Friday, July 22, 2011

The middle finger salute

Every once in a while, an audience member will give a band the middle finger. Sometimes, that person will make sure they walk all the way to right in front of you so everyone can see them give you their opinion.

So, how do you handle it? There is the fun method of jumping off stage and beating the person with fists or a thirty pound bass guitar. But that usually results in arrests, hospital visits, and an early end to your set. Hmmm, maybe that is not the perfect answer.

You can ignore it. That's fine. Let your music do the talking.

So far, my favorite one is to respond with a smiling face and a cheerful "Hey, look! That guy says I'm number one. Oh wait, he's now saying I'm number one with both hands. Thanks buddy."

I'd like to hear other favorite responses.

On the flip side, when someone shouts out "Freebird", you may extend a middle finger their way and let them know "I'm flipping you this bird for free, but the next one is gonna cost ya." Oh, and someone will shoult out Freebird. I you never hear someone should that request, you're not playing out enough.