Fight breaks out at Boston Pops concert

[KittyT]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/10/odd.bostonpopsfight.ap/index.html

 

[Story]

Brawlin' Brahmins

Fight breaks out at Boston Pops concert

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Concert-goers, and even Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, were caught off-guard when a fight broke out on opening night at usually sedate Symphony Hall.

Television video of the fight Wednesday night showed two men struggling in the balcony -- one with his shirt pulled off -- as several people stood around them.

Lockhart briefly halted the performance, which featured singer-songwriter Ben Folds, while the men were escorted out. (Watch the battle in the balconyVideo)

Witnesses said they heard a scream from the balcony, and the sound of chairs falling, then a second scream as the fight escalated.

"The first time there was a scream, Keith looked up that way but he kept going," audience member June MacIndoe told Boston's WHDH-TV. "Then about a minute and a half later...there was a big scream and you could hear chairs falling over and you could see them up there, fists going."

At that point, Lockhart stopped the performance for a couple of minues, she said. "He just stood there, you know, quiet."

Boston police spokesman David Estrada said police officers on security detail at the hall escorted the men off the property, and no charges were filed. No injuries were reported, he said.

A Boston Symphony spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment.

 

[Dagwood]

Two theories of why the fight broke out:

(1) Ben Folds without the Five really ticks me off.

(2) Expecting classical and, instead, I get Ben Folds.

 

[Feraud]

A fight at a Ben Folds show? At the Boston Pops? :eusa_doh:

This story reminds me of quote from an article I read the other day.
Here is the quote:

"That was a different era then," he added. "Even common farm women wanted to be classy. Today everyone wants to be unclassy — people show up in restaurants in major cities looking like hell. In those days, people came to New York and they brought their best clothes and they dressed up and went out. It's so alien to the way they feel today.

To read the article.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Two theories of why the fight broke out:

(1) Ben Folds without the Five really ticks me off.

(2) Expecting classical and, instead, I get Ben Folds.

Quip of the week! lol :eusa_clap

.

 

[Sunny]

Hmm...

I'm just imagining all sorts of stories that could explain a fight happening at that place and time. Not the stupid squabble and stupid people that were probably involved. Something a lot more interesting. Like the interrupted auction in North by Northwest. OR - even more apropos - the attempted assassination in The Man Who Knew Too Much. I feel a ficlet coming on...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Narration from the video: "Everyone dressed in their fanciest outfits, excited to be a part of the glitz and glamor of opening night." Meanwhile, the camera shows guys in polo shirts and chinos, and girls in tank tops with spaghetti straps. lol The definition of "fancy outfits" has changed radically in my own, not-so-long lifetime.


Also from the video: while the fight was going on, some guy right next to it was sitting with his hands calmly folded in his lap, staring straight ahead, primly pretending that nothing was happening.

.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Glitz and glamor

He didn't want to be like the little dog in Rear Window, killed because he knew too much.

 

[SWTroopers]

Narration from the video: "Everyone dressed in their fanciest outfits, excited to be a part of the glitz and glamor of opening night." Meanwhile, the camera shows guys in polo shirts and chinos, and girls in tank tops with spaghetti straps. lol The definition of "fancy outfits" has changed radically in my own, not-so-long lifetime.
.

Well, he did say their fanciest outfits, not the fanciest outfits!

Signed, the other Marc, esq.

 

[Fletch]

Don't they sell booze in the lobby? Guy(s) might have come in half in the bag, then kept going.

Also, orchestra fans anywhere tend to include a certain percentage of the hopelessly deranged.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Don't they sell booze in the lobby? Guy(s) might have come in half in the bag, then kept going.

Also, orchestra fans anywhere tend to include a certain percentage of the hopelessly deranged.

ooh...booze and Shostakovich....

I need to go find some of that....lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

With that crowd? Champagne, more likely. Or Bellini cocktails. Or absinthe.

