Look, I realize I'm only 32 and should not have a complaint when I go to a concert, but when you go to a show in a listening room, you should be around other music lovers who are there to enjoy the intimate setting. Friday evening was one of the most unpleasant musical experiences I've ever had, and it had to do with people not respecting the talent.
Earlier in the fall we had the pleasure of taking in our first show at the Rialto Club. The place seats about 160 people and is set up for small acoustic shows. They have some work to do as far as customer service goes, but the idea of a venue this size in Athens is an awesome concept.
There are no rules posted anywhere but the unwritten rule in a place this size should be simple: listen to the artist and respect other concert goers.
Edwin McCain took the Rialto Club stage this past Friday. I've probably taken in somewhere between 15-20 Edwin shows in my lifetime. Clearly I've been a fan for some time, but never have I seen a true acoustic performance especially not in a cool location like Rialto. Needless to say, this was a performance we had been looking forward to for a few months.
Before I get to the show, I do want to take a little knock at the club. I had exchanged emails with the woman who runs it on a day to day basis. She had previously volunteered a table for us at the Edwin show. Obviously with a small room, the tables only seat 4-6 people. We ordered tickets along with our friends the Brachowskis, so an email exchange took place setting up the reserved table for us. Once we arrived, no table. I ran into the woman I had exchanged emails with and she smiled and said, "oh yeah we had so many ticket orders we just decided to not do tables for this show." So no apology. No explanation for the piss poor communication on the club's part. This was the kickoff for what became a forgettable evening.
After waiting at the bar for a good five minutes and not being served, the club doors closed and we had to rush in and find seats as the show was beginning. We end up behind these 4 women. They had their glasses and two bottles of wine with them at their seats, so clearly they were there to have a good time. Fine. Great even. As the show started, they continued to settle into their seats and talk ... at regular level as the music started. Again, fine. They were amped up for the evening and just got to their seats. Ok. I get it.
These women were older ... at least a couple of them were. I know the term "cougar" is very popular these days, but I didn't feel like it applied here. More on that in a bit.
For those of you not familiar with Edwin, even in a big music venue he is very interactive. He loves telling stories about his songs, his travels, his family, and in a larger venue he loves interacting with the audience. In this particular venue he was again telling stores but wasn't really asking for responses. Someone should've told that to the lady sitting in front of me, because every time he said something ... and i mean every ... single ... time ... she responded back to him as plain as day. No whispering, no muffled voice. Keep in mind no one else was doing this. Just this lady. Yep. And she did it all show.
As Edwin carried on, the ladies kept pouring wine, clinking glasses and talking at high volumes. Again, I realize 32 is still young enough to have a good time and certainly young enough to sing along at a concert, but I was unbelievably pissed off throughout the show. These women made the show totally frustrating for most everyone sitting around them and the club didn't say a word to them until there were two songs left in the set. Yes, I absolutely wanted to say something. A couple of us hushed them a few times to no avail. Someone in front of the women got up to say something to the club well before they came over to quiet them down.
So I took to facebook after the show and asked for a word to describe the unattractive cougars sitting in front of us. Wildebeest was my favorite, hence the wording in the blog title. Really though, it baffles me these wildebeests had no idea how annoying they were. Amazing.
While Edwin and crew were entertaining, it was very difficult to enjoy the show. I'm sure folks on the other side of the room loved it. Had there been some open seats we would've joined them!
On top of that, the Dawgs lost another football game this weekend. While all fans are certainly disappointed, I felt bad for those seniors. A bowl game is in their future, but dropping that last game at home is not something you really want to remember as a senior. Hopefully they'll recover for the Tech game this weekend and finish strong.
Ok, enough about the wildebeests. Enjoying the AMAs, the last little bit of the first fire of the season and the glowing lights of our Christmas decorations we already put out. Yep. We did that.
Earlier in the fall we had the pleasure of taking in our first show at the Rialto Club. The place seats about 160 people and is set up for small acoustic shows. They have some work to do as far as customer service goes, but the idea of a venue this size in Athens is an awesome concept.
There are no rules posted anywhere but the unwritten rule in a place this size should be simple: listen to the artist and respect other concert goers.
Edwin McCain took the Rialto Club stage this past Friday. I've probably taken in somewhere between 15-20 Edwin shows in my lifetime. Clearly I've been a fan for some time, but never have I seen a true acoustic performance especially not in a cool location like Rialto. Needless to say, this was a performance we had been looking forward to for a few months.
Before I get to the show, I do want to take a little knock at the club. I had exchanged emails with the woman who runs it on a day to day basis. She had previously volunteered a table for us at the Edwin show. Obviously with a small room, the tables only seat 4-6 people. We ordered tickets along with our friends the Brachowskis, so an email exchange took place setting up the reserved table for us. Once we arrived, no table. I ran into the woman I had exchanged emails with and she smiled and said, "oh yeah we had so many ticket orders we just decided to not do tables for this show." So no apology. No explanation for the piss poor communication on the club's part. This was the kickoff for what became a forgettable evening.
After waiting at the bar for a good five minutes and not being served, the club doors closed and we had to rush in and find seats as the show was beginning. We end up behind these 4 women. They had their glasses and two bottles of wine with them at their seats, so clearly they were there to have a good time. Fine. Great even. As the show started, they continued to settle into their seats and talk ... at regular level as the music started. Again, fine. They were amped up for the evening and just got to their seats. Ok. I get it.
These women were older ... at least a couple of them were. I know the term "cougar" is very popular these days, but I didn't feel like it applied here. More on that in a bit.
For those of you not familiar with Edwin, even in a big music venue he is very interactive. He loves telling stories about his songs, his travels, his family, and in a larger venue he loves interacting with the audience. In this particular venue he was again telling stores but wasn't really asking for responses. Someone should've told that to the lady sitting in front of me, because every time he said something ... and i mean every ... single ... time ... she responded back to him as plain as day. No whispering, no muffled voice. Keep in mind no one else was doing this. Just this lady. Yep. And she did it all show.
As Edwin carried on, the ladies kept pouring wine, clinking glasses and talking at high volumes. Again, I realize 32 is still young enough to have a good time and certainly young enough to sing along at a concert, but I was unbelievably pissed off throughout the show. These women made the show totally frustrating for most everyone sitting around them and the club didn't say a word to them until there were two songs left in the set. Yes, I absolutely wanted to say something. A couple of us hushed them a few times to no avail. Someone in front of the women got up to say something to the club well before they came over to quiet them down.
So I took to facebook after the show and asked for a word to describe the unattractive cougars sitting in front of us. Wildebeest was my favorite, hence the wording in the blog title. Really though, it baffles me these wildebeests had no idea how annoying they were. Amazing.
While Edwin and crew were entertaining, it was very difficult to enjoy the show. I'm sure folks on the other side of the room loved it. Had there been some open seats we would've joined them!
On top of that, the Dawgs lost another football game this weekend. While all fans are certainly disappointed, I felt bad for those seniors. A bowl game is in their future, but dropping that last game at home is not something you really want to remember as a senior. Hopefully they'll recover for the Tech game this weekend and finish strong.
Ok, enough about the wildebeests. Enjoying the AMAs, the last little bit of the first fire of the season and the glowing lights of our Christmas decorations we already put out. Yep. We did that.
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