Hello reader!
Finally, its over. I would like to start this blog post by saying that this is the second time I've embarked on the journey of writing my final blog post. The first version was deleted by my phone and lost to the abyss of technical errors forever. Thanks Obama.
I'm currently sitting on an amtrak train traveling to New York from Washington DC, where I just attended freshman day at American University. Seeing the college and all the students there really put things into perspective for me. If I attend, I will be interning in the city during my first semester. The admissions representatives and Deans of schools proudly beamed at their junior research opportunities. It was in this moment that I remembered AP research back home. The types of research the representatives were describing sounded eerily similar to the research my peers and I have been conducing in this capstone course. This was the moment that I realized how amazing the opportunity to participate in this pilot course was.
It's kind of sad: ending this two year journey. But I close this chapter of my life with the knowledge that this experience will help me succeed in my future and my career.
Goodbye for the last time :'),
Sabrina
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Saturday, April 9, 2016
So I finally did it. I finished my presentation. Well not officially, I still have to present one more time on Monday. The final time.
I can’t help but feel that I have come a long long way since the start of my project. I originally was stuck between three completely different projects, one of which included a three month excursion to Thailand. And yes, I am kind of bummed that I am not currently in Thailand riding elephants and being immersed into a new culture. BUT I think I have gotten a lot out of this project.
That being said, my first presentation was still atrocious. It began with a lot of impressive parkour and sweating. You may think I’m joking, but I’m not. I literally did some sick somersaults across the desks in an attempt to calm my nerves. After a bit of this, I began the actual presenting part of my presentation.
From my presentation video, I noticed that I, like most people who are anxious and put on the spot, used a lot of filler words, for example, like, um, or, and and. I also talked too quickly. But rather than focus on the things I did wrong, I would like to discuss a certain quote that I have found to be particularly meaningful and relevant to this whole process.
“There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” This quote from Dale Carnegie basically outlines the three stages of this presentation for me. The first is the one I actually gave. That would be the original presentation, the first one that I did on Thursday April 6th. I definitely had lots of need for improvement. The second one would be the one I am giving on Saturday. This presentation or speech is the one that I practiced. Basically this means that this is the one that I will go into with the practice and the revisions that were given to me by the four separate teachers that were giving me feedback to my presentation. After these revisions, and a copious and ample amount of practice, I will go back to give my final presentation on Monday at four p.m.. I can only hope that it will end up being the presentation I wish I gave.
I can’t help but feel that I have come a long long way since the start of my project. I originally was stuck between three completely different projects, one of which included a three month excursion to Thailand. And yes, I am kind of bummed that I am not currently in Thailand riding elephants and being immersed into a new culture. BUT I think I have gotten a lot out of this project.
That being said, my first presentation was still atrocious. It began with a lot of impressive parkour and sweating. You may think I’m joking, but I’m not. I literally did some sick somersaults across the desks in an attempt to calm my nerves. After a bit of this, I began the actual presenting part of my presentation.
From my presentation video, I noticed that I, like most people who are anxious and put on the spot, used a lot of filler words, for example, like, um, or, and and. I also talked too quickly. But rather than focus on the things I did wrong, I would like to discuss a certain quote that I have found to be particularly meaningful and relevant to this whole process.
“There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” This quote from Dale Carnegie basically outlines the three stages of this presentation for me. The first is the one I actually gave. That would be the original presentation, the first one that I did on Thursday April 6th. I definitely had lots of need for improvement. The second one would be the one I am giving on Saturday. This presentation or speech is the one that I practiced. Basically this means that this is the one that I will go into with the practice and the revisions that were given to me by the four separate teachers that were giving me feedback to my presentation. After these revisions, and a copious and ample amount of practice, I will go back to give my final presentation on Monday at four p.m.. I can only hope that it will end up being the presentation I wish I gave.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Hello readers!
So the final paper is finally finished. Like actually finished. Like I cant go back in and change the font or the spacing or the title anymore.
As someone who prefers to work with paper, turning in an assignment as important as a this one on a website was a little bit stress inducing for me. I had never really dealt with a plagiarism checker and seeing that my paper was plagiarized even 7% was a little bit painful. I worked hard on that paper and I and I feel like, even though it might've been irrational of me, I was a bit offended by the implication that I plagiarized at all.
But with the completion of my paper comes the beginning of my presentation. I am historically bad at speaking in front of groups and giving presentations, so this also makes me nervous. Clearly, this course has required me to step outside of my comfort zone on multiple occasions. The big question I face now is what kind of animations should I use for my transitions between slides? Should i put on a fake accent to make myself appear more exotic and and intelligent? Probably not. I read somewhere that blue is supposed to make people trust you and have a calming effect, so maybe I should make my slides blue. On top of the pressure that already exists with presenting my research to my teachers and peers for a grade, BASIS Scottsdale has been selected to send in video footage to the college board so they can assess our performances. I'm not really sure who these people watching my presentation at the college board are, but hopefully I give them a good show.
The presentation is supposed to be fifteen minutes with an oral defense. I'm hoping that my presentation doesn't go over that. It's funny to think that an entire years worth of work has to be reduced into a fifteen minute power point presentation. The opportunity to conduct research of my own interest at a college level has been one unlike anything else I have ever been able to do. It has helped me develop research skills that I otherwise would not have developed and think in ways that I otherwise would not have thought to think in. For example, in the physical attendance of my concerts, I noticed tendencies and trends that I have never actually considered noteworthy before despite attending numerous concerts.
