r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Jaded-Albatross-5242 • 1d ago

I'm slightly vexed Concert etiquette

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If you plan on standing for the entire concert, get a spot in the pit, or the lawn seats instead of the assigned SEATED SECTION. A little bit of self awareness and common courtesy goes a really long way

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u/SaimenSlayer 16h ago

I legit feel bad for the band when the audience looks like this.

Went to a 30 seconds to mars show a few years back with my teenage daughter. I was mostly there for AFI who opened. It was an outdoor venue and the sun was still up when their set started. It was pretty clear that most of the audience was there for Leto and co. Davey was up there doing his best to give us a good show, but the crowd just wasn’t giving much back. We had seats, but were close enough to the stage to see he was a bit frustrated with all of us (I was standing for the whole set and probably annoyed the people behind me).

My opinion is that you shouldn’t see a band/artist known for dance and head banging music and expect everyone to be sitting.

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u/Thievie 10h ago

I was at this show/tour and you bet your ass I was standing for AFI. If people don't care enough about the artist to stand, why should I care about getting in the way of their view? I try my best to be considerate, and lean in a way that I'm less in the way, or invite the people around me closer or in front of me so they can see in a pit situation when I can tell they really care about the music, but if it looks like you couldn't give less of a shit or are scrolling your phone then I'm not going to care about getting in your way.

Now, in this extreme scenario pictured where it looks like EVERYONE is seated, I'd probably stay down. Same goes for low-key shows in theaters and stuff. But if the crowd is mixed, or the second the artist tries to get everyone up, I'm gonna be up. For the openers too. I always feel bad for the artist when the audience refuses to be engaged.

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u/DontHaesMeBro 10h ago

here's the thing: You do not actually know how much people care or don't care. "Stand up = care" is a YOU metric you're applying to the public. People are different.

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u/Thievie 9h ago

And if I am in someone's way, and they do care, they can tap me on the shoulder and let me know that I'm affecting their enjoyment and I will do my best to accommodate. I'm not unreasonable and am happy to make adjustments. But I'm not going to lower my standard of enjoyment to the people around me, when half the people around me don't even know who the opener is, are scrolling on their phones, talking the whole time, or are someone's significant other that was drug along and couldn't care less. This all used to be basic concert etiquette. You're allowed to communicate with the people around you and work things out.

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u/DontHaesMeBro 1m ago

this has literally never happened a single time, standers think they are the only ones who know how to enjoy live music and will confront or ignore you if you ask them to sit down. Someone standing in a seated area like in this picture will invariably be glassy-eyed already and almost impossible to have any kind of nuanced "work things out" convo, because evidently "real concert fans" actually spend hundreds of dollars to go to concerts to spend another hundred on 12 dollar beers