AIBU to think drunken behaviour is ruining outdoor gigs?

[Mapletreelane]

Went to see Pulp last night at Wythenshawe Gardens. They were absolutely fantastic (as was Self Esteem supporting). I'm a Pulp fan and was really excited. I realise it's outdoor and people are going to have a few beverages and have a chat and a good time but behaviour at outdoor gigs seems.ti be getting worse. It seemed to be full of absolutely hammered middle aged men and women, who clearly only knew 2 sings, couldn't stand up and were just shouting at each other during any song that wasn't Common People or Disco 2000. And they've paid £80 plus £10 a can for the privilege. The group right in front of me (it was too late to move at that point ) had their backs to the stage most of the gig, were shouting at each constantly and kept falling into me. What i don't understand is why they paid to get in...why didn't they just go to the pub or a club. Surely they're not going to remember anything.

One lady decided to hold her phone aloft with the torch on pointed at the back of the crowd to be a beacon to get her friends to the same spot but blinding everyone behind. Someone took offense and asked her to stop as it was in his eyeline and blocking his view and she just had a go at him and started shining her torch in his eyes. Just pure entitlement (this was during the performance).

I realise I'm getting older and less tolerant but it's definitely been getting worse. Genuinely do not see the point of spending a lot money to get hammered and not remember a thing to see bands you're not even fans of (and annoying everyone else).

Anyway rant over. Pulp and Jarvis were incredible as ever (what a front man) but I may stick to indoor gigs from now on.

I was there too, great night!

I think you are being unreasonable to think that everyone (tens of thousands of people) should enjoy the gig the same way you want to. We were told off for swaying which is just ridiculous. I get there might be unreasonable behaviour but the behaviour you described doesn’t sound unreasonable.

I as absolutely dancing. But kept getting crashed into by people that could hardly stand up and just shouted at each other when Jarvis was chatting with the audience. I don't think that's acceptable. Appreciate people want to have a few brews but I want to enjoy the gig as well.

I've also seen this kind of thing at outdoor gigs. Saw The Kooks and in all my years going to gigs I've never experienced a crowd like that.
Gig tickets are so expensive and people were treating it like there was a cover band playing in their local - not facing the stage or paying attention to the band, shouting conversations over the music, taking many, many group photos. I can't fathom paying £50-70 just to be at a venue but seemingly have no interest in what's going on.

Exactly! No engagement at all with the music or band and actually dulling the atmosphere. Just go to a club and save a fortune. I was singing and dancing the whole night, can't understand why you just want to pay that money to get passed and chat with your mates all night !

We went to see bastille at the races but we just went to the gig not the races beforehand. Oh my was that a big mistake. Full of people that had been drinking all day long. There was crying, a fight broke out. They had to stop the gig at one point to make sure the fight stopped and everyone was OK. People were being sick. It was awful but the races should of given me a heads up that it was going to be a very drunk crowd.

We went to see Ed sheeran and the same happened there. I'm all for people having a good time but there is a level of drunk that the person who is drunk isn't having a good time and no one around them is either. They are barely aware of where they are and just become vuberable or violent.

We went to see twenty one pilots and it was such a civilised affair just wall to wall true fans it was so enjoyable. I think we will stick to bigger venues where you can have seats like the o2.

@Stopitdog agree completely. Saw elbow last summer at York museum gardens. Group of friends standing in the VIP area spent their entire time chatting. Not paying any attention to the band.
If I go to a concert I want to hear the music not someone's tales of work!!

I was also there last night, what a show!

If it helps balance a little, we saw nothing like that, no aggro, no disengagement, nothing. Everyone around us was dancing and enjoying the gig. We were quite far back though, so maybe that helped.

Getting out of the car park was a fricking nightmare though.

You were watching the band who wrote "Sorted for e's and wizz", who were at the forefront of Britpop, for crying out loud! Of course it's going to be lairy! That was the whole culture! You are being ridiculous.

You don’t think that shining a torch in someone’s eyes is unreasonable?!?

Didn’t notice that when I saw them indoors, that said I was t the front

One bloke was carried out by about 5 security staff, still dancing and singing, after about 2 songs. Another lady carried out half way through absolutely legless.

outdoor gigs are shit generally (honorable exceptions are the Piece Hall and Tynemouth) and do seem to attract a higher percentage of dickheads

@weebleswobblebuttheydontfallover I don’t think someone holding their phone up to help friends find them is unreasonable, no. No-one is ‘blinded’ by a phone torch being held up high.