At the very least, I got the opportunity to attend a bunch of concerts of artists that I otherwise would not have thought to go see, and that was a really nice experience. Talking to the security officers (people that I often overlook and avoid) definitely gave me a whole knew perspective of the concert scene as well. Honestly, seeing At The Gates was one of the most unique concert experiences I've ever had. I had never really seen people that old behaving that aggressively. Either way, I'm glad I went and that all my work has finally translated itself into a final paper.
Until next time,
Sabrina
Word count: 518
So the final paper is finally finished. Like actually finished. Like I cant go back in and change the font or the spacing or the title anymore.
As someone who prefers to work with paper, turning in an assignment as important as a this one on a website was a little bit stress inducing for me. I had never really dealt with a plagiarism checker and seeing that my paper was plagiarized even 7% was a little bit painful. I worked hard on that paper and I and I feel like, even though it might've been irrational of me, I was a bit offended by the implication that I plagiarized at all.
But with the completion of my paper comes the beginning of my presentation. I am historically bad at speaking in front of groups and giving presentations, so this also makes me nervous. Clearly, this course has required me to step outside of my comfort zone on multiple occasions. The big question I face now is what kind of animations should I use for my transitions between slides? Should i put on a fake accent to make myself appear more exotic and and intelligent? Probably not. I read somewhere that blue is supposed to make people trust you and have a calming effect, so maybe I should make my slides blue. On top of the pressure that already exists with presenting my research to my teachers and peers for a grade, BASIS Scottsdale has been selected to send in video footage to the college board so they can assess our performances. I'm not really sure who these people watching my presentation at the college board are, but hopefully I give them a good show.
The presentation is supposed to be fifteen minutes with an oral defense. I'm hoping that my presentation doesn't go over that. It's funny to think that an entire years worth of work has to be reduced into a fifteen minute power point presentation. The opportunity to conduct research of my own interest at a college level has been one unlike anything else I have ever been able to do. It has helped me develop research skills that I otherwise would not have developed and think in ways that I otherwise would not have thought to think in. For example, in the physical attendance of my concerts, I noticed tendencies and trends that I have never actually considered noteworthy before despite attending numerous concerts.
At the very least, I got the opportunity to attend a bunch of concerts of artists that I otherwise would not have thought to go see, and that was a really nice experience. Talking to the security officers (people that I often overlook and avoid) definitely gave me a whole knew perspective of the concert scene as well. Honestly, seeing At The Gates was one of the most unique concert experiences I've ever had. I had never really seen people that old behaving that aggressively. Either way, I'm glad I went and that all my work has finally translated itself into a final paper.
Until next time,
Sabrina
Word count: 518
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Hello readers!
I can not believe that this journey is even relatively close to coming to an end. Despite our classes concluding in February, school never felt like it was truly over, probably because I had to post on this blog every week. This project has been my lifeline, tying me back to the school that has been the center of my world for the past seven years. And with the conclusion of this project, that lifeline will be severed once and for all.
Regardless, the show must go on and I must complete this project. In five days I will be submitting my final paper. My findings isolated the most important aspects of a concert environment, related to the mob mentality and aggression, are the amount of space dedicated to each person and the disconnect in understanding of the roles each person must fulfill between the attendee and the security officers. In this blog post I'll be talking about the latter of these two options.
I first noticed this phenomenon at the first concert I attended for my research. At this concert (The Neighborhood), which was primarily populated by twelve to fourteen year old girls, many individuals in the crowd were pressed together at the front section of the crowd from early on. Based on my observations of their behavior, it was clear that most of these kids had not attended many general admission concerts before. And though I had probably been exposed to these behaviors before, I had never gone to a concert looking for them, and as a result overlooked them. The attendees were shouting for the attention of security endlessly and when the guards would finally make their way over to see why these individuals were calling for them, the individual would stop shouting and simply complain to the security officer about discomfort. The complaining individual did not even have any suggestions or requests to make. He or she simply wanted someone to listen to his complaints. It was very strange.
This behavior is especially problematic because in distracting security officers with problems that they are not required or expected to resolve, they are less able to attend to focus their efforts on actual problems that require their attention. In addition to that, this behavior creates a "boy who cried wolf" effect that will prove detrimental when the security officers show a delayed response time to an actual issue that requires their attention.
If theres one thing I learned about myself from this research, its that sometimes people outgrow certain artists. For example, Fall Out Boy played a show in Phoenix last night. Since fourth grade, I have been a fan of fall out boy. I remember choreographing dances with my friends to Dance Dance (also in 4th grade), I remember crying my little pop punk heart out when I found out they were going on hiatus in 2009 and I remember jumping out of my chair in my ninth grade biology class when I found out they were getting back together. But, after a weak revival album I was pretty turned off to the band and my taste for them began to fade. I have been to every fall out boy concert in Arizona since 2012, but I did not attend last night. Sometimes you're just too old. I did not like being the only 18 year old at The Neighborhood concert. I can only wait and see if I'll be in that position again.
Keep on keeping on readers!
Word count: 585
I can not believe that this journey is even relatively close to coming to an end. Despite our classes concluding in February, school never felt like it was truly over, probably because I had to post on this blog every week. This project has been my lifeline, tying me back to the school that has been the center of my world for the past seven years. And with the conclusion of this project, that lifeline will be severed once and for all.
Regardless, the show must go on and I must complete this project. In five days I will be submitting my final paper. My findings isolated the most important aspects of a concert environment, related to the mob mentality and aggression, are the amount of space dedicated to each person and the disconnect in understanding of the roles each person must fulfill between the attendee and the security officers. In this blog post I'll be talking about the latter of these two options.