.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Being that I'm a regular goer to The Pops at Symphony Hall, it might have happened over seating. The seating there is so screwy, it's impossible to figure out which seat you are in.
Last December I went to the holiday show. We had great table seating. You see, symphony hall sets up tables in front of the stage with waiter service. So while you're watching the show you can order from an extensive wine list as well as order things like fruit and cheese plates, or even roast beef sandwiches. But, if there's only two of you in your party, you end up sharing a table with other people. The people we shared our table with had taken our seats, the specific seats we requested. Hemingway Jones is tall and has knee pain, the way the table is set up, some seats have more leg room than others, so we reserved those seats. Not only were the people in our seats, but instead of using the coat check they piled there coats up on our seats. When we politely asked them to move they argued with us. They said "this is our table" it took us about ten minutes to explain to them that the entire table was not their's. We finally got a many who worked for Symphony hall to come over an explain all of this to them, again. They were all ticked off that they actually had to share "their" table. They just didn't get it. I finally removed their coats from the empty seats and plopped them on the floor when he got up to get them off the ground, we took our rightful seats I wouldn't have minded sitting in the other seats but these people had shoved them so far over that there was no space for the two of us. Hem and I then ordered a bunch of food and a bottle of wine and sprawled out all of our stuff on the table Lets just say it was a very comfortable show for Hem and me, but I don't think our table "friends" were all that comfy. It was annoying, instead of just apologizing for the error, they argued with us and the attendant. They told us that when they bought the tickets they were told that they would have a table all to themselves. The attendant apologized for any miscommunication and explained, I think at least 3 times, that the none of the tables were private. The only way he could have a private table was if he bought the 6 seats that surrounded the table. If each table which seats 6 was closed off after only half the seats were sold, it wouldn't be too economical. Part of the fun of having seats like this is the people you sit with. The other times I have been I have enjoyed the company of the people I've shared a table with. For the most part, aside from the outfits, it's a very nice crowd.

Symphony Hall certainly isn't what it used to be. We get all dressed up to go. We go in the winter and the spring. People don't even try to look nice. The majority of the patrons wear jeans. I even get some funny looks for being dressed up. If I could I would go there black tie. It's a classy event in a most incredible setting, I want to look as nice as possible. But unfortunately it doesn't draw the nicest crowds any more What I did notice the last time I was there were that the people who were dressed nicely were the younger people. Maybe this it's becoming fashionable again to get dressed nicely when one goes to an event. It was a shame though, to see guys in jeans and tshirts. Even if they had been wearing khakis and a button up shirt or a polo, it would have been nice to see. I don't think that this kind of outfit would make the wearer uncomfortable, and it makes for a nicer environment all around if nicely dressed people were added to the atmosphere. I'm not talking about making it suits required, it would just be nice if they had and enforced a dress code that said that patrons couldn't wear jeans, tshirts and sneakers.

I'm actually supposed to go next Tuesday to hear Lockhardt conduct one of my favorite pieces, "Rhapsody in Blue". I have always wanted to hear this played live, and I'm thrilled to have great tickets, right in front of the stage. But, I have yet to find a date. It seems that everyone I know is busy. I think I'm just gonna go for it and go by myself. I think I'll regret missing my favorite piece of music played by such a magnificent orchestra. Hopefully there won't be any fist fights

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Don't they sell booze in the lobby? Guy(s) might have come in half in the bag, then kept going.

Also, orchestra fans anywhere tend to include a certain percentage of the hopelessly deranged.

Yes, they sell booze in the lobby and booze if you are sitting on the first floor during the show. A few bottles of wine and the incredible sound of the orchestra makes for a great evening. Well, when there aren't full out brawls and chairs flying across the room

ooh...booze and Shostakovich....

I need to go find some of that....lol

Well you should come to Boston!! Fourth of July is the greatest Pops show. We bring a stereo out to the roof deck, listen to the pops and watch the fireworks. It's a great time

 

[dhermann1]

Symphony Hall

I was just there for the first time year before last. What a wonderful old pile! Such a simple structure, in contrast the huge labyrinth of Carnegie Hall.
Hard to imagine anything indecorous happening there!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Hard to imagine anything indecorous happening there!

Heck, maybe the fight was more entertaining than the music that night.

.

 

[Diamondback]

Also, orchestra fans anywhere tend to include a certain percentage of the hopelessly deranged.

Be nice, Fletch, some of us resemble that remark!lol

 

[Sefton]

It all started when one of John Williams's homies dissed Arthur Fiedler's posse and...

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

My mom and I had season tickets (orhcestra seats) to the BSO for several years and I never once saw tables set up in front of the stage. Does only the Pops do this? Confused!

 

[Story]

I went to the symphony and a hockey game broke out...