Submitted by Mayday_King t3_11b1c8x in Music

While I love going to concerts, I wanted to share my top 10 pet peeves to hopefully sympathize with other concert goers. I think most of these will be disliked by everyone, with a few conversational ones. Ranked in order from least to most annoying:

10. Standing room only venues with no coat check. I don't blame the venues at all as most of them are too small to accommodate a coat check, but if you attend a show when it's cold outside, you have to choose between freezing on your way to and from the venue or holding your coat the entire show. Concerts typically get very hot so if you decide to bring a coat, you have to hold it or try and tie it around your waist.

9. Lack of signed merch at most shows. If you want to buy a sport player's signed jersey, you generally can buy one directly from the NBA's, NFL's, etc. website. Buying signed memorabilia of your favorite artist in my experience is much more difficult. Sometimes bands will do a VIP experience that comes with a signed poster, but this is rare even for smaller bands. I haven't been able to find legitimate 3rd party sites that sell signed memorabilia. I would love the opportunity to buy more signed merchandise to support my favorite artists but it's generally not available.

8. Ticket insurance. I don't think there is anything wrong with insuring your expensive ticket purchase, but the list of covered reasons you can submit a claim for reimbursement can be confusing to understand what is actually covered. Additionally, most ticket purchase websites require that you explicitly decline the insurance which seems pushy. If you decline, ATTENTION YOUR TICKET PURCHASE IS NOT PROTECTED - BEWARE FOOLISH MORTAL!! Only a slight exaggeration.

7. Encores. Obviously, I enjoy when the band plays more songs, but do we have to do the song and dance where the band pretends to leave and then comes back after the crowd cheers for 10 minutes?

6. Waving phones with flashlights on. This cliche is incredibly overused. During EVERY slow song everyone whips out their phone. I went to 20+ shows last year and think this happened at every show. Additionally, a cellphone flashlight is significantly brighter than a lighter where the trend originated. When everyone turns on their phone flashlights, its just a bright as turning on the house lights which can kill the vibe for some slow songs.

5. Stage rushers. Got to the venue early to stake out a spot on the floor close to the stage? Well, these people say screw you and just push their way through the crowd. I go to a lot of rock shows so understand the pit gets rowdy, but just acting like a bull to get to the stage is frustrating. People who show up late and then say "excuse me, my friend is up there" are almost as bad.

4. Signs, large head gear, climbing onto your friend's shoulders. Might as well flip the bird to the person standing behind you as they won't be able to see because you wanted to bring a sign that says, "biggest fan." Spoiler alert, you're not. Anything that blocks the view of someone standing behind you ruins their experience.

3. People recording a whole show on their phone. Nothing wrong with taking some pictures or a video of part of a song. Being on your phone for the majority of the show? Terrible. It's annoying for those around you and ruins the experience for you. Live in the moment. Plus, a lot of concerts are too loud for cellphones to properly capture the audio anyways. You'll just get loud distortions when you play back the video.

2. The band asking everyone to bend down and then jump up. Some bands will have everyone bend down during the bridge of a song and then jump up when the final chorus kicks in. Some bands will not move forward in the song until everyone is bending down and asks the crowd to pull down people who are not bending down. Does anyone think this is comfortable or cool? There isn't enough space to bend down and its painful.

1. Ticket fees. This one is universal with no explanation needed.

1

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Cake-Over t1_j9w6bvg wrote

  1. Bands playing smaller venues or opening acts will sometimes hang out at the merch table after (or even before) the show. I was able meet quite a few artists and get some stuff signed that way. They've always been genuinely appreciative when someone buys a CD or poster or an enamel pin in the most direct way possible. Kinda hit and miss though-- you may get the legendary guitarist, you may get the keyboardist hired for this leg of the tour only, you may get nobody.
3

gibsonplayer10 t1_j9vd730 wrote

Pretty solid list. One that kinda gets me is when someone decides to be in the pit at a metal show (or any show really) then gets offended and angry that they don’t have personal space and people are bumping into them. 😐

Oh and drunk people scream singing out of key right in your ear so loudly that it overpowers the band 😅

2

m0le t1_j9w6w76 wrote

Mine is people going crowd surfing in poor clothing choices, with boots and anything dangling being particular hates. If I had a quid for the number of times I've been kicked in the back of the head by someone wearing steel toecaps I'd not be rich but I could probably buy a couple of pints of terrible lager, which brings me onto...

Terrible booze sponsorship deals. I detest Tuborg. And carlsberg. Stop making them the only available beers.

2

Sarcastic__Shark t1_j9x81dv wrote

I’ve actually been to three gigs this week and the ONE thing I absolutely hate is people talking non stop through shows…. Phones are annoying and lame but I can see around those why pay money go to a concert and then stand around talking non stop like it’s your lounge room????

2

[deleted] t1_j9vq4ds wrote

Mine run more towards the performance and experience, such as

Sound support that's badly designed or poorly engineer. Louder is not better and doesn't make up for bad engineering. Pushing the sound up so loud that you can't actually enjoy the music just makes bad sound louder. What's the point of paying good money for a ticket if you have to wear hearing protection?

Bands who clearly haven't rehearsed or are just sloppy. Everyone has a bad night. I don't expect you to be perfect, but you should act like you care about the fact that I paid money to see you.

Bands with no stage presence. Musicians are, among other things, entertainers. Don't phone it in. Be engaging and look like you want to be there.

1

TXCloudyWeather t1_j9xdmg6 wrote

Fuck, y'all are all 16 or something, right?

There's a whole generation that will tell you that it's the brown acid.

1

33_bmfs t1_j9yoqno wrote

People screaming the lyrics in my ear. STFU.

1