I first noticed this phenomenon at the first concert I attended for my research. At this concert (The Neighborhood), which was primarily populated by twelve to fourteen year old girls, many individuals in the crowd were pressed together at the front section of the crowd from early on. Based on my observations of their behavior, it was clear that most of these kids had not attended many general admission concerts before. And though I had probably been exposed to these behaviors before, I had never gone to a concert looking for them, and as a result overlooked them. The attendees were shouting for the attention of security endlessly and when the guards would finally make their way over to see why these individuals were calling for them, the individual would stop shouting and simply complain to the security officer about discomfort. The complaining individual did not even have any suggestions or requests to make. He or she simply wanted someone to listen to his complaints. It was very strange.
This behavior is especially problematic because in distracting security officers with problems that they are not required or expected to resolve, they are less able to attend to focus their efforts on actual problems that require their attention. In addition to that, this behavior creates a "boy who cried wolf" effect that will prove detrimental when the security officers show a delayed response time to an actual issue that requires their attention.
If theres one thing I learned about myself from this research, its that sometimes people outgrow certain artists. For example, Fall Out Boy played a show in Phoenix last night. Since fourth grade, I have been a fan of fall out boy. I remember choreographing dances with my friends to Dance Dance (also in 4th grade), I remember crying my little pop punk heart out when I found out they were going on hiatus in 2009 and I remember jumping out of my chair in my ninth grade biology class when I found out they were getting back together. But, after a weak revival album I was pretty turned off to the band and my taste for them began to fade. I have been to every fall out boy concert in Arizona since 2012, but I did not attend last night. Sometimes you're just too old. I did not like being the only 18 year old at The Neighborhood concert. I can only wait and see if I'll be in that position again.
Keep on keeping on readers!
Word count: 585
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Too Close for Comfort
Hello readers!
Exciting news, my final research paper has been completed and submitted! Basically this means that I know have tangible results for my study. From my experience at the five concerts I attended, I found that the component that had the largest impact on the development of aggression at concerts was the amount of space designated to each individual within the venue.
What this means is that it when the venue is being built, the architect should take into account the capacity to size ratio. For example at the Marquee, the venue is built to accommodate a maximum of 2,500 people. Based on my experiences at the concerts, specifically at the Neighbourhood and Hoodie Allen, it was made apparent to me that the Marquee did not provide enough space for each individual. The crowd at Guster, which had maybe 700 people in attendance proved to me that an increased amount of space would indeed make a difference and minimize risk at concerts.
The lack of space at concerts has even had a literal impact in my life. In April 2015, I attended a small one day music festival hosted by a local radio station, alt az 93.3. The festival featured Panic! at the Disco, Death Cab for Cutie, Glass Animals, and Family of the Year. I attended with a few friends and we got into the crowd halfway through the second band's set. In front of us was a group of three women who had all clearly had several drinks. They were also relatively very large, so they took up a lot of space. It wasn't long before the biggest one tripped and fell on me. I caught us before we hit the ground though and it was alright. She apologized and I said it was okay and we went back to enjoying the concert. Not ten minutes later, the same lady turned around, looked at me, and angrily shouted, "Do you have some kind of problem?!" Everyone around me and I were confused. She continued to yell at me, stating that she could see through my disguise, and that she knew I was trying to push her, and maybe even steal her wallet or touch her inappropriately. I was completely blown away by this lady's shouting and told her that we were all standing in a crowd pressed together and that I had no special interest in her. She then looked me the eye and literally said, "just back off, or else." I literally couldn't believe it. I asked her what she meant by or else and she responded, I kid you not, by taking one step closer, pressing her nose against mine, blowing air out of her nose (much like an angry bull), and in a more breathy tone whispering "or. else." I started laughing. To me the idea that this lady would hurt me intentionally was ridiculous. Through my laughter I asked her if she was implying she was going to harm me. She nodded vigorously. This only made me laugh harder. I told her that would probably result in a lot of negative legal consequences for her. At this point everyone around us had noticed what was going on and one of the lady's friends pulled her out of the crowd. So I did not get fought. But clearly I was too close for comfort.
Keep on keeping on,
Sabrina
Count: 565
Exciting news, my final research paper has been completed and submitted! Basically this means that I know have tangible results for my study. From my experience at the five concerts I attended, I found that the component that had the largest impact on the development of aggression at concerts was the amount of space designated to each individual within the venue.
What this means is that it when the venue is being built, the architect should take into account the capacity to size ratio. For example at the Marquee, the venue is built to accommodate a maximum of 2,500 people. Based on my experiences at the concerts, specifically at the Neighbourhood and Hoodie Allen, it was made apparent to me that the Marquee did not provide enough space for each individual. The crowd at Guster, which had maybe 700 people in attendance proved to me that an increased amount of space would indeed make a difference and minimize risk at concerts.
The lack of space at concerts has even had a literal impact in my life. In April 2015, I attended a small one day music festival hosted by a local radio station, alt az 93.3. The festival featured Panic! at the Disco, Death Cab for Cutie, Glass Animals, and Family of the Year. I attended with a few friends and we got into the crowd halfway through the second band's set. In front of us was a group of three women who had all clearly had several drinks. They were also relatively very large, so they took up a lot of space. It wasn't long before the biggest one tripped and fell on me. I caught us before we hit the ground though and it was alright. She apologized and I said it was okay and we went back to enjoying the concert. Not ten minutes later, the same lady turned around, looked at me, and angrily shouted, "Do you have some kind of problem?!" Everyone around me and I were confused. She continued to yell at me, stating that she could see through my disguise, and that she knew I was trying to push her, and maybe even steal her wallet or touch her inappropriately. I was completely blown away by this lady's shouting and told her that we were all standing in a crowd pressed together and that I had no special interest in her. She then looked me the eye and literally said, "just back off, or else." I literally couldn't believe it. I asked her what she meant by or else and she responded, I kid you not, by taking one step closer, pressing her nose against mine, blowing air out of her nose (much like an angry bull), and in a more breathy tone whispering "or. else." I started laughing. To me the idea that this lady would hurt me intentionally was ridiculous. Through my laughter I asked her if she was implying she was going to harm me. She nodded vigorously. This only made me laugh harder. I told her that would probably result in a lot of negative legal consequences for her. At this point everyone around us had noticed what was going on and one of the lady's friends pulled her out of the crowd. So I did not get fought. But clearly I was too close for comfort.
