop. This didn't bother me.

What did bother me was:
1) Clapping in the middle/near the end of a solo performance. Let the artist finish for cripes` sake!

2) Leaving at any time other than intermission or the end of the show (very end, after the applause finishes). We went to see Joshua Redman (I'm pretty sure it was at his concert), and about 10 minutes AFTER the intermission, people started streaming out. They were all old and it was obviously past their bedtime. What the hell?! Couldn't they have just left during intermission?!

3) Talking, cell phones, PDAs, etc during the performance. If you have something better to be doing, don't go to the concert/show. Seriously, this isn't a movie theater, it's a live performance, don't be an ass.

4) Smoking just outside the concert hall doors before the show or during intermission. Go far, far, far away. Like into the next state. Nobody wants to breathe your poison.

5) Bad acoustics or too high volume on the speakers. I know this isn't etiquette on the part of the crowd, but I was extremely frustrated when we went to see a show in Gammage a year or so ago and I couldn't hear the voices because the volume was so loud that the speakers couldn't produce the higher pitches--they were clipping in and out.

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Anali
9/21/2010 09:01:46 am

Lol, I'm not surprised to see you post about this after Thursday's performance! Plus, it was a rude reminder how inconsiderate people can be.

Obviously, I agree with you and I don't think it's unfair or unreasonable to expect proper etiquette at a performance. But I think this is symptomatic of a general erosion of etiquette in society.

Behavior that was considered rude, inconsiderate, and improper is pretty much the norm now - at a restaurant, people will be talking on their phones and texting; at a concert, people will show up late, leave early, and talk through a performance. This really seems to have become acceptable, and there aren't any consequences, such as a general social disapproval.

What gets me most at concerts is that it's usually the older people, who would be the first to complain about the rudeness of today's youth. To be honest, most of the rude behaviors I listed above are more common among middle-aged adults or seniors. The kids are really better behaved, in my observation.

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Moses
9/21/2010 09:49:33 am

While I agree with you, Anali, that rudeness seems to be all over the place, I doubt it's really any more predominant than it was in the past. I suspect it's just different.

As an example, I'm sure Emily Post wouldn't have sold very many books in 1922 if there wasn't a market of people complaining about others' manners. I'm sure she wasn't the first either.


I suspect that we're just growing up and recognizing behaviors as annoying/disruptive whereas such behavior was just normal when we were younger. Or at least it didn't bother us as much because we didn't go to things that were quite the same as an orchestral concert quite as often. (Would you complain about talking/leaving/whatever at a Metallica concert?!)

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Chris
9/23/2010 12:27:13 am

The existence of Emily Post and other etiquette authors doesn't prove or disprove the existence of etiquette in American history. The argument that the book existed and therefore the book was needed is an assumption. Perhaps, what is more significant, is that such books were used as a part of regular education, whereas today they are not frequently used. This can be documented objectively, but I'll throw in an anecdote: when I was in grade school (in the 1970s) we used an etiquette textbook at school. Anyway, I would draw a different conclusion from the existence of Emily Post's book. To me, this would suggest that because etiquette was taught more commonly that the use of it would have been more wide-spread.

Currently there are many sources of etiquette. Just recently, when listening to a podcast on tech news I was surprised to learn that there is a website called "Etiquette B*tch" (rhymes with 'witch'). This paradoxical resource--it's very name defies etiquette--is perhaps unique in the history of etiquette. (Google it if you're interested.) Otherwise there are many websites and books that discuss etiquette, so there is clearly an interest.

Further, if the history of literature is any indicator, social etiquettes grow and change over time. It is well documented that concert etiquette has changed dramatically over the centuries. For example, it has been common in the history of classical music to have a concert etiquette that does not require the audience's silence or attention at a concert (in fact, it is reported that many played cards and gossiped). Then, on the other hand, there are examples of strict silence and an air of reverence at a concert.

Finally, I'm not certain it matters whether public etiquette was better or worse in the past. What matters to me is whether there is a serious effort to improve etiquette when there is consensus that it needs improvement. Of course, it may just be the few of us responding to this post that think so.

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    Chris Perry

    Musician & educator

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