A question of etiquette

Some time ago I started a blog I named The Etiquette of Shopping, in response to some of the tales of customer behaviour I heard from friends involved in retail. Perhaps it's only coincidental that they are no longer working in that world. I'd done my fair share of over the counter stuff too - shops, libraries, the door at clubs and so on. I didn't continue the blog because I stopped hearing their astonishing tales of dealing with the public, and I was no longer on the front line. However there is something about the etiquette of concert and live music performances that is really bothering me, and in an anthropological sort of way I would love to know what's happening. I'm aware that I could be showing my age here, but I'll take a chance. I first noticed it at the Green Man festival. There are grass terraces overlooking the main stage, and groups of friends would set up camp for an afternoon or evening there.Sometimes the buzz of conversation would detract from the music and performances, but it seemed fair enough in an outdoor relaxed setting, so if you wanted to really listen to the performers you could head down to the front of the stage.But then people started hanging round the front of the stage who were more interested in yelling inane comments to one another - the folly of youth I thought until it happened one too many times during performances I had really looked forward to experiencing. Then I went to see Sufjan Stevens at the Manchester Apollo. Indoor, in seats, intense - and yet there was a constant stream of people (no pun intended) presumably going to the toilets - or maybe the bar - or maybe for a cigarette somewhere. I'd never experienced a sit down concert like it. Now I have been to folk clubs in the old days where you wouldn't so much as dare blow your nose whilst the artists were playing, and heaven forbid if you needed the loo, and I wouldn't want to go back to that. But there's a respect for the artist you have paid to see, and the fellow members of the audience. Maybe it's all about attention deficit disorder, a lack of ability to concentrate.But there's always an interval. Since the Sufjan Stephens concert I have noticed it happening at the Bridgewater Hall - the Waterboys and Crosby and Nash for example - but not at Ravi Shankar's performance, and not at the Royal Northern College of Music. So yesterday I was at Tramlines - a great free festival in Sheffield.It was the lovely Folk Forest weekend event in the sylvan setting of Endcliffe Park in welcome sunshine. All free, so we didn't 'own' our space to sit.We had been surrounded by a loud group of friends ( not ours) who talked all through every performance the day before, and we'd moaned about it among ourselves afterwards, but in typically polite British fashion hadn't wanted to spoil the atmosphere by complaining. This is a family folky event with lots of young people, children, thirty-somethings and people like me and my friends who are verging on the vintage in the best possible way - we are old hands at music events of all types! So having sat down yesterday to enjoy an afternoon of music, we were again surprised by the behaviour of those in front of us. A big group of friends, some connected with one of the bands, they appeared to completely ignore the music all afternoon. No sense of personal space,as people joined the edge of the group,they scrambled over me and my companions, carving out a new space by practically sitting on our knees!They were drinking but they weren't drunk. They were old enough to know better and not so young that it would have been an excuse for a lack of consideration for those around them. Some were quite charming in one to one conversation. I was genuinely intrigued by how they were behaving and how they would have explained it if I could have found the right moment to ask them without sounding confrontational. Mary Hampton Cotillion were on stage late afternoon. Ethereal voices and magical music, with the afternoon sun and shadows of leaves and birds on the stage. A squirrel ran from branch to branch. A real chance to be transported in a Sheffield park, but the volume of conversation - and this was a group directly in front of the stage - was distracting. We listened and enjoyed the music, tuning out the chat, but I really would love to know why they were there if all they wanted to do was ignore the music. There were many lovely places to set up camp where they could have laughed and talked and waved and shouted to their hearts' content, and still heard the music at a distance.And the dog might have been happier too! Do I sound like a grumpy old woman? Probably. I wasn't so put off by them that I took up my plastic sheet and found somewhere else to sit, in a very crowded area. But I would genuinely like to know how it works for them.Is this the new Etiquette of Live Performance? So if any of you are reading this - get in touch and bring me up to date.