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Post by nodepression on Feb 23, 2010 19:46:55 GMT -5
Yea if you have a spot for the whole day I really don't have a problem with letting them back to their spot, especially if they're polite about it. Eventually you are going to need food/water/bathroom, obviously they really love the band if they're camping out hours early, no person is immune to hunger and thirst.
Also about the tall thing, I'm 6'2 and it sucks when people complain behind you. I usually just kind of shoot them a sorry face and they stop, or I apologize and they feel guilty I heard and stop talking about it. It's not my fault I'm tall, just like it's not your fault you're shorter than me.
Yea if you have a spot for the whole day I really don't have a problem with letting them back to their spot, especially if they're polite about it. Eventually you are going to need food/water/bathroom, obviously they really love the band if they're camping out hours early, no person is immune to hunger and thirst.
I usually let it slide if it's just once or twice. I don't mind if the people say "hey i'm just running to the bathroom....would you let me back in when i come back" or something like that. but this is only really at single concerts. at festivals i don't really know what the etiquette is. the only shows i've camped out for were late night tents at roo.
but then sometimes you get the people who leave 7 times during the show for drinks or a smoke and always push their way back up and give you dirty looks because it's "their spot". that can be annoying.
Madison's alternative weekly paper has weekly ticket giveaways. Back in 2005, one of these contests was for Ashlee Simpson tickets. My friend & I both signed up as a joke and agreed to go for the lulz in the unlikely event one of us won.
Just my luck, my name was chosen as the "lucky" winner. So we did what we said we were going to do and went to the Ashlee Simpson concert.
That was also an annoying crowd. The shrieking and the signs were both out in force. Mostly teenyboppers, a few college-aged girls, the occasional unlucky boyfriend in tow.
We stood near the back of that crowd and had no visibility problems. Bar service was exceptionally quick that night, which was a blessing because we really needed it.
Post by temporarysaint on Feb 24, 2010 11:01:30 GMT -5
I love this thread! Even though I knew I wasn't the only one, it's good to really know I'm not the only one.
Here's a quick one about an outdoor Mule show in Brooklyn a few years back. There were two opening acts and we missed the first, but we made it for Wolfmother and were probably a couple of hundred from the stage. Once Wolfmother ended it was like RedSea parted. Almost everyone left and we walked right to the front with my wife making it right to the rail.
There were still people on the rail, they didn't bail, but this one spot was open so my wife took it with me standing behind her. After about 10 or 15 minutes this guy shoves his way in between my wife and another guy. I say something along the lines of, "hey do you mind not knocking of my wife?" and all hell breaks loose. We've got people screaming at us from both sides, not the guy who bumped into my wife or the guy with him, but the people on the periphery.
They yell at us. "he's been standing there all day," "get the eff outta here," stuff like this. At one point I definitely thought there would be a fight as my wife, who's a tiny, but tough, little thing starts yelling back at them. Finally I look the one guy right in the eye and say, "There's not going to be any fight here today," and that difused the situation.
My point is that the buddy of the guy who bumped my wife was standing there the whole time. If he said to us when we first got to that spot, "hey my buddy went to the bathroom and will be back in a sec," we would've said "cool." But because he didn't say anything we thought who the eff is the guy pushing my wife to get the rail. Luckily it didn't turn out bad. I had visions of cop cars and ambulances while it was going on.
Also about the tall thing, I'm 6'2 and it sucks when people complain behind you. I usually just kind of shoot them a sorry face and they stop, or I apologize and they feel guilty I heard and stop talking about it. It's not my fault I'm tall, just like it's not your fault you're shorter than me.
It's true it's annoying to listen to people complain instead of listening to the show, but you really shouldn't stand in front of short people. If you're tall, you can see from anywhere. You're there to hear the show more than see it, but it's nice to be able to see, and usually possible to see if you don't have someone tall directly in front of you blocking your view.
Also about the tall thing, I'm 6'2 and it sucks when people complain behind you. I usually just kind of shoot them a sorry face and they stop, or I apologize and they feel guilty I heard and stop talking about it. It's not my fault I'm tall, just like it's not your fault you're shorter than me.
It's true it's annoying to listen to people complain instead of listening to the show, but you really shouldn't stand in front of short people. If you're tall, you can see from anywhere. You're there to hear the show more than see it, but it's nice to be able to see, and usually possible to see if you don't have someone tall directly in front of you blocking your view.
Really? I am pretty sure it is first come first served it is not like tall people should go to the back, and let short people get up front.
Post by nodepression on Feb 24, 2010 11:23:49 GMT -5
Yea I'm not going to stand in back because I'm taller than people, and if they ask politely I let them stand in front of me, but that hasn't happened more than once or twice. But I'm not going to move due to vague bitching in my direction.
