Concert behavior question

In My Humble Opinion
1

Last night we were at a concert that had a jumbo screen as well as tiny people on the stage. We were on the second tier of seats. When the band came out, the 5 people in the row in front of us stood up. Ok, thinks I, this will just last the first song. No one else in our section stood up, and when I looked around, barely anyone there was standing aside from those on the floor seats. This is a huge auditorim, btw, the kind that they play hockey in.

Standees keep standing, so after the second song, I asked the guy who was closest to me if he would mind sitting, as none of us could see. He answered “why don’t you stand?” and I replied that then the people behind me couldn’t see, and if they stood, the people behind them, ad infinitum. He shrugged, but sat. He told the woman at the end of their group, and she said “It’s a concert!” but she sat, too. Then their beer-purchasing buddies came back, and it was clear they were told, as much whispering and dirty looks ensued. First guy I spoke to evidently couldn’t deal, so he left. (I later found him standing at the back, which was cool.)

About two thirds of the way through the concert, beer-buying friend apparently decides he must stand. No one joins him, though, and he just stands alone through a few songs. I decided since he was on beer 5, and he had been asked once (albeit through his wife, as I didn’t speak to him, but his friend) to not say anything. People behind us were muttering, but when I told them I had already tried, and if they were unhappy, they should speak to them, they just shook their heads.

We just tried to see as best we could, and eventually some people on our row left early and we snagged their seats. Later we heard beer-buying friend tell the woman in front of us to stand, but she didn’t.

Ok, so here’s my question: How would you have handled this?

2

Were these stadium seats? Outdoor or indoor?

3

Stadium seats, indoor, assigned. $75 per seat. Second tier, so we were pretty high up.

4

First what kind of concert was it ? Rock, opera ? If someone tells me to sit down at a Motorhead concert, ain’t going to happen.

5

This subject is a tough one. Often, the whole crowd is up, because the band is so awesome. Other times, you want to sit, but the people in front of you may be feeling that enthusiasm. You handled it the best way–asking them to sit. It’s annoying, because at EVERY concert I’ve ever attended there were people who wanted to stand from start to finish.

6

I am 5’ 2" and I have had that experience countless times. I really hate it when I’ve arrived early, scoped out a great spot and somehow ended up behind some 6’ dude. Women are often invisible at some of the concerts I go to (Hey, I like metal, so sue me), and often, a guy will just step right in front of me. On occasion, I’ve tapped the guy on the shoulder, or elbow (because that’s what I could reach) and said, “Hey, I bet you can see right over my head. Do you mind if I stand in front of you?” 8 times out of 10, the guy will realize he’s being a douche and me standing in front of him won’t impede his view one iota. The other two times, the douche will just tell me to fuck off and I try to bodyblock my way to another spot.

The only other thing I can think of is to grab one of the security guys who patrol the stadium sections and ask if they would speak to the offender. There’s usually one in each section to keep people from the crappy seats from squatting in the better seats; they check tickets and bust the pot smokers and such. Most are minimum wage temp worker types, so I wouldn’t be surprised if all I got was a shrug and a tough shit lady, deal with it yourself.

7

At the 121212 concert we were all on our feet about 90% of the 6 hour concert.

8

I’ve been to many many concerts, but most of them were general admission, so this isn’t really much of a concern. However, my opinion is that, if I paid for a seat, I ought to be able to sit and enjoy the music. You don’t stand during the exciting part of a film at the cinema, or the exciting part of a play at the theater, or at an orchestral concert, so why are other shows different? Sure, if you want to dance or, as with most of the one’s I’d go to, headbang or mosh, I get it, but there’s not enough room there to do that. Why would you just stand up and… just stand still?

Hell, one of my favorite concert memories was one where everyone (except one douche) was just really enjoying the music, and despite being general admission, everyone was standing almost evenly spaced front to back and it really created a fraternal sort of energy with the music and the bands. But then there’s also those who start throwing punches and stuff when people push forward through crowded general admission concerts too, as if that’s not just part of how it goes and, if they can’t take it, why are they up there dealing with it? I think some people just don’t really understand the ettiquette at different kinds of concerts and just forget that everyone else paid as much to enjoy the show too.

