67 of 76

Write now Article Tools

Sitting Down For Rock-Palace of Fine Arts-How the Crowd Behaved

I did plenty of walking in circles before I finally discovered the entrance to the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, but when I finally found the unlikely rock venue I was in awe of the strangeness of the place-then confused. My boyfriend and I were there to see Devendra Banhart, a San Francisco Art Institute Graduate who has gained popularity in the Indie crowd with his artistically wavering voice and folk rock sound. Never having been to the Palace of Fine arts save the outside of the giant Rotunda that guards the Exploratorium, I was surprised to pass through the coffee sipping Indie hipster crowd and into an old but classy theater upholstered in cigar-lounge burgundy. Although my rock show expectations were slightly disturbed, my weary legs welcomed a stranger to the rock venue: the chair. I wasn't alone in my cloud of rock venue confusion. I could feel the cloud circling the small theater from fauxhawk to dreadlock as we all tried to warm up to the senior volunteer ushers with the flashlights. Now this was no crowd of low culture, I'm sure many of Devendra's fans grew up around theater and like me quite enjoy it; yet, context counts and it was the rock show in the theater that was the problem, not the theater itself. How was one to dance and really feel the music in assigned seating? We were about to find out.

Despite the confusion, the crowd took their new red cushy rock show real estate and watched the opening act politely, from a sitting position. When Mr.Banhart took the stage with four other band members, we looked around from our assigned seating to gage whether or not the sitting was going to stick, and surprisingly it did-at least for awhile. The first five songs were soft and slow, and sitting still made some sense. But as the tempo increased, the crowd's impatience did as well and we went from sitting to flooding the stage in mere seconds. Before the flashlight armed women could prevent it, the front half of the theater flooded the stage: the only space available to dance. Eventually the crowd was gathered up and directed off stage but many lingered in the two foot space between the front row and the stage, waiting like rodeo bulls to get their next shot to rush up into empty space.
After two meager and failed attempts later to bum rush the stage, people took their seats back. Devendra acknowledged the strangeness of the venue, apologized and directed us to ask for a refund and a private show if we felt we didn't get out $3o worth. His fans laughed at the suggestion. Despite a tingling posterior and an odd flow, the show was well executed and the fans got what they wanted: quality live music. Would I go to another "sit-down" rock show? The answer is, if I like the musician enough, I am indeed willing to endure a strange venue. In fact I have assigned seats to see Nevada City Native and indie-rock folk harpist Joanna Newsom in her sold out show in Grass Valley in November and I couldn't be more excited. Although I stand for good music, I now know I am more than willing to sit for it as well.
Hide

Learn more about this author, E.M. Costello.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Music's influence on behavior?
We want to hear your view. Write now!