Does anybody know when, why and who started the tradition of holding lit cigarette lighters when a band plays a mellow or “spiritual” song?
I asked the exact same question a while back but noone was able to answer… i hope someone around here knows!
They’re offering to re-light the band members’ doobies. :D:D
I reckon it’s just dumb mob psychology.
Note : this is not my opinion, this is something I read.
The liner notes on one of my roommate’s Styx albums claimed that this practice was either started or popularized by the band, especially their song “Light Up”.
panama jack
“People say these are the worst of times …”
I thought this started with candles at Beethoven concerts a couple centuries ago. 
Horsehocky. (not you, but Styx claim) This tradition was around before Styx was. I lit a few lighters at concerts way before they were around. It was a form of applause, and not just used during “mellow or spiritual” songs. It tended to happen at end of concerts. I think that the motivation was if you have been screaming your appreciation for a group all night, then the only way to increase your apparant appreciation was by adding a visual element. Being in the dark, the only thing that people could see would be light. Few people carried flashlights, but everyone had lighters. (For those doobies:))
I think I read somewhere that audience members used to hold
lighters aloft when the Doors performed ‘Light My Fire’.
Makes sense, after all.