I love this thread! Even though I knew I wasn't the only one, it's good to really know I'm not the only one.
Here's a quick one about an outdoor Mule show in Brooklyn a few years back. There were two opening acts and we missed the first, but we made it for Wolfmother and were probably a couple of hundred from the stage. Once Wolfmother ended it was like RedSea parted. Almost everyone left and we walked right to the front with my wife making it right to the rail.
There were still people on the rail, they didn't bail, but this one spot was open so my wife took it with me standing behind her. After about 10 or 15 minutes this guy shoves his way in between my wife and another guy. I say something along the lines of, "hey do you mind not knocking of my wife?" and all hell breaks loose. We've got people screaming at us from both sides, not the guy who bumped into my wife or the guy with him, but the people on the periphery.
They yell at us. "he's been standing there all day," "get the eff outta here," stuff like this. At one point I definitely thought there would be a fight as my wife, who's a tiny, but tough, little thing starts yelling back at them. Finally I look the one guy right in the eye and say, "There's not going to be any fight here today," and that difused the situation.
My point is that the buddy of the guy who bumped my wife was standing there the whole time. If he said to us when we first got to that spot, "hey my buddy went to the bathroom and will be back in a sec," we would've said "cool." But because he didn't say anything we thought who the eff is the guy pushing my wife to get the rail. Luckily it didn't turn out bad. I had visions of cop cars and ambulances while it was going on.
6/18: Phish in Hartford 6/25: Phish in Camden 7/2-7/4: Nateva 7/17: God Street Wine at Irving Plaza 7/23-7/25: String Cheese at Red Rocks!! 8/17-8/18: Phish at Jones Beach 9/3: Rush at PNC
This Bonnaroo lineup is in dire need of some Rush.
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I have seen my fair share of people pushing their way through a thick crowd, and I can't even imagine what they are thinking while doing that. Those people can be so rude and they deserve the vitriol spewed at them. And these are the same idiots who you sometimes hear in a stoned, half intelligible manner, "BONNNNAROOO, PEACE AND LOVE MAAAANN". I've actually heard that once when some people were pushing their way through.
Though the one that took the cake for me was during Gov't Mule at Roo last year, some NIN fan left her front row spot, and I thought, "she better not think she's gonna get her spot back."
But lo and behold, right before The Mars Volta, she comes pushing her way through with a ton of water and food. The most inconsiderate person I have ever seen at a show. If you are going to wait at one stage for 12 HOURS, you better come prepared, but this girl and her friends didn't.
Man, if she brought back food and water for the rest of the folks staking out spots on the rail, I sure as hell would let her back in!
I would have understood if this was in between the many hours The Mars Volta show and NIN shows when nothing was going on, but this was seriously a couple of minutes before the Volta was coming on and the people around us and my own group had the hindsight to know that if we were going to stay 7 hours for the Volta, to bring food and water. And my group wasn't the only one bothered by it, almost all of the people around me were bothered by it. If you guys were there on stage left, there was NOWHERE to move.
Its a matter of realizing the environment you are in. Bring lots of water and food to Centeroo if you are going to be there a long time. Thats all.
One thing I didn't add to the story was that Mule came on right as the situation was difused and now I'm standing here fuming. I'm all pissed off thinking how am I going to enjoy this show when I just want to kill someone right now. Before the first song ended one of the instigators of the whole thing handed me a nice little nug as a peace offering and I was able to enjoy the show.
The funniest part of the whole thing was that it was the people on either side of us who really started it not the guy who's "spot" we were in. And his dumb-ass friend should've just spoken up to begin with. If he had said "my friends on his way back" we would've moved for him.
But I'm in total agreement about the assheads who just push their way to the front. There's nothing more nauseating than some people's sense of entitlement.
After reading some of these stories, I remembered my own opposite tale. I was 20, at a Jimmy Eat World (this was like 2001 or so) concert at the Agora in Cleveland. It's a fairly small venue, and even though we were towards the back, we were still packed in super tight so there was no room to do much more than bop your head around. There was a drunken mid to late-30s guy in front of us who thought he had plenty of room to dance/bump/knock over people. About the 6th time he stepped on my flip-flopped foot, I said something to the effect of "Dude, do you mind?" To which he responded, "what, you never been to a concert before? Amateur." And continued ramming people. It took me awhile to remember what band it was, but I remember that douche clearly.
Post by bluntobject on Feb 26, 2010 2:55:20 GMT -5
I can sympathize with basically every story here.
