It’s part of the growing “I paid for my ticket, I get to do whatever the fuck I want, including act like an asshole and ruin it for everybody else.” We need a tradition in our society that any five people sitting around said asshole can pool their cash, pay the asshole back for his ticket, and then physically throw his butt out (assuming the rest of him would follow, but the butt’s the important part here.) Or maybe we could make it go the other way, where if five people from the twelve seats surrounding said asshole hold up a “refund” sign, the asshole has to refund all of their admission.
“Why did everyone decide to stand up during the Hallelujia Chorus? That’s so RUDE!” - Overheard at a concert last December
Yes, and it’s damned excruciating to be around these people. I am so tired of the “it’s a free country!” excuse.
Two experiences:
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The woman behind me was singing along with every song at the THEATRE. Loudly. Poorly. ARRRRRRR. I turned around and politely asked her to stop. She told me to mind my own fucking business. So I went to one of the ushers to express my concern, her solution was to move my family to a different location. Ok so life was good for our little group, but not the rest of the folks surronding the audience participant. But the worst thing was this witch followed us out of the theatre and down the road after the show was over and kept cursing us for ruining her experience. She finally left off when my husband threatened to get the cops. I have’nt been back to the theatre since.
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Last Sunday at a football game, Mr Super Fan kept standing, yelling, waving his hands back at the rest of us so we would do the same…when nothing was happening (commercial time). He was ignored by all and actually gave the crowd disgusted looks. Then the asshat left before the end of the game. What a putz.
Years ago at a Crosby Stills and Nash concert they were performing a very soft, acapella piece and there were a few assholes who just couldn’t resist the urge to “Wooohoooo!” at the top of their lungs.
C, S & N actually stopped the music for a second and said “Give us a break, please”. The audience quieted, finally, and they continued. It’s sad that it had to come to that.
I think part of the reason for things like that are to get oneself included on the album track, if one is being recorded. It’s truly pathetic, if true.
Case in point: the song “Layla” on Clapton’s MTV Unplugged album. A nice, relaxed song that sort of gets ruined (for me anyway) by the asshole that yells “Whoo!” at the beginning of the first chorus.
At least the radio stations are doing that for a purpose, to stop people pirating the songs.
This is why I"ve always hated “Live Concert” albums. The whistling, whoops and hollers ruin the timing of the music.
Not that I like this particular song anyway, but “Freebird” is a perfect example. I’m punching that radio button before the first “Scrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech/whistle” is even a nano-second into the song. UGH.
Of course the exact opposite of this happens to me all the time when I’m preforming. Mind you I’m usually not in a concert setting but rather a restaurant or bar where people have come for reasons other than the music.
But we play a song. I see smiles, heads nodding, toes tapping etc. and when the song is finished. Nothing. Crickets chirp but the audience just stares at the band. What’s wrong with people?
I know you’re going to tell me that we must suck except that I know we don’t. And those same people would seek me out on the break to tell me how much they are enjoying the show. I always want to say “you could applaud once and a while” but I never do.
Maybe they’re saving all of their Woo-hoos and hand claps for the real concerts.
Well, hmmm. I definitely understand the OP, but some of the replies strike me as being a bit oversensitive. Yeah, there are plenty of oblivious people, but they are not necessarily attention whoring. Maybe they’re drunk, maybe it’s their favorite song, maybe it’s their first time at a concert. Maybe they are obnoxious attention whores. Who knows? Who cares?
When I see people quietly grooving to a show, I don’t give a damn what they look like. I don’t assume someone is an attention whore just because you can see they are really into the music. I don’t care how funky their chicken is. As long as I can still see and hear the show, they can do whatever the hell they want. People clapping at the end of a song? Grow some thicker skin, dudes.
The OP’s complaint makes sense. Next time, Chefguy, you might want to quietly alert the security staff that the guy is being very loud and you think he snuck in. They will likely check the guy’s ticket and send him back to his proper seat.
Bingo. My complaint is people standing up and hooting and hollering during the songs.
And you’re taking your life in your own hands if you do. I’m only being slightly hyperbolic. Getting into a confrontation with someone who demonstrably does not know how to behave is throwing the dice. You might have your concert or movie ruined in an even more dramatic way. Yes, there is something to be said for sitcking up for yourself, but there’s also something to be said for just bitching in the Pit and leaving it at that. 
I rarely go to live shows but took a friend to see Cowboy Junkies here. I kind of expected them to rock out a little more, but when it was clear that it was going to be a much more mellow low-key sound, great. It was also a benefit concert for a social services agency here so my guess is a good number of audience members may not have been intimately familiar with the repertoire. But it was mellow and easy listening for anyone. But a few rows behind us were two self-described “huge fans”; they described themselves that way after the umpteenth time they screamed and shouted and I finally turned around. I mean other people were enthusiastic and clapping, and even woo-hooing when appropriate but these people were over the top, and clearly pretty drunk.
It would have been Ok behavior at a different venue, but damn, look around! And try to fit in and not be fucking obnoxious about it.
See, unless they’re right next to me (which your guy obviously was), those kind of jerks don’t bother me much. It’s almost impossible to distract me from listening to music. Seriously. Can’t even have it playing while I’m trying to sleep. Still. . .it’s damned inconsiderate.
My personal favorite annoying-concert-guy was at a club concert for one of my favorite bands. The guy behind me insisted on doing the throwing-his-fist-forward-on-each-of-the-beats thing. This is popular at rock concerts, I gather. However, when you’re in a crowded club, and the height of your fist roughly corresponds with the back of my head (which I don’t even get, because the guy was taller than me), then throwing your fist forward is a fucking stupid idea. Because getting whanged on the back of the head (repeatedly) will distract me from the music.
Of course, I was a bit cuter and a bit more menacing back then, so I just turned around after the second whang, and gave him the “if that happens again, I am going to hit you in a more accessable and more painful place, mkay” look. That solved that problem. 
What you need is a professional crowd stirrer. My husband is a gigging musician (in FL, actually- Key Largo) and whenever I go to his shows I make sure at the end of each song I give my best, loudest, unignorable clap. Everyone else realizes it’s time to clap (Hey, people are restaurants and bars are doing other stuff, so you can’t blame them if they don’t always realize the song is over) and they clap like mad, then talk amongst themselves about the show. “Oh, this guy IS good…blah blah mutter mutter crowd chatter…”
For a small fee, I can get to your shows, too! Kidding. But really, you just have to have a ringer anywhere that you play where there is anything else going on, IMHO.
Everyone so often during a very quiet show my husband will finish a song then exclaim “And the crowd goes WILD!!!” which gets people laughing and clapping. Or if one single person claps, he’ll say “It’s a small, but enthusiastic crowd tonight. Thank you, sir!” or something to engage the crowd.