Keep on keeping on,
Sabrina
Count: 565
Friday, March 4, 2016
Hello readers!
On Tuesday February 17th, I headed over to the Marquee for maybe the most ridiculous concert of the month. A tour headlining Swedish death metal bands, At The Gates and Decapitated made its stop at the Marquee that evening. There was no line outside the venue before the event.
At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg Sound. Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a reunion tour before breaking up once again in 2008. However, they reformed for a second time in December 2010, and have since continued to perform live. The band released At War with Reality, their first album in 19 years, in late 2014.
Decapitated is a Polish death metal band formed in Krosno in 1996. The group comprises guitarist, founder and composer Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka, vocalist Rafał Piotrowski, bassist Paweł Pasek, and drummer Michał Łysejko. Decapitated have gained recognition as one of the genre's most widely respected bands and one of the finest exponents of technical death metal. The band earned an international fan base in the underground music community, and became an innovating act in the modern death metal genre.
Vogg and his younger brother, drummer Witold "Vitek" Kiełtyka, founded Decapitated along with vocalist Wojciech "Sauron" Wąsowicz in their mid-teens, joined by bassist Marcin "Martin" Rygiel a year later. The band's ambitious fourth album, Organic Hallucinosis, was released in 2006 with a new vocalist, Adrian "Covan" Kowanek.
In late 2007, the band was involved in an automobile accident. Vitek died at the age of 23 on November 2, 2007 of the injuries he suffered from the accident and Covan survived, but he slipped into a coma as a result. After a period of disbandment, Vogg reformed Decapitated and in 2011 released the fifth album, Carnival Is Forever. The latest album, Blood Mantra, was released in 2014.
Only 400 tickets had been sold to this show by the time doors opened at 6:00 p.m.. The majority of the audience at this point was composed of people in their early 20’s wearing dark eye makeup and dark clothes. Despite this, there was also a decent number of older men that looked in their 40s, likely a result of the band’s popularity in the early 1990s.
The venue had hung up curtains halfway across the general admission floor, which was something I had never seen them do before. I inquired about the change to a security guard who was standing by. After congratulating me for asking such a thoughtful question (I could tell he liked the attention), the officer told me that the venue often brings out the curtain when less than 500 tickets are sold to a show. This is in order to herd the majority of attendees into one area so that they are easier to handle for security officers, as less security will work an event with less attendees.
No one was surprised (except maybe my exclusively Bruce Springsteen/David Bowie loving friend who I dragged along to the concert) when a mosh pit formed two songs into the first band’s set. It was a gaping hole in the crowd with no more than fifteen people participating, but nonetheless it was a mosh pit. It only got more intense as the night went on. All night, officers stood on multiple ends of the circle, waiting for a need to intervene. There were some minor injuries, but overall I felt like the security was doing a phenomenal job of keeping guests safe.
My concerting is quickly coming to an end, and I feel this concert was an instrumental experience in the diversity of my research.
Until Next Time,
Sabrina
Word Count: 623
On Tuesday February 17th, I headed over to the Marquee for maybe the most ridiculous concert of the month. A tour headlining Swedish death metal bands, At The Gates and Decapitated made its stop at the Marquee that evening. There was no line outside the venue before the event.
At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg Sound. Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a reunion tour before breaking up once again in 2008. However, they reformed for a second time in December 2010, and have since continued to perform live. The band released At War with Reality, their first album in 19 years, in late 2014.
Decapitated is a Polish death metal band formed in Krosno in 1996. The group comprises guitarist, founder and composer Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka, vocalist Rafał Piotrowski, bassist Paweł Pasek, and drummer Michał Łysejko. Decapitated have gained recognition as one of the genre's most widely respected bands and one of the finest exponents of technical death metal. The band earned an international fan base in the underground music community, and became an innovating act in the modern death metal genre.
Vogg and his younger brother, drummer Witold "Vitek" Kiełtyka, founded Decapitated along with vocalist Wojciech "Sauron" Wąsowicz in their mid-teens, joined by bassist Marcin "Martin" Rygiel a year later. The band's ambitious fourth album, Organic Hallucinosis, was released in 2006 with a new vocalist, Adrian "Covan" Kowanek.
In late 2007, the band was involved in an automobile accident. Vitek died at the age of 23 on November 2, 2007 of the injuries he suffered from the accident and Covan survived, but he slipped into a coma as a result. After a period of disbandment, Vogg reformed Decapitated and in 2011 released the fifth album, Carnival Is Forever. The latest album, Blood Mantra, was released in 2014.
Only 400 tickets had been sold to this show by the time doors opened at 6:00 p.m.. The majority of the audience at this point was composed of people in their early 20’s wearing dark eye makeup and dark clothes. Despite this, there was also a decent number of older men that looked in their 40s, likely a result of the band’s popularity in the early 1990s.
The venue had hung up curtains halfway across the general admission floor, which was something I had never seen them do before. I inquired about the change to a security guard who was standing by. After congratulating me for asking such a thoughtful question (I could tell he liked the attention), the officer told me that the venue often brings out the curtain when less than 500 tickets are sold to a show. This is in order to herd the majority of attendees into one area so that they are easier to handle for security officers, as less security will work an event with less attendees.
