I am a huge lover of music. My taste covers a wide variety of genres, but for the purpose of this article I’ll stick with my true loves: Punk, Pop Punk, Post-Hardcore, Metalcore, etc…
Live music is one of the greatest experiences, assuming they’re done well. But the band is only half the experience. Fellow concert-goers can do just as much to ruin the experience as a bad performance. I first started going to concerts in 2002 at twelve years old and I immediately fell in love. In the years since, I have received a number of injuries at concerts including a black eye, an earring ripped out, and, most recently, a concussion. The concussion happened at a Wonder Years show in 2014. Three different people fell on my head during Modern Baseball’s set in the span of one song. This incident, among many others I’ve seen, could have been avoided with simple abidance of the unwritten rules of crowd surfing, which I will now write.
1. Tell the person in front of you that you're about to fall on their head.
This is a common courtesy that is often skipped. Before you get lifted up, remember that you are a 100-plus-pound being that is literally falling from the sky on top of other beings. Simply tap the person in front of you and kindly say, “Hey, bro or ma’am, I’m about to fall on your head. Be ready.” That way, they’ll have time to prepare.
2. Don't crawl over people.
Don’t start clawing your way up to the front of the crowd. This makes it really difficult for people to support you, because that’s what they’re doing. The best way to crowd surf is roll on your back and let the people guide you. If you crawl, you’re just asking to get dropped.
3. Don't film yourself crowd surfing.
This is just stupid. I’ve seen this a few times, believe it or not. You’re holding a tiny computer in your hand that is worth several hundred dollars and holds countless memories, not to mention private information. Is that really worth a few likes on Instagram?
4. Just don't film. Period.
This one isn’t about safety or crowd surfing, it’s more of a jab at my generation. I went to the Panic! At the Disco show at City Hall Plaza in Boston. While it was a great show, there were times when I couldn’t see the stage because of the multitude of iPhones pointed at it. I promise you, you will enjoy the show more if you just watch with your eyes. Snap a couple pics, sure, but do you really need to film an entire song? (Rhetorical question. No, you don’t.)
5. Weight limit.
By no means do I intend to offend anyone or be insensitive. I can assure you I’m not a body-shamer or fatcist or whatever the terminology is. My only point is: most people in the crowd cannot hold a 200-plus-pound man in the air. Everybody is beautiful, but not everybody is meant to crowd surf.
6. DO NOT GROPE.
It sickens me to say that I’ve seen this happen on more than one occasion. In no way does anyone have the right to go grabbing at a woman’s (or man’s) body just because you have her or him in a vulnerable position. This person is trusting you to support them in the air and this is a serious violation. I would say keep your hands to yourself but then you’d drop the surfer, so, KEEP YOUR HANDS IN APPROPRAITE PLACES.
Concerts are all about fun. It’s where we all go, to quote Billy Joel, “…to forget about life for a while”. Short of starting a petition to mandate helmets at all shows, I urge everyone to follow these tips. Safety comes first, fun comes second, because all the fun ends when someone gets hurt. We all want to go out on top, not on a stretcher.