“Someone took offense and asked her to stop as it was in his eyeline and blocking his view and she just had a go at him and started shining her torch in his eyes.”

You weren't there. It was right in front of us and I'm trying to watch the gig (its dark at this point l) and it all I could see was this torch . I wasn't the only person as someone went up and had a word nicely and rather than stop it it is that entitled attitude to be rude. She had her back turned to the stage for like 10 mins...wtf? What is the point of going. Engage with the music and band, have a great time, dance and sing and stop annoying everyone else.

There are too many idiots about nowadays and they ruin it for normal, decent people.

@Mapletreelane sadly predictable they sang along to the ‘chart’ songs, bet they have posted pics on their SM too about what a banging night they all had, omitting the part about damage to peoples retinas of course

I was at an O2 gig in a seated section recently where a drunk and enthusiastic couple stood up and danced the entire time. The people behind them got ratty because they couldn't see the stage without also standing. One of them couldn't stand for long which is why they paid for seats. Yes I heard every detail during a heated argument, yelling that if you want to stand the whole time yiu should pay for standing tickets etc etc. Then other people tried to tell them to stop shouting because they couldn't hear the music, 3 people got involved in an actual physical punch up, 6 of them got thrown out. That was fun. During one of the songs I'd most been waiting for too.

You get stupid drunk inconsiderate people everywhere. I wish they would all just stay at home.

Because there’s too many people who can’t behave in public - it’s all about them enjoying themselves & to hell with everyone else.

We went to Lewis Capaldi recently and a group of ladies were off their tits and necking bottles of wine and the one was quite aggressive and loud. It is quite intimidating. Luckily by the time he come on stage the crowd had moved forward and they had got lost in it , probably asleep 🤣

I think it's worse on a hot summers day, plus they open the gates hours before the artists come on, what else is there to do, which is what they encourage you to do, spend shit loads of money on food and drink and the queues are so long some people buy more drinks than they normally would so they don't have to keep getting through the crowds.

• at Lewis Capaldi they had people going round with what I can only describe as the Waterboy back packs on , selling drinks to the crowd.

Mixed in with crowds of people, getting in each other's way, bumping into each other, blocking each other's view, all the anti social behaviour everyone hates all put together in a close area, it's going to kick off.

It's not only outdoors, it's happening indoors at any music event I go to at a local theatre as well. I've stopped booking their shows.

This happens all the time these days. Groups of friends who don't even watch the band and just talk to each other, one of them goes off for 20 minutes to get more beer, missing loads of songs. Totally bizarre.

Me and DP just don't get it. Gigs are so expensive these days.

Dont get me started on the entitled people who push in front of you and stand there after you've been in position for an hour waiting.

Surprised by this, because I went to an all-dayer in Finsbury park this summer (Wolf Alice etc) and was struck by how few people were drunk or off their faces. At the end, we all filed our like little sober soldiers. In the 90s or 00s it would have been so much messier.

I wasn't sure if it was because of Gen Z being more abstemious generally, or because the promoter's policies made it quite hard to get a drink (expensive, not near the stage and they opened all cans for you at the bar)

Don't get me started on theatre etiquette. I went to see a matinee of Oliver and the extended family and friends in the two rows in front of me (about 16 people) slurped and ate through pre packed salad amd sandwiches (not during the interval) , sweets, and then left all the rubbish on the floor when they left. Grim and disgusting.

I think it's the middle aged people getting off their faces. Wolf Alice will be a lot younger than Pulp. Was deffo people in their 40s and 50s getting lashed and buying as many cans as they could at the bar. My kids were with us amd they don't drink at concerts as they want to remember the experience and enjoy it.

Pulp crowds aren’t generally lairy, from my experience. It’s the band of the nerdy Mishapes, after all. Oasis piss throwers we aren’t. But there do always seem to be a few dullards who only really know Common People and fling themselves about to that. Certainly we got a bit of that near us last night. Phones are a general irritation. People taking shit grainy footage they will never rewatch rather than just actually being in the moment. But a fabulous performance, as ever.