No one was surprised (except maybe my exclusively Bruce Springsteen/David Bowie loving friend who I dragged along to the concert) when a mosh pit formed two songs into the first band’s set. It was a gaping hole in the crowd with no more than fifteen people participating, but nonetheless it was a mosh pit. It only got more intense as the night went on. All night, officers stood on multiple ends of the circle, waiting for a need to intervene. There were some minor injuries, but overall I felt like the security was doing a phenomenal job of keeping guests safe.
My concerting is quickly coming to an end, and I feel this concert was an instrumental experience in the diversity of my research.
Until Next Time,
Sabrina
Word Count: 623
Monday, February 29, 2016
The Happy Camper Tour
Good Day Everyone!
I'd like to start this by saying that at every concert I have attended over the past few weeks for my research I have had the pleasure of experiencing new things that I had never seen happen at the Marquee before. And out of every concert, Hoodie Allen certainly takes the cake (pun intended) for the most unusual performance.
So on Valentine's Day, I open-mindedly headed over to the Marquee Theater for The Happy Camper Tour. I'm not going to lie, I am not a big Hoodie Allen fan, and I was kind of bummed out that some artist I had never listened to was going to be my fiftieth concert. The line outside the venue extended past the parking lot and began forming several hours before doors were opened at 6:00 p.m..
Hoodie Allen is an (All) American Jewish, independent rap artist who self-released his first album All American in 2012. That album featured his hit song No Interruption. You only continue to gain success with the release of his Next full length album people keep talking in 2014. At the beginning of this year, 2016, he released his most recent album Happy Camper.
The night finally began with a performance by another rap artist, that goes by the name Blackbear. I personally had never heard of him before but apparently he is fairly popular with the BASIS crowd. He performed well, but seeing as he was the first opener he had a pretty standard performance. He was followed by an artist named Super Duper Kyle. His performance was very unique. The stage was dressed with 8-bit props that were based on video games like Super Mario and Pokemon. The performance started with a light saber battle, featured many many choreographed dance moves, and at some point included a massive pikachu costume. The crowd seemed well engaged and receptive to the SuperDuperKyle’s performance.
After the two opening acts came the headlining performance. Hoodie Allen sang an eighteen song set. The set began fairly unoriginally, with him performing his songs, but a couple songs in, it started getting weird. He ran off the stage and across the floor to the lights and sound station, where we stood on the railing and energetically threw two large Costco sized cakes. I guess it had some relevance to the song, but I was too shocked that the general manager of the Marquee Theater had allowed the musician to throw cakes around the venue.
For the first half of the night there was a tall guy standing behind my friends and I. He looked like he was probably a student at ASU. Either way, he was wearing a very distinctive green tunic and smelled pungently of marijuana. At some point he disappeared and the next thing I knew, he was on the stage dancing in a style I could only describe as interpretive next Hoodie Allen himself. The dancer was up there for a good ten seconds before anyone did anything about him; and when he was finally addressed, he was removed by Hoodie Allen’s onstage DJ. Hoodie Allen himself remarked on the event, chanting that security shouldn’t get paid that night.
Obviously there was a substantial breach in security. What happened exactly I can't be sure of, and security members of the venue made no comment. This is definitely something I will be considering in my research as I move forward.
Word Count: 573
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Guster & CO
Hello all!
So this post is about a concert unlike any concert I have ever been to before. On Tuesday, February 9th, my friends Emily and Viktoriya (they also have blogs, check them out) and I headed out to the Marquee to see a band that the two of them had heard of before but I myself had not had the pleasure of being familiar with.
Guster is an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, originally formed in 1991 when the members were students at Tufts University. So clearly, they have been around for a long time and subsequently draw an older fan base. The band stayed underground until the release of their third studio album, Lost and Gone Forever, in 1999 which ranked on the Adult Top 40.
Doors opened at 6:30 p.m., and at that time only eleven people had been lined up for the show. In fact, we arrived at the venue 10 minutes before doors opened, but upon seeing the lack of people in the line, we decided to make a quick In-n-Out pit stop. When we actually got to the venue, it was about ten minutes after the doors were opened, and there was barely a first row against the barricade.
That was my first indication that this show was gonna be unique. Only 700 tickets were sold to this show, and most of the people in there were older (like in their 30s and 40s). The Marquee has a capacity of about 2,500, and seeing the venue more than half empty was a very rare occurrence for me.
When the people did in fact start arriving on the general admission floor it was probably 30 minutes to 8 (the opener went on at 8). What blew my mind was the amount of space I had despite standing second row in the center of the stage. Most of the people around me stood stationary during the openers' set, and everyone was at least two steps away from the people around them. The concert itself was mellow and relaxed as were the attendees. Between the opening band and Guster's actual performance there was a thirty minute intermission.
It is typical to have thirty to forty-minute intervals between when one band will end and the other will begin to play. The stage techies will often use this time to dress the stage for the next band and check the sound mixing for the performance (I'm not an expert on this aspect of the experience so forgive my lack of extensive terminology).
When the headlining band finally came on, everyone was hyped. They played an hour and a half long set of all their classic hits. I really enjoyed Guster live but being at that concert really led me to a realization about the venue. The reason that the concert went so well was because everyone had an ample amount of space. Maybe building venues with a bigger expectation than their set capacity would allow for a safer and more comfortable concert experience. It's definitely something I will bring up in my conversation with the venue's general manager.
Until next time,
Sabrina
Word count:524
So this post is about a concert unlike any concert I have ever been to before. On Tuesday, February 9th, my friends Emily and Viktoriya (they also have blogs, check them out) and I headed out to the Marquee to see a band that the two of them had heard of before but I myself had not had the pleasure of being familiar with.
