I have been to a lot of concerts over the past few years – at venues large and small, seeing acts world-famous and relavitvely obscure - and in the process have encountered a range of concert-goers. Going to most shows I go to by myself, I end up paying a lot of attention to the people around me. Most of them are cool and often entertaining-to-overhear folks, but there are a few that drive me up a wall. You’ve seen them. There’s the Uncomfortably Affectionate Couple, the Too-Loud Singer Along-er, the Very Tall Person Who Pushes Through The Crowd Only To Stop Directly In Front Of You, and let’s not forget the Dumbass Who Holds His Point-and-Shoot Camera In The Air For The Duration Of Every Song Recording Crappy Video To Post To Youtube. Fortunately, I’ve found that most of these people, especially the latter two types, will desist if you give them a good tap on the shoulder and say (or, depending on noise level, yell), “hi I really need you not to do that please.” Most people are pretty ok. The absolute worst type of concert goer, though, one who will not listen to reason or be deterred from her poor behavior, is the Terrible Dancey Girl.
The Terrible Dancey Girl is a selfish, inconsiderate creature. She has no regard for your personal space or concert-going experience. She just wants to dance, man … and if her body or any of her limbs decide they want to occupy the space where you are currently standing minding your own business, they’re damn well going to. The Terrible Dancey Girl bumps and pokes and knocks into you repeatedly and she does not apologize or care or stop. She makes it necessary for me to remind myself that, in our society, assault is illegal. I have documented my problems with the TDG before.
Also, please don’t think I’m hating on people who are enjoying themselves. The Terrible Dancey Girl’s direct opposites, the Awesome Dancey Girl and her rarer counterpart the Awesome Dancey Guy, are among my very favorite concert-goers. I have a great time when people around me are all into the music. It’s only when someone’s enjoyment comes at the expense of others’ that I get a little rage-y.
So anyway, I went to see Mayer Hawthorne at Johnny Brenda’s last week, and the TDG phenomenon was in full effect. There were three of them, all of whom knocked into me at some point, but two of them at least apologized for themselves and also for the third, who seemed to resent my having walked into the 5′ x 3′ foot space by the front of the stage that I suppose she imagined was meant only for her. She was either very drunk or just an extreeeme bitch. I am not sure which. Possibly both.
Anyway, so, the concert. It was good. I arrived somewhere in the middle of Buff 1’s set with 14KT. I’d never seen hip hop live before and I have to say it was a blast, though I was a little stressed out by the expectation of audience participation. I have six hours of class on Wednesdays, and had been up late working on an assignment, so this show was at the end of a very long day. But, to reiterate, those boys were delightful.
Mayer Hawthorne & the County were enjoyable as well. I took a few pictures during opener “Maybe So, Maybe No” before it was requested that we put all the camera and cell phones away and have a technology-free evening, appropriate given the throwback nature of the musical project.

I was standing pretty much directly below Jimmy Yellowstone on guitar.

Other highlights included a fun reggae-ified version of the song that started it all, a very fun if unimaginative cover of “Mr. Blue Sky,” and the toe-tapping good “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothing.” They closed the encore with “The Ills,” which I kind of can’t believe is an original song, it sounds so of another era (though some would argue that it’s excessively derivative).
So, yeah, it was a very good performance, though I’m not sure I can say I enjoyed the show. There was the TDG factor that ruined things a little bit, but I think another layer was the artifice of the whole endeavor. Dude’s name isn’t Mayer Hawthorne, for example, and he is not really a singer (though he gets around it admirably). And then there were his instructions to the audience, like his command that all the single people find someone couple up with during “I Wish That It Would Rain.” Hello, I got five hours of sleep last night and have been awake for seventeen and I am not feeling cute. Let’s make me feel worse about it please, thanks.
The more I write about, the more I realize that I did not have a good time. Oh well.
This was also my first concert in some months, so I was maybe a little out of practice. My subsequent show-going experience (there have been two) have been more positive, at least, so I’ll be posting some more upbeat music thoughts soon, promise.