ah, i recall the dude yelling "TUPELO" between every song at uncle tupelo's show at the backstage. nothing would shut him up, because he was drunk.

assholes yelling to the audience are a fixture of american life, like firearm massacres. you just have to live with it.

Not being at the show, I will yet defend the guy who you, in the fashion of all Liberal Totalitarians, will label a heckler.

Television's Marquee Moon is one of the greatest albums of all time. If I had known about this show I might have gone (probably not, I don't venture into Seattle much any more. I will once they build the LINK Angle Lake station here in Kent.)

Besides intricate lyrics and stunning musicianship, there is the clarity of the sound. Anyone who has listened to Television more than once will come to a concert expecting that audio high that comes from brilliantly engineered sound, crisp licks, and warbling, yet o, so clear words of their songs.

To then tell us that the quality of the Moore theater is terrible in general and yet want people to "sit and shut up" is ridiculous! I would ask, if this sound was so poor, why isn't everyone rioting in the theater, and rising up and carrying Verlaine off to some venue where the sound quality is good. Why was a group like Television brought there in the first place (Does such a place exist in Seattle? I know the Key sucks.)

The recent exposure of Beats headphones as a $40 piece of junk, made to "feel expensive" with metal non-functional metal weights put inside, makes me ask a question which I've asked before....Is Everyone Deaf?

As a musician and occasional sound person, I would generally defend the guy in the audience, with a caveat.

Why shout that to the band? As a musician, you have to rely on the monitor mix. I want to know if the audience isn't hearing the sound as intended. I often rely on trusted friends in the audience to let me know if the mix is not right - or if something is not right.

The caveat: I was not there. So I don't know how bad or acceptable the mix might have been. Since Sean was there and seated in the same section as the dude who yelled, I would have to conclude the guy was likely a dick.

Sounds like an idiot who needed to announce his hip presence and refined ear to all in attendance. And, I mean, "muddy?" If it were a legitimate and easily addressed fix, say more bass or whatever, then he may have had a case, but I'm glad they ignored him and hope that he felt foolish when they did so.

Where was it, Seattlish, maybe? - where there was a post about a woman shushing her cheering child at a Mariners game?

It was a stupid thing to yell, but I've certainly seen stupider. And at least he shut up after speaking his piece.

Great show overall though, and you're spot on with your comment about Jessica Dobson. Television played a full albums of songs that everyone in the audience knew and loved before walking in the door. Dobson took big chances on unknown material and held her own. An impressive performance.

Okay, I’m the “offender”. Was I being a bit of an asshole? Maybe… However, the comment came from a place of passion. I LOVE Television and have seen them numerous times. The sound for ‘See No Evil’ was a muddled mess and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Would the show be compromised by a mix that was not on par with the majesty of the band’s playing? The comment was completely spontaneous and uncharacteristically flew out of my mouth. Was it intended as a critique of the band? No. Was it a well-thought out and calculated comment? No. It was a purely emotional response to what I thought was woefully inadequate sound.

I’ve been to many shows at The Moore and never had the sound been so butchered. The sound person was clearly asleep at the wheel; the criticism was warranted. And as those who were there will attest, the sound improved dramatically half-way through the second song and was completely dialed in by the third. Was this the result of a brief, off-handed comment thrown out by an audience member? Who knows and who cares. The bottom line is this: if you can’t express yourself and engage at a rock show, where the fuck can you?

And how does one interpret such an innocuous comment as to “derail” the show? The band clearly wasn’t affected by this “onslaught of hatred”, as evidenced by their brilliant performance. This is what the writer takes home from the show? Really? Makes me question why he even bothered to show up at all...

The "fix the sound" entreaty from an audience member does seem an odd detail for the writer to focus on so much (instead of focusing on the band's performance) as it seems so trivial. Perhaps it's 'cause he's so spoiled by Seattle audiences being generally so well behaved compared to some other cities that one fairly innocuous "heckle" stood out like an ugly sore thumb to him. Some cities (often larger ones -- you know who you are!) tend to have audiences that will chatter rudely & disrespectfully through entire shows by bands while Seattle audiences are more likely to be respectful, attentive, appreciative, & quieter (except when clapping & cheering after songs).

