2008 Woodie Awards
Use your manners at concerts
Obnoxious fans can ruin others' experience
By: Frank Wisswell
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Lifeline
Though I no longer choose to attend a concert based on how emotionally the lead singer of a band screams words like "you," "broke", "my" and "heart," some of these fans have followed me. I hate them now as much as I did then.
To clarify, I'm not complaining about mosh pits.
Those, for the most part, are voluntary and self-contained. There's a certain dignity in them.
What I'm talking about is organized (or not so organized) shoving, nothing more or nothing less. Shoving, it seems for the sake of shoving.
I judge concert-going activities based on how much it helps me enjoy the music.
Singing? Check. Dancing? Check. Wearing short sleeve T-shirts because otherwise I'm bound to sweat even more than I normally would? Check.
But how the hell does shoving or crowd surfing help me enjoy the music? In fact, I'll argue that instead it distracts.
How am I supposed to concentrate on the music when I'm concentrating on how much I hate the people around me? How am I supposed to dance when I'm trying to stay as still as possible because I just know that once someone shoves me into someone else, that person is bound to shove back, making me a pawn in the most idiotic game of chess I've ever seen.
Call me a music rook-ie, but you don't have to be a bishop to know that you should not return harm for harm.
So I ask you, kings and queens of the music scene, next time you start shoving, crowd surfing or acting ridiculous in general, think of whose concert-going experience you may be ruining.
Good knight.
lifeline@cm-life.com
To clarify, I'm not complaining about mosh pits.
Those, for the most part, are voluntary and self-contained. There's a certain dignity in them.
What I'm talking about is organized (or not so organized) shoving, nothing more or nothing less. Shoving, it seems for the sake of shoving.
I judge concert-going activities based on how much it helps me enjoy the music.
Singing? Check. Dancing? Check. Wearing short sleeve T-shirts because otherwise I'm bound to sweat even more than I normally would? Check.
But how the hell does shoving or crowd surfing help me enjoy the music? In fact, I'll argue that instead it distracts.
How am I supposed to concentrate on the music when I'm concentrating on how much I hate the people around me? How am I supposed to dance when I'm trying to stay as still as possible because I just know that once someone shoves me into someone else, that person is bound to shove back, making me a pawn in the most idiotic game of chess I've ever seen.
Call me a music rook-ie, but you don't have to be a bishop to know that you should not return harm for harm.
So I ask you, kings and queens of the music scene, next time you start shoving, crowd surfing or acting ridiculous in general, think of whose concert-going experience you may be ruining.
Good knight.
lifeline@cm-life.com
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