So I was wondering why so many Cure audience members were Grade-A a*holes, while you go to a Morrisey concert and the audience is better behaved than at the symphony. You’d think they would be basically the same audience. And I think by and large they are. But this ven diagram might help explain.

The Cure fans in the left hand column are able to make the whole experience pretty horrible. Also there seemed to be lots of what I call - “Flying Dutchman Concert-goers”. These are concert-goers who are generally under 5’ (although not always), who will spend the entire concert wandering through the crowd. Looking for the magical paradise where people under 5’ can see the stage. This is not all short people. In fact there were really only 3 groups like this I saw at the concert on Saturday. It’s just that they passed by me at least 6 times per party.

I’ve read a lot of blogs about the Cure and seen a lot of unkind words about us tall people. Most of us do stay towards the back. The problem is that we often go to concerts with people who aren’t as tall as us who want to see. So we try to find some middle balance where our friends can see, and so can the majority of the audience. We actually provide a service to short people. Next time you’re at a concert find a tall person. You’ll find that generally there will be a small pocket behind them where people are not standing. Position yourself about 1’ behind the tall person to the right or the left (directly behind is a dead end). Based on your height you may then be able to see the stage. See drawing:

Of course the only danger with doing this is that tall people attract concert trolls. Concert trolls are unable to see tall people. They will elbow, step on feet, and always insist on walking between tall person and any person directly next to them. Regardless of how close tall person is to their friend and how much free space is around tall person (see diagram above). I had a short woman standing next to me drafting a line of sight on Sunday night. She could see just fine. The problem was that the concert trolls would stand on my feet and throw an elbow in her face. Or they would stand directly in front of her while standing on my foot. And then there was the woman who got on her boyfriend’s shoulders directly in front of said short woman. Threating to topple and crush her. Apparently standing near a tall person confers blindness upon you too by the concert trolls.

That said, I didn’t enjoy the concert too much. It was ok, but it was long, hot, and there were far too many irritating people. Reminds me why I go to SXSW. Say what you will about that, but it’s cool and by and large the audiences are pretty laid back.

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Comments

Julie (www.juliesdramas.blogspot.com)

2008-06-11T20:45:52.000Z

Okay, so I’m going to sound like an asshole here, but I consider generally being able to see at concerts the benefit I get from being tall. In general in life being tall makes me uncomfortable in airplane and theatre seats, unable to easily buy clothes, and the subject of much teasing in my formative years, so when I go to a concert, I relish the fact that I can usually see without too much trouble. Sunday night I strapped on my boots with the 2-inch high heels so I’d have a little bonus height and I still had times when I couldn’t see. But unfortunately, that’s just life! And I also found it interesting the high number of luxury cars (Mercedes, BMW’s, Lexus) that we found exiting the parking garage. I had no clue that Cure fans did so well for themselves in life.

Kate (http://katiekatworld.blogspot.com)

2008-06-11T21:45:42.000Z

I’m laughing about all the Cure fans with their luxury cars. I think that they would probably fall on the left side of Tim’s Venn diagram. Or, they’re the right side, trying to prove to themselves that they are worthy of love by having the most expensive cars. But obviously, they still loathe themselves. Wah-wah. I’m kind of with you, Julie. I try not to wear tall hats and if there’s a shorter person near me, I’ll try to maneuver so that they can see. But I don’t get angry with the shorter people and sometimes they get angry with me. And I agree that it’s hard to be too sympathetic (when someone gets pissy with ME because they’re short—as if it’s my fault). I think it’s also the I’m Too Giant to be a Cheerleader/Drill Team/gymnast/etc. syndrome. I’m not bitter, but don’t get in my face.