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Whooping at Concerts

21 Jan 25 - 06:40 PM (#4215671)
Subject: Whooping at Concerts
From: Johnny J

I was at a very enjoyable gig last night but there was a woman behind me "whooping" in between every song and even during some of the special "pauses" etc.

I've got to confess it was a bit irritating at times but, instead of complaining, I gave the occasional "whoop" back.

There are other annoying things at gigs, of course, including talking during songs, singing during the verses as opposed to the chorus, exiting and entering while the artist is in the middle of the song, mobile phone lights and filming etc and much more.

"Whooping" probably is just slightly less worse than clapping out of time, in my opinion.

Where about in the "annoyance spectrum" would you place it yourselves?

21 Jan 25 - 07:08 PM (#4215673)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Rossey

An American habit that spread to other territories.   It wrecks live concert recordings.   For some reason Americans often whoop when they recognise the first line of a well known hit by the artist, or a singer does a twiddly or trilling bit seen as complex. Talent shows are full of it. For annoying, think Simon and Garfunkel the Central Park Concert etc. When you want to listen to a song in a live version the whooping or cheering grates and stops the flow. Some will say it adds atmosphere, I just hate it! I'd wish they'd show appreciation after the song, not by interrupting it. Rant over, whooping is here to stay.

21 Jan 25 - 07:16 PM (#4215674)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Johnny J

"An American habit "

Explains a lot.
:-)

The performers were American themselves but the "whoopers" were Canadians... they shouted that information out at one stage.

21 Jan 25 - 08:00 PM (#4215679)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Joe Offer

Hey, now, I'm American and I ain't never whooped once at a concert...

And I don't clap between movements at the symphony, neither.

21 Jan 25 - 11:14 PM (#4215686)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Ebbie

I haven't heard live whooping myself, but I don't like audible singing along. I remember once years ago when the woman behind me sang harmony with the onstage group. I finally turned and said, You have a beautiful voice but I want to hear them. She apologized and stopped. But why would someone do that?

22 Jan 25 - 02:51 AM (#4215687)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: The Sandman

There are two ways of looking atr this, negatively or positively. the positive way is to think they are whooping because they are enjoying it.
Johnny j , you did the right reaction by whooping yourself imo.
whooping is or used to be common in ireland at trad sessions etc, to sort of encourage the musicians and show appreciation

22 Jan 25 - 03:34 AM (#4215688)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: The Sandman

I suppose it all depends on the situation in an informal instrumental session, whooping is a sort of encouragement, clapping out of time is a hindrance, then there are the musicians who stamp their foot out of timeIfind generally speaking animals are less of a problem than humans, but that is the way of the world.
my cat causes less problems than biden trump or putin

22 Jan 25 - 05:03 AM (#4215694)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Steve Shaw

Many years ago we went to hear Yehudi Menuhin playing Beethoven's violin concerto at the Albert Hall. Our dear friend Harry, much older than us, and pretty deaf by then, was sitting across the aisle from us, so we couldn't communicate with him during the performance. He spent the whole performance with his hand in his jacket pocket, jangling his bunch of keys. :-)

Don't be too quick to be sniffy about people who clap between movements. In Mozart's and Beethoven's time, such enthusiastic outbursts (not only between movements but also in the middle of 'em) were de rigeur at concerts, not just expected but much-appreciated by performers. Even chattering during performances was quite normal and not usually frowned on. Indignant tutting disapproval of even quite mild applause between movements is a modern affectation (a bit like wearing ties, which I've refused to do for decades).

We can stay at home these days and listen to gorgeous recordings of whole symphonies on our super-duper speakers, undistracted by audience participation. I suspect that being able to do that has helped to condition us to expect the same at concerts. I think that's a big mistake!

22 Jan 25 - 07:56 AM (#4215709)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Rossey

Of course I should have said in Scotland we do have heuchs.. a primeval response to ceilidh music as a form of adding atmosphere.   That is entirely different to whooping in a rock, pop or country music concert setting. Loud audience singing when not actually invited to join in, as Ebbie said, can be annoying.

22 Jan 25 - 11:11 AM (#4215722)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch

On some Caribbean islands (way, way back in the day) one's admission ticket stub was known as an étiquette, because the house rules were in fine print on the reverse.

