The Concert
Last night, my wife and I attended a Dave Matthews Band concert in Saratoga Springs, New York. We have made the trip to Saratoga Springs a number of times, because the Saratoga Performing Arts Center is a very nice place for a concert. The grounds are lovely, and, at least until this year, they did not serve alcohol. This year, there was a “beer garden” where people could go to drink. Of course, there have never been any restrictions on smoking (tobacco or whatever), other than a loosely enforced ban on smoking in the pavilion.
We wandered around a bit while the opening band was playing, and then headed to our seats while the crew was setting up for the main attraction. Our seats were the third and fourth seats from the aisle. Sitting in the fifth seat from the aisle was a man who could barely fit his body and legs into the rather small space allotted for his seat. Laura motioned that I should take the seat next to him, and she took the third seat from the aisle.
The aisle seat was taken shortly thereafter by a rather nondescript young man. Shortly before the Dave Matthews Band performance began, another young man took the third seat next to my wife. He appeared to have been drinking and he looked a little bit like the Eliot Stabler character from one of the versions of Law and Order.
The show started a little bit later. Shortly before the first song, images were projected on a wire mesh (which functioned as a screen) in front of the stage. Rather suddenly, the images stopped, the stage lights went on, and the band was visible through the wire mesh.
By this time everyone was standing. So the oversized guy next to me was not an issue. However, the Stabler look-alike next to my wife turned out be not such a good neighbor. He danced in a bit of a spastic manner (not unlike many of the other people who were dancing in front of their seats), but he wandered a bit from the area in front of his own seat, invading my wife’s space on occasion. He also simulated playing the drums while he danced, and his imaginary drum set was a rather complete one, as his arms were all over the place, often raised above his head drumming.
Another interesting dance style that I observed was one practiced by couples. A good and nearby example was the couple in front us and a bit to the left. After making out in their seats before the music started, the girl danced in front of the boy once the music started. I am told that this dance style is sometime referred to as “grinding.” This couple had a backpack with a bag protruding that apparently contained posters purchased at the concert, which was laying across their seats (behind them as they grinded away).
The Stabler look-alike seemed to come and go a couple of times, presumably for visits to the beer garden (and, perhaps, to the men’s room). His departure during Two Step was the most remarkable. This was one of the more well-received songs at the concert, it being a very popular and well-known song among fans of Dave Mathews. And the Stabler look-alike’s dancing seemed to rise to a new level, with his simulated drumming rivaling Carter’s performance on the stage. Then, very suddenly, in the middle of the song, the Stabler look-alike stopped his dancing and hurried off. This seemed a bit odd to me at the time, but I assumed he just had a sudden urge to urinate or vomit or both, and I was thankful he chose to satisfy those urges at a different location.
At the end of the song, grinding couple noticed that their backpack was missing. Fortunately, grinding couple had their wallets and cell phones on their persons. However, it turned out that grinding couple had spent $90 on posters, all of which were in the backpack. My wife mentioned the Stabler look-alike’s oddly sudden departure, and suspicion fell on him. Grinding couple seemed to almost blame my wife for not noticing what the Stabler look-alike was doing, though she could hardly have been expected to monitor their belongings while listening to and watching the performance.
Grinding couple appeared upset, unhappy, and agitated.
At this point I had a number of thoughts running through my head.
Part of me wondered why the Stabler look-alike would commit such a heinous crime. Or, if he was inclined toward criminal behavior, why not at least do something more profitable.
Part of me wanted to chastise grinding couple, and tell them if there was less grinding they would still have their backpack.
Part of me wanted to chastise grinding couple for spending $90 on posters.
Part of me wanted to take up a collection to reimburse grinding couple for their loss. I decided against this for the following reasons:
1. It was too noisy, so it would be impossible to adequately communicate to nearby concertgoers.
2. I decided their loss was not a $90 loss. The $90 loss was realized upon the expenditure of $90 for the posters. All they lost was a bunch of overpriced posters.
3. And, perhaps most importantly, after a while they returned to their grinding.
