Halifax Dr. John Fan Angry

This article was last updated on May 25, 2022

Canada: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…Taiya Barss walked out of Dr. John concert at TD Halifax Jazz Festival when Festival security failed to control crowd

Dr. John, could not be seen by fans (photo Chronicle Herald)

By Taiya Barss, Halifax, NS – The Halifax Jazz Festival is an event that I look forward to all year.

But after Friday night’s experience, I will never again buy a ticket for one of your performances.

My husband and I paid sixty dollars for tickets to Dr John and The Night Trippers, and stood in line, in the heat for an hour and a half to get decent seats with a good view of the performers. 

We enjoyed Erin Costello’s music, but as soon as she finished a throng of people moved in, standing between our chairs and the stage, a solid wall blocking everything.

When Dr. John came on, I couldn’t see the tops of the musicians heads.

We left early, frustrated and angry, as did a number of people on either side of us – people who had driven from Bridgewater, Pictou and Cape Breton to not only hear but to see Dr. John.

You should not allow this to happen. You can announce that music will not start until people clear the view of the stage.

You have security personnel: use them.

Editor – we talked to a director of Jazz East on Sunday about this letter and her reply was “We welcome all comment; however, we want people to enjoy themselves and dance. We don’t intend to restrict the crowd.”

When we pointed out that the crowd was not dancing but creating a mosh pit or crowd rush, she had no other comments.

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3 Comments

  1. My husband and I also walked out on the Dr. John concert for the same reason as Taiya. At the ferry terminal, we bumped into two friends who also left for the same reason. And I’ve since spoken to two other friends who also left, so that’s six people I know personally who all left. I know that sounds like a small number, but I’m beginning to wonder how much larger it is…and how many of those people, like me, will never buy tickets to a JazzFest tent show again.

  2. It’s simply unfair to expect everyone at a festival to sit quietly and enjoy music like old people do. Seriously. If I pacomment_ID 60$ a ticket to see Dr John rock out, I will undoubtedly be out front, rocking out. If you want to sit down and listen that’s fine. But don’t expect people who pacomment_ID the same amount of money as you to enjoy music THE WAY YOU ENJOY MUSIC. How self centered is that? “Our way is the correct way to listen music.” That’s what I am hearing from these complainers. Seriously, a buncha people left? Who cares, you pacomment_ID for your ticket, and you knew who you were seeing. It is the listeners fault for not investigating the type of crowd an act draws.

    As someone who plays live music as a hobby, I would feel completely uninspired to see a bunch of old people sitting around. Ive been to enough Jazz Fest shows, and sometimes I feel like checking the crowds pulse for signs of life. There’s no better feeling then when your music gets people out of their seats. Sometimes you get beer spilt on you, and sometimes you run into jerks, that is life. I am sure most people are used to that. Sometimes you don’t always get what you want etc etc… Lighten up Halifax, you have a bad enough reputation about live music as it is, please stop making us look worse.

  3. I dcomment_IDn’t attend, but I know two people who dcomment_ID. They both left, not only because of the people blocking the view, but also because the sound was not good.

    [i]Ever go to a festival before[/i], keep your audience in mind. This is probably not a predominantly young crowd seeing Dr. John, right? What about a person who is in a wheelchair? I don’t agree that people shouldn’t have “fun”, but maybe they could have had a spot for that which dcomment_IDn’t block everybody’s view?

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