What is the World Coming To? Crowd Surfing Now Frowned Upon at Classical Music Concerts
Who would have ever seen this coming???
Dr. David Glowacki, a non-equilibrium molecular reaction dynamics expert from Stanford University who is currently in England as a Royal Society Research Fellow, was recently ejected from a performance of Handel’s “Messiah” at the Bristol Old Vic in England… because he tried to crowd surf.
According to The Independent, the incident occurred after the Bristol Old Vic’s artistic director, Tom Morris, invited the audience to grab their drinks, come stand in front of the stage, and “Clap or whoop when you like, and no shushing other people.” Y’know, like people would at almost any concert that’s not in the genre of classical music… which is exactly what Morris had in mind: in July, the Bristol Old Vic will begin a new series called The Bristol Proms, which is intended to be “accessible and informal,” as opposed the often stuffy atmosphere of an evening at the symphony.
Unfortunately, Dr. Glowacki took it a little bit further than his fellow audience members were prepared for: after “lurching from side to side with his hands raised and whooping,” Glowacki tried to crowd surf.
And that’s when “audience members proceeded to physically eject [Glowacki] from the area.” That’s right — it wasn’t even security that kicked Glowacki out.
Although this is apparently “the first such incident at a classical concert since the 18th century” (Are we sure? Who the fuck is keeping track of that?), Glowacki feels no embarrassment, and, in a public statement, encouraged his fellow appreciators of classical music to pull the stick out of their collective ass:
“Classical music, trying to seem cool and less stuffy, reeks of some sort of fossilised art form undergoing a midlife crisis.
“Witness what happened to me when I started cheering with a 30-strong chorus shouting ‘praise God’ two metres from my face: I get physically assaulted, knocked down to the floor and forcibly dragged out by two classical vigilantes.
“Neither the bourgeoisie audience nor their curators (eg Tom Morris) really believe what they say.
“You’re free to behave as you like, and it’s comforting to think that you have that freedom, but it’s only available to you so long as you behave correctly.”
Glowacki isn’t necessarily wrong, but he did try and take the crowd from zero to a hundred in no time flat. He might have been more successful if he had begun with the loud noises, and then, in a few weeks, returned to start a small pit, and then, a few weeks after that, introduce crowd surfing and stage diving. You gotta give these old fuddy duddies time to adjust, y’know?
[via Metal Insider]
