COW: Rocket steals our pop culture time capsule, compares a Mason Jennings concert to a sporting event
Posted on November 3rd, 2008 – 1:12 PMBy Michael Rand
Rocket, who has been an old man since age 26, wants all you kids off his lawn. He also would look a little like Mason Jennings (pictured, awesome) if he ever got a perm and learned to play guitar. Here is Rocket’s Commenter Of the Week post:
Last night I saw Mason Jennings in Fargo. I have now seen Mason several times in concert, and they’ve all been great (as a side note, I will never forget a concert at First Avenue when Mason ended the show with a blistering version of “Bulls on Parade”).
Unfortunately, I have developed the same opinion of live music that I have of sports: Too often the crowd diminishes the experience. I have come to terms with the fact that there are idiots who are going to spend the concert talking with their clique of slow-witted butterflies; like I’ve come to terms with the fact that there are knuckle-draggers who need to be too drunk to watch the game by the fourth quarter/eighth inning/third period.
But last night was different. There was some jackaninny who bellowed, “You da man, Mason!” Others were making fun of some of his lyrics. I don’t have any special insight into Mason Jennings’ mind just because I am a fan of his music. But it was clear that he heard the ridiculousness (thanks to a criminally small crowd), and it seemed like he wasn’t enjoying the process.
This got me to thinking about expectations. When did we decide that a ticket was a license to act like a [redacted]? And, at what point is it no longer worth it? Last night it seemed like Mason was a little disgusted. I would be sad if he stops touring. I imagine it’s much the same for athletes. Athletes aren’t saints, but in what other job are you going to have people writing whatever they want about you on blogs, saying whatever they want about you on talk radio, booing you while you are in the middle of your job, and who are going to get mad if you don’t call them as “the best fans in the world”?
I sincerely think that the expectations of fans have grown as ridiculous and out of control as the salaries of players and the demands upon communities of the owners.
RandBallers, what say you?
23 Responses to "COW: Rocket steals our pop culture time capsule, compares a Mason Jennings concert to a sporting event"
A politician is about the only other job where people boo and bash.
I completely agree with this. I was at the Mason Jennings concert at the Orpheum a few weeks ago. While Mason was amazing, there were a few in the crowd who insisted on yelling out ridiculous things throughout the performance. It really took away from what should have been a great homecoming for Mason after months on the road.
What other job are you going to have people writing whatever they want about you on blogs, saying whatever they want about you on talk radio, booing you while you are in the middle of your job?
Politics, government, elite liberal media (especially elite liberal sportswriters and elite liberal sports talk radio hosts)… really any job where you’re a public figure and people feel like they have something invested in what you’re doing.
Aren’t all forms of Entertainment reviewed? Movies, art shows, concerts, sports, television, and websites are all up for positive and negative comments. It comes with the territory. Does this mean Joker wants people booing as he makes your meatball sub? Probably not, but he also doesn’t make over $10/hour. I would let people boo me 18 hours a day, 8 months out of the year if I was earning 7 figures. It’s part of the deal for entertainers and they know that going in.
I sincerely think that the expectations of fans have grown as ridiculous and out of control as the salaries of players and the demands upon communities of the owners.
Yep. That $20 ticket stub in your hand gives you carte blanche to share your uninformed, drunken opinion with everyone around you.
I agree with jama (on this one, also sorry for handing you another loss this week jama.) My boss who pays money to have me here can say whatever he wants about my performance. Fairly directly, fans pay money to watch the games and are expecting for a certain performance level. Any service jobs, like joker’s sub making, are open to criticism as you are there to serve people. And most entertainers are there to serve people. But at the same time people take it to extremes and that part can get very annoying.
newbie
I think I am mathematically eliminated from the postseason. I am officially the Dave MN of minor league fantasy football.
My uninformed, drunken opinion is that maybe you had too high of expectations for a crowd of Fargo-nians (Fargo-diegons?).
If you had set your expectation-meter to: “I just don’t want to end up drugged and tied to a fencepost”, you would not have been disappointed.
Yep. That $20 ticket stub in your hand gives you carte blanche to loudlyshare your uninformed, drunken opinion with everyone around you.
Mrs. Fasolamatt and I had headaches for a day or so after sitting in row 2 at the Fitz for Little Feat. The sound from the band was fine, but the drunken yobbos in the row behind us were really [redacted] loud. I mean jet engine loud. And drunken idiots, too.
jama and newbie, I think we’re discussing two different things. I think it’s perfectly fine to assess a performance and to, let’s say, boo at a game when it’s warranted (although I do think that fans are too quick to boo nowadays (I tend to believe that lack of effort is generally the only meaningful time a fan should boo (Oh when will these parenthetical references end?!?!))). And, as you point out, newbie, we all have to endure assessments. But the difference, newbie, is that while your boss “can say whatever he wants about [your] performance,” your boss then can’t write about what a crappy worker you are on a blog, call a radio station to the world how terrible you are, or call down your spouse and children because you “suck”. Nor would any reasonable person heap such abuse on Joker when he screwed up her/his meatball sandwich. I’m not sure that making more money means you should have to endure the type of criticism that extends above and beyond your performance.
