Stand Up, or Sit Down at a Dream Theater Show?

[wideworldofmike]

I have noticed at different DT shows that I have been to or seen online, the crowd's level of enthusiasm is way up or way down. This is not absolutely tied to, but more often when there are seats in the venue (I was at Radio City for both Score and Astonishing, and have seen them at many open and seated venues).

I feel bands appreciate seeing enthusiasm from the crowd, but I also have seen some on this forum say that they wish people sit down. I personally don't get it because when that is happening there tends to be more blank stares than energy; also a lot of these old smaller theaters have the seats crammed together and its just hotter and more crowded.

Which way do you prefer is best for a Dream Theater show and why?  Do you wish they would play more venues without seats?

[KevShmev]

Grabbing some popcorn for this one...

Personally, I prefer to have seats, that way I can pick my spots as to when I want to stand and can sit whenever I feel like it.  And I will almost never be that guy who stands while everyone else around me is sitting.  Standing for an entire concert is too hard on my 48-year old self now, so I want seats that way I have the option of alternating between the two.

All that said, if everyone wants to stand at a Dream Theater show, I will not complain.  It's a rock concert, not a freaking play.

[TAC]

The thing is, playing in a seated theater, especially with comfy seats, almost invites sitting. I remember standing for pretty much all of the Boston Opera House show though, as I was about 10 rows back on JM's side.

I can stand if I have to. I made it through all of Helloween's show a few years ago and that was 2.5+ hours.

[Madman Shepherd]

The Floor is for standing. The balcony is for sitting.

[bosk1]

I prefer a good ole' standing pit.  with the size venues DT play due to their ticket draw, and the types of venues they like to play, there is always balcony seating available, and sometimes the option for seating along the back/sides.  That's ideal to me, because they can have people standing up at the stage and have that energy, and have people in the back and up top sit.  But that ship sailed a long time ago, so...

[ReaperKK]

I prefer to stand but if people are sitting in front of me then I'll obviously sit down. I'll try and gauge the crowd, if people stand then I'll stand, if the majority sit then I'll sit.

[Bertie_Wooster]

I like seated. They can feel my appreciation for their show when they check their bank account.
As a truck driver I dont expect people to be going wild while they watch me drive.

[King Postwhore]

Young me loved to stand. Old me loves to sit.

[the_silent_man]

The Floor is for standing. The balcony is for sitting.

This x1000. Sorry, but you're at a rock concert. Doesn't matter if it's Slipknot or DT. If you have to sit, no problem - there is the balcony. But don't make that a rule for everyone.

[geeeemo]

I want to stand. I sat in London because everyone else was, but when there was a really great moment  or solo, I stood and gave a good clap....then sat back down.
My favorite option is the seats but we stand. Then we can sit at intermission or have a place to put our stuff. But if the choice is stand in a pit or sit, I am standing.

My son and I have Lamb of God and Megadeth in a couple weeks. Huge GA area. I know if I want to be close, I am going to have to get there early, wait for the show. Stand through Lamb of God which I don't particularly care for, so I can enjoy Megadeth. It's a long time of standing. It's a rock concert! I am 57 now and am willing to deal with it because the energy payoff is so fun!

Also, I feel bad as a crowd, if we don't give the band good energy and feedback. Even embarrassed when everyone just sits..wtheck?? They are playing their butts off (especially DT) and we can't give them what we Know they love?

Just my 2 cents.

[Architeuthis]

The thing I hate about reserved seating is that way more often than not,  I get the tallest guy in the whole venue with a big head completely blocking my view of center stage. There's not a damn thing I can do about it.. 

At least in a general admission standing area, you can move somewhere else if you get that literal pillar of society in front of you..  lol!

[dparrott]

I only sit for ballads.  Otherwise I stand and rock out.

[MirrorMask]

You stand me up, you sit me down until I'm tired of moshing...... what was the song? 

I prefer standing up all the way. In the end, it's a metal show. I don't want to sit down.

[Ben_Jamin]

Well, with seating, doesn't the band like playing these nice venues that end up having seats. Sometimes, these venues can not accommodate removing seats for an open GA floor.

I actually prefer standing, and having seats to sit down whenever I can. I've done this many times and actually prefer seats over open GA.


I don't mind if people stand, but let me say this. I am shorter than Mangini, so even with standing GA venues I end up behind someone tall and can not see the band some times. So I end up having to find a spot where I can see the band, most times I'll ask people if I can move up closer and they will let me in as I do not take up much space at all...although, I do rock out hard, I do give warning too...

