Concert etiquette severely lacking

Brian Charlton
Contributing Writer

There seems to be a rising epidemic at local music venues, something so wrong and so often ignored that it requires serious investigation and consideration.

The combination of an exciting social event, alcohol and general narcissism changes the focus of a live concert from a hearing of a musical artist’s performance to the tripe of individual conversations and shallow contests of “who can yell the wittiest things at the stage.”

Instead of quieting down and listening to the band that they just paid more than $30 dollars to see, audience members use the time to talk among themselves and shout at the stage as if they’re at a house party or watching some game show.

While I’m a huge advocate of supporting your favorite bands by showing up to the concerts that they work so hard to put on, any verbalized gratitude made by the audience should come in the form of well-articulated messages and applause that follows the ending of a song and during the transition into a new song. Obviously, there are certain concerts where screaming and shouting are a requirement of the fans, but more often than not the performance demands the listener’s ears, not their mouths.

A perfect example of this occurred at a show I attended recently. The concert was at a small venue and the room was packed. The opening performer was a one-woman act accompanied  by soft, ambient music. As she began to play, I expected the buzz in the room to quiet.

It didn’t. The crowd instead created their own ambience of chatter and laughter. As I tried fruitlessly to quiet my concert going peers, a girl near me said, “If you wanted to listen to music without people talking, you should stay home and listen to your vinyl player with your friends.” I think she might have missed the meaning of hosting a concert.

It shouldn’t be too much to ask that people be courteous of others when coming together to share such an experience. Live shows are there to give us something else, something more substantive and real than a digital music file. It is the difference between living, breathing music and synthetic sounds mimicked through machinery.

Although everyone experiences music differently, a concert is a time we have chosen to come together to listen to it. Musicians usually only perform intermittently in a given town, and there are undoubtedly people there who have been waiting a long time to see that show. A level of courtesy at such public events should be upheld at all times out of respect for both your peers and the artist. Don’t ruin it for everyone.

Concerts should be for fans that truly wish to listen to their favorite artists, not bored couples looking for a good place to drink or socialize. Much of the time, people’s drinking habits are to blame for the rowdiness. No one is arguing that you shouldn’t have a good time, but keep it together if you choose to drink at a concert. You should be there for the artist and music. There are cheaper places to get drinks.

If you want to show appreciation for an artist, show them enough respect to listen to the music they work so hard to perform. Save the verbal gratitude for in between songs. Fellow concertgoers will truly appreciate this.