Concert Etiquette

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Barry Finn
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 01:01 AM

A well seasonded performer I know hates in when he hears the crowd at a concert joing in, me I'm tickled to death when they join in, we nearly twist arms for them to sing along & are as pleased as can be when they do

But I can't dispute that if you're not asked then don't join in

Barry

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 07:06 PM

Roman Catholicism or Weslyanism?

In this context I'm a Weslyan.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Deckman
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 06:21 PM

I'm going to jump in here, right after friend Don, with a comment. I agree with others that the audience, in public concert, should NOT join in on the singing unless the performers invite them to do so. Performers put hours and hours of practice and planning into their performances. Sometimes songs change over the years ... new aspects arrive ... and audiences' chorus singing can spoil that.

Leave it to the performers to entertain you ... NOT the other way around. CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Don Firth
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 04:33 PM

I am of the opinion that, folk concert or not, audience members should not join in unless the performer specifically asks them to.

One thing that really gets me grinding my teeth is when a particular song has a strong beat and some audience members feel impelled to start rhythmically clapping.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Rasener
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 03:51 PM

>>shriek and whoop at the end of each number ??It's supposed to be a concert,not a f----king Comanche war-dance!Gives me the shits.. <<
Better than doing it during the song.

Basically, if you go to a concert event at a Village Hall, the organisers should treat it like a theatre. You won't get on the rural arts scheme unless you don't act like a theatre.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: bubblyrat
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 01:36 PM

Yes,it's fine if the performers have ASKED for it,but otherwise not really.In my experience,most artists will say something like "please feel free to join in on this one if you like", or " I /we could do with some help in the chorus " , or whatever.What I hate is when a bunch of prats get up and start "dancing" in front of the stage and block one's view.-----And why oh why do some people have to yell and shriek and whoop at the end of each number ??It's supposed to be a concert,not a f----king Comanche war-dance!Gives me the shits..

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 01:31 PM

Thank you George. And thank you for some wonderful songs.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 12:20 PM

Good points there Spleen Cringe. You sometimes can see such attitudes (of "ownership" of folk music) in the occasional post in some thread or other. We would all do well to be respectful of other's wishes, needs and interests if we want to attract them to (or not repel them from) the music we love.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 12:10 PM

Quote: "But nowadays concerts (away from festivals) attract a whole cohort of people who wouldn't dream of going to a club or a festival, and are not familiar with the idea of joining in"...

Or conversely, specifically go to concerts rather than clubs because they are listeners not participators and are actually consciously trying to avoid the joiners inners!

Look, you lot (the folk club folkies) have got your extensive network of venues where you set the rules. There are many of us who like folk music who don't tend to go to folk clubs because its not our scene, or who go to folk clubs for one sort of experience and concerts for another.

What I know is that if I pay a tenner or more to see an artist, I don't want someone sat next to me belting it out: I didn't come to hear them or pay to hear them! Wanting to get what I paid for does not mean I'm missing out on something - or should I say it doesn't mean I'm missing out on something I want.

What I suspect the problem is is that some folk club folkies think they have special privileges and sole ownership of folk music in all contexts. This means they think their rules of etiquette should apply to non folk club venues, and the rest of us, who haven't paid our dues at the local folk club for 40 years should shut up and put up.

I therefore salute the opening poster for not doing this. Just as I wouldn't take my hammer and chisel to a sculpture exhibition and try to "improve" the exhibits... Conversely, I may take them along to a sculpture workshop or club...

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 11:55 AM

And a Les Barker 'Concert' wouldn't be the same if people didn't join in (or even Barrack!)

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Marje
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 11:41 AM

This has raised an interesting point - perhaps any concert performers reading this will take note, and ask the audience to join in if that's what they want. I suppose otherwise people have to be prepared not to join in, which is, I agree, a bit of a shame, but it's the way things are going. There was a time when even at huge concerts, groups like The Spinners would actively encourage or even demand audience participation.

