11 Things You Should Never Do At Concerts | The Odyssey Online
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11 Things You Should Never Do At Concerts

If you don't want to annoy everyone and look like a total a-hole, this is the article for you.

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11 Things You Should Never Do At Concerts
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One of my earliest memories from my childhood was seeing the Dixie Chicks during their "Fly" Tour when I was only 4 years old. Needless to say, since then I have gorged on music, letting my tastes grow as I grew, and attending concerts very frequently for almost 8 years now. Sadly, since I've been attending live shows of all shapes and sizes, I've seen a lot of people at concerts who make me lose just a little more faith in humanity as a whole.

More recently, I had the opportunity to see the prog-metal band Puscifer in their theatrical show presented at the UB Center of the Arts. While the show was longer than others and the band and their set were amazing, a good quarter of the show was utterly ruined for me by the obnoxious frat boy sitting next to me, who just so happened to have committed about four of the things on this list.

Not only was this person an utter nuisance to me, but also to most of the concert goers around me as well as a few members of security. So, to put a long story short, you should totally go to concerts and revel in the glory of your favorite songs being played as authentically as possible. But if you want to have fun without everyone around you wanting you dead, then please don't do these things (no matter how tempting they may be).

1. Don't push people in the crowd

This can particularly come about during a summer concert festival, mainstream or indie. I can understand if you want to get the best view in the crowd or if you see your front man husband within your grasp. But then again, your "fangasming" is not worth you shoving someone into the crowd and knocking them down, or worse, crushing them into the front row railings. Even though concerts are attended by fun-loving music fans like yourself, having a group of people stuffed together and shoving each other is still pretty dangerous, and on many occasions deadly. So if you don't want to have blood on your hands or look like a crappy person in front of everyone around you, just stay still and enjoy the show.

2. If you're tall, we'd really rather you not stand front row and block our view

This one hits me on a personal level and is probably the biggest problem I've had at concerts. You see, even though I'm 22, I'm only 4 feet 11 inches tall. Even if I wear heels to a show where everyone is standing in front of the stage (which is already awful, because ouch), if there's someone only a few inches taller than me, chances are I won't be able to see the stage because someone who happens to be as tall as a basketball player wanted to get the best seat in the house at the expense of everyone behind them.

One instance that still angers me happened at Niagara Falls' Rapids Theater, where I was standing at a sold-out show next to a soft-spoken young girl who was somehow a few inches shorter than I was. We were both behind these two heavyset tall men who were just standing right in front of us near the upper level railings with straight faces and crossed arms (I still don't know if they were even enjoying the show or not).

So out of courtesy and in the hopes of some understanding, I kindly asked the two men if we could move in front of them, saying how they could probably still see and explaining that this just so happened to be the young girl's first ever concert. Astoundingly, the stone-faced men just told us no right to our tiny young faces and stood like statues right in our view.

Oh, and did I mention that this concert in particular just so happened to be the Fall Out Boy Reunion Tour concert, aka one of the biggest concert tours in 2013? Well, now you can see why I'm still so pissed off.

Tall people, obviously I'm not blaming all of you and you are allowed to have as good of a time as everyone else, but please be courteous of the hobbits around you. Sincerely, one of those unfortunate hobbits.

3. If you decide to do drugs at a show, would you mind not making it painfully obvious to everyone else?


No, I'm not going to go all Nancy Reagan on you and shame you for your own life decisions, but I will argue that, like drinking, getting high at a show could alter your attitude for better or for worse -- so keep that in mind. But I will say that if you're one of those users who gets ridiculously outgoing after smoking or taking something, it's probably best for the sake of everyone around you that you at least try to keep yourself together and not act like a total moron.

Even if we are trying our best to pay attention to the show, if there is someone writhing around us and having their very own dance party acid trip, chances are we will have no choice but to be begrudgingly distracted. We didn't pay good money for tickets to see your interpretive dancing throughout the whole show, so just sit down and enjoy the show silently. Chances are you'll get more out of the high anyway.

4. For God's sake get off your phone

Remember those '90s commercials at the beginning of VHS tapes that warned about movie piracy and how it's basically stealing money from the movie you claim to love? Well, though it may not seem like it, taping concerts is pretty much the same thing. But I think the main reason for this is because our generation simply believes that all memories we want to keep can only be remembered if they are digitally documented for all of our friends and family to see.

What I learned as I became older is that you don't need to document everything about a concert to your friends to prove that you went. Chances are they couldn't care less anyway, so it's probably better to just enjoy it yourself and watch the show with your own eyes, which would probably be less grainy than your iPhone anyway. So unless you are like me and using your phone to take notes on a concert for an article, its time to put the phone down and live life without it for once.

5. Don't get frat-party drunk at a concert

As I mentioned before, if you decide to get drunk or high at a concert, there's a chance you'll be preventing yourself from enjoying or remembering the whole concert, making it kind of a waste of time and money. But even if you've been to just a regular party or club, we can all agree that nothing is worse than that loud obnoxious drunkard who yells and whistles loudly in our ear and overall just does their best to rile things up when no one wants them to. Concerts are no exception, and again, we didn't pay possibly big money to see some drunk dude flailing around and causing a commotion during the set.

6. Don't force people to mosh if they don't want to mosh

Seeing as the majority of shows I've been to have been for hard rock bands, I've seen a lot of moshing going on, as well as some bloody casualties. But I think it's easy to say that unless you want to risk getting your nose broken, don't force other people to mosh or get other involved in order to keep the pit going. Thankfully, I don't think this is much of a problem and that the people who do mosh with each other only do it with consent -- but it's still good to keep in mind.

7. Can you not with the PDA?

Doesn't matter where you are, who you are or how in love you are, no one cares and no one wants to see it. Especially when your dancing and making out is blocking their view of the stage.

8. Follow the rules of the concert venue

This comes back to the filming of sets or songs during a concert. If you are filming the concert, you are potentially stealing from the band you claim to love so much and therefore potentially making them lose money if your video goes viral somehow. But if you are doing something the venue security doesn't approve of, chances are those rules were made by the band as well as the venue. So unless you want to leave in handcuffs and cause problems, just follow the rules like everyone else.

9. If there is seating, please ask the people around you if you can stand and dance

Like I said in my introduction, the last concert I was at took place at the UB Center of the Arts. Unlike other venues I've been to, UB's was an auditorium. Even though some of the people stood up during some of the songs, there were a few who felt comfortable observing the processions in their own seats. If you end up in a similar scenario, but the urge to stand up and groove is too powerful, it wouldn't kill you to just look behind you and ask those people if they mind you dancing or if you're blocking their view. At least then you'd have asked so politely that maybe they wouldn't mind staring at your back and hearing the band for the rest of the set. Simple concert etiquette, really.

10. Don't try to make a conversation while the bands are on

Whether you're flirting, trying to make some friends or catching up with the person you're with, there is time in between the acts for a reason. When the band is on, shut up and watch.

11. Please don't f#$*ing ask the band to play "Freebird"

It's not funny anymore. It was honestly never funny. So please f@&%ing stop.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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