Cellphones in concerts

[Siedler]

Actually I've been pretty lucky as it was the first time I heard a cellphone going off in a concert, yesterday that is, but it couldn't have happened in a more inappropriate moment: 2nd movement of Tchaikovsky's 1st PC.  It wasn't loud but the person seemed to have trouble to turn it off, and it went on for some time.
Have you been a victim of this kind of cellular terrorism?

[bhodges]

I feel like saying, "Don't even get me started."  I could go on a rant about this topic for hours.  It is, alas, so commonplace in New York halls that it is unusual for a concert not to be interrupted by one.  Carnegie Hall has a message projected on the back wall of the stage before each concert begins, but this is clearly not enough.  People don't seem to notice this any more.

Finally this season, the New York Philharmonic began making an audio announcement, not just at the beginning of the concert but after intermission as well.  I wish they didn't have do do this -- "Ladies and gentlemen, please turn off your cellphones and other electronic devices.  Thank you." -- but the reality is, that is the least that needs to be done.  People aren't focusing, when they return to their seats.

I've heard phones ring at Carnegie, at the Met...pretty much everywhere.  I should add that I am 100% in favor of cellphones and use mine daily -- a fine little tool that at best, makes life much easier and more than pays for itself in convenience.  But something really has to be done about this problem, and I don't have a clue what that might be at the moment. 

--Bruce

[SimonGodders]

Yep, the worst was last year - Louis Lortie playing Chopin's third piano sonata. The phone went off right at the end of the largo. Lortie went crashing into the finale and who can blame him? I'ld have strung the offender up and cut of his knackers if given the chance....

[SonicMan46]

I feel like saying, "Don't even get me started."  I could go on a rant about this topic for hours.........

I'm w/ Bruce on this one!    I abhor 'cell phones' in just about any situation where the DAMM thing can be turned off at least for an hour or so - examples are not only concerts, but other places - e.g. restaurants are a major irritation for me; a number of months ago, we were at a nice quiet restaurant but were seated next to a man & woman, immediately cell phones ringing (they were there on business, and the 'boss' of one of them was constantly calling) - I wish that I had a 'LARGE MALLET'!  Last night at another restaurant, the same but less annoying situation, a young lady w/ her parents could NOT figure out her cell phone and in a LOUD voice discussed the issue for a half hour (parents were annoyed) - like in the 'Old West' w/ guns in saloons, I think these gizmos should be confiscated on entry into certain establishments or events, and returned to their owners on leaving - well, enough of my rant. 

[not edward]

I'm with Andras Schiff on this one:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1504053.stm

[Solitary Wanderer]

We had a phone go off at a concert last year. Boy, did the culprit get frosty looks from the audience around him. Sad thing was he just laughed. 

[Rabin_Fan]

We get the please turn off your HP in 2 languages here in Malaysia and yet people's HP still go off. I propose that we do a Kindergarten Cop - i.e. report the guy whose HP goes off if you are next to him and the concert hall has the right to confisticate his HP - it will stop HP ringing in concerts once and for all.

[oyasumi]

I'm w/ Bruce on this one!    I abhor 'cell phones' in just about any situation where the DAMM thing can be turned off at least for an hour or so - examples are not only concerts, but other places - e.g. restaurants are a major irritation for me; a number of months ago, we were at a nice quiet restaurant but were seated next to a man & woman, immediately cell phones ringing (they were there on business, and the 'boss' of one of them was constantly calling) - I wish that I had a 'LARGE MALLET'!  Last night at another restaurant, the same but less annoying situation, a young lady w/ her parents could NOT figure out her cell phone and in a LOUD voice discussed the issue for a half hour (parents were annoyed) - like in the 'Old West' w/ guns in saloons, I think these gizmos should be confiscated on entry into certain establishments or events, and returned to their owners on leaving - well, enough of my rant. 

How dare people talk in a restaurant! The nerve!

Are you insane? Someone talking on their phone is less noisy than talking to someone in person. It's not a library, people have their own lives and business. If you can't handle ringing, tough.

[oyasumi]

and cell phones are still relatively new to the masses, it can take a while for people to really get used to the idea of having one and keeping quiet with it. If this problem is still around in 50 years I'll be surprised.

[SonicMan46]

How dare people talk in a restaurant! The nerve!

Are you insane? Someone talking on their phone is less noisy than talking to someone in person. It's not a library, people have their own lives and business. If you can't handle ringing, tough.

Oyasumi - I'm not sure if you are 'new' to this forum, but statements like 'you are insane' will not go over well here!  I eat out at least twice a week and have no problems w/ people talking to each other at a 'civil' level, but the noise of cell phones ringing (often w/ their ridiculous tunes) & the often 'yelling' into the devices is absolutely an abomination in trying to enjoy a comfortable meal out - this is unacceptable to many and a number of restaurants have 'demanded' that these devices be 'turned off' or put on 'silent modes' - I still agree - BTW, were you the one sitting next to me @ that restaurant answering all of those business calls?   

[Novi]

Someone's phone rang at a concert I went to tonight. It was Belshazzar's Feast though, so the choir drowned it out .

