Went to a show with The Biters, The Booze, The Clutters, and The Forty-Fives (billed this night as The MC45's, and covered the MC5). I got called up on stage to take a pull off a whisky bottle with the lead guy from The Biters.

I've never heard the MC5's "Back In The USA" album but after seeing about 5 songs off it played live last night I bought immediately when I got home.

And see there in lies the problem. I'm a dork for certain bands, so I'll get there super-early so I can ensure front row. Then some guy tries to push me or my wife out of the way to get up there. Problem. I don't stand for it, and luckily with bands like DBT there are usually a pack there to protect each other if something does come up. Like you said, if someone asks politely no prob. Otherwise, they can expect an obstructed view.

Ahhh, I didn't realize that was what you're talking about. That's some fuck shit - especially if they're trying to move the wife. No dice. But even though you're like a zen mountain man, you could get all John Brown's Body Lies A-Molderin In It's Grave on em with that ZZTop thing you're rocking.

I don't see 6-1 as unreasonably tall, and I agree with Dave that politeness can go a long way. There is a guy at Ottobar (I've heard he works there) who is about 6-7 and weighs 500 pounds. Twice I've seen him just wait till the band starts, shove his way to the middle and camp out in front of everyone. I'm not saying he has to stand by the bathrooms, but whatta dick.

I hate it when I get to a show, get a nice spot all picked out early before anything starts, the opening band plays and everything is fine, then those late fucks who showed up late or were doing lines of coke in the bathroom come in at the last second and squeeze their 7'-0" frame right in front of me and mrs42. Those fuckers just push their way up front like they own the place.

Yeah, cause there is that poll towards the front. Yeah, last two times we've gone to the Ottobar I went directly up to the balcony.

The thing with me is, I get so self conscious that in GA type shows, I just stand to the side close enough to see. There's just no joy in knowing everyone's like "what the fuck tall dude?" IMO.

I think its interesting though, that because you were born a certain way, you feel obligated not to stand somewhere. I guess its more of a show of morality and social standards than anything else...its just kinda intriguing though. The fact that you feel guilt and/or people judging you. There's a grad school paper in there somewhere.

I am 6'3".

I always check behind me throughout just in case there's some 5'1" girl who wants to watch. But, I find that I don't move much, nor care much about moving for any dude, no matter the height. I mean, if someone were to ask me politely, I'd probably move, but I am not going out of my way to cater to some grown dude who can locate himself somewhere else (not that a girl can't, but I probably do that because of how I was raised--opening doors, etc.). That said, I don't actively pursue the front of the pack for pretty much any band anyway, so even if I am the big dude in front of someone, there's still plenty of space in front of me to get a better spot.

I'm in love with this poster. The artwork style looks familiar, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. Any ideas?

Has me thinking of mid-decade DecembeRAPISTs & Bright Eyes.

That's not a knife. But this Victorinox Swiss Champ XAVT 53509 with 80 features valued at over $350...

John Baizley is who I'm thinking of.




EDIT Solved. It is John Baizley, and its her new album cover.

I would take a whole crowd of tall dudes over the pack of "ambitious super fan, his drunk friend and their two clueless girlfriends" who always manage to push into the space where maybe one person could fit, right the fuck in front of me, five seconds into the show starting. I'm then forced to "accidentally" kick, elbow and spill stuff on them for the rest of the night.

Me going to stand-up-only concerts these days is about as much fun as me splitting pizza and beer evenly with the roomates in college was. In neither case am I physically equipped to come away with what I paid for. Last show we saw was sit down in the balcony, with table service, and sweet jesus was it nice.

I can relate.

Speaking of Austin, and carrying on the discussion of being tall at shows, which I am, a lot. The worst encounter I had with a rude "shorty" was at ACL Fest a few years back. We were literally standing IN A FUCKING FIELD where the sightlines are completely clear and I was standing with femdisco and a few friends and this dude starts going off on me about standing in his way. Of course, because he was being a little bitch about it, I had to dig my heels in the ground and be a dick right back. Pretty sure I said "why don't YOU move, we're in the middle of a fucking field." Trust me, I, like Sen. GAR, attempt to stay at least towards the middle of mid-back of the venue so as not to block anyone's sightline to the stage, but at a FESTIVAL, it's free reign.
I also had a run-in with a middle aged woman at the Ryman back in October during Grace Potter's opening set at the Avett Bros show there. Literally everyone in the first 10 rows or so were standing up during the set, but she chose me to take her angst out on. The encounter went something like this: Lady raises her voice to tell me, femdisco and our two friends to sit down so they can see. Everyone else obliges her except me, because what did we learn from ACL? When you're rude to me, you can expect dug-in heels. After a song length worth of her and her friends telling me to sit down (while everyone else in the front 10 rows were standing up and digging the show), she finally storms up to my row and starts pointing her finger at me while yelling "You're being obnoxious" (why yes, I was, because I was trying to provide an object lesson, but I was also simply trying to enjoy the rock n' roll show), I retort with the obvious "so are you!" and she finally went back to her seat huffing and puffing. The people sitting directly behind me were cool as hell and I actually did accommodate them and moved a few inches over so they could see between femdisco and me.

i enjoy this move. i've run into this problem a couple times lately: a group of people, maybe 5-6, who stand around and talk to each other over the music throughout the entire concert.

Yes, this. Why even buy a ticket to a show if you're not even planning on paying attention to the show? The worst is when they're basically yelling at each other when it's a load show. Somehow their voices are louder than a 104dB concert blaring over a PA. This happened to me at a Neko Case show last month. Did.not.stop.talking.for.two.hours. I finally moved behind them after 20 minutes or so, but could still hear this guy talking throughout the show, which brings up another pet peeve. People trying to have conversations with me during concerts. Don't do it. I don't want to listen to you, I paid to listen to a band. I'm cool if you lean over and offer a few insightful comments or say "hey, want a beer?", but anything beyond that is just plain annoying.

I try to get to the front early and not drink a ton so I don't have to make half-dozen pee trips. Either way, people move out of decency or I destroy toes. Chuck (D) and Phil can testify to this.

holy shit