Guster is an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, originally formed in 1991 when the members were students at Tufts University. So clearly, they have been around for a long time and subsequently draw an older fan base. The band stayed underground until the release of their third studio album, Lost and Gone Forever, in 1999 which ranked on the Adult Top 40.
Doors opened at 6:30 p.m., and at that time only eleven people had been lined up for the show. In fact, we arrived at the venue 10 minutes before doors opened, but upon seeing the lack of people in the line, we decided to make a quick In-n-Out pit stop. When we actually got to the venue, it was about ten minutes after the doors were opened, and there was barely a first row against the barricade.
That was my first indication that this show was gonna be unique. Only 700 tickets were sold to this show, and most of the people in there were older (like in their 30s and 40s). The Marquee has a capacity of about 2,500, and seeing the venue more than half empty was a very rare occurrence for me.
When the people did in fact start arriving on the general admission floor it was probably 30 minutes to 8 (the opener went on at 8). What blew my mind was the amount of space I had despite standing second row in the center of the stage. Most of the people around me stood stationary during the openers' set, and everyone was at least two steps away from the people around them. The concert itself was mellow and relaxed as were the attendees. Between the opening band and Guster's actual performance there was a thirty minute intermission.
It is typical to have thirty to forty-minute intervals between when one band will end and the other will begin to play. The stage techies will often use this time to dress the stage for the next band and check the sound mixing for the performance (I'm not an expert on this aspect of the experience so forgive my lack of extensive terminology).
When the headlining band finally came on, everyone was hyped. They played an hour and a half long set of all their classic hits. I really enjoyed Guster live but being at that concert really led me to a realization about the venue. The reason that the concert went so well was because everyone had an ample amount of space. Maybe building venues with a bigger expectation than their set capacity would allow for a safer and more comfortable concert experience. It's definitely something I will bring up in my conversation with the venue's general manager.
Until next time,
Sabrina
Word count:524
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
The Drought Tour
Oh hello there!
So, a lot has happened since I have stopped attending school! I got a day job, dyed my hair black (it was basically black already), and attended two concerts at the Marquee!
The first of these two was the Arizona show of the five-stop, Drought Tour, headlining The Neighbourhood. Doors opened at 6:30 to let the seemingly infinitely growing line of edgy-looking youths into the venue. I arrived an hour before doors opened and still found myself waiting at the back of the line. Security populated the parking lot and the front entrance. The venue, that has a capacity of 2,500, held between 1,200 and 1,400 people on the night of The Neighbourhood concert. Though this is far from a sold out show, the Marquee plays lots local bands and often sees events with much smalls attendee numbers (look for my upcoming post about my second research concert at Marquee, Guster). When the doors of the venue finally opened, males and females were divided into two lines to be patted down. Per usual, the female line was substantially longer than the male line, and as a result not only were groups split us, but also, females who had been waiting substantially longer than males were pushed behind them in their entry into the venue. Post-concert I observed the mass number of selfie sticks, sharpies, and unopened gum that had been confiscated during pat down. Now, I feel it’s important to mention why entering the venue sooner rather than later is so desirable; the people that attend concerts for the particular musician or the actual concert experience prefer to be as close to stage as possible. The closer to the stage, the easier it is for the individual to become involved in the show. It is in fact this region of the crowd that is relevant to the research. There were only six crowd surfers over the course of the night and all were removed by security once they reached the barricade. After a rush to the stage and an hour and a half of being casually pressed against strangers, the first opening
The show began at 8:00 p.m. and started with a band called Casinos. From a musical standpoint, the were absolutely atrocious. Most of the attendees were confused by the performance and didn't show notable enthusiasm. The second opener was better received but drew an equally unimpressive amount of enthusiasm. It was only when The Neighbourhood came on at 9:30 that the crowd began to fall into a frenzy. As soon as the band took the stage, the middle of the crowd rushed forward, smashing those against the barricade. The biggest issue that I observed with operation of the venue was the disconnect of the understanding between the security guards and the attendees; the individuals in the front of the crowd misunderstood the role of the security officers to be more than it actually was. Security is expected to maintain the safety of the attendees and remove/ handle any disruptions or individuals in need of medical assistance from the crowd. People around me, generally the younger fans, were requesting security to bring them water, and I even observed at one point a group of younger girls calling an officer over simply to voice complaints about their discomfort as a part of crowd. And once I observed this, I began to notice it happening all around me. Attendees would feign serious need of security attention and hail the officer over without legitimate purpose. Now I'm not saying that these fifteen year-olds had the intent of distracting security from their job, but rather they didn't have a realistic understanding of their role. This behavior and lack of prior knowledge of venue protocol is interesting and will likely be a factor I consider in my analysis of the causes of aggression in the crowd.
This was only the first of many concerts (the next one is Guster) I will be attending and I look forward to reporting my experiences to come.
Until next time,
Sabrina
So, a lot has happened since I have stopped attending school! I got a day job, dyed my hair black (it was basically black already), and attended two concerts at the Marquee!
