Last night I saw The Black Keys at Blossom Music Center. They put on a great show. Opener Gary Clark Jr. was okay but a bit too loud. My main beef was with the crowd. First, if you paid to see a band or artist, how about shutting up when they play? This is the second show I’ve been to recently where a group behind us felt the urge to shout to each other while the band was playing. Both time the folks, who were nice enough stopped when asked, but why do it in the first place?

My second complaint has been a problem for quite a while. It’s fine to stand when a band takes the stage, or during the finale, or even during a performance of a hit song, but standing for the entire concert is rude. Especially at a Blossom show on the lawn. For goodness sake the folks behind you are mostly sitting on blankets and the rest are on very low (and expensive) rented beach chairs. You have effectively blocked everyone’s view that is unfortunate enough to be up to 40 feet behind you.

My last complaint is with the venue itself. My God the prices! Two beers ran almost $40 and the two lawn chairs we rented topped $40.

But the band was great. Two hometown boys who made good. Guitarist and vocalist Dan Auerbach used to work at Blossom when he was young. So it must be very special for him to play there. No fault with the band.