Tuesday, April 10, 2007

A Good Listener

On Monday night, Keith, Mon, and I went to the Bob Schneider concert at the Beachland Ballroom. This is the third time Keith and I have seen Bob perform, and it's always a great show.

I mean, it's pretty much as low-tech as you can get. So it's not a "Show" with pyrotechnics and fancy lights, etc. But he always engages the audience, and talks between songs. He, personally, is funny and entertaining. This time, he went around the room and let people pick out which song they wanted to hear. That was the majority of the concert. How cool is that?

We got there early enough that we had a table off to the left-hand side. The Ballroom has very high ceilings, and I was cold for most of the night. Not shivering, just slightly chilled. I did eventually take my coat off, but I left on my scarf and either had my hands in my pockets or my arms crossed.

As blogged about previously, when the singer/band can actually see me in the audience, I'm a little lost. I don't really know how to act. I just go to see--not to be seen.

This time, I knew that he could see me because when he pointed to our table for a request, I asked for "Bullets" and he played it. So for most of the show, I felt guilty whenever I had my arms crossed. Because in Communications 101, you're taught basic body language, and that someone who has their arms folded across their chest is closed off and not listening.

But what if she is listening, and she's just cold? Can't she still be enjoying the concert? I'd like to think that, if Bob ever looked my way during the rest of the concert, he knew I was a good--if chilled--listener.

1 comment:

Amy said...

I had similar body language issues when I was at the Kenny Wayne Shepherd concert. Nikki was dancing with wild abandon. She can do that completely sober, but I have to be pretty wicked drunk to shred that many rugs.

So, I was standing there watching the guys play and sing, nodding my head and tapping a foot. My arms were at my sides, for the most part. Every now and then I made eye contact with one of them, and it just felt awkward. The dude behind me on my right was standing there with his arms folded. He looked kind of pissed in general — I don't know if it was because his boyfriend (just my theory) was totally wasted and up next to Nikki, except dancing completely off the beat (okay, maybe they weren't together together after all).

Anyhow, just thought I'd share. Cathy said Keith is going to mock me again for making lengthy comments on your blog. I said, When did he do that? She said, Uhm, maybe that was behind your back. Me: Apparently!!

I have to stop typing now before I accidentally begin transcribing Cathy's story about opting not to use the tanning bed in the front window.