Concert etiquette and crappy fan thread.

[73109]

This is coming from an experience from my concert last night. Some woman about 3 rows behind me was screaming the entire show. And not just a "woooooooh!!!!" scream but a chick, high pitched squeal. You know those screams...

Well, it actually gave me a head ache. The music didn't but some chick screaming at every given opportunity did. Toward the end of the show, whenever she did it, I turned my head to let the scream go into a different ear because my left ear hurt so bad. I told my step dad that I was ready to kill her (metaphorically) and he said that I needed to be patient and she paid for her ticket and she could do whatever she wanted. I said there was something called common courtesy that she needed to get drilled into her head.

So, my question...

Does the fact that you paid for your ticket give you the unlimited right to annoy the ever loving fuck out of those around you or is there some unwritten rule of common courtesy that this dumb chick hasn't been told.

While you're at it, describe some shitty fans that you have dealt with at concerts.

[Dr. DTVT]

Does the fact that you paid for your ticket give you the unlimited right to annoy the ever loving fuck out of those around you or is there some unwritten rule of common courtesy that this dumb chick hasn't been told.

While you're at it, describe some shitty fans that you have dealt with at concerts.

No it doesn't.  Everyone paid for tickets.  She probably didn't realize she was being annoying as fuck though.

Some concerts are sitters, and some are standers.  Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

[zxlkho]

Some concerts are sitters, and some are standers.  Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

I hate this so much.

[Zook]

The same thing happened to me ten years ago at a wrestling event, but as far as concerts go, the only annoying thing I encounter every time is tall ass people who always manage to find their way in front of me. It never fails.

[Ben_Jamin]

^Same problem. which is why i always prefer seats.

I have a problem with people when a rocking or great song you need to almost dance to comes on and they just sit. I'm there to enjoy the music and if it makes me want to stand and get into it then so be it.

[Zook]

Well it's the seats that are the worst when it comes to having tall people in front. The few times I've had general admission, I've managed to be right at the railing.... Except Kamelot. I had the chance to but I didn't want to be so close to the awful openers. I wish I just sucked it up and endured the shit because it would have been worth it. Some kids suckered me into letting them up by their friends and they stood right in front of me disregarding that I was shorter than them... I'm sure they were lying too.

[KevShmev]

 Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

There is something to be said for that, but if you are at a rock concert, you had better expect to be standing for most of it.  I hate these concerts where everyone wants to sit on their asses the whole time.  What, I am supposed to stay sitting and not be able to fully rock out just because everyone else around me are a bunch of stiffs?  Granted, most of the time, I will give in and sit down, but I might stand up for something special, and if someone doesn't like it, too bad.  When I saw Styx in the late 90s, they played "Queen of Spades," and I swear, I was literally the only person standing in my entire section.  The fact that it was drizzling just enough to be annoying didn't help, but that is a personal fave of mine, and I was gonna stand up and enjoy it to the fullest.  

Really, who goes to a rock concert and expects to sit down the whole time?

[Sigz]

The people who buy seated tickets.

[ehra]

 Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

There is something to be said for that, but if you are at a rock concert, you had better expect to be standing for most of it.  I hate these concerts where everyone wants to sit on their asses the whole time.  What, I am supposed to stay sitting and not be able to fully rock out just because everyone else around me are a bunch of stiffs?  Granted, most of the time, I will give in and sit down, but I might stand up for something special, and if someone doesn't like it, too bad.  When I saw Styx in the late 90s, they played "Queen of Spades," and I swear, I was literally the only person standing in my entire section.  The fact that it was drizzling just enough to be annoying didn't help, but that is a personal fave of mine, and I was gonna stand up and enjoy it to the fullest.  

Something along these lines happened when I saw DT during their Ocatavarium tour. We're at the "woah" section of LTL, James is holding the mic out for the crowd to sing along, and I was practically the only one (that I could hear). Way to go, asshats.


Anyway, if this one woman was coming close to damaging your hearing then, yeah, she was going over-bored.

[In The Wake Of Poseidon]

Yeah! Standing up is so vital to a rock show. I mean, sitting down is for boring people. Standing up is much better because then I can wave my arms around.

[KevShmev]

The people who buy seated tickets.