Classical venues might close the doors before the show starts. Just walking in and taking one's reserved seating after the curtain goes up is not allowed. Singalongs or dancing in the aisles is right out.

London or Los Angeles, Van Morrison's St. Dominic's Preview always returned more live whoops for “Belfast” than “Buffalo.” The man works his audiences like they are part of the band.

Japanese metal crowds are the most orderly folks you'll ever see entering a venue, bar none. Even the mosh pits wheel and turn in polite rank and file.

Otoh, 1964 Beatles at the Florida Gator Bowl… all one heard was “EEEeeeeeeeeeeeeEEE” then… and for days after. The security detail down in front would have preferred the usual, garden variety football hooliganism.

22 Jan 25 - 11:28 AM (#4215723)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: meself

" That is entirely different ... " Care to elaborate? I would have thought it exactly the same .....

Personally, I have no problem with people expressing their excitement, enthusiasm, and joy with the odd whoop. When I'm playing music and I hear a whoop, I feel pleased that I'm inspiring such apparently-uncontainable glee. I don't really expect people to sit in stunned silence, transfixed by my display of virtuosity, if not genius.
YMMV.

22 Jan 25 - 11:54 AM (#4215726)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Jim Knowledge

I `ad that Johnny J. in my cab the other day. `e looked at me in a right old tone of voice.
`e said, " `ere, Jim. Didn`t I see you at that enjoyable gig last night?"
I said, "Well blow me down. Yeah, I was there. One of my rare nights off from playing with the band".
`e said, "What about that woman who kept on whooping then? Didn`t she get under your skin?"
I said, " Do you mean `er with the "day glow" green knitted dress and cowboy boots?"
`e said, " Yeah. That`s `er."
I said, "oh, `ave a `eart John. She`s one of the regulars. She` just getting over a bout of "Whooping Cough!"


Whaddam I like???

22 Jan 25 - 12:12 PM (#4215730)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Johnny J

You don't sound like a Glasgow taxi driver. or even an Edinburgh one...
;-))

I'm totally "staid" about these things and don't mind the odd whoop or cheer now and again. She just didn't seem to let up though and I was trying to listen to the introductions etc too.

Everything in moderation.

22 Jan 25 - 12:27 PM (#4215731)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Droolian

'You don't sound like a Glasgow taxi driver. or even an Edinburgh one...'

And deffo not like the old Cockney cabbie!

PS ... and it's day-glo not 'day glow'. Any decent Londoner knows that.

22 Jan 25 - 12:43 PM (#4215734)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Sol

I class the whoopers along with the ones who sit on their partner's shoulders waving their arms. It's "Hey, look at me and forget about the artist & all the mugs who paid good money to enjoy the show."
All under the false banner of "I'm only enjoying myself".
I'm sure all the Whoopee Goldbergs and piggie-backers will disagree.

22 Jan 25 - 12:43 PM (#4215735)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Johnny J

:-))

WhoopS.... I meant to say

I'm NOT totally "staid" , of course.

22 Jan 25 - 06:37 PM (#4215751)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Rossey

I am referring to proper staged concerts, large scale events - like arenas where you get an American/Canadian (other national stereotypes are available), audience whooping and a' hollering when hearing a major artist's music as they launch into some well known song. Usually when the artists are actually singing.   As opposed to a small ceilidh type event with an intimate clap along, heuch along, participation element. I was also commenting tongue firmly in cheek!

22 Jan 25 - 07:38 PM (#4215756)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Tattie Bogle

I was going to mention the heuchs as well. I remember being at a concert in the early days of a particular Scottish band, and one of the lead players telling the audience that they should heuch, then demonstrating how to, followed by having a trial run of heuching from the audience! One of our respected older musicians in the audience muttered that he knew perfectly well how to heuch, but would only do it if he felt the music deserved it: he didn’t need to be told how or when!

As for crowd order, it often goes with the seating, or lack of it. You get much more chat if the audience is set out cabaret style with small tables and chairs around them, as compared with straight rows theatre-style. And the most disorderly and disrespectful audiences are often those where it’s standing room only - screaming at each other over the music, waving phones in the air, up on shoulders, crowd-surfing, etc.,

And one of my pet hates relates to performances such as ballet, opera, musicals, where there is this thing at the start called the OVERTURE, which some people seem to think is for them to talk over: no, it’s an integral part of the whole thing and should be listened to, just as much as any other part of it.