I eat out at least twice a week and have no problems w/ people talking to each other at a 'civil' level, but the noise of cell phones ringing (often w/ their ridiculous tunes) & the often 'yelling' into the devices is absolutely an abomination in trying to enjoy a comfortable meal out - this is unacceptable to many and a number of restaurants have 'demanded' that these devices be 'turned off' or put on 'silent modes'

SonicMan, I agree with you on this. I imagine you're talking of a nice restaurant for a leisurely dinner and not some lunch time cafeteria or such like. I'd say it's also rude to the people you're dining with to talk on the phone during a meal .

[Earthlight]

Carnegie Hall has a message projected on the back wall of the stage before each concert begins, but this is clearly not enough.  People don't seem to notice this any more.

I can't remember the last time I was at a symphony concert in Connecticut that didn't start with an announcement, either pre-recorded over the PA or from a real live person. I can't remember the last time I heard a cellie or pager go off during a concert, either. At least in my limited experience, it's not the problem it used to be.

I'm pretty tolerant about coughing and sneezing (and getting more so because the sun was out for a total of ten minutes this winter; I'm surprised we don't all have the bubonic plague), but a lot less so about electronic devices, which I consider voluntary, and which generally have silent modes.

a number of months ago, we were at a nice quiet restaurant but were seated next to a man & woman, immediately cell phones ringing (they were there on business, and the 'boss' of one of them was constantly calling)

The saddest thing I saw related to that was in Boston. I was dining by myself (actually, in the company of a couple of magazines, which some people might consider rude) while Lady Earthlight was in the hospital, and two people came in, looking like mother and daughter. Daughter got on the cellie, talked throughout the entire meal, mom looked out the window. There's something about a loud telephone conversation that has a different cadence from your everyday loud boring conversation.

Your neighbors might feel under pressure to answer the phone or else have their jobs outsourced to somebody who doesn't sleep. That, of course, begs the question of why they're in a restaurant.

[Solitary Wanderer]

There's something about a loud telephone conversation that has a different cadence from your everyday loud boring conversation.

Yep, this is the key point. For some mysterious reason people talk LOUDER on cell phones and this draws attention to themselves and makes them appear inconsiderate and self-centered. Personally I find it obnoxious 

[oyasumi]

Oyasumi - I'm not sure if you are 'new' to this forum, but statements like 'you are insane' will not go over well here! 

Good thing I never said that!

I eat out at least twice a week and have no problems w/ people talking to each other at a 'civil' level, but the noise of cell phones ringing (often w/ their ridiculous tunes) & the often 'yelling' into the devices is absolutely an abomination in trying to enjoy a comfortable meal out - this is unacceptable to many and a number of restaurants have 'demanded' that these devices be 'turned off' or put on 'silent modes' - I still agree - BTW, were you the one sitting next to me @ that restaurant answering all of those business calls?   

Yelling in general is rude, cell phone or no. If the ringer isn't any louder than the noise level of the restaurant there shouldn't be a problem.

[knight66]

I don't think it works like that. Somehow the tone of most users is different on the phone. I find it annoying in resteraunts and on the train. One guy was so clear the whole carriage followed his entire plans for the weekend. Smug self-satisfied git....I endured him twice, as he spent most of two hours arranging his friend's lives each time, then on a third occasion I noticed him before we moved off and I sat in another carriage.

Nigel had a good story about a phone going off at the Paris Opera, I think the person was stared at by the conductor, Christie?, who stopped the performance, then lectured the culprit. An actor in England recently broke off in a play to harangue someone in the audience and threatened to leave the stage if another phone went off.

The way to deal with it is to have a phoneadectamy, someone comes along, demands the phone with menaces and then later ceremonially smashes it with a large mallet.

Mike

[Siedler]

How dare people talk in a restaurant! The nerve!

Are you insane? Someone talking on their phone is less noisy than talking to someone in person. It's not a library, people have their own lives and business. If you can't handle ringing, tough.

Not really, too often I hear people shouting into their phones.

[sunnyside_up]

I am much less enthusiastic about going to concerts and movies these days because of the rude audiences 
Who needs it, when you can stay home and listen to CDs or DVDs.

[Grazioso]

and cell phones are still relatively new to the masses, it can take a while for people to really get used to the idea of having one and keeping quiet with it. If this problem is still around in 50 years I'll be surprised.

On the contrary, selfish rudeness and incivility are rampant and seemingly on the increase. It's getting hard enough to find people who say "Sir" and "Ma'am", "please" and "thank you", let alone turn phones off out of respect for others.

[71 dB]

I'd never take my cellphone with me to a movie or concert. If the phone is with me for some reason I put it off, of course. People who have phones on in such places and even use them are idiotic ignorants.

[The Mad Hatter]

There's a cinema in London that introduced a fine for anyone whose mobile went off during a film. I think a similar idea would be good in concert halls.

That or an obligatory 'leave it in the coatroom'.

I've been fortunate enough so far to have not heard a phone go off during a concert so far. Though I did have to endure someone talking right through a performance I gave...