What is with this town and leaving events early? At a recent ZooTunes, nearly a dozen members of the Roots were on stage, playing their asses off, rapping, drumming, bongoing, and even dancing around while playing a sousaphone and a keytar. They played a very danceable setlist, riffing off Kool and the Gang and Curtis Mayfield. 

Even if dancing isn’t your thing, ZooTunes is the easiest-going concert experience ever; you can literally stay seated or lying down the entire show if you want. They serve beer and food. And yet, starting about halfway through their 100-minute set, a steady stream of people started leaving; people just folding up their picnic blankets and Tommy Bahama chairs while the Roots were still playing.

I’m somewhat sympathetic to people with small kids who were melting down, but there were many, many parties of fully grown adults leaving before 8 pm. 

Why not just listen to the music at home instead if you didn’t want to be at a concert? You take the air out of attending a live concert and make us look sleepy as a city. 

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8 replies on “Seattle Crowds Are So Sleepy”

  1. Erm, I always considered the Zoo to be a 40+ crowd concert venue. I’m guessing 75% of everyone there has been up since 6am due to small kids (that they left at home) or middle age sleep patterns (hello menopause!). I personally don’t care if anyone thinks I’m sleepy but if it’s a majority of attendees maybe this is a clue to get things started earlier?

  3. I think those Tommy Bahama chairs just materialize in people’s garages once they turn 48. I’ve never seen one for sale in my life, but they are ubiquitous at those concerts.

  4. As someone who had to leave early because kids I was also disturbed by this. Long time since there’s been an “I, Anonymous” this on point

  5. perhaps if the tunes

    paused peeps’d take

    the opportunity & be

    less Distracting? yeah:

    start earlier

    (getting out after

    dark was Not entertaining*

    perhaps the Lighting’s better now?).

    *not now silly!

    when it gets

    Dark @8

  6. I like it when people leave as long as they do it at none non-disruptive times, like between songs. It makes more room for me. Yeah me!

  7. Given that it was Zootunes and not, say, Showbox, I wonder how many went to the show only knowing The Roots as that nice band on the Jimmy Fallon show.

  8. you were not present for all the rapping, drumming, bongoing, and even dancing around if you were too busy being worried about what other people were doing

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