When I saw Rufus Wainwright at the State Theatre last year there was a woman in front of me that started of taking photos at the start of each song, which was somewhat annoying but I was able to overlook my annoyance—right up until she started an SMS marathon with someone.

I was so amazed when I read some of the texts that she was actually texting about the concert and how much she was enjoying it, even though she wasn’t actually participating in the live aspect of the concert.

Eventually I tapped her on the shoulder and politely said, “That is really distracting. Could you just enjoy the show?” to which she gave me a dirty look and then sat completely still for the rest of the night.

As we were leaving she muttered something about me to her friends who also gave me ’side-eyes’.

The fact of the matter was that I—like they had—paid a reasonable some of money for the privilege and feel that it is quite selfish for them to ruin that experience for others, let alone completely misunderstand the entire performance.

With someone like Tori or Rufus the show is something that you really need to pay attention so that you’re able to pick up their quirks and nuances; otherwise why not just stay at home and text your friends til your fingers bleed?

Grant