Decoding our summer concerts

Last night, first day of summer, was our first concert of the season. On this opening night, the crowd was huge, between 1,500 to 2,000 people. The band was Muddpuddle, a local rock-and-roll band playing a blend of original and cover music in a wide variety of styles. They were just okay, not great, but in fact, I don't think most people ever come to these concerts for the music.

The way I see it, there are three groups of folks at these outdoor venues: The musicians of course, the folks that have to be seen and the rest of us, looking to watch a little of both. I won't return to the musicians; they always play good, bad or in between.

 I want to focus on the two other groups instead; the “exhibitionists” are of two kinds: The “static” ones who congregate in “groups” of “friends” and are showing off their elaborate picnic and cocktail gear, more often than not towed or wheeled-in to the spot into custom containers. Their dress is highly noticeable: Concert t-shirts, Hawaiian shirts, cool head gear for the men and skimpy, super sexy clothes for the women.

Then among these people who are there to show off, there are the “cruisers.” Those are mostly women who run through the lawn top to bottom and side to side. They want to be seen and are generally quite successful at it regardless of their perceived or real beauty and sexy attire.

Finally there are people like us, who are bombarded by these visual and audio cues and have a lots of work to do in order to see everything, stay focused and not to miss a beat. Call this sensory overload. After 90 minute of that multimedia shower, our brains are fried, we're ready to return home!