I just got back from Las Vegas. And along with a lung full of second hand smoke, I have arrived home conflicted and am looking for some feedback. This is going to be one of those “If the music is too loud, you’re too old” kind of scenarios and I just need to know if I should stay home next time.
The story.
Those that have visited here before know that The Dave Matthews Band (DMB) is my absolute, all time favorite band in the whole wide world. I have all their music and am well attired in a variety of DMB concert T-shirts.
Two months ago, I received an e-mail from the DMB fan website announcing that Dave Matthews himself and Tim Reynolds were going to have an acoustical performance at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Now I don’t want to suggest that I was excited to hear about this concert, but there was much sissy clapping and squealing as I ran up and down the hallway of my house.
Fast forward to Thursday, December 10th.
I had flown from Seattle to Las Vegas, met my brother, who arrived from San Francisco, secured our room at the MGM and arrived early for the concert. Needless to say, the flight, the hotel room, the rental car and the concert tickets cost me a few bucks. I mention this because cost is an important factor in my defense.
As we wandered around the theater lobby, I saw that the age range of the fan base varied. The ages ranged from people in their 20’s up to people in their 60’s. I’m in my early 40’s. Another factor in my defense.
Time to take our seats.
Are theater seats designed and built by the same people who design and build airplane seats? I have rather broad shoulders, as does my brother who was seated to my right and the man seated to my left looked as if he may have played some pro football sometime during his lifetime. After an agreement that any unintentional shoulder rubbing and leg brushing would be written off to poor seat design, the three of us squeezed into our respective seats.
The show began.
Did I mention that this was an acoustical performance? Two men with acoustical guitars? Dave Matthews, not Metallica?
In any case, the performance was mesmerizing. I was having a really good time and was glad to have made the trip. Then suddenly, the young lady seated directly in front of me stood up and started dancing. I couldn’t see.
At first I decided to be patient and hoped that this young lady would realize that she was the only one in our section who had decided to stand up, and that I couldn’t see. Finally she turned around and through watery eyes, she asked me, ”Am I obstructing your view?”
“Yeah, you could say that.” I had now realized that Muffin Top (MT) was both drunk and dumb. Disgusted with my answer, MT took her seat and all was good for the time being.
Five minutes passed when MT jumped up and started dancing again. And once again, I couldn’t see. But this time she was going to town. In between stroking her hair with her hand and other Madonnaesque moves, she was bumping into the guy seated next to her. I don’t know about the people in front of her, but MT now had three large men behind her getting pissed off and the guy next to her wasn’t happy either.
After a few minutes of being patient, I finally had to say something. “Hey! There’s a special place for people who want to dance. It’s called the aisle. Move to the right or sit down!”
“But I need to dance!”
“Sit down!”
MT wasn’t happy. After a few F-Bombs thrown my way, she sat down with her arms crossed. The guy sitting next to MT, obviously pleased with my having taken action, reached his arm back and gave me a knuckle bump.
The next few minutes were amusing as MT switched her attention to the guy seated next to her, calling him various names, all of which started with the F-Bomb.
Finally, MT’s boyfriend, who up to this point had been practically invisible in his seat, decided to take action. I didn’t know what he had planned on doing, but I knew it wouldn’t be that impressive since he was wearing a pullover sweater.
Boyfriend stood up real tall like and switched seats with MT. What a hero! Now MT had to lean over her boyfriend while she continued to yell profanities at the guy she had been sitting next to, and still had no problem periodically flipping me the bird. This was an amusing performance for sure, but not the one I came to see.
After another twenty minutes of drunken silliness, MT, her boyfriend and his sweater all got up and walked off. I don’t know where they went and I don’t care. I was finally able to watch the show in peace.
Now before I ask for feedback, I need to offer a full disclosure of the situation. There were distinct sections in this theater. And in some sections, all the people were standing up and dancing. However, in my section, all the people who wanted to stand had worked their way to the aisle and the railing, leaving the more laid back crowd to sit in comfort and watch the show.
So now, keeping in mind the distance I had traveled, my age and the varied ages of the audience, and the fact that I paid big bucks for the whole event, don't I have the right to sit in the seat that I paid for? Or do I just have to understand that concerts and dancing people go hand in hand?
Is the music too loud, or am I too old?