One peeve I wanted to add however was people, usually teenagers but not always, smoking cigarettes in extremely crowded concerts. It's not the smell that bothers me, but often these people are drunk or at the very least careless, and end up burning the clothing and flesh of people around them. Sometimes this can be funny, for instance when I end up watching a drunk high school junior burn a hole straight through his friend's expensive shirt and into his back, but often it's just a source of frustration and anger for myself and the other people around the smoker who end up feeling like they're playing the last level of Super Mario Brothers, dodging fireballs left and right for the entire night.
One peeve I wanted to add however was people, usually teenagers but not always, smoking cigarettes in extremely crowded concerts. It's not the smell that bothers me, but often these people are drunk or at the very least careless, and end up burning the clothing and flesh of people around them. Sometimes this can be funny, for instance when I end up watching a drunk high school junior burn a hole straight through his friend's expensive shirt and into his back, but often it's just a source of frustration and anger for myself and the other people around the smoker who end up feeling like they're playing the last level of Super Mario Brothers, dodging fireballs left and right for the entire night.
Seems like you know a few too many details about this situation to have merely been a casual observer... sounds to me like you might be one of (or at the very least, encouraging and introducing into the crowd) the very people/behavior you're complaining about.
I also think you're a bit mistaken to be proclaiming all the drunks & smokers you see at shows to be teenagers. As has been mentioned a few times in this thread, we all make our rookie mistakes. These kids are just more noticeable because they haven't made theirs yet. We're all lightweights at some point, right?
Post by belltwala1 on Feb 27, 2010 18:31:02 GMT -5
id like to say something about the tall/short issue. im very short and often times i cant see at all if im in a situation where everyone is standing at the same level. i know this and i often have to move BACK in order to see better. this is no ones fault but this is unpleasant if i waited in a certain spot a very very long time. i waited a very very very long time to be right up front recently ...i was there almost two hours standing.. right before the concert started th is happy tall guy bounced RIGHT in front of me. now he was smiling and happy and it wasnt his fault but it was unpleasant. i certainly wasnt mad at him and he wasnt even into the band so he left soon afterward. now i sure wasnt mad at anyone - its how it goes at some concerts. imagine how people with foot and back issues felt about having to stand that long for the band to start!
however, i have made the comment "damnit i cant see" and people think im talking about them in front of me but im NOT. when i say i cant see it means that i cant see because im SHORT and im going to have to move. so if you are tall and you hear someone complaining they may mean that they are going to have to give up their spot and move back and it may have NOTHING to do with you at all.
the only time i would be upset with someone tall in front of me is if they are exploiting the situation such as standing up when no one is standing. i also dont think its cool to put a kid on your shoulder when you are in a seated sitaution such as the ryman. if its in the middle of the field then i can move but if we both paid $$$$$ for our seats then we dont need to block others.
Post by belltwala1 on Feb 27, 2010 18:38:38 GMT -5
i also take into account that sometimes people are just plain drunk. this happens more at bar shows than ryman type shows. maybe i really want to see a band thats playing for a low cover...however,...there are also people who are there just to hangout and they get drunk and start to talk and laugh. i have noticed this to be pretty bad at 3rd and lindsley in nashville. they pack too many people in there sometimes and the people are drunk and loud by the time the band starts.
the most annoying thing that ive had to deal with recently was when i went to see a show that i bought a seat for and someone in front of me was trying to hold up a freaking sign during the show....i mean....how much forethought does it take to know you cant do that at a show thats sold by the seat?
Post by questionablesanity on Feb 28, 2010 15:38:26 GMT -5
I feel sorry for short people at shows. My son's mother is about 4'11" and our first date was a 311 show. We were in the pit and got separated almost instantly. She found me after the show and said, "wow that was amazing, but I couldn't see a damn thing" So not once during the entire show did she get to see the artists on stage.
A Thieve's Parade 2/24 Conspirator 2/26 Kevin Smith 3/11 Keller 3/17 Papadosio 3/18 JJ Grey 3/25 Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer 3/26 Toubab Krewe 3/27 O'Death 4/11 Budos Band 4/22 EOTO 4/28 Summer Camp 5/6-29 All Good
One peeve I wanted to add however was people, usually teenagers but not always, smoking cigarettes in extremely crowded concerts. It's not the smell that bothers me, but often these people are drunk or at the very least careless, and end up burning the clothing and flesh of people around them. Sometimes this can be funny, for instance when I end up watching a drunk high school junior burn a hole straight through his friend's expensive shirt and into his back, but often it's just a source of frustration and anger for myself and the other people around the smoker who end up feeling like they're playing the last level of Super Mario Brothers, dodging fireballs left and right for the entire night.
