Waaaaah (That's Me Crying)

Last night I went with Oz to see Armor for Sleep, Underoath and Taking Back Sunday. First, let me say that this show was super-duper. Underoath brought the thunder from above and Taking Back Sunday kept the fury alive. But allow me to get to my point here.

WARNING: These are nostalgic complaints that may remind you of old men griping about the good old days...

The kids these days have absolutely no musical etiquette or respect. If you are unaware, Taking Back Sunday is really hip with the teenagers. This was an all ages show, so Eric and I were mostly ten years older than everybody there. Here is my list of grievances...

1. Cell phones. When I was in high school, when you looked out at the crowd, you would see the glow of a bunch of lighters in the air swaying back and forth. Now you see the glow of a thousand cell phones taking pictures that turn out terrible, or the glow of cell phones of people text-messaging their friends. You (or your parents...more likely your parents, thus the problem) shelled out 30 bucks to see these bands live and you are spending the whole time text-messaging, an activity you could do sitting on the couch, which costs nothing. One guy in front of me spent the whole concert trying to get pictures and text-messaging. I'm not sure he paid attention to anything the whole time. Ridiculous.

2. Crowd Quality. Last night I was a part of easily the lamest crowd of any concert I have ever been to. The cheering lasted approximately one second after each song. When I saw Keane, the crowd didn't stop cheering until the next song started THE WHOLE SHOW. When Keane left the stage, my hearing got messed up from the insanity of people cheering the whole five minutes it took for them to come back out for the encore. Last night, the cheering stopped by the time TBS got off the stage. About 30 people at the front started a pathetic TBS chant that lasted about 25 seconds. This was at the same venue as Keane, so it can't be crowd size. I felt bad for the band. Their lead singer came out after about one minute because I think he knew that's the best we would give him. What a lazy audience. Silly.

3. No Respect for the Rock. This is similar to the last one. Some of Oz's students were at the show and they left before TBS even finished their pre-encore set. They were wandering around the whole time. They went and bought stuff at the merch table while Underoath was playing, and it was underoath stuff. You go to a show to see the band. Figure out another time to buy stuff. These guys were not unique either. People were wandering around not paying attention the whole time. The whole side wall was full of people sitting around the whole time. Save yourself 30 bucks and sit in your room with the bands cranked way up. It's the same experience if you're going to just sit around. Here is the worst part. A whole bunch of the crowd left before TBS was even finished with their first set. Not only this, but they left during the most gut-busting, face-melting, mind-blowing explosion of rock in I'll Let You Live. Unbelievable.

I guess this is what I get for still liking metal/screamo. I want to go see Brand New on the 30th, but it'll probably be the same story. I guess I should stick to folk and canadian rock shows. The crowds there are super, but they're my age. Kids these days. It makes me worry about what shambles the scene will be in by the time Lydia is a teenager. Perhaps I will feel better after the RJD2/Pigeon John show next month (that's right RJD2 and Pigeon John, it's gonna be off the chain).