I started something

There’s been a lot of lament lately for Houston’s concert-goers and their extremely bad manners. Of particular offense is a crowd’s collective tendency to TALK AT FULL VOLUME during a show. This is especially annoying when the talkers are right in front of the stage, taking up space that someone who is there to actually see the band might enjoy in their stead.

Sunday I saw Girls at Walters and reviewed the show for the Houston Press. In my review I wrote about how, in spite of a few idiots in the crowd, overall the audience was extremely receptive (to steal a phrase) and the synergistic feedback was awesome.

When this conversation first hit critical mass this summer, the resounding comment was “If people are misbehaving, call them out.” This is easy to say in retrospect but half the time the jackass is engaging in jackassery with a side dish of publuc intoxication, and I don;t know about you, but I’m not about to get my nose broken just because someone’s being a little annoying.

That said… I was at Girls and their first few songs were pretty mellow. And there was a couple behind me, a dude and a chick, and while they were debating whether baby-faced guitarist Ryan Lynch was male or female (“Because, why would they be called Girls if there wasn’t a girl in the band?” “I’m telling you, it’s not a girl.” “But what is it is? Maybe it’s just a butchy girl.”) I was beginning to silently seethe. As I worked up the courage to tell the to HOLY SHIT STFU then went outside for a smoke break and I was treated to four minutes of silence. But then they came back, and the chick was actually trying to TALK OVER THE BAND. So I turned to them, all nicely, and said, “Hey! Which band are you guys here to see?”

The guy replied, “Girls…”

“Really?! Me too! And it would be awesome if you didn’t talk over their entire set.”

The guy had a kind of sheepish look on his face, and he apologized profusely, while I just turned back to my notes and camera and tried very stealthily to control my nervous shaking, since I am usually a person who avoids confrontation at all costs, even to the point of making my own self uncomfortable. But after that they were SO TOTALLY COOL and graceful and they stopped talking and the guy even asked who I wrote for and all was copacetic man.

So. Moral of the story is that sometimes calling someone out works in your favor. I’m just glad I wasn’t stabbed or shot in the Walter’s parking lot after the show.