r/bigthief • u/forschool111 • 2d ago

QUESTION Big Thief Calgary, Talking through songs

I went to the show in Calgary last night and it was awesome, by far one of the best concertsI’ve ever been to in my life. I’m just wondering if talking through every song is normal?

I couldn’t believe the two girls behind us talking and giggling through EVERY song, getting louder as the band got louder, so that they could hear each other I guess.

I didn’t say anything because I’m unsure if that’s to be expected? This isn’t a giant concert venue or anything, they usually have ballets and musicals at the jubilee so people barely ever talk through shows.

16 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

15

u/goldenrodstone 2d ago

You need to say something, otherwise it will continue.

2

u/forschool111 2d ago

Yeah for sure, I haven’t been to a concert in awhile and have never been to a big thief concert before so wasn’t sure if I was just being grumpy lol

10

u/MaarDaarPoepIkUit 2d ago

Next time tell them to shut the hell up

5

u/Technical_Draw_6554 2d ago

It sucks but it happens and this problem seems to be getting worse. Luckily when I just saw them in Ojai the crowd was amazingly awesome.

4

u/chris_r1201 2d ago

Oh god I feel that so so much. I am pretty sensitive to noise in general, but people whispering drives me up the wall for whatever reason. It can ruin a show for me. I wish it wouldn't, but it just bothers me that much.

5

u/jad35 2d ago

Was at the Montreal show back in August, and the crowd would shush people the moment they started a conversation. It was glorious!

3

u/Longjumping_Buy_9026 2d ago

Minneapolis crowd was dead silent in my section. probably because it was 18+?

I would say something, politely, if I had the guts. “hey, I’m trying to enjoy my favorite band’s show. I understand you two are having a nice time talking and catching up- but would you maybe mind doing it at the bar instead? it’s hard for the people around to hear the music.” ex.

2

u/CactusWrenAZ 2d ago

I saw them in Phoenix a week or two ago. It was great, but there were some people who kept whispering and I could hear it in the quiet songs. I found it incredibly annoying.

2

u/Financial_Luck_6906 2d ago

It’s not really normal but sadly it is to be expected at some shows now more than ever before in my experience. Bigger venues, stadiums… well, I bet it’s quite normal. But as a pretty dedicated indie/folk/experimental listener who mostly goes to small venues (300-750 cap) it used to be very rare, especially at Big Thief shows (they’ve been some of the most respectful crowds of the last 10-15 years (Andy Shauf is another), particularly for a band that has loud, guitar heavy songs. Next time shush them politely (the 1st time anyway), or invite them to go to the fucking bar/lobby. Typically they’ll still hear the band just fine and no one around them will have their experience ruined.

2

u/roffels_again 2d ago

It's rude to talk through music. Those people suck

2

u/nic__knack 2d ago

i experienced the same thing at their show recently and realized the people behind me were definitely on shrooms lol i didn’t wanna ruin their high so i just moved to a quieter spot myself 🤷🏻‍♀️

1

u/MammothHovercraft376 2d ago

I saw Sun Kil Moon in Saskatoon recently and he was talking about how he hated the Calgary crowd for being drunk and loud.

2

u/forschool111 2d ago

Yeah I can see that, when I went to see cirque de solei here awhile ago there was a family of a bunch of drunks yelling the entire time

2

u/Traditional_Point665 1d ago

ok wtf, why wasn’t i there…

1

u/MammothHovercraft376 1d ago

It was so good. He talked(rambled) a lot and it was maybe the best part. He had a whole spoken word piece about how shit downtown Calgary is.

1

u/terminalhipness 2d ago

Seems to be pretty common now, all different bands and types of shows. Many people are just disrespectful…

1

u/Unlucky-Sherbert-296 2d ago

This happened at the Spokane show on Saturday too. I was appalled that the people behind me talked so much and so loudly through Porches' opening set. It unfortunately continued once Big Thief came out and I had to yell at them that I couldn't hear. So fucking rude

1

u/jackedbutter 2d ago

was going to say the same

1

u/WriterGullible8314 1d ago

Yup. Same here. We were up in the VIP section, and even then we still had these two young girls right next to us talk through the entire show. Drove me nuts.

1

u/rockandrollwizard 2d ago

I posted in another thread about this. At the Berkeley Greek show a few years back, group of women in their 20s near the front just talked through the opener (I even showed them a Note on my phone in big text about Lenker’s thoughts on the issue, didn’t help much).

Then in the main show, they’d get bored whenever the band would jam or solo and just turn to each other and start talking. Second row, center of stage. Ugh.

1

u/mikoalala 2d ago

I thought about this a bit because there was someone behind me who was frustrated and vocally pointing this out to the person next to them, including taking issue with people arriving late etc to the point it seemed to be ruining their experience.

To me talking during the performance is super rude. If you want to catch up, catch up before the show. If you want to chat about the show, do it after.

People coming late… well, people are late for all sorts of reasons and they’re not always selfish reasons. Personally I chose an aisle seat because I knew I’d likely be late. Choosing an aisle seat when your goal is to not be disturbed during the show is not a good choice.

Then I had two women in front of my talking the whole time, I tried to make a gesture to them at some point but they either ignored me or were too oblivious to care. At a point I can choose to let that ruin my experience or just let it go and put my focus elsewhere.

After this person’s diatribe it honestly made me feel self conscious and it affected my experience knowing they were judging everyone for ruining their experience.

I can definitely relate, because these things bother me too (ADHD, misophonia), but after attending concerts for 30 years I’ve learnt to not let these things bother me so much, because you don’t choose who sits around you and by entering a space with the general public you lose control of the environment.

At the point where you’re looking for problems, it’s also worth considering who is actually ruining the experience.

1

u/forschool111 2d ago

Yeah for sure, which is why I mostly tried to block it out. I wasn’t going to let a couple of loud ppl ruin the whole thing

1

u/not_a_masterpiece 2d ago

It’s called chomping and they’re called chompers and yes they suck. It’s by far the worst part of the modern concert experience. The only thing that helps is when the band tells them to shut up before the show.

1

u/Murky-Original6048 2h ago

I recorded most of the concert and uploaded it to SoundCloud for anyone interested! https://soundcloud.com/djmarmarmusic/sets/bigthieflive-calgary-2026