This is in response to Sharlene Macatangay’s letter printed in Monday’s Daily.

I too was an audience member at Saturday night’s Rock Veishea concert, and one of the many people who did not enjoy The Flaming Lips’ performance. I understand that their “boom-box orchestration” was experimental, and as the group stated in their handout, “We are still unsure of this experiment’s entertainment value.” Involving audience member participation and the timing of tapes was different; however, the performance was definitely NOT entertaining.

Sharlene Macatangay states, “Yes, they were loud.” Loud? Listening to nearly an hour’s worth of screeching at decibel 10 was not “loud” but extremely painful. Many of the people sitting around me did leave, not because they didn’t like The Flaming Lips’ performance, but because their “music” was physically damaging to our eardrums.

Many people escaped to the hallway to avoid the torture, but the noise was so “loud” that it echoed violently throughout the hall. Yes, we could have left the building, but as Sharlene and the rest of the audience knew, no one would have been allowed back in. My friends and I stayed because we wanted to see Tonic’s performance, but we had to buy earplugs at the concession stand to preserve our hearing.

I would have rather liked the opportunity to interpret The Flaming Lips’ “experiment” if they had turned the volume down to half of what it was, but they did not. If people in the audience behaved like they did, it was in response to the awful noise. We paid money to be entertained, not tortured.

As for the effort into the planning of the concert, my hat is off to Corey Moss and the other students who worked so hard for the Rock Veishea event. But please, do not invite The Flaming Lips back.

Cathy Thompson

Senior

Art and design