Listening to the Archive MSG Wild & Innocent show reminded me of the people I sat directly behind that night. Two guys in I guess their late 20s with their dates. Before the show, the guys kept holding their fists in the air and yelling "The Wild! The Innocent...", etc. Pumped up. One of the women asked if they thought Bruce would play Rosalita, and the boys howled in amusement before delivering a tutorial. We were at the opposite end from the stage, but really low, about stage level. Really good sight lines. Finally the lights went down and everyone got on their feet. In front of me, the woman on the left immediately stood directly in front of her date and stuck her tongue in his mouth. And left it there. Song after song. While Bruce was introducing the WIESB sequence, the guy got her to stand next to him. As Sandy began, the 4 of them filed out, and didn't return until the horns were trading solos on Kitty's Back. One of them played air guitar with a beer in one hand. They were back at their seats for about 10 seconds when the tongue was reinserted. These were not teenagers. At some point they stopped--pretty tough to make out for an entire Springsteen show. I think of how there were people outside who were unable to get into the building that night. And I assume the the tongue recipient bought the Archive release. "I saw this show! I was there!"
Surely someone can tell us about behavior far worse than this. Please do.
Ah man I'm sorry to hear that Ann. That sounds like a typical testosterone filled Afrikaans male type action/reaction. Lived around that my whole life.
Our worst experience came at one of the very best concerts in Cape Town. We had got a spot just behind the rail at the back of the pit. There were 2 couples in front of us. I decided to sit on the floor for a while and one of the women did the same, she leaned on the rail and spread her legs out in front of her, leaving Mr J standing between her legs - he had not moved his position at all. The husband of said women turned on Mr J, first talking in Afrikaans, which obviously he didn't understand and then said 'get your fucking legs out from between my wife's legs, you pervert' Mr J politely declined, saying he had this spot and he was keeping it. 'Just move away, you will not enjoy this concert if you are standing by me' was the response. I was unaware of the exchange, but I think Mr J was a bit scared of what might happen. Thankfully nothing ensued.
Mr J didn't tell what had happened until afterwards but he was somewhat gratified to notice that the only songs this lot could sing along with were BTR and BITUSA!
Several concerts, including Bruce in Joburg, where by the time the band hit the stage people around me were so pissed that they were not even aware of what was going on.
Roger Waters, 2002, In The Flesh tour. Closest I've come to seeing Floyd. And Roger did a lot of material from Amused to Death, one of my top 5 greatest albums ever. During which a group of guys around me were shouting out the names of PF songs and talking very very loudly...
I could go on.
It wasn't necessarily worse than that, but at my very first show (Melbourne 2003) I had these three blokes along side me who went off for a beer during each new song. Empty Sky / You're Missing sequence... gone. Worlds Apart... gone. Into The Fire... gone. City Of Ruins... more beer. So, you know, the whole emotional heart of the show.
At the end, I heard one of them say "well that could've been better".
And I remember thinking to myself "it was".
Any Sunny Day kid.