The first of these two was the Arizona show of the five-stop, Drought Tour, headlining The Neighbourhood. Doors opened at 6:30 to let the seemingly infinitely growing line of edgy-looking youths into the venue. I arrived an hour before doors opened and still found myself waiting at the back of the line. Security populated the parking lot and the front entrance. The venue, that has a capacity of 2,500, held between 1,200 and 1,400 people on the night of The Neighbourhood concert. Though this is far from a sold out show, the Marquee plays lots local bands and often sees events with much smalls attendee numbers (look for my upcoming post about my second research concert at Marquee, Guster). When the doors of the venue finally opened, males and females were divided into two lines to be patted down. Per usual, the female line was substantially longer than the male line, and as a result not only were groups split us, but also, females who had been waiting substantially longer than males were pushed behind them in their entry into the venue. Post-concert I observed the mass number of selfie sticks, sharpies, and unopened gum that had been confiscated during pat down. Now, I feel it’s important to mention why entering the venue sooner rather than later is so desirable; the people that attend concerts for the particular musician or the actual concert experience prefer to be as close to stage as possible. The closer to the stage, the easier it is for the individual to become involved in the show. It is in fact this region of the crowd that is relevant to the research. There were only six crowd surfers over the course of the night and all were removed by security once they reached the barricade. After a rush to the stage and an hour and a half of being casually pressed against strangers, the first opening
The show began at 8:00 p.m. and started with a band called Casinos. From a musical standpoint, the were absolutely atrocious. Most of the attendees were confused by the performance and didn't show notable enthusiasm. The second opener was better received but drew an equally unimpressive amount of enthusiasm. It was only when The Neighbourhood came on at 9:30 that the crowd began to fall into a frenzy. As soon as the band took the stage, the middle of the crowd rushed forward, smashing those against the barricade. The biggest issue that I observed with operation of the venue was the disconnect of the understanding between the security guards and the attendees; the individuals in the front of the crowd misunderstood the role of the security officers to be more than it actually was. Security is expected to maintain the safety of the attendees and remove/ handle any disruptions or individuals in need of medical assistance from the crowd. People around me, generally the younger fans, were requesting security to bring them water, and I even observed at one point a group of younger girls calling an officer over simply to voice complaints about their discomfort as a part of crowd. And once I observed this, I began to notice it happening all around me. Attendees would feign serious need of security attention and hail the officer over without legitimate purpose. Now I'm not saying that these fifteen year-olds had the intent of distracting security from their job, but rather they didn't have a realistic understanding of their role. This behavior and lack of prior knowledge of venue protocol is interesting and will likely be a factor I consider in my analysis of the causes of aggression in the crowd.
This was only the first of many concerts (the next one is Guster) I will be attending and I look forward to reporting my experiences to come.
Until next time,
Sabrina
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
A List Of Concerts I Have Attended
Hello readers!
The following is a list of every concert I have attended in my approximately eighteen years of life:
The following is a list of every concert I have attended in my approximately eighteen years of life:
- Celine Dion (pre-high school)
- Gypsy Kings (pre-high school)
- Selena Gomez (pre-high school)
- Ke$ha, LMFAO (pre-high school)
- Taylor Swift (pre-high school)
- Nicki Minaj, 2-Chainz (pre-high school)
- The Second Law Tour (3/16/2013) - Muse, Dead Sara
- Free Hometown Concert (6/04/2013) - The Maine, A Rocket to the Moon, This Century
- Epicenter Music Festival (9/21/2013) - Plague Vendor, The Wonder Years, Falling in Reverse, All Time Low, Pierce the Veil, Pennywise, A Day To Remember, The Offspring
- Modern Vampires Tour (9/27/2013) - Vampire Weekend, Sky Ferreira
- Glamour Kills Tour (11/17/2013) - Mayday Parade, Man Overboard, Stages and Stereos, Cartel
- Private Concert (2/01/2014) - This Century
- Burnout, Final Tour (2/07/2014) - Anarbor, Artist vs Poet
- Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die Tour (2/14/2014) - Panic! at the Disco, The Colourists
- Bangerz Tour (2/28/2014) - Miley Cyrus, Icona Pop, Sky Ferreira
- Weird Kids Tour (3/16/2014) - Set It Off , William Beckett, We Are The In Crowd, Candy Hearts, State Champs
- A Love Like War Tour (4/11/2014) - All Time Low, Man Overboard
- White Teeth Teens Tour (4/17/2014) - Lorde, Lo Fang
- Native Tour (6/01/2014) - One Republic, The Script, American Authors
- Warped Tour (6/18/2014) - Mayday Parade, One OK Rock, Bayside, We Are The In Crowd, The Maine, We The Kings, Bowling For Soup, Breathe Carolina, Echosmith, Anberlin, Get Scared
- Lollapalooza DAY 1 (8/01/2014) - Into It. Over It., Kodaline, Iggy Azalea, Portugal. The Man, CHVRCHES, Broken Bells, Lorde, Arctic Monkeys
- Lollapalooza DAY 2 (8/02/2014) - The Temper Trap, Manchester Orchestra, Fitz & The Tantrums, Foster The People, Outkast
- Lollapalooza DAY 3 (8/03/2014) - Bleachers, NONONO, Kongos, The 1975, Young the Giant, Cage The Elephant, Childish Gambino, Kings Of Leon
- The Monumentour (8/08/2014) - Fall Out Boy, Paramore, New Politics
- Come Alive Tour (8/10/2014) - Set It Off, Our Last Night, Heartist, Stages and Stereos
- Glamour Kills Tour (10/05/2014) - New Found Glory, We Are The In Crowd, Fireworks, Candy Hearts
- The AM North American Tour 2015 (10/25/2014) - Arctic Monkeys, Mini Mansions
- World Tour (11/08/2014) - Piece the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, Beartooth, This Wild Life
- North American Tour (11/22/2014) - The 1975
- ALT AZ Sweater Party (12/15/2014) - Cage The Elephant, Young the Giant, Andrew McMahon in The Wilderness
- Pot of Gold Music Festival (3/16/2015) - Fall Out Boy, Milky Chance, Rebelution, Echosmith, New Politics, Knox Hamilton, Big Data
