Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T10:57:29.769Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘I'm there to play music not break up fights': gigging entertainers’ experiences of alcohol-related misbehaviour by audiences and its impact on performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2016

Alasdair Forsyth ,
Jemma C. Lennox  and
Martin Cloonan
Alasdair Forsyth
Affiliation:
Institute for Society & Social Justice, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 0BA E-mail: alasdairforsyth62@gmail.com
Jemma C. Lennox
Affiliation:
MRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Herald Building, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB E-mail: jlennox1981@icloud.com
Martin Cloonan
Affiliation:
Department of Music, University of Glasgow, 14 University Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ E-mail: martin.cloonan@glasgow.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Despite the fact that drinking and music often share a space, the relationship between alcohol-related misbehaviour and live music has received little academic attention. Music has been demonstrated to influence drinking behaviour and entertainers have been observed influencing (‘soft-policing’) drunken misbehaviour by audiences. However, to date research has not given voice to those providing this musical entertainment. Are they aware of the effects they have on audiences' drinking behaviour and does this impact on performances? Our qualitative research fills this lacuna by drawing on the experiences of gigging entertainers to explore how they deal with intoxicated audiences. Interviews conducted as part of this research highlighted a lack of preparation on the part of performers for dealing with disorderly crowds and/or the unwanted attentions of drunken individuals; they usually have to learn appropriate responses ‘on the job’. Success as a gigging entertainer was felt to be only partly founded upon artistic merit, with an ability to engage the (often inebriated) public being equally important. Although none had received formal training in alcohol issues as musicians, some utilised people skills (e.g. conflict resolution techniques) acquired via other employment. The authors ask if there is a place for training in alcohol-related issues to be offered by or integrated into music curriculums.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 35 , Issue 2: Music and Alcohol , May 2016 , pp. 245 - 264
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alcohol Focus Scotland. 2001. The ServeWise Handbook: On-License Handbook (Glasgow, AFS)Google Scholar
Aresi, G., and Pedersen, E.R. 2015. ‘“That right level of intoxication”: a grounded theory study on young adults’ drinking in nightlife settings’, Journal of Youth Studies; doi:10.1080/13676261.2015.1059931Google Scholar
Bach, P.J., and Schaefer, J.M. 1979. ‘The tempo of country music and the rate of drinking in bars’, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 40/11, pp. 1058–9Google Scholar
Becker, H. 1951. ‘The professional dance musician and his audience’, American Journal of Sociology, 57/2, pp. 136–44Google Scholar
Behr, A., Brennan, M., and Cloonan, M. 2014. ‘Cultural value and cultural policy: some evidence from the world of live music’, International Journal of Cultural Policy; doi:10.1080/10286632.2014.987668Google Scholar
Bell, D. 2007. ‘The hospitable city: social relations in commercial spaces’, Progress in Human Geography, 31/1, pp. 7–22Google Scholar
Braun, V., and Clarke, V. 2006. ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3/2, pp. 77–101Google Scholar
Briggs, D. 2013. Deviance and Risk on Holiday: An Ethnography of British Tourists in Ibiza (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan)Google Scholar
Bryman, A. 2012. Social Research Methods (Oxford, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Caldwell, C., and Hibbert, S.A. 1999. ‘Play that one again: the effect of music tempo on consumer behaviour in a restaurant’, in European Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 4, ed. Dubois, B., Lowrey, T.M., Shrum, L.J. and Vanhuele, M., (Provo, UT, Association for Consumer Research), pp. 58–62Google Scholar
Cloonan, M. 1996. Banned! Censorship of Popular Music in Britain: 1967–1992 (Farnham, Ashgate)Google Scholar
Cloonan, M. 2007. Popular Music and the State (Farnham, Ashgate)Google Scholar
Cloonan, M. 2012. ‘Selling the experience: the worldviews of British concert promoters’, Creative Industries Journal, 5/1–2, pp. 151–170Google Scholar
Cohen, S. 1991. Rock Culture in Liverpool (Oxford, Clarendon)Google Scholar