Not usually.  I always try to get seated tickets if I can, but not so I can sit down.  I try to get good seats so my good spot is reserved for the whole show, instead of having to get to a standing spot way early and standing there for hours waiting for the main act.  For example, our Rush concert begins in less than three hours, and we still aren't leaving for another hour.  Why?  Because we have seats in the 12th row, so we have a great spot no matter what we show up.

[Zeltar]

 Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

There is something to be said for that, but if you are at a rock concert, you had better expect to be standing for most of it.  I hate these concerts where everyone wants to sit on their asses the whole time.  What, I am supposed to stay sitting and not be able to fully rock out just because everyone else around me are a bunch of stiffs?  Granted, most of the time, I will give in and sit down, but I might stand up for something special, and if someone doesn't like it, too bad.  When I saw Styx in the late 90s, they played "Queen of Spades," and I swear, I was literally the only person standing in my entire section.  The fact that it was drizzling just enough to be annoying didn't help, but that is a personal fave of mine, and I was gonna stand up and enjoy it to the fullest.  

Really, who goes to a rock concert and expects to sit down the whole time?

This. There's nothing I hate more than people who sit down at a rock concert. If you wanna sit down and not give energy back to the band, go buy a fucking concert dvd and watch it at home. And I can speak from experience that there's nothing worse than looking out at the crowd and seeing everyone sitting down. It makes you feel like you're boring them.

[King Postwhore]

The people who buy seated tickets.

Not usually.  I always try to get seated tickets if I can, but not so I can sit down.  I try to get good seats so my good spot is reserved for the whole show, instead of having to get to a standing spot way early and standing there for hours waiting for the main act.  For example, our Rush concert begins in less than three hours, and we still aren't leaving for another hour.  Why?  Because we have seats in the 12th row, so we have a great spot no matter what we show up.

Dead on Kev.  I do feel your pain 73109.  Happened to me at a DT concert with Queensryche opening.   My wife has bad feet and needed to sit down and this guy kept bumping her in the head.  She asked if he could be carefull and he continued to hit her in the head so I had to step in and I told him , one more time and we are both going to get thrown out and he didn't hit her again.

It's a little different situation from yours but i've always tried to be polite and ask a person to calm down.  They have the right to tell me off since they've paid for a ticket also but I've still always tried politely.

[73109]

Good job king!!!

[MetalManiac666]

  Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

There is something to be said for that, but if you are at a rock concert, you had better expect to be standing for most of it.  I hate these concerts where everyone wants to sit on their asses the whole time.  What, I am supposed to stay sitting and not be able to fully rock out just because everyone else around me are a bunch of stiffs?  Granted, most of the time, I will give in and sit down, but I might stand up for something special, and if someone doesn't like it, too bad.  When I saw Styx in the late 90s, they played "Queen of Spades," and I swear, I was literally the only person standing in my entire section.  The fact that it was drizzling just enough to be annoying didn't help, but that is a personal fave of mine, and I was gonna stand up and enjoy it to the fullest. 

Really, who goes to a rock concert and expects to sit down the whole time?

This. There's nothing I hate more than people who sit down at a rock concert. If you wanna sit down and not give energy back to the band, go buy a fucking concert dvd and watch it at home. And I can speak from experience that there's nothing worse than looking out at the crowd and seeing everyone sitting down. It makes you feel like you're boring them.

YES

Seriously, it pisses me the fuck off when people sit at a rock concert.  Get off your fat asses and stand the fuck up.

[Kornflake]

I went to a lot of Detroit Lions games last year (don't laugh at me).  Anyways, they have a phone number that they put up on the big screen throughout the game and you can text in the seat and section number of anyone who is drunk and annoying or whatever and security will come down and talk to them.  The person will never have any idea who ratted them out.  Not that you should do that for every single annoying person, but if it gets out of hand, it's nice to be able to text it in and not have to miss any of the game yourself because you've gone to track down security.  I don't know if they have this everywhere or not, but they should.  At concerts too.