I don't think you'd get that reaction at a festival, would you? I saw the Young Coppers at Dartmoor Festival and people were joining in then - the group didn't suggest it, but then they said how much they enjoyed it when it happened. I caught the eye of the girl singer, Lucy, at one point and she looked genuinely moved to see us all singing along. I think they hadn't expected that people so far from their home ground would know the songs so well.

But nowadays concerts (away from festivals) attract a whole cohort of people who wouldn't dream of going to a club or a festival, and are not familiar with the idea of joining in. Whatever their reasons, I suppose they have a right to ask to listen to the performer without a surround-sound singalong taking place, but I feel that's their loss.

Marje

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: GUEST,Betsy at Work
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 11:03 AM

Sleeping Rosie - I can't fault your comments.
I love chorus singing - they ( choruses ) brought me to and kept me going to Folk clubs - but as you so eloquently said, "When in Rome ... "
What a pity I do like a good chorus.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Sleepy Rosie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:40 AM

Locals paying for their tickets for a show at the *village hall*, may well not be familiar with accepted norms at a *folk club*.
The lady who complained would no doubt be similarly annoyed by someone next to her speaking along with the words to the local Am-Dram production of "The Importance of Being Earnest" or singing along to the local Operatic Societies production of "My Fair Lady", or similar stuff. Panto excepted of course. I think when in doubt concerning what it's aproppriate or not to do in any social or group circumstance, taking note of the unspoken consensus of behaviour, has got to be the most useful guideline. When in Rome and all that.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:39 AM

You were right to take the line of least resistance and not cause a confrontation - but the woman was rude to continue complaining at you after you'd already apologised. She's obviously not a folkie, so I suppose the commonplace practice of the audience joining in is unfamiliar to her.

It might have been an idea to move to another seat IF a decent one was available (which would send a message as well) but in saying Sorry and then keeping quiet you did the best thing under the circumstances. Anything else could have marred the concert because it would risk becoming aggressive. It takes all kinds, I suppose. Maybe she'll discover that she likes this sort of music well enough to want to join in herself...

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: BillE
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:38 AM

This is such a sad reflection on modern concert audiences. Been there and got the T-shirt several times. A couple of years ago the Waterson (Family / Carthy - can't remember what configuration) came to the Early Music Centre in York. Come chorus song time Norma says "Please join in". Some 8 - 10 of us - old buddies from the Lowther Hotel Folk Club 30 years ago - did just that. You could cut the sneering stares from the very silent majority with a knife! Encouraged by Norma's arm waving we carried on.

As recently as last Sunday at a Kate Rusby concert in York the audience were invited to join in many of the songs / choruses. Very few did so.

Although folk music is a participative thing, there is sometimes a wrong time to join in audibly. But if we start to say never join in, and widen the distance between singer and audience, then IMHO we have lost it. Kate and Norma instinctively seem to recognise this. But perhaps they are singers first, performers second.

Bill

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Rasener
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:37 AM

Agree with MM

Its not a singaround and people have paid good money to listen to the performer. If the performer asks you to join in with the choruses, then fair play.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:33 AM

the only "appropriate time" to join in is when the performer specifically invites invites participation.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: GUEST,maple_leaf_boy
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 10:14 AM

I would have moved to a different seat, if it was possible.

Subject: RE: Concert Etiquette
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 08:28 AM

If you had carried on it would have caused a bigger argument. My take on concerts is that you only join in when invited.

Subject: Concert Etiquette
From: Folkie
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 08:23 AM

I went to a concert in a village hall yesterday evening to see the Mellstock Band. There was a group of about 10 of us who regularly go to folk events sitting together and we were joining in at appropriate times but the rest of the audience did not join in. After a while, the lady sitting next to me said "Please would you NOT sing". I said "I'm very sorry". She said "I paid to listen to the band not to listen to YOU sing". I felt rather upset because I had only been singing quietly, not with gusto as I would at Whittlebury. I kept quiet during the rest of the concert. Was that the right thing to do or should I have continued singing regardless?