Why I might be too old for the lawn at SPAC....

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing the Dave Matthews Band at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.  I have been privileged enough to see this band in concert over a dozen times, most of which have been at SPAC.  I've sat in the amphitheater on a few occasions (including night one in 2005 when all meteorological hell broke loose), but I've usually enjoyed the concerts from the lawn and, until this weekend, have considered this to be the preferred way to attend shows at SPAC.  I still think the lawn is preferable for most shows there, though when I see DMB there again, it will most likely be from the amphitheater, despite the price savings of lawn tickets.  Here's why:

1.  New speakers for the lawn were installed within the last year at SPAC and I hate to say it, but the old ones sounded better IMHO.  I was fairly close to the front of the lawn on Friday night and the separation of sound (clarity of each instrument) was absolutely horrid.  It wasn't as bad as listening to Peter Griffin from Family Guy throwing up in slow motion, but it was close.  It was unfortunate, too, as I thought the song selection for Friday's show was among the best I've EVER seen from DMB!  I stood farther back on Saturday and, while the mix was significantly better than at Friday's show, it still had lots of room for improvement.  I suspect that the sound would be much improved in the amphitheater.

More significantly, though . . .

2.  As is to be expected at a DMB show, the drunkenness and highness of the crowd was off the charts.  I had beer cans dropped behind me, and spilled onto my brand new sneakers, at least twice this weekend.  I nearly got high, secondhand, from all of the pot smoke around me.  This was to be expected, but I'm a bit less tolerant of it in my old(er) age than I was five or ten years ago.

Due to people's resulting lack of inhibitions . . .

3.  The audience behavior was atrocious.  I use the term audience behavior very loosely here, as I understand that DMB concerts are not formal events.  I also fully understand, and enjoy, cheering for a great band as they perform.  It adds greatly to the vibe of the event, when done right.  Key words: "when done right.".  If you're going to go crazy for a killer Jeff Coffin sax solo, do it when he FINISHES soloing, or at the very least when the volume on stage is at a high point, but PLEASE don't do it when he's warming into his solo.  You might think it's cool, but how the hell can you hear what he's playing if you're making more noise than he is?  And DEFINITELY don't do it during a quiet ballad!  There were some heart-wrenchingly beautiful moments on stage that were ruined by poorly timed whistles, cheers, and yells.  You paid good money to hear great music, so why not HEAR the music?  Maybe I'm just getting old and crotchety.

All in all.....DMB is a great band and they put on a hell of a show.  If you've never seen them live, you owe it to yourself to do so at least once!  I'll be back to see them many times. I can't help but wonder, though, how much GREATER the shows would be if people made some adjustments to their activities, listened to the MUSIC more attentively, and allowed others to do the same?