Monday, September 08, 2003

Dandys rule, OK?

I just got back from the first night of a two-night engagement that the Dandy Warhols are playing at the Opera House here in Toronto. I paid a scalper $80 for a $17.50 ticket, and it was actually worth it. The Dandys played for the better part of three hours, and seemingly played their entire catalogue, even reaching back to play a song they hadn't performed in eight years. I was right up front, too. The only thing that would have made it more of a complete Dandy Warhols experience would have been if the keyboard player had indulged her habit of getting her breasts out onstage for everyone to see. I may well go back again tomorrow, if I'm not too exhausted from tonight's show and the five hours of sleep I'm going to get, not to mention the knock-down, drag-out apartment wrestling match I had with my housemate Shanel on Friday night, in which we nearly knocked over the oven. (A couple of those links aren't safe for work. See if you can guess which!)

The concert tonight did leave one unanswered question. While taking a break, singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor drank a nice, cool Coke and sang its praises. Then he pointed out that the Coca-Cola company charges more for its Dasani bottled water (which is really just tap water) than it does for regular Coke (tap water plus sugar and syrup). What's with that? How can this be? The crowd was largely silent as it chewed over this (admittedly good) point. "Apparently only about six of you find that ironic," Taylor-Taylor said after a pause.

So here's my question: How is the audience supposed to react to such a statement? When the audience is happy, the traditional response would be to cheer. When unhappy, booing is appropriate. To show respect, applause or a respectful silence is the norm, depending on the situation. But how is the audience supposed to express the perception of irony? Do we applaud the speaker's insight? Boo the hypocrisy that he's pointing out? Murmur in discontentment? Yell out, "Testify!"?

I'd like to find out the proper protocol here. If I do go back tomorrow night and Taylor-Taylor hits me with another of those things that make you go "hmmm", I'd like to give him the appropriate response.

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