A Candlelight Concert

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

I have seen ads on Facebook for the candlelight concert series over and over. I was intrigued because the programs have looked good, but the information about where they were held was really sketchy and that seemed reason enough not to follow through. Then when we went to the Granada Theater during the Doors Open weekend, we found out they host the concerts. YAY! I got tickets for the Hans Zimmer show right away. We took seats on the aisle about halfway up, then realized that we could see the stars and clouds on the ceiling better if we moved to the back. Terrific view of the stage and the “sky”.

As the concert started, three people pushed through the chairs to sit in the row in front of us. They were talking, but I assumed it was part of scurrying in late and finding seats.

But they kept talking. It was two youngish people and an old lady. She had old lady hair – tight curls – so I guess I assumed she was old. The man was wearing a baseball cap, which made me look around to see if other people were wearing hats. Is wearing a hat in a theater a thing? Would it block the view of people behind the person? These people were to the side of us, so it didn’t matter, but as I was looking around (no one else had a hat), these people were still talking. They were actually talking louder.

The first piece ended and the intros and announcing started. They talked. The next piece started. They talked. The younger woman got up and left. I thought maybe the talking would stop, but the old lady really took off then. I thought happy, non-confrontational thoughts, then leaned forward and said, “I’m sorry. It’s very hard to hear the concert because of your conversation. I’m sorry.” I wondered why I kept saying I was sorry. I guess I was sorry that their rude behavior was making me do something I didn’t want to do. I assume the man eye rolled me, because his entire head got into it, as well as his right hand. Obviously, I was indicating I wanted something ridiculous.

I sat back and had anxiety. I thought hard. Was it ever okay to just talk during a concert? Was anyone else talking? Had I been rude? Why do I have to feel bad because they are rude?

They pulled their chairs closer together and whisper talked. I wondered why they had come. I tried to ignore them. They took breaks in talking and that helped.

The concert was TERRIFIC! It was all music by Hans Zimmer and I enjoyed every single piece. It was a string quartet and I thought maybe it would be thin, or something, but it was TERRIFIC.

The younger woman came back and the other two quieted down for a bit. Then in the middle of a song, the two women stood up. They both turned the flashlights on their phones on and looked at the floor. No one picked anything up, and then they left the room. Through the chairs, not down the row. It was hardly noisy (LIES!).

At least now the man was alone, with no one to talk to. HA! He just talked. Twice. Twice he just said a sentence out loud to no one. Then he started playing with his phone. Lots of lights. On. Off. On. Off. On.

DUDE! Why are you here? Why did you come? Why are you still here? Just leave.

Then he accidentally made his phone play music. Seriously. He scrambled to turn it off (surprisingly, I guess). Lights on. Off. On.

The women came back. Through the chairs.

The quartet announced the last song (concert was only 60 minutes long) and said that pictures and video were okay for the last song. The guy held up his phone to make a video BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY HE WANTED TO REMEMBER THE CONCERT. His phone wavered around, up and down, for about half the piece, then he turned it off.

The concert was still TERRIFIC. There were stars on the ceiling and there was great music. And I never have to see those people again.