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Have You Ever Walked Out Of A Movie Or A Concert Or Something Similar?

March 15, 2019 By Jeff 29 Comments

Before it was finished, I mean. Of course, you’ve walked out of a movie. I mean… you’re not still there, right? But have you ever been so bored or disgusted by the proceedings you just said fukkit and extracted yourself?

I can’t really remember leaving a movie before it was over. There were certainly a few I should’ve thrown the towel in on. When I lived in Atlanta I saw quite a few art films, and some of them were interesting, a few were great, and a handful were just pure garbage. To me anyway. I always feel like it’s probably genius, and I’m too bumpkin and unsophisticated to understand it.

But I can remember one in particular that featured a long scene of a plump woman dressed as a little girl, up a tree and dropping flower petals to the ground. For no known reason… and for a very long time. I was just sitting there blinking in confusion and aggravation. It was in the same building the Sex Pistols played their first U.S. show, and I wondered what Johnny Rotten would think of this pretentious dogshit. So, at least I had that to cling to: channeling Johnny’s obliteration of the spectacle. We didn’t walk out, though. We endured it to the end.

Twice I can remember going to a concert to see the opening act, and taking off before the headliner took the stage. The first was Joe Walsh opening for Stevie Nicks in Charleston. I watched Joe rock the house for 45 minutes or whatever, and hit the highway before Stevie’s sheep bleating could commence. She’s very mysterious, you know. She spins round and round with scarves.

And in Atlanta I watched Squeeze open for Sting, and hit the exit before Mr. Precious could enter the picture. I’m sure he did an impassioned version of “Message In A Bottle” accompanied by a lone zither, or somesuch. But I wasn’t there to witness it. I’d extracted myself.

But those two were by design. I’d planned to leave after the opener in both instances. However, I remember leaving a ZZ Top show in Charleston, ’cause the girl I was with hated it. This was before they’d become MTV cartoon characters, and it was a lot of extended guitar jams, etc. She wasn’t digging it, and we left. Oh well. Also, I kinda-sorta remember leaving a Moody Blues concert because it was just so bloody dull. Now they’re in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Go figure.

And that’s all I have. I can’t come up with anything else.

Steve and his wife went to see Brokeback Mountain years ago, down in Central PA, and he said some guy stood up about 30 minutes in and shouted, “What the fuck?! I’m not watching this shit!!” and stormed out. Ha! Wonder what he thought he was going to see?

If you have anything on this, please tell us about it. Use the comments section so thoughtfully provided by our WordPress overlords. And I’m going to call it a day here, my friends. Yesterday felt like Friday to me, and now I get to relive it: a bonus Friday for Jeff. Good stuff.

I served up a freshly baked podcast episode during yesterday’s Friday for patrons. Check it out here. And this is the summary:

In this one I talk about the beautiful day we’re experiencing and what that does to me, my regular encounters with the assumed employee of the month at a local beer store, some kind of strange otherworldly baseball game I heard on the radio which I’ll probably never forget, and my friend Tim’s fantastic analysis of the first season of Cannon. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the support!

It felt scattered and all over the place during the recording, but I relistened to the finished episode and was shocked to realize it’s not horrible. Who could’ve predicted such a thing? But when you talk about Frank Cannon for an extended period, it can’t help but be kinda good. Right? Right.

I hope you guys have a fantastic weekend.

I’ll see you again on Monday.

Now playing in the bunker
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Comments

  1. Luke says

    March 15, 2019 at 12:22 pm

    The movie was 200 Cigarettes with a coupla Afflecks. I didn’t make it more than 30 minutes.

    Reply
  2. Ognir says

    March 15, 2019 at 12:44 pm

    Joe Walsh and Stevie were a couple at the time I do believe.

    Reply
    • madz1962 says

      March 15, 2019 at 2:23 pm

      I thought it was Don Henley she was hooked up with – Leather and Lace duet.

      Reply
      • Ognir says

        March 15, 2019 at 3:10 pm

        True – and also J. D. Souther and then Jimmy Iovine.

        Reply
        • Limey says

          March 15, 2019 at 7:31 pm

          Goats will eat pretty much anything.

