Ethnography Results, Week 3

This week, we went to O'Bannon's on Friday night, where Blaggards was playing the whole time. We arrived around 10:00 to find the place packed with people. Apparently, there was an annual event occurring that night, so many people had shown up for the occasion. Most people were clustered around the band, and others were trying to make their way closer to the stage. The crowd was mostly older, especially those sitting at the tables. Up by the band, the crowd seemed to be much younger. In lounge areas near the back, groups of people relaxed. In particular, I found it interesting that along the back wall near the stage, younger, single men leaned against the wall, looking around awkwardly and not talking to anyone. Many people were singing along to the lyrics of songs, and cheering when the band said the name of the song to be played next, so I believe it is fair to assume that a majority of people in attendance had previously heard of the band and had shown up specifically to see them.

As the night progressed, the many of the older people in the crowd left, and it became mostly college-aged guys wearing brightly colored polo t-shirts or collared button-up shirts. In addition, there was a large group of corp guys at the back. Although we didn't fit in very well, we migrated towards the front of the stage to try to integrate with the crowd. It turns out that we knew some members of a large group at the front, and were able to dance and enjoy the music with them. Joe even became part of a three-person mosh pit for a while. The integration was something that we were not able to do last time, and could be attributed in part to the fact that we brought some other people with us in order to have a larger group dynamic.

The music was too loud for conversation in most of the bar, so many people remained facing the band, dancing, and ordering drinks using a combination of lip reading and gesturing. During the band's breaks, conversations started up, and Joe was able to talk to some of the band members, learning that while not from this area, the band does frequently play in College Station. From other conversations, I was able to gather that the majority of people did not personally know members of the band, unlike those that we saw last week. This week was very different from last week's experience, so I would like to see if other places/bands are even more different than the two that we've already seen.