A Quick and Easy Guide to Talking (or Not Talking) at Concerts
After having Jens Lekman's subtly gorgeous show at California Academy of Sciences nearly ruined last night by loudly chattering drunks, we think it's perhaps time to lay down some reasonable guidelines for talking during shows. No pop music show, no matter how quiet, is like the symphony, where you should open your mouth only to breathe, if ever. But it's extremely rude to talk over any show that others paid considerable amounts of money to enjoy.
So here, after the jump, are a couple of simple rules that should help everyone decide when it's okay to talk at shows, and (most importantly!) when it's not.
Rule 1: If you can talk in a normal voice while the artist is playing and not hear yourself well or at all, it's okay to talk into the ear of the person next to you.
Rule 2: If you can talk in a normal voice while the band is playing and carry on a reasonable conversation, hearing yourself over the music, it is not okay to talk. You are ruining the show for someone who wants to hear it. Please shut up or go away.
This rule also applies to large Radiohead concerts, which you chit-chatters are just as capable of ruining.
That is all.
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