Standing at gigs - finally some sense!

[StacksOfSnacks]

I love live music and frequently attend concerts and have been utterly baffled in recent years that people behave as they would in the cinema - plonked on their backside, mutely watching. For me it’s all about the immersive experience - dancing, screaming, swaying, singing, waving my arms… But not only are more people staying seated, but I’m actually seeing discourse where people such as myself are being criticised for acting exactly like a typical concert goer - singing and standing.

I went to a show last night and noticed this little note on my e-ticket “People around you may stand!” though I think it should go without saying, finally some sense is prevailing and those whingers can keep schtum now (which they advocate for at gigs anyway 😂).

Disclaimer: I know people will pile on saying that not everyone can stand, and no they can’t and I understand that. I’d support if they wanted to have a section where people stay seated if there’s demand for it. However, I have observed a change in behaviour that is out of proportion even when considering that.

Can 8 ask if I wanted to go to a big concert such as Wembley in the disabled area would I be allowed? I have a diagnosed connective tissue disorder which makes standing difficult so could provide evidence of that but I am not in a wheelchair. Do the disabled areas have seats or are they a flat empty space and intended for wheelchairs?

You're totally right, OP. Gigs are for dancing and singing and I've noticed many have become far too sedate recently. If you're in a theatre with no standing area then it can be really hard to stand. I feel sorry for bands having to play to a bunch of people who like look they're mummified.

Maybe no-one taught you either?

Most of the time the accessible area is behind general seating in my area.
There's a block of accessible seating then a few roles where people can stand in front which general ruins the whole point. We once had a mouthful from someone who was standing in front of the wheel chair section. Most people don't even realise it's there

Some accessible areas have different rules. I'm not disabled but can't stand for hours, I don't qualify for some of them

Taylor Swift at Murrayfield was probably two of my worst experiences at a concert. Children literally screaming in your ears for the full set the first two nights, night 3 was better but not great. I’ve never seen behaviour like it. We had seats on the lower tiers so it didn’t really matter if people were standing. You always get idiots who don’t give a fuck at concerts, it’s the risk of buying tickets. If I buy a seat it’s because I want to sit, otherwise I buy standing tickets.

So you choose an area on an incline so you can see, but to hell with a person seated behind you that now can’t see?

So I can't go to a gig with my DH or my DC?

This is bizarre.
If you are sure that 95% stands, why do you start the thread? Just stand with everyone else.

However, there are different types of concerts and audiences, some are more sit down and it is very annoying when everyone stays seated and someone obtuse decides to perform "a proper gig goer", stand up and wave their hands around. It is soo attention seeking and looks dumb.

I do it knowing most people will be standing anyway, so not blocking anyones view. Last night I was drinking some water the moment Louis took to the stage, by the time I replaced the lid and put the bottle under my seat everyone around me had already stood. I'm far from the only one standing and am not even the one setting the trend on most occasions. This is the expectation of concerts and gigs, and why it is now printed on tickets!!!

https://help.wembleystadium.com/support/solutions/articles/7000028419

This is a link to what you need. It asks that you have a nimbus card i think (similar to o2). There are proper seats but these are scattered about if i remember correctly and nothing stopping someone standing in the rows in front of them.

I started the thread saying it was a relief to see it printed on the ticket that people may stand, so people can stop acting like it's a surprise when it happens. But the thread seems to have turned into a debate as to whether it's poor etiquette or not - by the same people who apparently in need of the note on the ticket!!!!

Maybe they should put "please be aware the volume is loud at a concert" 😂

I think it very much depends on the concert. A classical one, remain seated.

Birmingham I have travelled to for concerts can be very OTT about dancing. Some poor souls were dancing in the aisle once and got ticked off. This was just after Covid and nobody I could see was complaining. I thought they needed to lighten up a bit.
Another concert there was Ronnie Wood. Everyone just stood up and danced. They couldn’t tell the whole place to sit down !

There have been concerts where it feels stifling to sit still. Unnatural. And one band I went to see complained ‘it is like a library in here’. I really hope the band knows about the no dancing rules.

One thing I do wish the officials would do at the venues is shut up talkers. During a quiet song. I had some woman rabbiting behind me once during a really slow, quiet song. So ignorant.

It is a balance. And I am not sure they entirely get it right.

Standards change, society hopefully evolves to get better. People sometimes try and keep it worse, but slowly they die off.

They supply seats as many wheelchairs have carers.
You would need to be early as the platform is generally flat and wheelchairs would be higher than the seats so if you're behind a wheelchair you may not see much.

They put that on but very often if people do, they often object to it.

Better or worse depends on your own point of view and preferences though...

Says the person who can’t seem to understand her behaviour yuks on people who can’t or doesn’t want you behave the same as you in the seating section of concerts.

I physically can’t shout and scream due to a severe lung disease. I also physically can’t stand up for more than a few mins at a time, the same physical disability stops me having my arms in the air too.

I’m going to my first concert in 20 years, accessible seating was impossible to get, standing was all that’s left for most of the dates which I can’t do. An extra date was added and I was very lucky and managed to get seated and I know realistically there will be people standing, I hope I do actually get to see some of the show, but a big part of me worries I’m gonna end up pissing off people around me or be accused as treating the concert like a David Attenborough documentary by people like you.

People pay to see/hear the act not you waving your arms around and screeching fondly imagining you've got talent but probably not and not giving a shit. It's really disappointing.

@StacksOfSnacks
At the last few gigs Ive been to, the singers have sat down at times.
Ive been going to see some bands since the 1980s.

But in answer to your question - no I don't sit mute with my arms crossed. I do what my son refers to as ' dancing my head', I can sway in my seat, I sing but quietly as I dont want to ruin anyone else's evening.
There are many ways to enjoy music

I told her not to swear at me ( I swear like a navvy but not at someone) she said or f’kin what ? Along with her finger again. I said …. Watch me stand up for the entirety of this concert, which I did. The rest of my row heard the whole ridiculous episode and stood up with me 🤣

This a million times. Why pay for a ticket? You could do all that in front of your tv at home , leaving other people to see and listen to the artist whose music they love and who they have paid through the nose to hear sing.

Because that is why most people go to a concert, to enjoy live music that has been rehearsed and soundchecked, not to listen to some drunk woman who is flailing her arms about as though she has been stung by wasps and is both mangling the lyrics and singing out of tune.

Personally I think they should offer a choice of standing and seating areas when you book, then there is no excuse for standing in the seated area, and no excuse to moan about standing in the standing area.

My choice would be to sit but I am middle aged with bad feet.

I went to see kneecap on Friday night. There was no one sitting ! Lively crowd, hands in the air and singing along for those who know Irish

‘The majority of people attending a concert enjoy standing and want to stand for the performance’

Your OP suggests otherwise.

I think if you’ve found you’re in the minority when choosing to do those things for a chunk of the gig when most others are seated, your assumption is incorrect and ‘you’re the asshole’.

It’d be best for venues to make their policy clear pre booking and for security to apply it.

Whatever the policy is there will be idiots. At gigs have witnessed and experienced violence from men and verbal abuse from men and a couple of times women. Spoiling things.