So when I first moved to the UK to go to boarding school, I soon learnt a valuable lesson and it wasn’t in the physics lab or on the hockey pitch, but at Blundell’s – the school’s own “pub”. What I learnt wasn’t international drinking rules (that only came at uni) or how to strawpeedo a Reef (that I still cannot do), but how to party at a concert. My friends were all into alternative and rock music and the one drink we were allowed per night was enough to make them hyper, turn the dance floor into a danger zone and make everyone behave as if Kurt Cobain was in the room. With no previous exposure to crazy people under the influence of Rock music, I was shocked and fascinated by the British way of dancing: moshing was basically jumping around like a maniac, throwing your legs and arms up together and causing as much destruction and chaos as possible! You can imagine that I always made sure I stayed clear of the dance floor when anything remotely rocky was played!
Cutting a long story short, what I am trying to say is that while they might not win prices for best dance moves, the British certainly do know how to party at a concert! Years later I slowly got into live music and went to a few concerts in the UK and I have to say, the atmosphere was always amazing! The crowd would sing along, dance, jump and really get into the music – it was fabulous!
Last night, the Parlotones - South Africa’s own version of the Killers - played in Johannesburg and I had been looking forward to the concert for weeks! I knew all their songs inside out, was wearing my sneakers to facilitate crazy jumping and was totally ready to have an amazing time at the concert! But while the light effects were cool, the acoustics great and the show fantastic – the Parlotones played a really good set with all my favourite songs and even a little cover of “All you need is love” and “Pokerface” – the atmosphere at the concert quite frankly sucked! The crowd was really boring and there was no dancing, no waiving hands, no singing along...and definitely no jumping! I got especially annoyed about a couple who was standing in front of me and throughout the entire concert they did not stop hugging once! While I understand that it’s nice to have your boyfriend give you a hug when a nice romantic song is playing, is that really what you want to do to rock music, beats pumping and guitar medleys so awesome that they blow you off your feet? People behaved as if they were watching a mediocre performance by a trashy boy band, a depressing show by a drug addict or an embarrassing attempt by a teen pop wannabe to be the new Britney Spears and not a great live show by one of South Africa’s biggest bands, who just returned from a fantastic world tour!
Even though I didn’t grow up with the Parlotones and have only known their music for a few months, I was by far the most enthusiastic person in the arena and determined not to let a bunch or losers ruin my concert experience! Fortunately it worked out – the concert was amazing and I loved every second of it! Even though I am terribly disappointed about the poor party attitude of South Africans, I am a bigger Parlotones fan than ever! In December the Killers will be playing In Johannesburg and keeping the poor concert attitude of South Africans in mind, I am slightly worried that this one will have the same shitty atmosphere as the last one. But tickets sold out within hours, everyone is already really excited about a big international act playing in South Africa and maybe this time the crowd will be a bit more enthusiastic. And if not, Ewa, and I will be more than happy to show them how to party at a concert!
No comments:
Post a Comment