Living in Los Angeles presents near countless opportunities to attend amazing concerts. Since moving here in August 2002, I've seen close to 30 shows (guesstimate off the top of my head) including most of the best shows I've ever seen--Rilo Kiley, Coldplay (3X), Arcade Fire, Brandi Carlile, Neko Case/New Pornographers, Rachael Yamagata, Tift Merritt, The Shins, Damien Rice and Radiohead among others.
Going to so many shows I've also learned a lot about concert etiquette and stuff: cellphones are the new lighters, the Troubadour does NOT have a two-way mirror but does have nearby free parking, standing near the door of the Troubadour means you might get a concert poster and standing near the soundboard at the El Rey means a place with just OK acoustics will sound pretty damned good. But perhaps the main lesson I've learned is that the crowd at shows likely sponsored by KCRW (local public radio that specializes in tasteful alternative) is pretty tame (not much clapping, dancing or singing).
This past Tuesday I saw Regina Spektor at the aforementioned El Rey, and we stood near the soundboard in back. Before I get to the rest of the story, let me just encourage all four of you to buy some Regina Spektor, the new album—Begin to Hope—comes out June 13. Great show. Loved her new songs and her old ones. She's a piano-playing Russian emigre creating music unlike everyone else out there. I'd seen her once before at the Roxy and while she was amazing, that was one her first appearance in Los Angeles and she seemed a wee bit overwhelmed almost that the audience was crazy for her and could sing along to her songs. This time, she fed off that energy and used it to fuel her show.
Anyway, back to the blog entry.
In my experience going to shows I've learned that there are a number of fans to avoid:
1. I love this band soooo much so I'm gonna sing along, even though I can't carry a tune or even define what a tune is.
2. This band's music has a great beat and you can dance to it, even though I couldn't find the beat with Sherlock Holmes and the Hubble Telescope.
3. I love this band soooo much that I have got to tell you how much I love them even while they're performing (quiet songs, too!)
4. I love this band soooo much and the only thing better than my love for the band is my love for the too-rare occurence of meeting another fan just like me, who also loves the band as much as me.
On Tuesday at the Regina Spektor show, I ran into these fans and they were all wrapped up into two people. WOW! Actually, my language skills are failing me now. I need the absolute inverse of WOW! Or maybe I need the bizarro kryptonite version of WOW! Because that's how it felt.
As a not-tall guy (5-foot-4), concerts often challenge me. Since I don't like teeming up stream to squeeze into the front row, I usually try to find locations in the back with good sight lines. Plus, I'm old and up front you find more of fans 1 and 2. At the Spektor show Dave, Eric and I were in the back behind the sound board and in front of the bar.
Well, once she takes the stage I've got a pretty good sightline and can see her as she sits at the piano. Occassionally, the people in front of me shift their weight thus obscuring my view a little bit, but it's not that bad. With just a couple baby steps or neck tilts, I can see Ms. Spektor and her curly black hair again. As the show wears on though, things start getting difficult. A couple people have wedged their way into the throng and now the sightlines are starting to disappear no matter where I stand.
Then it gets better, one particular woman (who is sorta shall we say unskinny) and her friend (who are in front of us to the left) have started to accumulate the beer. Incidentally, so has a rather flaming guy in front of us, who is to our right with his group of friends.
Each of these wonderful characters are clearly demonstrating that they're bad rock fans No. 2, which is a pain the ass, esp. given the lack of sightlines. Soon Spektor starts playing a song that has a singalongable chorus and my two fave superfans start belting to the backrow of a theater in NYC. Double yikes! They're each a bad-fan 1&2.
As the show continues, which ended up being a good 80 minutes, the singing and dancing continue, and the dancing gets more and more ostentatious. Then they exhibit their Horrible Rock Concert Fans No. 3 sides. Unskinny girl starts really talking to her friend, who is also unskinny. Then flaming guy starts talking more and more to his friends, who are even starting to shun him a wee bit, like ignoring some of his comments hoping that he'll shut the fuck up.
But no dice, he's loaded so his tongue needs an outlet ... lo and behold as his dancing moved him to his left and her dancing moved her to right unskinny girl and flaming guy meet up. Their first words are, ironcially enough, apologies to each other for being sorta loud and taking up too much space. But since they somehow manage to fall in love at first sight with each other as fans they hug it out and then managed to become 100 percent oblivious to the fact that they're at a concert with other FANS of Regina Spektor. So now they're in full out HORRIBLE FUCKING CONCERT FANS Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4!! I mean, for fuck's sake, right?
After a few minutes of their at-this-point-nearly-histrionics they are getting shushed by pretty much everyone around them, save their friends who are just tipsy or immune enough or conditioned to stand an extra half-step away, but not say anything.
Thankfully, the show was over in about three more songs and still amazing. Yet even more testament to Regina Spektor. So go buy her album and pray to whatever you believe in that these two don't end up at the same show as you.
Apologies that this entry really died at the end. But it's late, I'm tired and my allergies have been taking a bite out of me most of the night.
Mike
p.s. saw Morgan from Whisptertown 2000 along with Michael Runion at this show.
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