Wait? Other People Have to Enjoy the Show?

Imagine, your favourite artist finally has a show near you. You buy your tickets. You wait for almost a year for the day to arrive... But to your right, there’s a fight. To the left, someone’s passed out drunk. Someone pushes past you, nearly knocking you over, to get to the front. What happened to the unity of concerts?  

Enter Shikari concert – vxckx.boop.photography 

In social and mainstream media, there’s been an ongoing conversation about how to behave at shows. Yet, there are more and more people speaking up about how etiquette is a thing of the past. 

I first noticed it seeing The Pretty Reckless in 2022, where I spent the whole show with my spine bent back against the sound guy’s barrier. The lads around us were talking about disgusting things they’d do to Taylor Momsen, and the two girls in front of me kept jumping on my feet, resulting in my favourite pair of boots... ripping.  

The aftermath of The Pretty Reckless. 

Since then, it has only gone downhill. 

So why the change? My theory (and hope) is we’re all just a bit too excited after lockdown, and want to have some fun, which hopefully means it’ll calm down. I’m not alone here. 

 Sarah Owen, a concert enthusiast from Manchester, says, “people have now decided to go to gigs because they’re missing that human contact, they’re wanting to go out. They’ve also become inpatient too.” Although a point I hadn’t thought of was that a new crowd had started to go to concerts. Sarah continues, “I think people go to concerts now and they don’t know the artist, maybe only know one song. It’s just something’s gone viral and they want to be part of it” 

Kia Blackwood, a music fan from Doncaster, thinks similarly about this, when asked what she thinks has caused the change – she said, "new fans who think they know all about the artist.” She clarified she means both younger generations, and TikTok users, “they’ll hear one song and think they know all about said artist.” 

I know us Brits love a good grumble, but the topic of etiquette goes over to the USA, and Canada. 

Blake Warford is a Canadian music fan and one of metal Twitter’s most opinionated residents, so of course, he has something to say here – and it matches what seems to be the popular opinion.  He says,

“with everyone cooped up, dying to go to live events... I think they got too excited. You never know if [the pandemic’s] going to happen again” 

It’s not just concert goers, but now the artists have taken initiative to try and help. How could they not? When they’re also being injured by fan behaviour. It still doesn’t seem like enough. 

“I think some venues will have to set out some rules, strict rules you have to follow,” says Kia. Which Sarah agrees with.  

“There are people who just don’t care, but there are people who just want to help” Sarah goes on to tell me about two incidents. The first being where she was groped, and the staff didn’t care. The second being where she had an asthma attack, and the staff went above and beyond to help. She also says, “there are ones that are power mad” which I completely agree with. 

The first time I photographed a concert (PVRIS in Manchester, 2023), I approached the barrier and showed my pass, and the security (in a baby voice) said “oh, very nice, how long have you been doing that?” Who gave you the audacity?  

More seriously, the lack of etiquette is dangerous to all who go, especially those with disabilities. Kia talked about disabled fans being pushed around and treated awfully. Emergency exits are also being blocked by fans who are wanting good views. 

Fans blocking the exit and Bring Me the Horizon, Sheffield 

Pop concerts aren’t immune. Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish fans have discussed the decline of etiquette. Sarah states about men at metal shows, they look scary – but they’re some of the nicest. Blake even agrees, “I saw a dude stop a mosh pit for someone who had lost his hat.” 

In the last month I’ve seen Niall Horan and Skindred. Skindred fans were so polite, and it was eye opening to how bad manners have been when I found myself celebrating when someone apologised for standing on my foot. Bare minimum! As for the Niall fans...  Mocking people, pushing. I just found my seat and stayed in it.  

I can’t complain too much, as Sarah recounts finding a cup of wee at Fall Out Boy. Before the opener. In an arena. If you’ve never been to an arena, there are a lot of toilets for you to choose between. You do not need to go in a cup.  

Unless the toilets are clogged up by all the etiquette that’s been thrown down there...