But really, if you’re at a sit down concert, you’re supposed to sit down. If someone isn’t, you’re fine in telling them to sit down, or go stand somewhere else. But, that’s also why I think it’s fairly rare you’ll see rock and metal shows with anything other than general admission, except for perhaps box seats, where even if it is a stadium, you go on the floor if you want to stand, and to the seats if you want to sit.

9

Because you won’t hear what they said?

10

Yeah, the guy just stood there, swaying a bit and nodding his head. IMHO, nothing he couldn’t have done in his seat.

The concert was Aerosmith, btw, and most of the crowd was my age–40s to 50s. Like I said before, about 98% of the tier we were in were seated. People on the floor were standing, but not up where we were.

11

Has nothing to do with what the band is singing, it has to do with energy of the music. The louder and more energetic it is, the more I want to move. Even if I’m just standing there blocking your view.

It’s ok if that doesn’t do it for you; ass in seats are optional at a rock concert not mandatory.

12

Try being in assigned seating in a wheelchair and with people standing in front of you. And you’re still the arsehole when you ask them to sit down? Fuck that. If I pay $120+ to see a show, I want to see the show…

13

I thought he meant because it was so loud at the concert you wouldn’t hear them asking you to sit down.

We were at the Aerosmith/Cheap Trick concert in Oakland this summer. It was up and down for us. Certain songs would be played and people would all stand up. Then after a song or two pretty much everyone sat down again. Kind of like church, stand, sit, stand, sit. The most annoying thing we encountered was the young woman (early 20’s) who was very bored at the concert and spend the whole time texting…with her screen light shining right in my face.

14

You handled it the best you can. All you can do is ask politely and hope to come to some reasonable understanding. Though why you paid good money to go to an Aerosmith concert just so you could sit and stare at them is beyond me.

The vast majority of the time you paid for admission, not a seat. The seats are there because they can’t be gotten rid of easily. There are times when you pay more for a seat and then I guess you can be pissed if people are standing. Otherwise, both film and cinema (and sports) are highly visual. Blocking someone’s view significantly reduces their enjoyment. Rock concerts not so much. Orchestral concerts fall in line with general concert guidelines:

  1. Seated performers = seated audience
  2. GA with both seats and a dance floor = butts in seats where there are seats
  3. Acoustic concerts = sitting for all but the most popular/high energy songs
  4. Feel the room
15

Not if you want to see a musician’s technique. Or a great performance. If I go to see Fleetwood Mac, I want to see Mick Fleetwood going nuts while Lindsey Buckingham does an extended guitar solo. If I go to see Alice Cooper, I want to see the decapitations and hangings. Is this not reasonable?

16

Why pay good money for a concert when you can play the song at home and dance around? Same thing. If I go to a concert, I want to SEE the performance. As someone who is five feet tall, I’m not going to be able to see the concert when the people in front of me stand up, even if I stand up as well, unless the people in front of me are also about five feet tall. Hell, there’s been a lot of times when I couldn’t see the movie because some six footer decided that he wanted to sit right in front of me, despite the empty seats all around.

17

I finally got to see Rush for the first time about a year ago. I’d been waiting 20 years. :slight_smile: But when we ran into the same situation, we left. MrTao simply isn’t able to stand that long, and I am short enough that standing wouldn’t have allowed me to see over the people standing in front of me, anyway.

Bought the DvD on the way out, instead. And, unfortunately, I can’t see a reason to ‘see’ them live again.

It didn’t used to be this way. It used to be that the FLOOR seats were for dancing. The upper levels are for viewing. I don’t know just when that changed, but I’m disappointed. Only 15 years ago I went to a Metallica show and got to see every last bit of it. What is wrong with people now?

18

Rock music is for dancing.

19

I go to a lot of rock concerts. I think pretty much all of them have had people standing up to see better or to dance. It doesn’t bother me. I’ll stand for a while then sit down to rest for a bit if my feet or back get sore. I think of the standing around during concerts as just part of the experience.

20

Brynda, IMO you handled it perfectly. While I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in your section stood, when they didn’t and it was just these few people, it’s fair to point it out to them so they can look around and realize they’re being asses. If the whole section did stand after all, then I would say it’s par for the course and should be expected, suck it up and deal.

I can’t think of a single stadium concert I’ve been to where everyone wasn’t standing, even in the nosebleed seats. But I certainly wouldn’t insist on it, and would stay seated if everyone else did. I’m not about to be “that chick.”