23 Jan 25 - 07:03 AM (#4215787)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Jack Campin

Bonnie Wade's book on the music of India describes how this works in their classical scene. You are supposed to make clearly audible appreciative noises - but you only do it when the performers have done something genuinely remarkable. Just calling out to express generic approval or as a "look at me" is considered gauche.

I like the idea of making performances unrecordable - unique moments that only live on in memory.

23 Jan 25 - 10:36 AM (#4215812)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,PHJim

I think of Whooping as being an Irish thing. It's quite common at Irish sessions, especially during a set of fiddle tunes, sometimes done by one of the musicians to signal a change of tunes to the other musicians.
I am less bothered by whoops than by inappropriate applause. A whoop to indicate that a musician has done a wonderful solo is much less annoying than applause which obliterates the first few bars of the next musician's solo.
It also bothers me when people applaud to show that they recognise the song after the first few bars. OK, you know what the song is. . .some of us would like to hear it.
Rhythmic clapping during a song or tune, unless the musician(s) invite it, can also be annoying since it often gets out of synch with the performers, forcing them to speed up, slow down or try to ignore the clapping.

24 Jan 25 - 05:53 AM (#4215873)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: MaJoC the Filk

We were at an Indian music concert once (the full sitar experience), in the early-music series of evening concerts at the Uni. It was very noticeable that most of the audience were sitting there, politely silent (or po-faced, if you will), and only applauded in the big gaps; but the Indians who'd come along with the band were loudly enthusiastic throughout as the improvisations got more extravagant. "Like a jazz audience," says Herself.

We had to leave at what turned out to be the end of the first raga, as our taxi driver was waiting for us, with the meter running. At the next concert, we asked the lassie in charge of the series when the session had finished. "It went on all night," says she, "and I had to stay right to the end. Never again."

24 Jan 25 - 06:48 PM (#4215910)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: keberoxu

Whooping at concerts certainly is common in the US,
it is rare to attend a concert without it.

24 Jan 25 - 10:28 PM (#4215915)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Gibb Sahib

Kya baat hai! (Hindi-Urdu)

Masha'Allah! (Arabic)

Jamaican:
https://youtube.com/shorts/9ZAjGRkjihw?si=uzNbMsmlMQAC0z0G
Raasclaat!


It's called vibes. Try undoing a top button. At least they didn't lick shots.

25 Jan 25 - 01:26 AM (#4215919)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Seamus Kennedy

I discovered that the original Three Tenors (Pavarotti, Domingo and Contreras) hate it when you sing along with them on their arias.
They lit into me like Billy Connolly at a heckler. The language!

25 Jan 25 - 05:30 AM (#4215921)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Steve Shaw

Er, Carreras? :-)

Billy Connolly and heckling? See if you can find on YouTube his sketch on Mario Lanza being heckled at the Glasgow Empire. Hilarious!

25 Jan 25 - 09:05 AM (#4215925)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Sol

Re. Billy Connolly (above) ....

The Glasgow Empire's audience was notorious.

"Hey Marrio. 'Softly Softly' if you please". etc, etc....

25 Jan 25 - 09:09 AM (#4215926)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Sol

Found the soundtrack, Steve.

Billy Connolly's Mario Lanza story

25 Jan 25 - 12:57 PM (#4215938)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Beer

Mario Lanza story was very funny. I don't mind at large concerts if there is lots of noise with the audience going nuts around you. What irks me is at a small venue whereby someone in the audience is singing louder then the artist you came (paid to hear.) to see.

25 Jan 25 - 03:05 PM (#4215944)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: Seamus Kennedy

Steve Shaw - yeah, that Carreras was a contrary bugger, like my typing fingers.

28 Jan 25 - 09:05 AM (#4216106)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: GUEST,Roderick A Warner

Billy Connolly had a way with hecklers. Saw him when he first came to Dublin back in the back when and given the somewhat fractious times , some IRA loon started shouting. Connolly paused as if considering the situation and must have thought: fuck it and demolished said loon and the gamble paid off as the audience erupted in applause.

28 Jan 25 - 09:58 AM (#4216109)
Subject: RE: Whooping at Concerts
From: The Sandman

The best heckling response, I ever heard
When they circumised you they threw away the wrong bit