I find it sad that people often talk as if everybody who attends classical concerts of the dress-up variety is a cultural snob. Not to deny that many snobs floc

I find it sad that people often talk as if everybody who attends classical concerts of the dress-up variety is a cultural snob. Not to deny that many snobs flock to such gatherings, but I find it very unfair to have everybody painted with the same brush. At 20 years old, I am not your typical orchestra attendee. I don't get to go often either, but when I do, I always thoroughly enjoy it. I enjoy the music (though alas, I still understand much too little of it) just as much as the atmosphere: fancy clothes, a beautiful building, the hushed silence during the performance. I do not deny that a casual clothes performance of video game music can be fun, entertaining, good listening. I do not even say that it is necessarily worse than a classical piece (though I also agree with cicero's and mazelife's previous comments - and yes, I like more contemporary music too). What I do say is that you can't really compare the two. OK, both are music, and both can be played by an orchestra. But for one, their style is very different - one meant to be listened to with full concentration, the other as a background track to something more important. Quite aside from that, how you experience a piece of music very much depends on the atmosphere; it is precisely the fancy clothes and old buildings that build up the whole "feel" of a classical concert, just as the dancing, clapping crowd and light shows determine the atmosphere of a rock concert. Interestingly, I find that just about everybody who talks about "all those snobbish classical concert-goers" and talks about how we should stop imposing dress codes for these visits tends not to have been to such concerts him/herself. Maybe if they did they would discover that there is a lot more to classical music than a bunch of old people putting on airs.