All of which gets us to the real point that I was trying to make. We, as a society, seem to be suffering from the delusion that a ticket is a license to leave common decency behind and to act like a total [redacted]. Thus, we seem to have a growing number of folks who must think thoughts like the following to themselves: “I bought a ticket, so I can jabber away through a whole concert if I want to, regardless if everybody else around me wants to actually listen to the music” or “I paid good money for these Vikings tickets, so I can get as drunk as I want to and I can spill beer over as many people as I want to and I can scream and swear and question the gender and proclivities of the players and coaches as much as I want.” It’s that type of attitude and behavior that gets to me. Plus, Joker always puts mayonnaise on my meatball subs, and that’s just gross.
Clarence: “Fargonauts.” The word you’re looking for is “Fargonauts.”
Shorter Law-Talking Guy:
Acceptable: booing.
Unacceptable: booing while vomiting on the person in front of you, then loudly exclaiming that it’s not half as gross as the [redacted] you took in the trough urinal.
I lived in Fargo long enough to need to renew my driver license. The natives I hung out with mostly referred to themselves as “drunks”.
Drunks also always seem to mistakenly refer to them selves as funny.
I have come to terms with the fact that there are idiots who are going to spend the concert talking with their clique of slow-witted butterflies
I, on the other hand, have not come to terms with this. It drives me crazy. Did you seriously just spend $50 per ticket to come in here and try to talk over the music for the whole concert?!
I wanted to bludgeon people at the Ben Folds concert at Myth a few weeks ago. The Fine Line is also terrible for this type of [redacted]. It’s not like the Fine Line has good drink specials. Essentially, those people are going there to pay too much for beer/drinks on top of what ends up being a $15-$25 cover (ticket), just to [redacted] talk over the music. I would like all people who do this to drink bleach and die. Thanks.
I think I am mathematically eliminated from the postseason. I am officially the Dave MN of minor league fantasy football.
Well, jama, you can look forward to coming in second to last next year, since it looks like I’m headed to the Randball Minors.
newbie, is that while your boss “can say whatever he wants about [your] performance,” your boss then can’t write about what a crappy worker you are on a blog, call a radio station to the world how terrible you are, or call down your spouse and children because you “suck”.
Thank you! Now can you tell him that please???
Got it rocket… then I agree. See, episode of “It’s Always Sunny…” with Frank and Mac in movie theater. (Hilarious and proves your point.)
As a general rule, don’t a lot of bad concert experiences happen in medium-sized venues? A concert in a huge stadium drowns out the crazies. A small bar usually quiets or removes the loudmouths. But places like the Myth, the Fine-Line, and the Venue in Fargo are too big to weed out the goofballs, but too small to mask them.
I couldn’t agree more about the Ben Folds show, Dave. I made it so I could have a good time, but especially during Missy Higgins, there were so many [redacted] people that were just yelling to talk to other people. That sucked. Ben rocked.
The lines between private employees and civic enterprises have been blurred by the municipal funding of stadiums. Our tax dollars paid for the Metrodome, TCF Bank Stadium and the Target Center and a good portion of the new Target Field. I think in the minds of a lot of people that has created a mistaken sense of ownership over the teams that play on these fields.
In reality fans are customers. Like any customer, whether it be a sporting event, strip club, or sandwich shop each person is entitled to enjoy the experience to appropriate limits, and voice displeasure when they feel the service they’ve purchased does not meet their approval. However, when that expression of enjoyment or disapproval infringes on the rights of others to enjoy their game, meatball sub, or lap dance then that person needs to be dealt with.
It makes no difference if it’s a bouncer, usher or sandwich artist that puts the offender in their place, or just a fellow customer asking that person to “please quiet down” or “put your [redacted] away” we can each do our part to make sporting events and gentlemen’s clubs more respectable places.
“jackaninny”
That’s the word I was thinking of watching Randy Foye last night.
People talk to each other at rock clubs. Most musicians I’ve met over the years understand this. The lucky (relatively successful) ones can pick and choose venue types (i.e. bar, club, theater, coffeehouse, etc.). But most learn to put up with it.
But from an audience perspective, if someone’s ruining my experience, I’ve found the best tactic is to walk up to that person(s) and say “It’s not every day I can see Ray LaMontagne. Can you please shut the (redacted) up?”
Generally they do shut up - and most people around you will thank you for standing up for them. But make sure you use a New Jersey accent. Minnesotans are scared (redacted) of guys from New Jersey.
Many years ago I saw Glen Phillips at the Fine Line. We had numerous people that were being loud in the back and Glen finally had enough and told them to shut the [redacted] up.
Ben Folds? Little Feat? Mason Jennings? The Vikings?
Would I be offending some folk around here by saying maybe its the music that all of you go to see that brings out the frat/drunk/loud/disinterested around the Twin Cities?
Having seen thousand of shows of all type, I have long ago heard the cry for people to be civil and enjoy the music as much as we do. The problem is my money will buy the same ticket as the Sigma Nu that just heard Dave Matthews for the first time on pandora.com
Don’t expect people to change the moment they walk into a room to see music, they are leaving the daily grind a little faster than you…
