RTP-area local music and culture

[Fikri Yucel <fikri_y AT yahoo.com>]

RE: dancing at shows

My own observations of rock shows from the late 80s to
the present indicate that there is less movement, on
average, on the part of the audience these days than
there was in the late 80s to early 90s.  This is not a
value judgment (less movement = BAD!) or an attempt at
explaining the phenomenon (music today = less
dance-oriented).

Now, the anecdotal experience of one oberver isn't
necessarily representative of the phenomenon in
question.  But I've been seeing shows in the
Durham-Chapel Hill area since 1991, and over all this
time I have gone to a pretty broad mix of shows, so I
don't think it's a case of dude gets older and ends up
going to more sedate shows.

This does not mean that no one ever dances at shows
anymore.  When there's a younger crowd in attendance
the likelihood and quantity of dancing goes up pretty
sharply, I have found.  (Perhaps this corroborates the
"graying of the scene" hypothesis.)  Dancing at shows
also increases with increasing proportion of women in
attendance.  But on the whole, it really does feel
like there's less of it going on than once upon a
time.

I have no idea how this may compare with other towns. 
For laughs you can take as one data point the song
"Standing Still" by the Dismemberment Plan (released
in 1997):

"Well it's a sensation… 
Across the entire nation. 
a hundred million kids 
All dancing in suspended animation, hmm… 
and if the feeling's all right 
We'll be standing still until the morning light 

And they're doing the standing still 
And they're doing the standing still 
And they're doing the standing still 
And they're doing the standing still 
I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed 
Oh, my aching head. 

in Fargo, six or seven kids 
Watched the Plan in a strip-mall 
I thought they were bored out of their skulls 
But it turns out they were having a ball
well I finally knew 
They were doing a brand-new step everybody isn't
moving to 
And they're doing the standing still"

So maybe it ain't just chapel hill...

-Fikri

PS:  personally, I like jumping around a bit...



--- grady <grady AT ibiblio.org> wrote:
> Send More Good Beer! With Drummers!
> 
> If Glenn Boothe installed about a half-dozen taps
> with local microbrews, 
> my Local 506 attendance would at least double,
> probably triple.
> 
> xo
> 
> Ross
> 
> p.s. I just realized that the answer to the
> unexpressed question of my 
> first 2 sentences is but one golden word: Groves!
> 
> John Iwaniszek wrote:
> > grady wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>Hmm. Near as I can tell, the only people who ever
> mention the 
> >>dancing/non-dancing bullshit are people who're
> trying to get a rise out 
> >>of people.
> >>
> >>I don't travel much, and when I do I sure as shit
> don't go to indie-rock 
> >>shows, but I would like to know how exactly people
> supposedly dance in 
> >>other cities to alla this weird arrhythmic and/or
> plodding and/or too 
> >>fast and/or just generally not designed to be
> dance music indie-rock 
> >>music we're talking about.
> >>
> >>I mean, if all we're missing out on is the
> continued weird dominance of 
> >>the pogo as a dance-step, then I'm perfectly happy
> to live without it, 
> >>thanks. I did my time in the late-80s and
> early-90s and my knees get 
> >>sore enough just standing still, these days.
> >>
> >>In any case, at root it's none of anybody's
> fucking business whether I'm 
> >>able to enjoy music more or less if I'm moving or
> standing still, and 
> >>I've always been more than a little mystified as
> to why anybody would 
> >>care how much fun I'm having at a show in the
> first place.
> >>
> >>People who know me know that I'm actually slightly
> *more* likely to 
> >>stupidly attempt to "dance" at indie-rock than
> many of my peers, and if 
> >>I fail at the attempt more often than not, then
> all I have to say is 
> >>this: Send More Good Drummers!
> >>
> >>xox
> >>
> >>Ross
> >>
> >>clo AT nc.rr.com wrote:
> >>
> >>>I was shooting for over-the-top, to be
> provocative and hopefully rile
> >>>somebody into posting a real response (this
> postit board can be a
> >>>little dry), so please, nobody get yer panties in
> a wad over it.   I'm
> >>>not retracting my rant, but I've got to admit I
> was being dramatic with
> >>>it for effect.   If I traunced upon the delicate
> sensibilities of any
> >>>alt.chappy posters I appologize.   Goddamnit! 
> I'm too good!!
> >>>   But seriously - what's the deal with the
> dancing or not dancing at
> >>>shows thing?   I've heard this complaint over and
> over again.    To
> >>>people on the periphery of the music scene it
> seems to typify what they
> >>>don't like about going to local shows.    It's
> kind of a strange thing
> >>>to fixate on, don't ya think?   Am I crazy or has
> anyone else heard
> >>>this criticism?   Just curious.
> >>>
> >>>-- ch-scene: the list that mirrors
> alt.music.chapel-hill --
>
>>>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> >>>
> >>
> >>-- ch-scene: the list that mirrors
> alt.music.chapel-hill --
> >>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> >>
> > 
> > 
> > Drink more beer!
> > -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors
> alt.music.chapel-hill --
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> > 
> -- ch-scene: the list that mirrors
> alt.music.chapel-hill --
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ch-scene
> 


        
                
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