I have also told people that I may stand and if it's okay. Most do not care and will say "Go for it, doesn't bother me." I guess it helps that I am not tall either.

[pg1067]

The Floor is for standing. The balcony is for sitting.

This pretty well sums up my feelings.  At my last two DT shows, I was 8th or 9th row balcony and second row floor.  At the former show, I only stood up for post-song applause.  At the latter show I didn't sit at all (at least not while they were playing).  There were some people near me on the floor who sat most of the show, and it just looked weird.

[RMGadelha]

People might consider 30 young, and I know it is, but I'm in a part of my life that I would prefer sitting during a concert, specially considering that I'm 170cm tall, and it seems that every time that I go to a gig there always has to be a very tall person in front of me or I'm placed in a bad part of the floor, so I can't see the band a lot of times. I also occasionally have upper back pain, which kinda sucks. The reason I still go to concerts standing is due to the fact that tickets for sitting spots are usually ridiculously more expensive in Rio de Janeiro than tickets for the standing spots, so I either go standing or don't go at all.

[Peter Mc]

I like seated venues just because you know you have your own spot and can come and go as you please during the evening.  I prefer to actually stand during the show though.

[TAC]

People might consider 30 young,

That's because it is...

I'm 170cm tall

No idea how tall that is..

[RMGadelha]

I wasn't saying that 30 isn't young, I'm just saying that I don't want to use it as an excuse for my back pain and not feeling excited with standing up at a gig anymore. I've edited my post with an extra "and I know it is". Sorry if expressed myself badly. When it comes to 170cm, well, that's just another way to express height. I'm not used to measure height in inches, and, although we would actually say "one meter and seventy centimeters", I usually see English speakers who don't use inches measuring it that way. One quick google would have fixed that

[Dedalus]

I wasn't saying that 30 isn't young, I'm just saying that I don't want to use it as an excuse for my back pain and not feeling excited with standing up at a gig anymore. I've edited my post with an extra "and I know it is". Sorry if expressed myself badly. When it comes to 170cm, well, that's just another way to express height. I'm not used to measure height in inches, and, although we would actually say "one meter and seventy centimeters", I usually see English speakers who don't use inches measuring it that way. One quick google would have fixed that

Ah, the metric system. Used by these strange countries



 

[RMGadelha]

I wasn't saying that 30 isn't young, I'm just saying that I don't want to use it as an excuse for my back pain and not feeling excited with standing up at a gig anymore. I've edited my post with an extra "and I know it is". Sorry if expressed myself badly. When it comes to 170cm, well, that's just another way to express height. I'm not used to measure height in inches, and, although we would actually say "one meter and seventy centimeters", I usually see English speakers who don't use inches measuring it that way. One quick google would have fixed that

Ah, the metric system. Used by these strange countries


 

Haha. I thought that even the English speaking countries that do use the metric system still used feet/inches for height anyway.

[TAC]

I wasn't saying that 30 isn't young, I'm just saying that I don't want to use it as an excuse for my back pain and not feeling excited with standing up at a gig anymore. I've edited my post with an extra "and I know it is". Sorry if expressed myself badly. When it comes to 170cm, well, that's just another way to express height. I'm not used to measure height in inches, and, although we would actually say "one meter and seventy centimeters", I usually see English speakers who don't use inches measuring it that way. One quick google would have fixed that

Yes!

I'm just kidding, language nerd.

[RMGadelha]

I wasn't saying that 30 isn't young, I'm just saying that I don't want to use it as an excuse for my back pain and not feeling excited with standing up at a gig anymore. I've edited my post with an extra "and I know it is". Sorry if expressed myself badly. When it comes to 170cm, well, that's just another way to express height. I'm not used to measure height in inches, and, although we would actually say "one meter and seventy centimeters", I usually see English speakers who don't use inches measuring it that way. One quick google would have fixed that

Yes!

I'm just kidding, language nerd.

All good . My jokedar sucks on the Internet 

[Madman Shepherd]

Young me loved to stand. Old me loves to sit.

Young me loved to stand. Old me loves to stand but grimaces that apparently I have hip problems now. Know what makes me grimace more? When everybody is sitting there and politely tapping their toes and nodding their heads when the band is playing their ass off.

