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Monday, May 7, 2012

Politics Crowd Surfing In 2012?

Posted by on Mon, May 7, 2012 at 2:50 PM

I have to agree with Kathy Fennessey's review of last Saturday's Ty Segall show at Chop Suey: the audience was annoying. I don't mind getting covered in beer at a show. A-ok! I'm not made of sugar! Why so much crowd surfing? It was hot, and butts-to-nuts packed in there. I didn't want to hold you up. I fought the urge to pull you down. Which brings me to the poll below.

Jay Reatard surfs the Crocodile, June 16th, 2009
  • Kelly O
  • Jay Reatard surfs the Crocodile, June 16th, 2009

 

Comments (37) RSS

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1
Being on constant lookout to avoid a random boot to the face is really annoying.
Posted by Chester Copperpot on May 7, 2012 at 3:39 PM
BLUE 2
Shut up, Grandma. Punks of the 70's and 80's survived slam dancing and segued to grunge persons moshing in the 80's and 90's. What the fuck are whatever-stoopid-drunk-kids-are-called-today supposed to do?
Posted by BLUE on May 7, 2012 at 3:56 PM
3
Crowd surfing is, was, and forever shall be insufferable.

I take their shoes.
Posted by stealingzen on May 7, 2012 at 4:15 PM
4
Shut up g'ma! G'mas should stand in the back and not be where the pogoing and stage diving is. I mean, you had your notepad out writing about this show right? Of course you'd be upset if somebody knocked the pen (or iPad) out of your hand and it landed on the ground. This is rock, so roll your wheelchair out the door.
Posted by Rando on May 7, 2012 at 4:57 PM
mikethehammer 5
Even if I agree w/ Kelly that its annoying as fuck, I had to go w/ the grandma option, if only because I feel like the kids need to be given the leeway to be idiots. And us cantankerous old farts can just move to the back and get good & drunk.
Posted by mikethehammer on May 7, 2012 at 5:11 PM
6
This article marks a sad day for the Seattle music scene. Apparently we're suppose to embrace the "hipster head bob", even if we are 6 shots of tequila deep jamming the fuck out. Why? Because that's what the cool cats at The Stranger want us to do. Heaven forbid you don't stand a few rows back where there is no crowd surfing. Nope, gonna stand in front and then bitch about the repercussions and post it on the internet.
Posted by pickypickypicky on May 7, 2012 at 5:12 PM
7
Oh, shut up you old jaded hipsters
Posted by Tswift on May 7, 2012 at 5:15 PM
8
Go head bobbing at an Elliott smith show fuckers
Posted by Tswift on May 7, 2012 at 5:18 PM
T 9
@5 It's funny because I've actually gotten more relaxed on my stance toward crowd surfing as I've gotten older. When I was younger and spent the bulk of a given show as close to the front as I could get, crowd surfers were beyond annoying. Seriously, it's fun for one fucking person, and is probably the most selfish, dickheaded thing someone can do at a show.

Now that I'm older and drink at the back the whole time, I don't give a shit. I still think it's fucking ridiculous when people crowd surf at totally inappropriate times, like at ska shows. **Insert joke about how ridiculous is it that I still go to ska shows**
Posted by T on May 7, 2012 at 5:26 PM
10
@6 Thumbs up!

The Stranger gets into the shows for free and most of their reviews are nitpicky. Do they just go to these shows just bash them? Really, do they? I don't recall many positive reviews...maybe there's payola involved. I want to be a press person now. Pay me for a positive review please!
Posted by Rando on May 7, 2012 at 5:27 PM
11
anyone remember grunge? or are us kids in Seattle supposed to head nod at these stupid fucking reverb loaded "chill" bands that come out of Seattle. I guess Seattle's "Only Newspaper" is against punk and grunge and wants to go and sit down in a chair to enjoy Ty Segall. Maybe you should stay inside instead
Posted by growthefuckup on May 7, 2012 at 5:29 PM
julie russell 12
That pic just makes me really sad. He was so so young.
Posted by julie russell http:// on May 7, 2012 at 5:35 PM
Supreme Ruler Of The Universe 13

