You can also get the commentary-free version from the comfort of your own home. I grew up in New York City, where audience interaction is a big part of the show.

You are part of a community.

Would you shut up? I’m tryimg to read this!

People are assholes.

@1 I went to hundreds of concerts while living and working in NYC (working in the music industry) and when the audience is yakking up a storm to the extent you can't hear the performer (one example: Elliott Smith at Tramps in the late '90s) it has nothing to do with being a part of a community. It's about assholes who go somewhere to say they want and can't even be respectful enough to STFU so other people can enjoy the show.

@3 Okay I'm a fellow New Yorker and I take your point. But what part of New York did you grow up in (and what production company were you working for?) where some blabby jersey kids could outperform the sound system of a New York City concert? Assholes are everywhere, you and I both know that, but I stand by my main point that people who wish to enjoy music and cinema without the nuisance of community interaction always have the option to stay home.

@4 I think you and I just have to agree to disagree on this point. I did not grow up in NYC. I played, worked, and lived there from 1994-2002. I grew up and went to college in upstate NY. I moved to Jersey City and then moved to Williamsburg and later Windsor Terrace.

I never worked for a production company. I worked retail (music inventory), then for an indie label (founded by a former Profile Records founder), then for Universal (doing marketing).

I also volunteered for LIFEbeat (https://www.lifebeat.org/) for many years, which allowed me to see more shows than all three of my industry jobs combined.

I understand being a part of a community (the indie rock community was my community for a long time). No matter what the community, there are people who will show up just to say they were there and pretend to be a part of something and talk through it all because they only care to say they were there, they do not care about what is happening or why other people are there. Many of those people are people who work in the music industry.

Seattle was different (fewer talking heads, much more investment in the actual shows ~ though I only played, worked, and lived there for 5 years). Portland I have no idea. I've been out of the game and not going to shows for over a decade now. When I first became disabled I did still go to shows and it was a totally different, extremely challenging experience and by the time the only option was a wheelchair, I had stopped going to see shows entirely. Most music venues are not handicapped accessible.

I have been going to shows for a long time and I agree that the talking is a lot worse than it used to be. Many people seem to have lost the ability to distinguish private spaces from public. Even more annoying is the ubiquity of the cell phone.