Seems like you know a few too many details about this situation to have merely been a casual observer... sounds to me like you might be one of (or at the very least, encouraging and introducing into the crowd) the very people/behavior you're complaining about.
I also think you're a bit mistaken to be proclaiming all the drunks & smokers you see at shows to be teenagers. As has been mentioned a few times in this thread, we all make our rookie mistakes. These kids are just more noticeable because they haven't made theirs yet. We're all lightweights at some point, right?
Not sure where all of those assumptions came from, but no, I don't smoke at concerts, and I'm not even sure what 'encouraging and introducing into the crowd the very people/behavior you're complaining about' means, seriously I don't know what you're telling me that I do. Tell people to burn each other I guess? I dunno.
As far as the details go, I could tell the shirt was expensive because I recognized the brand after the burn-e turned around to yell at his friend. The age was a guess.
question, thats so funny that you said that. ive said that so many time i cant count. my taller friends always try to move me around but honestly.....i dont get mad about it. in a way its funny.i can often see until the band starts and everyone moves up a few inches then lose my field of view hahahah.
Post by poster-nutbag on Mar 2, 2010 15:32:06 GMT -5
my gf is about 5 ft and she never seed whats going on, on the stage during the shows.....its just a fact that comes with live shows (gen adm seating) we've been to four roo's and a few other fests and she hardly ever sees the stage for the main acts...she 's just too short. I am 6ft two and i c everythinkg that goes on so it's hard for me to relate...but she doesnt let it get her down she just has a great time and accepts her fate....sometimes people are shorter than others and those people wont be able to see over those who are taller....bummers. That being said, when we see show in arenas (phish) we dont often get floor seats b/c this gives her a chance to actually see the show from her seat.......if yer little and you want to see the show at roo...get there early and use your diminutive stature to sneak your way up to the rail.....it's your best bet.
Also about the tall thing, I'm 6'2 and it sucks when people complain behind you. I usually just kind of shoot them a sorry face and they stop, or I apologize and they feel guilty I heard and stop talking about it. It's not my fault I'm tall, just like it's not your fault you're shorter than me.
Had to throw my two cents in here, I'm five feet tall and yeah it's nobody's fault that I'm short just like it's not your fault you are tall. What DOES suck though, is when I manage to find a spot where I can actually see the stage (no easy feat, sometimes) and someone who is like 6'5" walks up and plants themselves RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. In that circumstance, where they could see the stage from just about anywhere, and I can pretty much only see the stage from this one spot I was fortunate enough to get, is pretty lame. On behalf of you tall folks though, most people that do that are nice enough to at least move over a foot or two if I ask them nicely
Edit: Doh, should read the thread before posting responses I guess, I see this topic was already covered. Sorry
Post by pondo ROCKS on Mar 2, 2010 15:43:36 GMT -5
If I wanna be upfront at a show or a stage...I first USE THE BATHROOM BEFORE HAND...second-I BRING MY WATER AND FOOD...the end. To me, once you leave, its fair game, especially at a rock show. If I need to leave, then imo, that spot becomes vacated and someone else who has waited patiently can move up a spot.
Now, if it is reserved seating, obviously your spot cannot be taken...
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Post by avocadolady on Mar 2, 2010 18:56:30 GMT -5
Much of our workaday life is such a dog-eat-dog experience...it's a shame if our leisure time is spent thinking that way, too. I say, make friends with your "neighbors" and maybe they'll save your spot. Most of the time I'll let someone back in if they've been kind and respectful.
What do y'all think of people sitting on someone else's shoulders?
Post by nodepression on Mar 2, 2010 20:11:39 GMT -5
On the other hand, if your pushing up front during the show then you're being a di.ck and should go to an actual spot, not one at the rail when people who have been there all day are getting pushed aside.
Example, some weird goth couple at Mogwai in Buffalo pushed their way to the front during the last song raising up their hands like it was some kind of ritual. I've never wanted to physically fight someone at a show before, but I wanted to punch the guy in the face.
Post by Mean Mr. Mustard on Mar 3, 2010 10:02:23 GMT -5
I got three pretty solid stories from shows. 2 happened to me, while I just witnessed the third.
1 - I was at a Dropkick Murrphys show at a decent sized club in Cincinnati about 3 or 4 years ago. My buddy and his GF and I stood to the left of the stage just outside of the moshpit. We had zero incidents until right before the encore when I feel a fist to the back of my head. I wasn't a very hard hit but any punch to the head gets your attention. I turn around and I'm towering over a dude about 5'5"(Im 6'). He looks at me in terror and points to his overly innebriated gf. He goes , "she did it man. I dont know why she is really drunk." he went and bought me two beers and all was well. In the end it was actually really funny.