[Birch Boy]

I think you should have common courtesy, but going to a rock/metal show, you should be prepared for what fans of that genre do. What the woman seemed to be doing crossed the line I'm speaking of, if you didn't exaggerate. It annoys me when people get annoyed at me at shows, when what I'm doing should be expected at the rock/metal gig. For instance, at Ozzfest 2010 yesterday, I was right at the barrier for Black Label Society. I got really into almost every song they played, and was headbanging, as should be expected... But they guy behind me apparently wasn't cool with it, so after two or three songs (during the third or fourth), he put his hand on my head in the midst of a headbang, which literally almost caused me to break my neck. I was coming up and he just forcefully stopped my head which tremendously strained it. That is crossing the line, not my headbanging at the barrier for BLS during fucking Ozzfest.

[Sigz]

I love how concerts become a competition to demonstrate you're more into the show than the guy next to you

[Birch Boy]

It shouldn't be a competition, but if you go to a metal show, and are in the pit, don't get annoyed by headbanging and moshing, leave.

[Sigz]

That wasn't really referring to your post.

edit: Though I'm not really sure why you'd just expect someone to leave because they don't like moshing. The dipshit moshers are the ones who are causing the problem, not the guy who's constantly braced for impact and distracted from the show because he's on edge of a circle pit that just popped up.

[Birch Boy]

Oh, sorry.

[juice]

I hate it when people in my vicinity smoke during concerts.

[veronica]

I hate it when people in my vicinity smoke during concerts.

Heh, so do I...and I smoke! But smoking is usually not allowed and they smoke anyway and then I want a cig but it's not allowed...

Drunk-ass people at concerts... Why did they even buy tickets? They're not gonna get much out of the concert and neither will I if you don't shut your freakin' mouths and stop pouring beer on me ARGH.

I don't mind people who sit. I just always assume their backs are as wicked as mine or something. Most concerts I go to don't have seating at all and man my back usually hurts so much at the end that I almost hope they're not coming back for an extra song...

[Fuzzboy]

I had a 40-something year old nasty drunk woman grope me at a PT show during a few Bigelf songs despite my polite rejection. She got on my nerves so badly that in between a song I basically told her off so fucking nasty that everyone around me just stood and stared in disbelief. Bitch never came back.

[In The Name Of Rudess]

Some concerts are sitters, and some are standers.  Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

I hate this so much.

This. I understand if you want to stand up and rock out, but seriously, you're ruining the show for all the people sitting behind you. But, as displayed in the responses in this thread, most of those people clearly don't care much about the way others are experiencing the show as long as they themselves are having a good time.

[cthrubuoy]

Some people (me) like to sit down at gigs. It's not because I don't want to show the band my energy or whatever other reasons were given here. I do it because:
1) I have a bad back and standing up for hours on end seriously hurts.
2) I'm not that tall, meaning that standing in the middle of a crowd stops me seeing anything
3) I don't want sweaty moshers rubbing their armpits in my face.

[KevShmev]

Some concerts are sitters, and some are standers.  Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

I hate this so much.

This. I understand if you want to stand up and rock out, but seriously, you're ruining the show for all the people sitting behind you. But, as displayed in the responses in this thread, most of those people clearly don't care much about the way others are experiencing the show as long as they themselves are having a good time.

That is bull crap.  I said that if everyone else is sitting down, I will almost always reluctantly do so, as well, but I will ask again:

Who goes to a rock concert and expects to sit down the whole show?

If you want to sit down for a whole performance, go to a play or a movie, not a rock concert.

And for the record, at our Rush concert last night, pretty much everyone in the entire middle section where we were stood for the entire concert.  I can't imagine how boring that would have been had we all been sitting down.  Not as fun to air drum and air guitar sitting down at a concert, ya know.  

And like Zeltar said, if I were on stage performing a rock show and everyone was sitting down, I would think I was boring them.

Also, regarding people whose back hurts them, I am very sympathetic, as I used to have all kinds of back problems, but if your back cannot take standing for a whole concert, you cannot expect everyone around you to sit down, too, just because you insisted on going to the concert, knowing full well that you couldn't stand the whole time.  I went to quite a few concerts back when mine used to hurt, and if I had to sit down for a few, I didn't expect anyone else to sit down.  Why should their enjoyment be disrupted just because of me?  

[In The Name Of Rudess]

Some concerts are sitters, and some are standers.  Don't be the asshole who stands while everyone else is sitting.

I hate this so much.