Crafts, S., Caviicchi, D., and Keil, C. 1993. My Music (London, Wesleyan University Press)Google Scholar
De Nora, T. 2000. Music in Everyday Life (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drews, D.R., Vaughn, D.B., and Anfiteatro, A. 1992. ‘Beer consumption as a function of music and the presence of others’, Journal of Pennsylvania Academy of Science, 65/3, pp. 134–6Google Scholar
Forsyth, A.J.M. 2006. Assessing the Relationships Between Late Night Drinks Marketing and Alcohol-related Disorder in Public Space (London, Alcohol Education Research Council)Google Scholar
Forsyth, A.J.M. 2009. ‘“Lager, lager shouting”: the role of music and DJs in nightclub disorder’, Addiciones, 21/4, pp. 327–45Google Scholar
Forsyth, A.J.M., and Cloonan, M. 2008. ‘Alco-pop: the use of popular music in Glasgow pubs’, Popular Music and Society, 31/1, pp. 57–78Google Scholar
Forsyth, A.J.M., Cloonan, M., and Barr, J. 2005. Factors Associated with Alcohol-related Problems Within Licensed Premises (Glasgow, Greater Glasgow NHS Board)Google Scholar
Frith, S., Brennan, M., Cloonan, M., and Webster, E. 2013. The History of Live Music in Britain, Vol. 1 (Farnham, Ashgate)Google Scholar
Guéguen, N., Jacob, C., Le Guellec, H., Morineau, T., and Lourel, M. 2008. ‘Sound level of environmental music and drinking behavior: a field experiment with beer drinkers’, Alcoholism Clinical & Experimental Research, 32/10, pp. 1795–8Google Scholar
Hadfield, P. 2006. Bar Wars: Contesting the Night in Contemporary British Cities (Oxford, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Hadfield, P. 2009. ‘Nightlife horizons: some further thoughts and conclusions’, in Nightlife and Crime: Social Order and Governance in International Perspective, ed. Hadfield, P. (Oxford, Oxford University Press), pp. 321–50Google Scholar
Hadfield, P., Collins, J., Doyle, P., and Mackie, K. 2004. ‘The prevention of public disorder’, in Licensed Premises: Law and Practice, ed. Kolvin, P. (London, Tottel), pp. 567–617Google Scholar
Home Office/KPMG LLP. 2008. Review of the Social Responsibility Standards for the Production and Sale of Alcoholic Drinks (Birmingham, KPMG LLP)Google Scholar
Homel, R., and Tomsen, S. 1993. ‘Hot spots for violence: the environment of pubs and clubs’, in Homicide: Patterns, Prevention and Control, ed. Strang, H. and Gerull, S.-A. (Canberra, Australian Institute of Criminology), pp. 53–66Google Scholar
Hunt, G., Maloney, M., and Evans, K. 2010. Youth, Drugs, and Nightlife (New York, Routledge)Google Scholar
Jacob, C. 2006. ‘Styles of background music and consumption in a bar: an empirical evaluation’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 25/4, pp. 716–20CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, B., and Cloonan, M. 2009. Dark Side of the Tune: Popular Music and Violence (Farnham, Ashgate)Google Scholar
Krause, A.E., North, A.C., and Heritage, B. 2014. ‘The uses and gratifications of using Facebook music listening applications’, Computers in Human Behavior, 39, pp. 71–7Google Scholar
Marshall, L. 2006. ‘Bob Dylan: Newport Folk Festival, 25 July 1965’, in Performance and Popular Music, ed. Inglis, I. (Farnham, Ashgate), pp. 16–27Google Scholar
McElrea, H., and Standing, L. 1992. ‘Fast music causes fast drinking’, Perceptual & Motor Skills, 75/2, p. 362Google Scholar
Measham, F., and Hadfield, P. 2009. ‘Everything starts with an ‘E’: exclusion, ethnicity and elite formation in contemporary English clubland’, Addiciones, 21/4, pp. 363–8Google Scholar
North, A.C., Sheridan, L., and Areni, C. 2015. ‘Music congruity effects on product memory, perception and choice’, Journal of Retailing; doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2015.06.001Google Scholar
Page, W. 2009. Adding up the Music Industry for 2008 (London, PRS for Music)Google Scholar
Purcell, J., and Graham, K. 2005. ‘A typology of Toronto nightclubs at the turn of the millennium’, Contemporary Drug Problems, 32/1, pp. 131–67Google Scholar
Authority, Scottish Qualifications. 2014. Personal Licence Holder's Guide Scotland: For Both On- and Off-licence Premises (London, SQA City & Guilds)Google Scholar
Severe Tire Damage. n.d. ‘“Don't piss off the sound man” and other useful tips’. http://www.std.org/russ/tips.htmlGoogle Scholar
Simpson, W. 2015. ‘The piano men’, The Musician, Autumn, pp. 38–9Google Scholar
Stafford, L.D., Fernandes, M., and Agobiani, E. 2012. ‘Effects of noise and distraction on alcohol perception’, Food Quality and Preference, 24/1, pp. 218–24Google Scholar
Turney, E. 2008. ‘On-trade “guilty of irresponsible practices”’, Morning Advertiser, 21 JulyGoogle Scholar