2 - Myself, my wife, my buddy, his gf, and brother are at a Gogal Bordello show in NYC close to new years 2008/2009. It ia a GA show at a club in Manhattan. The show was awesome great crowd, super energetic until the encore when some dude late 20s i would guess goes over to mybuddy and his brother and starts trying to mosh with them, jumping and up and down in their faces. they kind of push him away tell him its not cool, etc. well he then pushes through them and start moshing on his gf at that point violence breaks out. my buddy and his brother finally leave with his gf and my wife and leave me to deal with the dude. I just knocked him down and he came back up and thried to mosh with me again. He never said a word the whole time it was weird. At that point i spit in his face knocked him down again and while he was on the ground told him it wasn't cool to rough women up. I moved a few feet away watched the last song and left. It was weird the guy never said one word.
3 - I ust witnessed this one. I was at a Moody Blues show with my parents last summer and as the show started the two ladies around 40 or so stood up when no one else around them did. the people behind them was a couple that looked close to 80 with their kids and grandkids. One of the younger members of the family politely asked them to sit, bc their father was older and couldnt stand. they said this is a concert I paid i can stand, etc. At this point the old dude unleashed one of the most amazing assualts of insults and cuss words at these women until they finally relented and sat. They tried to get support from others in the section, but everyone was like the dude is like 80 go to a less crowded section and stand. They finally left, but I got a great laugh out of it.
The only problems i usually have at shows is when people are crowd surfing and I am ususally the guy that gets asked to lift them up. Gets really annoying after 5 or 6 times.
^^^ You're mad because at 2 punk shows people were moshing? WTF? I'll be seeing the Dropkicks on St Paddy's day in boston. from the back. that is going to be a violent show!
And you spit in the dude's face? he was obviously high or wasted - just tell the guy to move along or grab security. that's def not cool...
This whole "sitting at a show" has to be a Southern thing. I had people telling me to sit during REM in Ashland, NC a few years back - whatever. I ignored them.
In Boston, however, I learned it's customary to sit at traditional country shows - you do not stand for Ray Price, Merle, or even Willie (when they are all playing together).
Post by Mean Mr. Mustard on Mar 3, 2010 14:08:39 GMT -5
^^Dude settle down and hold your judgement. You took it way out of context. I grew up going to punk shows and have been in many a mosh pit. Shows that Ive been to "in the south" (Just reread you above post and realized the in the south comments were diredtied at the sitting, I admit to not really reading the rest of the post after bogus judgement) are just as crazy as shows that ive been to in Chicago, NYC, Detroit, or Boston. There are just the unwritten rules of moshing such as going to the center to mosh and if you dont want to mosh stand at the back. Which we did at that show. We just wanted to watch the show and enjoy it so we Were purposely outside of the moshing area of the show a few hundred feet back from the stage. The guy specifically came up to us and was jumping on us specifically trying to keep us from enjoying the show when all he had to do was go into the crowded area 50 or 60 feet away that was crowded and jumping around. We asked him to stop 5 or 6 times over the span of about 5 or 10 minute and go into the mosh pit he then responded by going over to mybuddies girlfriend and puxhing her almost knocking her down. If you dont think that we should have stepped in and regulated then I question your morals. We asked him to stop several times and move along and he wouldn't and he would not respond to us at all but he seemed lucid. We did him a favor by not beating the sh1t out him or getting security would have treated him a lot worse than we did. He deserved everything that he got and much worse.
As far as the DKM show I again wasn't in the Mosh Pit area but Im pretty sure its never ok to just punch somone in the back of the head. Again, I find that experience funny, the girl apologized and told me that she wanted me to move b/c she couldnt see and in her drunken state punching me rather than asking me to move seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
but the first was crappy becasue it ruined what was a great show and borderline assualt was comitted against my buddies girlfriend. The dude was totally out of control and innapropriate and I was actually thanked and applauded by the other people in our proximity when I dealt with him. So I dont find anything wrong with what we did. My exact words to him were "do you want to see what I do to people who get physical with women? to which he responded by laughing in my face so yes I spit in his face and knocked him to the ground. I should have punched him. I didnt put the whole story in there becasue the post was getting too long. Anyway, you took it way out of context and becasue I am a mellow person I actually undereacted. Anyway, have fun at the DKM St. Paddy's day I was at the Avalon (I think that was the place, it was right across from Fenway) for one of the shows in 2007. It was a great show, but it wasn't anymore violent than other punk shows. Defintiely one of the most fun times Ive ever had at a show.
