Moving seats at concerts...

[richardfinegold]

Orchestra Hall was renovated here in Chicago about 15 years ago. The acoustics were quite bad after the restoration. They have done a number of fixes since that have largely corrected the problem but the first year after the renovation I was struck by how variable the sound was, from section to section and row to row. Even moving a few seats in a row could change the perspective dramatically. I would frequently change my seat between works to confirm this. My (now ex) wife
put up with this a bit but it did lead to some arguments. I went to many concerts with a friend that year who was as intrigued by this phenomenon as I was and we moved all over the place that year. I don't remember ever being hassled about it by an usher.

[Old Grumpy]

I have seen R3's own Jez Nelson sneak into a Martial Solal gig at Kings Place at half-time. I would imagine that he did have a "comp" seat though.

OG

[jean]

It seems to be accepted practice in France where at a good many concerts where I've been present people hover and just before the concert begins rush to claim seemingly unsold seats...

I spent a week's concentrated concert-going in Moscow some years ago and I was amazed that people didn't even hover - large numbers of them just chose the seats they liked and then moved away when the real occupants presented themselves.

In deference to my hesitation, my Muscovite companion agreed to postpone our seat-swapping until just before the performance started. The usual practice, as well as being unacceptably cheeky, seemed to me to involve quite a risk that you'd end up with a seat inferior to the one you'd actually paid for.

[gurnemanz]

While some seats are obviously inferior. it is not always clear what is the best place to sit. My wife booked us in for Vengerov and Oxford Philomusica at the Anvil, Basingstoke last night. When it turned out we were at the side next to the orchestra, I muttered a mild complaint. It was in practice not so bad as I feared - probably not the optimum sound picture but very good visuals of the players. I spent a lot of time observing the legendary Tristan Fry (for it was he) on timpani. I was quite surprised to see him on duty there. I'm pretty sure the last time I saw him was at a prom in the 60s.

[pastoralguy]

Come on maty! What's stopping you? You can't half start a story without the dénouement....

Please see message 7...

[Howdenite]

I'm always nervous about moving, possibly because the ushers at San Francisco's opera house pounce immediately on anyone moving seats or slipping into one, so I rarely try to move. If it is unobtrusive, I don't mind it happening, but at a recent concert at RFH people were still moving around after the concert began (music playing!) which was more than a little distracting. I was amazed this was allowed to happen...

[Lento]

A year or so I booked front stalls seats for an orchestral concert at the RFH for a friend and me. Adjacent seats were not available, and, on the day, my friend chose the one in the front row, well to the left. I sat in the row behind, more centrally, and 2 seats away from a foreign man who seemed to be connected with the orchestra/concert. The seat between us remained empty, so my friend moved to sit with me after the interval. At the very last minute, someone shot in, had a word with the aforementioned gent whom he seemed to know, and sat down in the seat my friend had vacated. It turned out to be none other than Stephen Hough, who had been playing in the first half and had, by my friend's action, been saved the ordeal of sitting next to me.

[visualnickmos]

..... but at a recent concert at RFH people were still moving around after the concert began (music playing!) which was more than a little distracting. I was amazed this was allowed to happen...

This is just shoddy behaviour from peasants - and I use the term in it's pejorative sense - who lack respect and have no manners or panache. Unacceptable.

[visualnickmos]

Please see message 7...

Oh, I see.....

[french frank]

Please see message 7...

Lovely story, pg :-). At St George's stewards have invited me to move after the interval if there are empty seats. What is the point of leaving the more expensive ones empty? Sometimes a restricted view has been a problem, but more often it's likely to be someone behaving in some annoying, fidgety way.

[Don Petter]

A year or so I booked front stalls seats for an orchestral concert at the RFH for a friend and me. Adjacent seats were not available, and, on the day, my friend chose the one in the front row, well to the left. I sat in the row behind, more centrally, and 2 seats away from a foreign man who seemed to be connected with the orchestra/concert. The seat between us remained empty, so my friend moved to sit with me after the interval. At the very last minute, someone shot in, had a word with the aforementioned gent whom he seemed to know, and sat down in the seat my friend had vacated. It turned out to be none other than Stephen Hough, who had been playing in the first half and had, by my friend's action, been saved the ordeal of sitting next to me.

Perhaps you could have 'houghed' him for not making the correct move?

[Thropplenoggin]

HighlandDoughies' anecdote sounds like a Guy de Maupassant short story. Or Georges Simenon.

[Petrushka]

I've done this once or twice at the Proms. I go down into the Arena for part 1, casually look around for an empty stalls seat, then home in on it for part two after the interval looking as if I own the place. I got caught out once at a Prom performance of Messiah under Trevor Pinnock where there were acres of empty side stall seats. They may have been left empty on purpose because it was being televised and one of the ushers came and told me to move back to where I came from.

Many is the time at the Proms when empty seats suddenly mysteriously fill up in the second half. My guess is that people come down from the gallery having trained their binoculars on picking out likely seats below.

I'd be worried that the correct patron will turn up just as the conductor walks on stage!

[Ferretfancy]

I've done this once or twice at the Proms. I go down into the Arena for part 1, casually look around for an empty stalls seat, then home in on it for part two after the interval looking as if I own the place. I got caught out once at a Prom performance of Messiah under Trevor Pinnock where there were acres of empty side stall seats. They may have been left empty on purpose because it was being televised and one of the ushers came and told me to move back to where I came from.

Many is the time at the Proms when empty seats suddenly mysteriously fill up in the second half. My guess is that people come down from the gallery having trained their binoculars on picking out likely seats below.

I'd be worried that the correct patron will turn up just as the conductor walks on stage!

This can happen in reverse. When Nigel Kennedy played the Elgar concerto in the second half of a Prom some years back, a well dressrd gentleman from the stalls barged into the Arena at the last moment with a small girl on his shoulders. Naturally the kid was bored to death, and fidgeted throughout the performance. When it ended he barged his way out again, pushing prommers aside. I wanted him dead.

[Roslynmuse]

Not quite a moving seats story (although I do that fairly frequently at Bridgewater Hall on BBC Phil nights - there are usually plenty of empty rows, well away from the bag-rustlers), but when I was a student I was given a comp to see Glyndebourne's Ravel double bill at the Manchester Palace Theatre (this would have been about 1987 or 1988). The seat was right up at the top (the Grand Tier) but I had no problem with the sound or the view and stayed put. It was only at the end of the evening that for some reason I looked at my ticket and realised I'd gone on the wrong night - it was being given twice - so I went again two or three nights later and thoroughly enjoyed it all over again!