          Reply
  3. surreal killer says

    March 15, 2019 at 12:56 pm

    I remember walking out of Conan the Barbarian back in the early 1980s. It started out as an interesting movie, then seemed to drag on and on and on. I should probably re-watch it to see if I like it better now than my teenage self did. Also, I walked out in the middle of an Andrew Bird concert a few years back. The whistling quickly became too much for me.

    Reply
  4. Joe T says

    March 15, 2019 at 1:43 pm

    I fell asleep during a Doobie Brothers concert at the Spectrum. While I really liked their music on albums, their live show, for me, left something to be desired.
    Maybe I was hypnotized by Pat Simmons hair swaying back and forth during a solo.

    Reply
  5. Doug says

    March 15, 2019 at 1:53 pm

    I was at that concert as well. Like you, I went to see Joe, but I did stay for the bleating.

    The only movie I have ever walked out of was a crapfest called, “First Family” starring Bob Newheart. Lame black stereotype humor and the film kept stopping for extended periods due to some technical problems.

    Reply
  6. madz1962 says

    March 15, 2019 at 2:38 pm

    Funny you should mention Bleaty Nicks – the only concert I stomped out of was FLeetwood Mac. Between Mick Fleetwood’s (what felt like ) 4 day drum solo, to Bleaty tottering back and foth across the stage collecting armloads of flowers (none of which she shared with Christy McVie) I gave the ultimate “fukkit” and headed out.

    Movie? Reds with Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton. At least I tried to walk out but I couldn’t wake up until the theater lights went on. What a complete bore of a picture.

    Reply
  7. AngryWhiteGuy says

    March 15, 2019 at 3:38 pm

    Saw the Walsh and Nicks show. Lady i was with was just waiting for Stevie. I spent that hour and a half listening to her sing all the lyrics. I wanted to just leave her there.

    Also saw the same ZZ Top show and Moody Blues. Moody was ok, but I bought tickets for myself and Bev, a woman i was seeing. Before the concert, we broke up, and she bought a ticket for her new boyfriend and we all went and made our way to the front. Yes, it was a potential walkout time.

    I was walked out a few years back at a Helmet/ Filter concert after my son had brain surgery. We were all at the stage, and the no moshing rule was ignored by about 30 people. I was trying to protect my son from getting slammed into, so i began throwing people who got too close to the ground. Security pulled me, wife, son, sons girlfriend aside and walked us out of the 300 person venue. I blame Helmet…never got to see Filter, who we were there to see.

    Reply
  8. JR in FallCity says

    March 15, 2019 at 4:59 pm

    Gave serious thought to walking out of The Favourite on Wednesday. Weird movie (and I know the history of Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill)

    Reply
  9. revashanes says

    March 15, 2019 at 5:01 pm

    We have walked out on a bunch of plays especially one that starred Mac Davis but the topper was walking out on Paul McCartney. He was playing a stadium in DC. I was working at a DC radio station at the time and someone threw obstructed view tickets in my mail box. Shit it was a stadium how obstructed could it be? How about knees touching the back of the speakers obstructed view. We tried to walk around but security wouldnt let anyone stand in the isles. We said fuck it, went home and got drunk.

    Reply
  10. Nads says

    March 15, 2019 at 8:16 pm

    In the summer after high school, we’d go to movies just to sneak in booze and get drunk. But even that endeavor was not worth putting up with The Last American Virgin. When one of us suggested walking out, the rest of us realized that yes indeed, we could just leave! It was genius.

    Reply
    • AngryWhiteGuy says

      March 17, 2019 at 4:05 pm

      Awwwww, but that look on Gary’s face when he realized Rick was still banging his dream chick after her abortion! Oscar material there!

      Reply
  11. Larry says

    March 15, 2019 at 9:11 pm

    I walked out of a Bob Dylan show a few years ago. Insufferable!

    Reply
    • madz1962 says

      March 17, 2019 at 11:17 am

      I’ve heard similar tales. Sigh….what a shame.

      Reply
    • Mark Littleton says

      March 17, 2019 at 11:35 am

      I didn’t walk out of the Dylan concert I went to because I went with my son, otherwise I would have…..He’s the definition of pretentious.

