(class)icky

a lag over from mother's day included seeing the san francisco symphony rehearse handel. great stuff, the coronation of king george and king george II, 'god save the king,' 'the king shall rejoice,' 'kings shall be thy nursing fathers' etc... it was an rehearsal by invitation, only for 'friends' of the symphony. so the players were dressed casual, the conductor dressed like a hip restaurant owner. the audience was drab, posturing, and smelt of expensive old perfume and liquor. after some introductions the conductor politely addressed the audience, 'thank you for your ongoing support. i will pretend you're not here. (audience laughter) it's the economy (more laughter).' apparently, the visiting conductor had never worked with this symphony until tonight. during the rehearsal there were only about a half dozen stops and start overs, a testament to these musicians. it was nice to see an unfinished product, a work in progress. a huge choir joined the chamber symphony, thundering through powerful walls of sound and stroking through the whimpering bits.

you need to see music being performed live to really appreciate it. classical performance is exemplary. but by god, i won't ever go on my own accord. in order to please my mother, i'd see sammy hagar or norah jones or even fleetwood mack and conceal my hate like i'm watching the president speak while i'm eating in a public restaurant. and tonight, i did just that. the symphony crowd is the intelligentsia brought down to size. the smell of meat and gravy, leather and hair product. stained mustache and bad makeup. finger pointing at gay folks and shushing and hashing the non devout patrons. plucking and snotting their petty pretty adornments. repeating their favored myths they've just heard on npr this morning (yeah, i heard it too). and generally not pretending to hide their pill popping and empty errand filled sad lives.

i've had my wallet stolen at a radiohead concert. got in a fight while pearl jam played at bridge school. had a car towed at another radiohead concert. passed out by myself and left untouched at an outkast concert. searched and handcuffed at a dylan concert. kicked out of various venues/bars while live music played as my soundtrack. and of course, i've dealt with hundreds of bored/drunk/lame/rowdy friends, while sweet live music beckoned in the back ground. these minor setbacks, perversions and downright hangups i can take. and will take on for as long as i can stand. but being in a crowd of old children, i can do without.