Another fun night out.

Observations:

I have noticed many things from my perch at thousands music events. The actual venue matters not. To me the venue is just the box that holds the prize; it could be big, small, fancy or plain, this makes no difference. The audiences are the gift. They are diverse and the diversity within each audience is amazing. People watching is a favorite pastime for me when I go to hear my son sing and play his guitar. Make no mistake about it, I love live music and I love my son’s music; however the show that is displayed by the audience is magnificence beyond imagination.

Over the years I have learned to read an audience quickly. They are made up of mostly happy people out to have some fun. Sprinkled into the mix are shy people just looking for inspiration, angry people looking for trouble, crazy people looking for validation, sad people looking for happiness, suspicious people looking for answers, lonely people looking for companionship and then there are observers looking for a show.

Of particular note are the venues that include a pole. The poles are always there for structural support, however there are always one or two girls in the crowd that immediately see a pole as a dance partner. They spin around the pole, grab it, dance with it, rub it (sometimes with their hands but also with other--more intimate body parts). Last night I was at a show in a venue that has such a support pole not too far from the stage. This show was not a hard rock band but an acoustic singer/songwriter show. Listening, dancing and having fun are included in the normal activities for a show such as this one. Suddenly a young lady dressed in black appeared near the pole. It seemed to have grabbed her interest and she was staring right at it. She wore tight fitting black pants and blouse and a belt that was about 3 inches wide and completely covered with brightly shining rhinestones that looked like diamonds. Across the chest area of her blouse at her boob level were letters that spelled out GUESS. These were sparkly, illuminated letters. At first I thought, it must be the brand called Guess, but it did not look like the font they use. Then I realized the letters appeared to have been manually glued on. Perhaps she wanted us (the audience), to guess were these boobs real or surgically manipulated. My guess was the latter, but it was only a guess.

After staring at the pole for a while, this very shapely, very pretty young lady grabbed that pole and spun around on it. She danced around it and swung from it, she starred at it like it was her best friend or date. She jumped onto the pole and seconds later she lost her grip and fell several feet to the floor, landing on the floor with a splat. My friend and I gasped as well as my son and the other singer on stage. After seeing that she was okay we were all relieved. This fall did not deter the young lady. She continued her dancing and flirting with the pole. Occasionally she would deviate from her pole dance and twirl out onto the dance floor as though she was the only person in the room. Then she would turn and smile at everyone seated as though we were her adoring fans. It was quite a show. I never had a chance to speak to her but my friend briefly spoke to her in the bathroom and reported that this young lady did not speak english well. My friend guessed that it was French she spoke. There was a gentleman with her who took many pictures and videos during the evening, he too spoke with a heavy accent. I might have guessed that they were shooting film for something like a music video but he only used an iphone camera and no self-respecting photographer or videographer would do that.

Another phenomenon last night was a man who appeared to have consumed far too much alcohol, and he was very happy. He tried to pull numerous people up to dance with him (including me) but he had no takers. As a result he danced alone and he danced a dance that was wild, jerky and pretty awkward looking. He would suddenly stop dancing and approach the musicians on stage. Then he would insist that they fist bump with him. It is strange to me for someone to expect a musician who is actually performing to let go of their instrument, fist bump, high five or handshake, and let the notes they were playing just drop to the floor, lost forever to the insanity of their whimsical wishes. I realize the person is not meaning any harm and only having fun, however, as an observer, it is strange to interrrupt the very music you are enjoying for your instant gratification of a fist bump.

I wonder if while this guy was getting ready to come out tonight, he planned to fist bump as many musicians as he could  while he was out. If that is the case, Bravo, he had a plan and he was just having fun.

Overall, everyone was pleasant, everyone was happy and enjoying themselves last night. People are fascinating, sometimes exacerbating or even annoying but last night they all had fun and seemed to find what they were looking for.