      Reply
  12. Corby says

    March 15, 2019 at 10:32 pm

    In the late spring of ’78 just before graduating high school I left a Ted Nugent concert probably about half way through. It was his original band with Derek St. Holmes, Rob Grange and Cliff Davies and they were just too damn loud. My ears couldn’t take it that day.
    About 6 months prior I was at an AC/DC concert on a double date. Bon Scott was the lead singer and we left early cause the girls wanted too…

    Reply
  13. chill says

    March 16, 2019 at 1:33 am

    The other year I walked out of a Clutch show at the 9:30 in DC. I made it through part of Clutch, but they had five (!) opening acts. By the time Clutch came on, it was pretty late for a school night, and I’d been standing on that concrete floor for hours. I was digging the music, but my body couldn’t take it. Did I mention I’m old and fat?

    Reply
  14. Sebastian Valmont says

    March 16, 2019 at 4:33 am

    I once left a Psychedelic Furs concert after their opening act, The Church, played. I was so incredibly bored by Tron Legacy that I wanted to leave; the only good thing about that movie was the soundtrack. Fell asleep during Marie Antoinette (the Kirsten Dunst film where she doesn’t get beheaded.) I’ve since stopped, but I attended a couple of student film festivals and saw movies that I should have left (luckily they are short, and as they say in the industry, shorter is better for student films.)

    If I saw Lost Highway in theaters I would have walked out. That movie was so bad it almost made me walk out of my house and into traffic.

    Reply
  15. Jorge says

    March 16, 2019 at 5:13 pm

    My wife and I left a Stray Cats show. It was in a little theater and was too loud and with waaay too much bass. Couldn’t take it.

    After the 2012 Super Bowl Halftime Show my wife and I decided to go see Madonna. Holy crap that was the worst show ever. We walked out well before the halfway point.

    Reply
  16. E2M says

    March 16, 2019 at 8:42 pm

    Thirty years ago either my girlfriend or I received a resort/timeshare/planned community two days and one night offer we couldn’t refuse. Of course there was the obligatory sales pitch we had to attend. At the start of the sales pitch the salesman made the mistake of saying that anyone not serious of buying into whatever they were selling could walk away and enjoy ourselves for our remaining time. My girlfriend stood up and walked out with me following her lead.

    I’m still married to that girl.

    Reply
  17. Michelle says

    March 16, 2019 at 10:50 pm

    The Church is the finest, most underrated band around. It’s a crime that the only song anyone knows is Under the Milky Way.

    Reply
  18. Stuart in Oz says

    March 17, 2019 at 3:57 pm

    I walked out on the Movie “The Color of Money” Tom Cruise and Paul Newman…Newman should have known better!

    Reply
  19. cbrown says

    March 18, 2019 at 11:28 am

    Walked out of The Doors (‘starring’ Val Kilmer) in 1991, what a piece of crap. Plus, I already had a good idea of how it would end.

    Reply
    • johnthebasket says

      March 18, 2019 at 7:36 pm

      Mr Brown, you’ve probably seen these vids, but as a Doors fan and a Ray Manzarek fan, I long ago bookmarked them. The first is Manzerek’s early memories about Morrison in Venice . . .

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSkllKaA8dE

      Reply
      • cbrown says

        March 25, 2019 at 12:29 pm

        Thanks JTB! Just finished watching it, very cool; hadn’t seen it before. Really like how Ray tells stories, hard to fathom that the inception of the band came from a chance happening on the beach. Great stuff.

        Saw something a while back on AXS on the band, thought it was a cool story about the photo from Morrison Hotel – if you haven’t seen this, check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0PWS_Dt6hU

        Will watch the other one next, thanks for sharing.
        Craig

        Reply
  20. johnthebasket says

    March 18, 2019 at 7:39 pm

    The second is about The Doors writing Riders On The Storm . . .

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSkllKaA8dE

    Nice memories of a talented band. And, sadly, it always ends badly; sometimes it just takes longer.

    John

    Reply
  21. Taiwan On says

    March 19, 2019 at 7:22 am

    Stevie just flat out cannot sing. And she is going into the Hall this year! I just don’t get it. Love me some Fleetwood Mac nonetheless.

    Reptile is what turned me on to The Church……

    Reply

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