I didn't shout in the middle of the show, but a few years ago I did go up to the sound guy at a Tori Amos show at the Paramount after about 6 songs into the show and tell him that I was disappointed that, sitting on the floor Stage Right about halfway back, I couldn't hear Tori's piano in the mix. He said, "I can hear it just fine." It pissed me off. And I left, even though I'm a massive Tori Amos fan. I mean, if you can't hear the piano at a piano-based rock show, there is something wrong. Seems like the days of generally crappy sound have passed, but occasionally there is a stinker. Too much bass and 'muddy' is a pretty consistent issue with bad sound mixes.

Although heckling is not the best option, I do agree with the sentiment that this guy shared and that some sound technicians don't give a fuck and don't do their job well. With the amount of money that tickets cost today, and constantly improving technology and equipment, decent (if not good) sound should be the minimum. Sound technicians should move around the venue during sound check and listen in various places to find dead zones, and adjust during the first song or two. And if the bare minimum of clarity isn't there, why can't we as an audience do something about it or let them know? We can't get a refund. What else is left?

I'd forgotten the "fix the sound" guy until I read this, but yes, the sound did improve substantially by the third tune. I was in the second row, where it was very bright and somehow murky at the same time, until a short while later. I'd consider this par for the course in a room not really designed for amplified music, although we did wait a half hour or so in the lobby for the soundcheck to complete.

Television's set was amazing.

But speaking of "muddy" sound, damned if I could tell what language the opener was singing in, for her entire set.

The idea that the audience for this particular band should reverently, passively take in the group's recitals, instead of actively questioning what the band is playing and how they're going about it, is pretty fucking hilarious.

Oh, you poor little Princess. There was a pea in your concert, someone shouted something. Poor, poor, thing. I hope it didn't hurt too much, being forced to listen to people not behaving like good little boys & girls. It certainly hurt enough to make it your centerpiece of the review.

Why don't you lie down, take a stress pill, and have a nap. You poor thing.

"I'm not even that into Television, but..." is all that I needed to read, but I did read the whole thing. That's why there's no review of what was, overall, a really impressive show, because Nelson doesn't know how to review this show; he just went to an "event," something that was happening in town and which was supposed to be, "important" for some reason, even though he doesn't even really give a shit about the headliner.

I thought that the opener was surprisingly solid, myself -- I'd seen the end of a Deep Sea Diver show, when they opened for Built To Spill in PDX last year, and didn't think much of it -- but she in no way surpassed what Television delivered last night. I saw Dave Segal there, too bad that he didn't review this one, so that some level of information or insight regarding the actual concert could have been published.

This is far too typical of Stranger "music" coverage, unfortunately -- let's go to a festival and devote a post to all of the wacky hats that we saw. Meanwhile, you use every opportunity in this brief "article" to complain about Television tuning their guitars for several minutes in between every song, which is absurdly exaggerated. How about something about the amazing guitar work, the extended jams, and the traded solos? You're nitpicking their performance worse than the guy who shouted to them that the sound was muddy, who wasn't anywhere as bad as the woman you kept telling them to "bring it on."

Also, the sound did get better immediately afterward, and I noticed that #8 didn't mention this, but his comment actually didn't come out of nowhere, it came in response to Verlaine asking how everything was after the first song, in a way, prompting that response. Am I a fan of people shouting things out at shows? No -- last year's King Buzzo solo acoustic show was one of my worst experiences with that; I actually had to tell the giant dude double-fisting bottles behind me to shut the fuck up, eventually, and stop screaming in my ear -- but I honestly think that I dislike this terrible excuse for a show review even more. If you have nothing to say, don't write anything.