Shut the F@#k Up!

What would ever make me think, let alone utter those words?  Did I lose my mind?  In a sense, yes, fed up, and had enough.

Let me rewind.  If you know anything about me, you know I hardly ever get angry - sure, frustrated, yes, disappointed, yes, and I might even cry (sob) my way through an argument.  You might also have figured out, if you read this blog, that I am truly passionate about music, and everything related to it.  Having no musical talent of my own, I figured out a way to always be surrounded by it.  I am a concert photographer, I do musicians' promos, I document bands in recording studios - hell, I might even have married a couple.  So, it's not a surprise that most of my really good friends are musicians and on the rare occasion I am not working a show, I thoroughly enjoy going to a venue to listen to music.  And that's where I was last night.  An intimate performance by some really good friends of mine, turned into an idiotic argument.  The venue in question, the Walnut Room, is more of a happy hour bar with a stage in the back, where people usually gather to spend a couple of hours listening to some well known, and not so well known talent.  The tickets are always reasonable, and you tend to run into the same music loving crowd, creating an atmosphere that is familiar, usually relaxing and fun.  Not the case last night.

As the first act finished up, I noticed the people sitting at the table next to mine.  A good group of 10 or 12, ready to have some fun, beer flowing freely.  And that's where the problem started.  You see, this group of co-workers came to the show to see the first act, and they couldn't have cared less about the rest of the people in the venue, nor the talent up on stage that followed.  They got louder and louder, laughing and actually having to scream over the music to be heard.  Now, as irritated as I was by the total lack of respect for the band on stage, I remained calm and asked them if they could keep it down, once, then twice.  The third time, I actually was told to shut up.  I like to think of myself as a tolerant person, understanding and calm, yet I had to walk out of the venue as I was fuming and didn't want to cause a fight.  At the same time, the musicians on stage had a very similar reaction and stepped away from their microphones to sing in a quieter tone in hopes that people would realize just how loud their talking and laughing was.  Did that do any good?  Nope.  Just frustrated the hell out of the offenders who followed me on to the patio to make sure more harassment was in order.  Well, they picked the wrong person, at the wrong time.  I had had enough and let them have a piece of my mind.  If people want to go to a bar and have some fun getting caught up with each other, I'm all for it.  But PLEASE, don't do it in the middle of a concert, where people are actually trying to listen to some good music.  What got me all fired up, is that I know how hard musicians work to get in front of an audience and give their all.  It's a labor of love, some don't even get paid, they do it because they love it.  Music chooses them, they are compelled to follow a dream that so often stays only a dream.  The least you can do is respect their efforts, their bare souls up on stage, there to make you feel, to bring you to the depths of whatever emotion is expressed with their music.  It's my understanding that going to a show, you're there to listen.  I'm not one to get intimidated, and I know I have the support of all my friends on this one - if you want to talk, please go outside, go to the bar, be respectful of the talent and the people around you.

So, those words were spoken, loud and clear, from my mouth to their drunken ears: Shut the F@#k Up! turned around, and called it a night.