- The Honeymoon Tour (4/06/2015) - Ariana Grande, Rixton, Cashmere Cat
- ALT AZ Music Festival (4/10/2015) - Death Cab for Cutie, Panic! At The Disco, Glass Animals, Family of the Year
- Brand New Tour (4/16/2015) - Circa Survive, Brand New
- Chipotle Cultivate Music Festival (4/18/2015) - Bleachers, MS MR, Twenty One Pilots
- Hozier Tour (4/19/2015) - Hozier, Low Roar
- Future Hearts Tour (5/01/2015) - All Time Low, Tonight Alive, Issues, State Champs
- North American Tour 2015 (8/15/2015) - George Ezra, Dylan LeBlanc
- Summer Ends Music Festival DAY 1 (9/24/2015) - Hozier, Brandon Flowers, Cold War Kids
- Summer Ends Music Festival DAY 3 (9/26/2015) - J Cole, Rebelution, Big Sean, Slightly Stoopid, G-Eazy
- North American Tour (9/27/2015) - Glass Animals, LA Priest
- Blurryface Tour (10/13/2015) - Twenty One Pilots, Echosmith, Finish Ticket
- 2015 North American Tour (10/14/2015) - Alt-J, Sam Fermin
- Neon Nature Tour (10/16/2015) - Marina and The Diamonds, Shamir
- Back To The Future Hearts Tour (10/20/2015) - All Time Low, Sleeping With Sirens, One OK Rock, Neck Deep
- School D'AZ (10/24/2015) - Best Coast, The Maine, Atlas Genius, New Politics, MSMR, Saint Motel
- ALT AZ Sweater Party (12/13/2015) - Bastille, CHVRCHES, Wolf Alice
- The Drought Tour (2/03/2016) - The Neighbourhood, Hunny, Casinos
- 2016 Winter Tour (2/09/2016) - Guster, Vetiver
- Happy Camper Tour (2/14/2016) - Hoodie Allen, SuperDuperKyle, Black Bear
- At The Gates
- fetty wap
- the mowglis
- cage the elephant portugal the man
- wye oak
- twenty one pilots
- lolla day 1
- lolla day 2
- Two Door Cinema Club after show
- lolla day 3
- lolla day 4
- weezer, panic
- flume
- sia
- Two door cinema club
I'm going to be honest, I initially made this list as a means of showing off my concert history to my friends. I guess it was a happy coincidence that I also discovered that the Hoodie Allen concert I will be attending this Valentine's Day will be my 50th concert. In my humble opinion, 50 is a milestone, and with this new found information I can enjoy my 50th concert accordingly.
Until Friday,
Sabrina
Sunday, January 31, 2016
My First Entry!
Hello reader!
Let us start this hopefully fruitful and consistent relationship with a basic introduction. My name is Sabrina Kharrazi and I am a senior at BASIS Scottsdale. I have called this worn down, makeshift school my home for almost seven years now. And for the first six years of that I expected, like everyone else, that in my senior year I would be completing a Senior Research Project. Since its establishment, the SRP program at BASIS has helped students conduct and even publish research that is meaningful not only to themselves but also the research's relevant academic community. So you can imagine my skepticism when I heard about the possibility of deviating from the long established SRPs and participating in the AP Capstone pilot program instead. Despite this uncertainty, my tenth-grade self enrolled in AP Seminar with an open mind. It was a lot of work, but I appreciated the opportunity to gain experience with college-level research assignments. Long story short, two years later, here I am, writing my first entry on a blog about my AP Research project.
Because of my long-standing love for concerts and basically just any live music in general, I have decided to investigate which factors of the general admission, standing only concert environment play the largest role in fostering the aggressive and subsequently violent attitudes that exists with the mob mentality. I will be attending several concerts at the Marquee Theater over the course of the following month (February) and collecting first hand data through an observational study. In fact, my first research concert will take place on Wednesday, February 3rd, and features The Neighbourhood. I will record my observations about security presence, general enforcement of preexisting venue regulations, and over-crowding in the venue. You can find a more through discussion of my research process in my proposal, which I will link to in the sidebar.
Hopefully this blog will continue to give you an ongoing look into the progression of my study. I look forward to sharing my experiences and findings with you all as I attend a handful of Arizona's many wild concerts!
Until next week,
Sabrina :)
Let us start this hopefully fruitful and consistent relationship with a basic introduction. My name is Sabrina Kharrazi and I am a senior at BASIS Scottsdale. I have called this worn down, makeshift school my home for almost seven years now. And for the first six years of that I expected, like everyone else, that in my senior year I would be completing a Senior Research Project. Since its establishment, the SRP program at BASIS has helped students conduct and even publish research that is meaningful not only to themselves but also the research's relevant academic community. So you can imagine my skepticism when I heard about the possibility of deviating from the long established SRPs and participating in the AP Capstone pilot program instead. Despite this uncertainty, my tenth-grade self enrolled in AP Seminar with an open mind. It was a lot of work, but I appreciated the opportunity to gain experience with college-level research assignments. Long story short, two years later, here I am, writing my first entry on a blog about my AP Research project.
Because of my long-standing love for concerts and basically just any live music in general, I have decided to investigate which factors of the general admission, standing only concert environment play the largest role in fostering the aggressive and subsequently violent attitudes that exists with the mob mentality. I will be attending several concerts at the Marquee Theater over the course of the following month (February) and collecting first hand data through an observational study. In fact, my first research concert will take place on Wednesday, February 3rd, and features The Neighbourhood. I will record my observations about security presence, general enforcement of preexisting venue regulations, and over-crowding in the venue. You can find a more through discussion of my research process in my proposal, which I will link to in the sidebar.
Hopefully this blog will continue to give you an ongoing look into the progression of my study. I look forward to sharing my experiences and findings with you all as I attend a handful of Arizona's many wild concerts!
Until next week,
Sabrina :)
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