Side note: I was at one show where the entire balcony stood the whole night. Ghost was really breaking big, I had seen them a few times in progressively bigger venues and my wife wasn't feeling good so we opted for the seated balcony. (Trooper she was, she didn't let it ruin her time...or mine). This was a converted theater with all general admission and quite crowded. When we got to the balcony, it was pretty much full. In a split second I decided to grab the first two seats I saw in the last row, before I knew the crowd was going to stand the whole time. When the show started, we realized that it was pretty comfortable to stand on the seats and lean against the back wall. Turned out to be an amazing show. Could barely see shit when we got down off the seats so it would have sucked had we not got the seats we did.

[gborland]

Nothing sucks the energy out of a rock concert more than being forced to sit in a seat.

Maybe it's different in other countries, but DT's last few tours in the UK have been at all-seated venues, and it sucks. Like, really really sucks. The brave few who do attempt to rock out get very quickly pounced on by security.

It breaks my heart.

[axeman90210]

I prefer them playing venues that are all assigned seats. I like being able to pick exactly where I'm going to see the show from and if I really want to be up close then spending a few extra bucks >>> having to line up way before doors and then not be able to leave my spot. That said, I'm totally open to spending that show on my feet at my assigned seat (and I'd probably prefer standing except for ballads if it was up to me). I generally take my cues from the people around me though, if the people around me are standing then I will too so I can maintain a view (and if the people behind me choose to sit, that's their choice). But if the people around me are all sitting down then I won't be the one guy who is standing. I actually almost got into an altercation with someone at the Philly DT show because he was being that one guy who kept standing and kept trying to get me to stand with him.

[ZirconBlue]

I prefer them playing venues that are all assigned seats. I like being able to pick exactly where I'm going to see the show from and if I really want to be up close then spending a few extra bucks >>> having to line up way before doors and then not be able to leave my spot. That said, I'm totally open to spending that show on my feet at my assigned seat (and I'd probably prefer standing except for ballads if it was up to me). I generally take my cues from the people around me though, if the people around me are standing then I will too so I can maintain a view (and if the people behind me choose to sit, that's their choice). But if the people around me are all sitting down then I won't be the one guy who is standing. I actually almost got into an altercation with someone at the Philly DT show because he was being that one guy who kept standing and kept trying to get me to stand with him.

This is my position, as well.  The General Admission cattle call is not for me.  I prefer to stand during the show, but I'll sit until the band starts playing, and may take the occasional sit-down break if my back starts hurting.

[Chino]

Sitting on the front row of a balcony is my go to.

[cramx3]

Stand, it's a rock concert.  Everyone able should stand if you are on the floor IMO.  As someone else said, the balcony is for sitting.  If it wasn't a rock concert, I could see sitting on the floor seats to be appropriate.  The band is so bland when everyone is sitting, it's not a great concert experience IMO. 

I'm hoping with a standard, not evening with, set, that the crowds will be standing more for this fall tour.

[hefdaddy42]

Young me loved to stand. Old me loves to sit.

[JLa]

I've not been to a DT show for years now, but you don't sit at a metal concert! You're supposed to feel exhausted afterwards, ears ringing, back aching, knees hurting. 

But seriously, sitting down in a comfy seat and listening would kill the mood for me. It's too low-energy when the band cranks it up to 11 and keep blasting out metal riffs.

[Stadler]

The band matters though.  I'm a stander too, but if I remember correctly, it was not my choice at The Astonishing show.

[BlacklistJones]

If there is a seat, I am sitting. That's the purpose of said seat. If someone stands in front of me and I'm not able to see the show without standing, then I'll stand without complaint. Otherwise, if there is a chair available for me to sit in and my view is not obstructed, then sitting is what I shall do.

I've never been an advocate of the rule that standing/sitting is dependent upon the specific genre of music that's playing. That being said, I'm also of the opinion that you should expect the liberty of freewill. There's no law that says that if there is a chair, you must sit. So, if someone wishes to stand - regardless if that person is immediately in front of you and your preference is to sit, then that's their prerogative. If I have to stand because the person in front of me is a stander, then I'll do so and know that I'm not going to die in the process.

To me, it's just a matter of going with the unpredictable flow of a concert setting. And you know what? If it's a show like the 4.5 hour marathon at the Beacon, where the boys played all of SFAM and all of Master of Puppets and then came back out to play Metropolis, and I'm losing feeling in my legs, I'll sit for a few minutes and then get back up if my view is that severely obstructed.

No harm, no foul, to me.