Music: Re: [u2tour] Re: Another Observation From Pittsburgh

Hi Brandenburg,

I appreciate you bringing this up, it's something often on my mind too, but
I hesitate to ever say anything because it tends to make people
uncomfortable/annoy them because, being of the majority, they don't think to
imagine what it's like to be a minority. I'm South Asian, born and raised
in the diverse Northeast, so my eyes naturally scan for different colors,
and ya I must say I was a bit confused by seeing such predominantly white
crowds in Baltimore and Philly, two areas heavily populated with African
Americans, Hispanics, South Asians, East Asians, etc. Proportionally
something is off, since as you said, so many black and brown people love
U2.

I definitely understand packer's point about diversity not just being about
color. It's exactly what I have to remind myself of after every concert,
lol. Nonetheless, color is a big part of the equation, particularly in
America, and when it's so obviously lacking at one event in an otherwise
colorful world, it can feel awkward for many people, esp. people of color.
Some of the things I'm sure we all love about U2 are their messages of
universality and transcendence, and their awareness of and love for all
different cultures, so I look forward to seeing that reflected in the
unifying experience of a U2 concert...I would hope others, white people
included, would want to see that too.

As far as explanations, the only one I can offer is that concert-going isn't
a big part of my culture, at least not the pogo-in-the-pit rock type
concerts. Parental restrictions growing up and the influence of religion on
views about concert culture are some factors that come into play. I struggle
to get my brown friends to go with me, they are usually satisfied enough
experiencing the music at home (as was I for a long time)...that is of
course until I finally manage to drag some to a U2 show and then they
realize how awesome it is to hear the music live. But actually more and more
I have brown friends going to U2 shows who, due to the comfort factor,
prefer to be in the seats rather than the floor. I would be interested to
hear from black fans why they think there are so few black people at U2
shows - I don't think it's a lack of desire to go to a concert. I would
hate to think it's because of discomfort with the lack of color diversity in
the crowd...

Sarah R.

On Mon, Aug 1, 2011 at 4:33 PM, brandenburg_u2_fan
<atoner79781@mypacks.net>wrote:

> **
>
>
> What's interesting to me is that I don't know one person of color who
> doesn't like U2. The ticket prices were reasonable so that couldn't be the
> deciding factor. I just didn't have any answers for the people who were with
> us when it was pointed out. I made excuses but it bothers me to think I took
> someone somewhere and they were uncomfortable. I was fine (because I tend
> not to give a rat's patootie) but I felt bad for them.
>
> I thought it could be because maybe it was on a Tuesday night or because
> the opening act was a young group. I just don't know. If anyone went to the
> shows that were opened by the Florence and the Machine, Lenny Kravitz or
> whoever opened the rest, I wonder if they saw the same thing. Also, did you
> see the same thing at shows that played on the weekends? Anything that can
> be offered that I can keep in mind when the next round comes would help. I
> have very few friends and when I take them to something that makes them
> uncomfortable, I just don't want to repeat that mistake.
>
>
> --- In u2tour@yahoogroups.com, Carol Keen <keylime426@...> wrote:
> >
> > You are not alone in this socio-musical awareness. My girlfriends and I
> > also usually count on only 2 hands the non-Caucasians (that we can see
> from
> > our vantage point) in the crowd HUGE Hmmmmmm....?!?!?!?!?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: u2tour@yahoogroups.com [mailto:u2tour@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
> Of
> > brandenburg_u2_fan
> > Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 10:08 AM
> > To: u2tour@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [u2tour] Another Observation From Pittsburgh
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I've been trying to think of a tactful way to bring this up but I want to
> > make sure it wasn't an anomoly. I don't want to create a firestorm like
> the
> > GA procedure discussion did.
> >
> > Here's the deal: We attended the concert in Pittsburgh and I distinctly
> > noticed something that I hadn't seen at a U2 concert before. There was a
> > distinct lack of (shall we say) diversity in the crowd at the stadium. Of
> > all the U2 concerts we attended, that's the first time I've seen that. I
> can
> > honestly say that I could count the people of color I saw on ONE HAND out
> of
> > over 65,000 people - discounting the people working there. Was it the
> same
> > in other venues? Not trying to be funny but I saw 10 times more black
> people
> > at a Travis Tritt concert I attended recently. That bothers me because I
> > know the actual fan base is very diverse. I don't know ANYONE black or
> brown
> > who DOESN'T like U2. Tickets weren't that expensive. So I can't think of
> > another reason we saw what we did. Any thoughts?
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
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>
>

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