![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Sing, Dammt!
So yesterday, I went to the Scottish festival here in Tulsa, mainly because for the price of admission (note: do not buy your tickets online; they add on a $2.00 "service charge" which gets you nothing. Just pay at the gate) you can listen to a lot of live music.
[Okay, admittedly there were a number of fair lassies wearin' kilts, but this was somewhat offset by the number of big hairy guys wearin' kilts. It should be noted here that while there is some Scot in my ancestry, that was some ten or twelve generations ago, so I've never gotten the whole wearin' of the kilt thing. Nothin' against it, mind, but I'd just rather see 'em on fair lassies than big hairy guys. Anyways, back to the point of this entry....]
Yeah, live music! Aside from the traditional celtic folk groups and battling bagpipe armies, they also had some celtiod rock. Screamin' electric guitars mixed with fiddles, bagpipes and didgeridoos(!). There was also a band that consisted of one bagpipe and three guys on drums. It's really no wonder that these things were carried into battle; after about 45 minutes of that, I was ready to grab a sword and start whackin' at something.
I'm getting closer to the point here, trust me.
Many (actually most) of the bands would ask the audience to sing along to a song every once in a while. Usually just helping out on the chorus, but sometimes saying, "If you know this song, join in!" Sometimes all they wanted was a "Hey! Hey! Hey!" or some similar noise.
So why was it that I seemed to be the only one belting it out when asked?
Crivens, people! Why wern't ya fookin' singin' when they asked ya ta? Ya weren't watchin' nae fookin' television!
Er, sorry. I've been re-reading Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books with the Mac Nac Feegle and after the Scottish fair, that just slipped out.
Anyways, admittedly our culture teaches you to stop singing after grade school, or most people don't think they can't sing well--and, okay, some can't, but if everyone is singing, they'll get drowned out (especially at the celtiod rock stuff, it wouldn't matter--it was too loud for anyone to complain) Also, again admittedly no one payed to hear you sing when they came through the gate, but when the band asks you to join in, do so, dammit! Make a joyful noise.
Or at least a rowdy one.
Crivins!
[Okay, admittedly there were a number of fair lassies wearin' kilts, but this was somewhat offset by the number of big hairy guys wearin' kilts. It should be noted here that while there is some Scot in my ancestry, that was some ten or twelve generations ago, so I've never gotten the whole wearin' of the kilt thing. Nothin' against it, mind, but I'd just rather see 'em on fair lassies than big hairy guys. Anyways, back to the point of this entry....]
Yeah, live music! Aside from the traditional celtic folk groups and battling bagpipe armies, they also had some celtiod rock. Screamin' electric guitars mixed with fiddles, bagpipes and didgeridoos(!). There was also a band that consisted of one bagpipe and three guys on drums. It's really no wonder that these things were carried into battle; after about 45 minutes of that, I was ready to grab a sword and start whackin' at something.
I'm getting closer to the point here, trust me.
Many (actually most) of the bands would ask the audience to sing along to a song every once in a while. Usually just helping out on the chorus, but sometimes saying, "If you know this song, join in!" Sometimes all they wanted was a "Hey! Hey! Hey!" or some similar noise.
So why was it that I seemed to be the only one belting it out when asked?
Crivens, people! Why wern't ya fookin' singin' when they asked ya ta? Ya weren't watchin' nae fookin' television!
Er, sorry. I've been re-reading Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books with the Mac Nac Feegle and after the Scottish fair, that just slipped out.
Anyways, admittedly our culture teaches you to stop singing after grade school, or most people don't think they can't sing well--and, okay, some can't, but if everyone is singing, they'll get drowned out (especially at the celtiod rock stuff, it wouldn't matter--it was too loud for anyone to complain) Also, again admittedly no one payed to hear you sing when they came through the gate, but when the band asks you to join in, do so, dammit! Make a joyful noise.
Or at least a rowdy one.
Crivins!
no subject
The time I was most sad about something like this, I went to a Weird Al concert, when they flashed the lights on the audience for the response, they all just looked confused. It made me want to explain how things like that work. :/
I'm wondering if it's a geographical thing, or people just aren't sure of the etiquette? (Granted, if the band asks, you shouldn't hesitate.)
no subject
It could, potentially, be a little bit of both? Or maybe the fans? *shrugs* I know that the Kiss concert I went to, the audience wasn't shy about singing along [although I might have proven the geographic point, had I known they were going to be in town the weekend we went to GenCon *before* I got there and tickets were already sold out...:P] and that was in St Louis. I should ask my brother, maybe, now I'm curious, because he's been to concerts in other areas that I haven't [which for me has been restricted to St Louis and Carbondale, IL. XD]
It's also possible it's an "I don't know the words so I'm not going to sing anything because I feel stupid that I don't know them" type of thing. Or just an "I don't know the words so I *can't* sing along." thing too [at that Kiss concert, I knew the old stuff, the hubby knew the new stuff...so we were pretty much never singing along at the same time....xD]
Although so far as the flashing light thing goes, it might have been an etiquette thingie, because I'm far too used to the lead singer pointing out the the audience to get them to sing a line. Not sure I'd have even caught the significance of that one....
no subject
I needs to find me a festival to go to, haven't been to one in more years than I care to think about. :(
I am one of those that sings along whether or *not* the band encourages me to do so, if I know the lyrics. XD I think it's silly not to at a concert of any type, I've yet to go to one quiet enough that the band itself isn't drowning out pretty much everyone [which is going to happen when your stuff has to be loud enough for an entire auditorium to be able to hear well. XD], so it's not like the person next to me is going to be complaining that they can't hear the band. XD