Bruce, I guess my friend was a narcissistic 15 year old teenager back then. Other kids pushed and shoved people out of the way as they scrambled and trampled to the front after the gate was opened. Kids just moved out of his way. As I said, pretty sleazy, but funny.
Ethics of Switching Seats at a Classical Concert
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
Bruce, I guess my friend was a narcissistic 15 year old teenager back then. Other kids pushed and shoved people out of the way as they scrambled and trampled to the front after the gate was opened. Kids just moved out of his way. As I said, pretty sleazy, but funny.
Peter... Just to clarify... No one is consciously booking a cheaper seat and moving to a more expensive one. At shows, seats are often sold out. Then, the only choice is to gain an entry by paying for a side seat. However, many don't turn up, and then we shift. Empty seats can easily be spotted, and it is just a matter of timing, in the interval or before it during a break when the artists walk off, that we need to do this.
All my advanced booked seats at barbican or royal festival hall, for example are booked at maximum price at the right seat. However I go to a lot of concerts deciding on that day itself, on the way back from work... Or closer to the time...Where this is not possible. Then you have to shift seats otherwise the concert is a total waste.
At times, though very rare, I have had to shift to a cheaper seat because it was better. This happens in unfamiliar concert halls.
All my advanced booked seats at barbican or royal festival hall, for example are booked at maximum price at the right seat. However I go to a lot of concerts deciding on that day itself, on the way back from work... Or closer to the time...Where this is not possible. Then you have to shift seats otherwise the concert is a total waste.
At times, though very rare, I have had to shift to a cheaper seat because it was better. This happens in unfamiliar concert halls.
Of course if somebody shows up I would relinquish the seat to the rightful sitter. Absent depriving a rightful sitter of the squatted seat it really is a Pareto Optimal outcome, of which I am a big fan.
For the record yesterday was literally the first and only time I have moved seats in the 15 or so times I have been to Walt Disney Concert Hall in the last two years. It actually never occurred to me to buy a cheaper seat in the hope of moving to a more expensive seat. I just don’t think that cheaply. I am fine to buy an expensive seat I want for a concert I care deeply about if it means that much to me.
Mozart Symphony No. 41 is my single favorite classical piece. Single concert purchases for non-season ticket holders for this performance opened last September. I immediately bought two tickets last September, but the season ticket holders had already reserved almost all of the front orchestra seats. I saw only two front orchestra seats left, for about $600 each, but paying that much for a performance kind of takes the fun out of it (even for my favorite classical piece).
So I wound up paying $180 per ticket (already super expensive!) for by far the worst seats (upper level mezzanine, pretty far towards the back) I have ever purchased at Walt Disney Concert Hall. During the performance I learned that sitting that high and that far back from the stage made the sound kind of distant and involving. No likey.
We saw two empty seats in the front row, almost directly behind Dudamel. Targeting those two seats we immediately devised a plan of action. After the intermission we executed the plan!
We encountered a dirty look from a guy with a walkie-talkie and took evasive action. After that it was a clear shot to the target!
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Just to give you guys an example... This is just one email screenshot of booked tickets at the barbican, where most of the tickets booked in advance are at a seat I wouldn't shift from.
However there are others I would want to, in other halls, booked not well enough in advance, etc
You can clearly see a pattern here of sticking up seats in the 30s and preferring the P, Q, and S row
However there are others I would want to, in other halls, booked not well enough in advance, etc
You can clearly see a pattern here of sticking up seats in the 30s and preferring the P, Q, and S row
Peter, if there is a seat available in your sailing boat I wouldn't mind; I'd seat anywhere.
There are three guys now who voted no.
I believe that in order to get a more accurate representation a minimum of 100 voters would be more like it. Right now it means less than zero nothing.
I say, just grab that damn seat, and if the rightful owner taps you on the shoulder, say they can take your seat, transparency/you are there/they are here/texture/pitch black background/tonal balance/timbral accuracy/etc etc, is SOOO much better in your seat.
Normally you shower before and after a music concert. And you put on some nice shoes.
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Ron
I’ve been to Disney many times and wonder if your shift to a 2nd row seat resulted in sonic gain. I find too close in Disney isn’t always better
I’ve been to Disney many times and wonder if your shift to a 2nd row seat resulted in sonic gain. I find too close in Disney isn’t always better
Don't know about Disney but That's usually the case in most halls. You don't want to be too close
Say the empty seat you switched for is the seat of a big guy (Hells Angels) who decided to only assist to his favorite part of the music concert, after the entracte; and he has a hot temper?
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