This. I understand if you want to stand up and rock out, but seriously, you're ruining the show for all the people sitting behind you. But, as displayed in the responses in this thread, most of those people clearly don't care much about the way others are experiencing the show as long as they themselves are having a good time.

That is bull crap.  I said that if everyone else is sitting down, I will almost always reluctantly do so, as well, but I will ask again:

Who goes to a rock concert and expects to sit down the whole show?

If you want to sit down for a whole performance, go to a play or a movie, not a rock concert.

And for the record, at our Rush concert last night, pretty much everyone in the entire middle section where we were stood for the entire concert.  I can't imagine how boring that would have been had we all been sitting down.  Not as fun to air drum and air guitar sitting down at a concert, ya know.  

And like Zeltar said, if I were on stage performing a rock show and everyone was sitting down, I would think I was boring them.

I was talking about MetalManiac and Zeltar, not about you. You said "that if everyone else is sitting down, I will almost always reluctantly do so" while they said that they don't care if they're the only ones standing and the show gets ruined for other people.

To answer your question: I do, sometimes, along with many other people. Why?

1. I don't care if I'm boring to look at for the band. I paid them to get entertained. That's kind of the whole idea of stage performances.
2. I usually prefer quietly observing to headbanging/playing and playing air drums/guitar.
3. Sitting down allows me to occasionally close my eyes without getting knocked over by drunk people.

"If you want to sit down for a whole performance, go to a play or a movie, not a rock concert. "

Who are you to say what people should and shouldn't do? People who sit down also paid money to see the band play, so they can do anything they want during the performance.

[carl320]

The last two times I've seen DT, people in the row in front of me have started fighting... and I wasn't even close to the stage either time.

[Birch Boy]

I don't think people should get mad at everyone standing at a metal show. The only show I've ever been to where everyone was sitting (except for at the ends of songs, solos, etc...) was Dweezil Zappa Plays Zappa 2010. Every other show, everyone stood, and I think that should be expected.

[ehra]

Who are you to say what people should and shouldn't do? People who sit down also paid money to see the band play, so they can do anything they want during the performance.

Except for the people that have to gall to stand when you want to sit, of course.

"How dare you ruin the concert for me, now sit down and stop having such a good time! The nerve of some people."

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

1. I don't care if I'm boring to look at for the band. I paid them to get entertained. That's kind of the whole idea of stage performances.

If you want a better performance, I guarantee, the more you and everyone else "get into it", whether by getting out of your seat, dancing, head-banging, or whatever, the band will feed off of that and will work even harder to make sure you have a good show.  It's a two way street.  You "paid them to get entertained".  Then be entertained.  If people collectively show that they are entertained then the show will be better.

It's happened to me too many times.  I'm gigging and people are sitting on their ass.  Then the gig becomes a chore.  When people get up and start dancing and showing that they're having a good time, it compels me to bust my ass harder to make sure they keep having a good time.

[Ben_Jamin]

A good example is Live at Budakon. some people are standing and most are sitting yet they still enjoy it. Since I'm small i don't complain when everytime I go to a standing concert theirs someone tall who blocks my view of the entire stage. Yet I still enjoy myself.

It bugs me when i'm letting the music hit me affecting me and people want me to sit down, I just can't when my favorite song is playing, bands love that response.

[Sigz]

Who are you to say what people should and shouldn't do? People who sit down also paid money to see the band play, so they can do anything they want during the performance.

Except for the people that have to gall to stand when you want to sit, of course.

"How dare you ruin the concert for me, now sit down and stop having such a good time! The nerve of some people."

Except that at most venues there's an entire section for people to stand in. Just how you wouldn't go into the pit and get pissed off that people are constantly bumping and rubbing into you, you shouldn't go into a seated area and expect to stand the entire time.

[ehra]

Who are you to say what people should and shouldn't do? People who sit down also paid money to see the band play, so they can do anything they want during the performance.

Except for the people that have to gall to stand when you want to sit, of course.

"How dare you ruin the concert for me, now sit down and stop having such a good time! The nerve of some people."

Except that at most venues there's an entire section for people to stand in. Just how you wouldn't go into the pit and get pissed off that people are constantly bumping and rubbing into you, you shouldn't go into a seated area and expect to stand the entire time.

But then I wouldn't have anywhere to put my drink without worrying about it getting kicked away.