I stood at a concert

[MangosteenSoda]

Went to a concert and had a seat to the side of the stage. In my experience, everyone stands when the act comes on. This didn’t happen universally, but probably around a quarter of the crowd started by standing. I was a little in front of most of the other ‘standers’ and sort of leaned on my seat a bit to minimise myself I suppose, but wanted to enjoy the songs and not sit.

A few songs in, a lady behind me tapped my arm and asked me to sit because her boyfriend/husband (sitting next to her) couldn’t see. I just said, ‘I’m sorry, but this is a concert’ and carried on standing. I’m pretty small and there were massive screens and a stage. I don’t think I blocked it all out.

A few songs later, the ‘very popular and famous’ song was performed and everyone stood up including the woman and her boyfriend. After that, most of the crowd continued standing and a bunch of people were dancing like windmills and nobody bothered them. The angry man and his girlfriend stormed out at this point.

I don’t have a particular aibu, but I felt that I was only asked to sit because I looked like an easy target to ask. It annoyed me that the woman had to ask for the guy and that it was put to me that I should sit because this guy’s preference was all important. I also felt sad for the woman because she was wearing the band T Shirt (so I assumed she was the fan) and this guy seemed to ruin her night with his moans and complaints while she just seemed to want to dance and enjoy the concert like everyone else.

So, should there be areas at concerts where everyone has to stay seated? I don’t think all the seating areas should be this way because they outnumber the floor and it would make for pretty sedentary concerts but maybe a compromise somewhere?

That’s t he point though… the whole audience was up. If your at The Eagles for example most of the gig people will sit for most of the songs and get up for the more ‘fancy ones’ if you’re in a glaring minority standing whilst everyone else is sitting, you need to read the room at a concert and park your ass down.

There is one venue I got to quite often. It's a concert hall and so the seats are not well laid out for anything where people want to stand up. What happens is that someone near the front stands up, then the three people immediately behind them stand up because they can't see, then the several people behind them etc. Before you know it, half the audience is standing but only one person wants to be standing. As such, unless I can get a seat in the front row of a section, I don't go there anymore. I don't have a disability, but I'm old enough that I don't want to stand for the whole thing. I find it very unfair and selfish that some people - usually fat, middle-aged women - think that the world is about them and no-one else's experience matters.

I don’t entirely disagree with you but statements like this baffle me: “it was put to me that I should sit because this guy’s preference was all important”…it’s his preference to sit so should he stand because your preference is more important?

As for his partner asking you, I suspect you’d have been posting about an aggressive male asking you to sit if he had done it.

Surely it depends on the artist. I saw Bruce Springsteen at Villa Park last year. We had seats but nearly everyone was standing and dancing for a lot of the concert. I'm presuming it'll be the same at Wembley in a couple of weeks as well, it's hardly music to sit quietly and clap politely to!

What if the people in front of you are also standing? Which means you wouldn’t see anything.

I don’t want to watch a screen, I want to see the performer, might as well stay home and watch it on the tv.

I had this last year, the woman in front leant so faced I couldn't see a thing and the man behind asked me to sit down. May as well have watched the show on YouTube.

@duckydoo234 you are lucky that you can see sitting down or standing up

I can rarely see anything and I am not especially short for a female

I stand to dance and to show appreciation for the artist and because I just find it really hard not to dance when the music is great

I don't go to a concert to see an artist but to hear them- their art is sound not vision ( never got to see Bowie though )

And not giving a toss about the people behind them. Me me me.

I think it really does depend on what everyone else is doing around you because it does block your view, at a football match recently I asked someone to sit down because they were standing all the time, it was fine when everyone stood (and for bit they did) but not all the time because then we couldn’t see

as to who gets preference I think the clue is in what you get, seated it is seating as there are standing tickets often available. Then follow the crowd

If you want to stand, choose the standing area.

Now I have a had a chance to think about it I was at a large stadium concert for a big band a year or so ago. There were strict instructions that those in the seated areas had to stay seated and the ushers came along and told you to sit down if you didn’t. Only at the very end when the big numbers came on did they relax the rule and everyone had a dance.

So you don’t like it when other people's actions spoil your view, but you’re happy to do it to others…

I think it is a problem particularly as we age, so for Duran Duran I was very conscious that some people round me were unable to stand up for more than a few minutes.

I stood up for big hits, because everyone else did.

standing seats were excessively expensive and only available through agencies with big mark ups.

I do get annoyed at people who stand up with their hand in the air and their phone recording it all. Makes the people behind get an even worse view and feels like they aren't really enjoying the concert in the moment.

This. We went to Lion King in Cardiff. The group of women behind us literally screamed all the way through until my husband turned round and asked them to please just shut up. The family on the row in front passed an entire picnic up and down the row. We'd just had the bloody interval . " Dad, DAD do you want Fanta or Coke? " "What?". "" A drink dad" Waving of phone torch to illuminate the choices. The actors are performing throughout this but ,hey ho, we don't need to listen and respect their years of training, huge talent and hours of work do we when dad is trying to decide what food and drink to have.
I just can't pay the huge ticket prices anymore when I know some idiot who thinks performances require an ' audience member at Britain's Got Talent' response will be sitting near me.

Thanks for all the opinions. It was a Kings of Leon concert and I’d guess that about a third of the crowd stood throughout and all of the crowd stood for the second half.

I know I made a lot of assumptions about the couple in question but I got very strong vibes of the woman not being bothered and wanting to enjoy the gig and the man sort of ruining it for her. But I could have been wrong.

I get why a lot of people want to sit which is why I think there should be sitting only areas. Buying a seated ticket at this kind of show doesn’t really indicate that you have to remain seated and it’s probably much better for the performer when people stand and dance but obviously rubbish for people who can’t.

The venue holds 23k people and there are many more seated than standing tickets so I don’t think it’s as simple as ‘just buy a standing ticket’ although I can see that others disagree.

I don’t get any pleasure out of making someone else have a poorer experience btw.

But the fact is that it doesn't work like that. I've been going to see Take That for 30 years and never once have people sat down in the floor seats.
As I've said it is gig/venue dependent. Having fully seated helps no one because the fact is lots of people want to stand. If venues would separate standing only, standing but with seats and seated only I think this would help.

So it’s all about you and your preference?

What about people around you that want to see the artist and not you dancing?

Unless you have got standing tickets or buy only back row tickets so you don’t obscure anyone else’s view - in which case fair play and I take my indignance back!

Yep, this is my experience too

The poster said everyone was standing at those three gigs. It wasn’t just her.

"And not giving a toss about the people behind them. Me me me."

It's kings of Leon 🤣 not a night at the opera. You know that the venue don't actually intend for the audience to be seated throughout right?

This. Not everyone who needs / wants to sit can access accessibility options. I broke my leg two years ago and was still on crutches when I attended a gig. We checked and I was not permitted to access any provision for those with disabilities. Which I understand. But I could not stand for a gig. If you want to stand, get standing tickets. I ended up sat on the ground as there were no seats. But I would have been pissed off if I had them and someone stood in front of me.

So agree, I went to Taylor Swift and it really annoyed me when people were standing. My friend had a crutch so couldn't stand so our view was messed up. Those that want to stand should buy standing tickets

Standing can be dangerous, the only. Venue I've seen the aisles and seats large enough to stand up and dance was the 02. All the others I've been to the security guards tell you to stay seated for safety and others but towards the end everyone stands up.