Actually I was at the show too, but my reaction to 'the incident' was different than John's. The vocal audience member was sitting second row center, maybe 10 or 12 feet from JZ's elbow. Actually JZ said, "You, why don't you shut up?" The audient said, "It's so beautiful!", to which JZ said, "Enjoy the show, but shut your fat mouth." Zorn didn't say "fucking mouth" until AFTER the audience applauded him. The guy didn't leave as far as I noticed. I think he just enjoyed the rest of the show with his mouth shut. I wasn't offended, and I don't think very many others were either. I've certainly heard stories (and heard tape) of much worse than that. It was truly a fabulous show by the way, and I'm glad I went. It's not often you get to see Masada tunes performed with the intensity of Naked City ... Dave
I bet most of the audience was either secretly or obviously happy that Zorn told the guy off. I would have been. Why should one jerk-offs "expression" of a good time get in the way of the other hundreds of people who paid the same amount of money not to hear some dork's interjections, but the music itself. Maybe he could have been more diplomatic, but I've seen plenty of instances (nearly every Empty Bottle festival for instance) where the presenters or performers are asking kindly for consideration and not getting it. I've told off more than a few co-audience members standing or sitting near me who were being too loud myself - usually to the cheers of the rest of the audience. Being nice about it usually doesn't work, being logical and angry gets the job done though, sad to say. It baffles me why people would pay good money to hear music and then talk through it. If I want to talk to my friends we go to a restaurant or a bar w/o live music or bowling or for a walk or something.