Crowd surfing is ok, but I always want to punch that short guy who walks around with the tall striped wool knit Dr. Suess hat.
Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com on May 7, 2012 at 5:51 PM
biffp 14
"Butts to nuts"? Is that a wax job? or is that "balls n' all"?
Posted by biffp on May 7, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Kathy Fennessy 15
Believe it or not, I picked the "sometimes okay" option. Just because I'm not into it, doesn't mean I don't think other people should get their surf on. I just thought it was a goofy look at a White Fence gig (though it made more sense during Ty Segall's set). And I don't take notes, but I do bring a camera. And I'm way too poor to buy a new one should some fucker stomp all over it.
Posted by Kathy Fennessy http://kathleencfennessy.blogspot.com/ on May 7, 2012 at 6:02 PM
TVDinner 16
This is a boy thing, isn't it?
Posted by TVDinner http:// on May 7, 2012 at 6:18 PM
17
I love it. I've been yelled at for doing way less at Seattle shows. Some lady actually bitched at me for blocking her view because she wanted to lean against a pole by the bar, and I stood in front of her. And I'm 5 feet tall. My sister and I stood in the tiny, secluded VIP area at the Neptune and the first thing we said was, "Oh good, fewer people to yell at us." We get yelled at just for jostling people while dancing out here all the time.
Posted by virginia mason on May 7, 2012 at 6:20 PM
18
Everybody needs to talk to their Grandmas I guess. But crowd surfing seems pretty harmless and fun and as a musician it's definitely pretty fucking cool to see people get so excited about your music that they want to get thrown around by a buncha strangers. It's alright to have fun guys!
Posted by Bobguysguys on May 7, 2012 at 8:05 PM
19
@16
actually it's not a boy thing. it seemed like half the pit was female.
Posted by Tswift on May 7, 2012 at 9:10 PM
20
Woah Woah, are really questioning if crowd surfing is acceptable... at a garage rock show?! Stranger I love ya, but you gotta get off your hipster-elite high horse that you find yourself on many times. I will not stand for being the city that is known for standing around at shows (which thats how we're viewed, guys). GET OVER IT GRANDMA.
Posted by @tonyrowley on May 7, 2012 at 9:28 PM
21
*Are we ;p
Posted by @tonyrowley on May 7, 2012 at 9:43 PM
22
Even as a teen, I was able to realize that crowd surfing is fucking obnoxious. Guess I'm an old soul.
Posted by Amanda on May 7, 2012 at 10:52 PM
LEE. 23
I've never crowd-surfed. I've often yanked assholes to the ground who kick me in the head. But I cannot abide this poll, no matter how much I hate fun...let the kids be kids for fuck's sake.
Posted by LEE. on May 8, 2012 at 12:46 AM
24
Your mistake was going to Chop Suey.

Does that place book anything interesting anymore?
Posted by d.p. on May 8, 2012 at 2:07 AM
yos-wa 25
fuck that, i crowd surf at house shows. eat it.
also, i'm with @12....bummer pic.
Posted by yos-wa on May 8, 2012 at 9:00 AM
More, I Say! 26
@17, I hear you Virginia. It's some bullshit when you're "butts to nuts" in a crowd and the bitch standing behind you keeps throwing her elbow into your back because sometimes you lightly bump her when you gently sway to the jams.
Posted by More, I Say! on May 8, 2012 at 9:11 AM
Simone 27
Crowd Surfing is a good moment to pick pocket the person.

It's also a gateway drug.
Posted by Simone on May 8, 2012 at 9:28 AM
28
I actually think it's a-okay to surf sometimes.

I wanted to get y'all riled up, and see what others thought.

Also the saddest part of that picture is it was Jay's last real show in Seattle - he played Easy Street records one time afterward, and then he was gone.

Eerie that he has a skull on his shirt. Loved that guy.
Posted by Kelly O on May 8, 2012 at 11:40 AM
29
#26, Some woman got so mad at me for squeezing up front during during a Dandy Warhols show that she grabbed my purse strap and tried to choke me with it. Then she screamed at me like a maniac for ten minutes while the band was playing. Then she started intentionally elbowing me in the back hard and leaning on me, like a full on body lean. We wound up in this ridiculous leaning/pushing fight until she gave up and left.

I'm a really small person and there was actual space for me, so she seemed to be annoyed "on principle" which is the worst.
Posted by virginia mason on May 8, 2012 at 12:27 PM
Kathy Fennessy 30
@28 A lot of people just got played! It's funny, because I never mentioned it in my original post, but rather "pushing, shoving, and drink-throwing." I find crowd-surfing pretty entertaining.
Posted by Kathy Fennessy http://kathleencfennessy.blogspot.com/ on May 8, 2012 at 1:10 PM
tallchris 31
Okay sometimes.

My band played a show in Chicago two years ago. It was an all weekend BBQ put on by a web forum we all frequent, and the first time we'd played outside the West Coast. During the last song of our set, there were multiple instances of crowd surfing, but it wasn't dudes stage diving and recklessly fucking around; it was friends drunk on life (and alcohol) picking one another up as a general expression of the good times they/we were having.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hph…

But yeah, it sucks to get kicked in the face or knocked over by a bunch of drunk bros.
Posted by tallchris http://policeteeth.bandcamp.com on May 8, 2012 at 1:17 PM
32
@30 - sorry for inviting pro-surfing haters into your post! Didn't mean to align them so much. YOU NEVER SAID A THING ABOUT SURFING!

I wanted to stir the pot a little, and see what the people think
Posted by Kelly O on May 8, 2012 at 1:20 PM
33
@24 holy shit you're a little troll aren't ya?
Posted by @tonyrowley on May 8, 2012 at 1:44 PM
Kathy Fennessy 34
@30 I love a good pot-stir, and I'm glad you brought it up! I'm just irritated that several readers assumed you were against crowd-surfing simply because you raised the question.
Posted by Kathy Fennessy http://kathleencfennessy.blogspot.com/ on May 8, 2012 at 2:50 PM
35
Not a troll, @33, just amazed how rarely it even occurs to me to look at Chop Suey's calendar and how I always want the minutes of my life back after I do.
Posted by d.p. on May 8, 2012 at 10:49 PM
36
I'm beating a dead horse,
but watch this video and try to imagine the alternative to all the moshing and crowd-surfing that took place at this show: showgoers doing the insanely funny-looking hipsterbob.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla…
Posted by Tswift on May 10, 2012 at 9:31 PM
37
@24
http://tinypic.com/r/1pb3fl/6
Posted by Tswift on May 10, 2012 at 9:37 PM

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