Mark, here's another example. Back in 1997 I saw Buddy Guy play at the Chicago Blues Festival. The crowd energy was incredible, as was Buddy Guy's. I have seen him several times, but never like that afternoon in Chicago. But one performance stands out for its mediocrity - I saw him at Chastain Park in Atlanta a few years later. The place is set up for people to drink wine and eat picnics, and you can buy passes for multiple, or all, shows. There is always a point in his show where he does a medley of partial songs made famous by great guitarists - Clapton, Hendrix, etc. When he got to that point, the guys in front of me all commented on how they didn't realize that Buddy Guy had written all of those songs. I would say 75 - 90% of the crowd was there to picnic, and you could have had me singing Karaoke and they wouldn't have known the difference. At one point, Buddy Guy stopped playing and told everyone to shut up so he could play music. I really felt sorry for him having to endure that, but I'm seeing now that he plays at the wineries near Seattle, so I guess he's dealing with it ($$$ speak).
The modern ballpark experience, especially the version that John (the big Yankees fan) described, is basically baseball's version of Chastain Park, and the Chastain Park model for concerts is now practiced all over the United States. If you to to a Mariners game, you have the same thing where people get in on a cheap ticket, and spend their time in the socializing section in the outfield, basically trying to get lucky.
Fortunately you can still have a good baseball experience at any stadium, and John has found his way to do that at Yankee stadium. I'm sorry he doesn't understand what he's missing at the new stadium, but as long as he's having fun, I guess all is well.
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