The Vanguard Group, who is the majority owner of the Ryman Auditorium, issued statement today about an upcoming upgrade to the legendary performance venue.
The statement said that beginning in late May or early June that the front of the Ryman stage will be having a floor to ceiling plexiglass shield installed to help prevent any dangers to performing artists. And while attendees can expect a horrific glare at first, eventually glare will become a welcomed part of the overall concert experience.
They said one other obvious positive aspect is that performers will be able to breathe heavily on the glass and then use their finger to spell out special messages to their fans.
It goes on to cite several incidents from over the years where a shield would have been helpful in curbing possible negative outcomes:
-The balcony popcorn toss of 74’
-The woman who wrote a song request on a piece of paper and put it on the stage but the lead singer thought it was a sting ray, stomping both the paper and hand
-The bread pudding shower
-The time the lead singer wouldn’t stop crowd surfing and the band had to loop the chorus for forty five minutes while he was passed around to every seat in the auditorium. (Now, when trying to crowd surf the lead singer will simply hit the plexiglass and stay on stage)
-Blow darts
-The Ryan Adams thing
-The time the bass player had his feelings hurt because he was too afraid to walk to the edge of the stage.
The main argument against the plexiglass was that after each song artists won’t be able to hear the applause and cheering of the audience. So in order to compensate there will be a pre-recorded applause track that will be piped into the stage after each number. The intensity and fervor of the applause track varies, so road managers are encouraged to increase or decrease overall volume as they see fit for their artist.
It’s certainly an interesting shift and only time will tell to find out how floor to ceiling plexiglass across the entire Ryman Auditorium stage will enhance the concert experience. To find out more they encourage people to contact: april@fools.day
