What are some of the things you can do with music? You can play it, perform it, listen to it, write it, critique it, wriggle your hips, shake your bones, yeah, you can dance to it.
It would help if you danced as often as you can.
Class, pay attention, dancing can:
o improved condition of your heart and lungs.
o increased muscular strength, endurance and motor fitness.
o increased aerobic fitness.
o improved muscle tone and strength.
o weight management.
o stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis.
What else can dancing do for you? It can free your mind and fill your heart and soul with such joy that you simply don’t understand why you don’t do this every day.
Last night at The Palais, Naarm, for the Tedeschi Trucks Band wildness, dancing was on my list of things to do before I even arrived. The excitement had to find it’s way out of my physical form and sitting with 2,895 other people never entered my head.
Just so you know this is not a review of the music, that will come later!
There were well over 2,800 people who had a different idea. Glancing around at the crowd prior to kick-off, it came to my attention that the demographic of a Tedeschi Trucks Band show tonight could almost be written as ‘elderly’. Now, I consider myself elderly, as I am an elder, and at 66 I understand physical ailments and the like. If you can’t get up, then I understand the seat. Even if you do not want to dance, I understand the seat.
Let’s tell the story of “My Final Warning”.
Tina and I had seats in Row A, on the aisle. Front row and we were ecstatic with the location. We looked around and we were concerned that this did not look like a dancing crowd. One song in and it was obvious that this crowd was going to remain planted in their chairs for some time.
We were up by the second tune, eased out into the aisle, so as not to block the seated. The last time I was at The Palais they did not allow aisle dancing, but you could dance at your allocated seating position. We all know if you dance at your seat and 95% of the gathering is planted that you will cause a disturbance.
“You know how much I paid for these seats?”
“SIT DOWN” (angrily)
Or someone will kick your chair, throw something or call security, aka the dance police.
I recall once at a Rolling Stones concert looking up at the mezzanine seats from my position on the floor and 2 young women were dancing to “Start Me Up”. I noticed a person behind them saying something animatedly and it was obvious they wanted them to sit down. A few moments later one of these young women turned and decked the person behind them.
That’s rock and roll.
Back to last night in St. Kilda and the upcoming warning. The band was well set back from the lip of the stage last night which made viewing from the front rows gentler on the neck. One moment found me leaning over in awe watching the 12-piece magic unfolding with my arms on the stage.
A little while later I got a tap on my shoulder from a middle aged security guard.
“No leaning on the stage. No arms on the stage. No leaning at all on the stage.”
I said, “No worries.”
The security dude started to repeat his orders again and I stopped him and said, “I heard you the first time.”
I was not rude. I kept my arms, legs, nose, lips off the stage.
We continued to dance where we had been for at least half of the evening. About 10 minutes after I was told to not lean on stage another security guard was sent down to stand near us. After a few minutes he told me we could not dance where we had been. I engaged in conversation with him.
“We have been dancing here all night what has changed now,” I asked.
He was a decent sized bloke and had wires and radio hookups and really had some attitude towards me.
“You can’t dance here,” he said.
“OK, so I am going to go back to where I am sitting and dance in front of my seat and annoy the hell out of all the seated instead of me being here dancing where it bothers no one,” I said.
He continued to tell me I could not dance at all. I was flabbergasted at that idea.
I began to get the idea that my off handed remark to Security Guard 1 had pissed him off and I was being targeted. Targeted because I was dancing?
This security guard continued to look at me and was having some sort of mental trauma since I was talking logic and he could not grasp that concept. He was talking to someone on his radio and looking at me like I was a menace, and I was going to be taken care of by a posse of agents.
“We have had complaints about you,” he said.
Complaints? No one around me had made any noise or looked at me with too much concern and I was in the aisle blocking the view of no one. I continued to speak to him and tell him if I can’t dance here I will dance at my seat.
“No, you cannot dance, there, and this is your last warning,” he said.
My last warning? I did not even get a first or second warning. What happens after my last warning I assumed was some sort of escalation of our discussion or I would be ejected. I sighed, laughed, and went back to my seat. I shared the details with Tina, and she was WTAF?
She stormed off to management and told them what was going down and we were let off the hook for the rest of the night. We could have our little aisle area near the front of the stage.
There was still only one or 2 other people out of their seats and they were not close to gyrating like we were. I do not think there was one person in The Palais at their designated seat, standing and moving. I know it was Wednesday night but I have never seen such a insentient audience.
Rowdy, some government employee from Canberra, was sitting next to us really enjoying the show. The last song was being played and he decided to come over near where we were dancing and have a bit of a boogie. Unfortunately, he could not squish in our little corner, so he was partially blocking the view of one seated person who was in a coma. OK, that is cruel, but come on, it’s the last song, you should be standing. Grab your partner and get going. Let the spirit move your shoes.
Breaking free from watching the rock and roll show as theatre the seated person started yelling at Rowdy to get out of the way. There were 12 people on stage and Rowdy may have been blocking part of the horn section. We all looked on in disbelief.
All 3 of us.
You pay your money, and you have a seat, but really, this is not a play. It is a rock and blues and soul show that has to inspire your soul which will then inspire your heart which will then inspire your feet and you should be moving or at least standing. I know many people are daunted by the fact that if they do stand someone will object. All that pent up energy, all that eagerness, and you are trapped in a seat you do not want.
Tonight, I have to say I did not feel that pent up energy. People were happy to just sit and be there. No judgement on individual choice I just wonder more about the collective community and how these gatherings have been and usually are about transcendence of some sort.
We said our goodbyes to our mate Rowdy, and we caught our breath in the lobby. We were about to head off into the cool streets of St. Kilda, maybe see if the band were hanging about, more than likely we would call it a night. Before we could leave a woman came up to us.
“I just wanted to tell you what a joy it was for my partner and I to see you both dancing. I could see you were putting up with some hassles from security, but it was so much fun to see you up and dancing,” she exclaimed.
Well, what do you do, we talked for awhile about the dancing issue and thanked her as she thanked us again for dancing. She was trapped in her seat she said. We understood and shed a tear for her.
