Major conflict of interests

So I have this friend, who's dating someone that I have met a couple of times and who my girlfriend and I get along with quite well. Enough said about that. The guy also happens to be a musician, and we went to see his show on Monday night, at a packed venue in Midtown. He's a very talented singer, just signed, who is recording his debut CD in California. The same old major label story that we all thought doesn't happen anymore. It does, apparently. I have never been to a pop concert before, with the exception of I think Hootie and The Blowfish, when I was the age at which I had to be driven there by my mom.

So I saw the show, and I am very pleased for this guy's success. I like him. But I am also totally enraged by pop music, and I feel sort of bad saying so. The show was supposed to be a "night off" on a mini-tour that has stretched the country, but since none of the suits from the label that signed him had seen him perform yet (WHAT!?), it was arranged that he would do a small club set on his night off for them and a select group of CRAZY WOMEN. Granted, women make up the main fan base, but I am really not used to this sort of fan. If anyone acted like that at a Mercury Lounge show, I am certain someone proactive would call an ambulance. Back to the show: the songs are sung well, but I was constantly fighting off a grimace, even when I was feeling genuinely happy for the guy on stage. I guess people think it's harmless to sing pop songs. I think it is one of the more pervasive and malicious things people can do, rolling back the clock on everything, and perpetuating all of the subtle and not-so-subtle control mechanisms that prey on the lazy and stupid. Sigh.

Anyhoo, so I am a little down, having come so close to the big bad machine. And trust me, it really is big. And it really is bad.