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I'm getting too old for rock concerts

<<Rant warning>>

LOL...and I'm only 47. Last night, I took my family to see U2 in Detroit. Besides the usual ridiculously inflated ticket prices (having to buy on StubHub because nothing good is ever available on Ticketmaster), concert traffic, jacked up parking prices, long security lines, lousy concert sound, etc. -- I was actually having a great time. Until the drunk broad next to me punched me in the face, that is.

About 2/3 of the way through the show, the girls next to me got up from their seats. Immediately, a drunk middle-aged couple poured into the seats. Rude, obnoxious, annoying. This broad's style of dancing was to flail her arms like she was drowning. Lovely, I'm glad I paid hundreds for these seats. A couple songs later, she pulls out her cigarettes and starts to light up. I'm not having it. I tap her on the shoulder and said "that's not happening here...take it outside." She told me to f*off and lit up anyway. 49,999 other people in the stadium got the memo that Ford Field is a no-smoking venue, just like every other stadium in the USA. Not her, she's special. I turned around and got the attention of the usher, who immediately realized what was going on. Security arrived a couple minutes later and removed them from the seats. Zero tolerance, apparently. On the way out, the drunk chick told me to f*off again and back-handed me across the face. I guess I deserved it. Problem solved.

Maybe I'm a little too uptight? Probably because I seem to run into these idiots at every show I go to. Last year, we went to see the sold-out Steely Dan at the Hollywood Bowl. We got to our seats to find this meathead and his drunk friends in our seats. He wasn't about to move, and caused a huge scene before the ushers sorted everything out...disrupting the show for a good 15 minutes. Before he left, he got in my face like a drill sergeant and called me every name in the book in front of my 15 yr old daughter. Am I wrong for just wanting to sit in the seats I paid for? There were no other open seats...it was sold out.

Primus show a few months ago. We are sitting in the balcony with the 500 or so other people...all sitting...every last one...except for the guy right in front of me. I get it, it's a rock concert. People get excited and want to stand. I sat patiently staring at this guys back for a couple songs until I got tired of the people behind me asking to get the guy to sit down. When I tapped him on the shoulder, he told me to f*off and continued to stand. All by himself. Despite the fact that there was an acre of space to stand on the floor and mezzanine. An usher arrived eventually and moved the guy back to the cheap seat he actually paid for.

It's just getting to the point that it's just not worth the hassle and aggravation. Oh, and get off my lawn!
 
Yeah the last couple of shows I went to were spoiled by exactly the same sort of self-entitled behaviour...smoking, dancing in seated area, constant use of phones either for taking videos you just know are never gonna watch or calling people to tell them where they are...shouting naturally... basically a complete lack of respect for the rest of the audience.

I'm at the stage now where it'd have to be something/someone really special to even consider going.
 
The expense of a headliner type show is a no go for me. There's no way I'm paying $100 to see a concert. I'm content with paying $15 for a smaller venue act, and there's usually far less of the behavior you're talking about. I admit that I'm getting to the point where getting buzzed and shouting is no longer fun, but that is part of the rock concert experience. Always has been. I'm just at an age where I don't enjoy it. I like a small venue, good seats, and even a table if it's that kind of place.
 
Primus show a few months ago. We are sitting in the balcony with the 500 or so other people...all sitting...every last one...except for the guy right in front of me. I get it, it's a rock concert. People get excited and want to stand. I sat patiently staring at this guys back for a couple songs until I got tired of the people behind me asking to get the guy to sit down. When I tapped him on the shoulder, he told me to f*off and continued to stand. All by himself. Despite the fact that there was an acre of space to stand on the floor and mezzanine. An usher arrived eventually and moved the guy back to the cheap seat he actually paid for.

The cigarette-smoking woman at the U2 concert was an issue and... were you not getting a second-hand high from vast clouds of burning herbs at the Primus one? That's what happened when I saw them (and I don't smoke... well, anything). Old wooden theater, too, I swore the place was going to burn down.

Personally, I love going to concerts, but I really have no use for big arena shows to see ultra-famous bands. All the hassle you describe, and really you wind up watching the show on a TV screen anyway. I can do that at home. Maybe if you bring a pair of binoculars you can make out the little figures hopping about the stage. I would WAY rather buy a $20-30 ticket to a small-to-medium size venue (like a 2000-capacity room or smaller) and actually SEE the show from a newer, lesser-known act (I'm 46, btw).
 
I'm only 23, and I'm SO annoyed when I go to concerts. Both in arenas and in clubs. Usually because of the people around me, I'll only be happy if the band is in my living room, ha ha.

If it's not drunks throwing their drink around or being a general nuisance, it's some moron getting on my nerves. Once I had a photographer rest her elbow on my bad back say 'I need to get this shot'. I injured my vertebrae when I was 9 (not my fault), and had to have 9 months of physio, the bones are healed but it's never been the same, I think it's the tissue around it that's the problem. She was their for about 5-6 mins, and I could barely move, didn't want to move away anyway because I had a good view and would lose it if I did, anyway, there was a moment when everyone had to put their hands up and away, but I couldn't, and guess who noticed and pointed it out, the band that was playing. On the plus side, he wasn't too nasty, I did do the wave, and he was nice about it afterwards, plus the photographer went away. This was one of my favourite bands, so I was embarrassed at first about the situation, but I managed to turn it around. And got to speak to them. :)

Also at a different gig, I was attacked by someone behind me because I was too tall, I'm 6'1". I was hit in the head multiple times, I felt sick and was staggering. I wasn't even in a mosh pit. I went to the soundproof toilets and noticed I was bleeding. Asked staff for help, but no one would help me. My phone had run out of battery, so I looked around the whole club for a telephone, their wasn't one. Annoying day. I hate crowds in the first place.

I always try to get seats when I can, but you always end up standing up no matter what. Typical. A rocker who hates rock concerts, well not just rock concerts, I went to a pop festival (don't ask, not my idea), and I was being shoved into scaffolding there, and being threatened by young women. I don't like the attitude of concert goers these days. People are too desperate. I've been getting VIP tickets before hand recently, so I can meet the artist before I see them play, usually it's at smaller venues. I'm not so desperate to get a good view then.

And don't get me started on trying to get merch, never an organised queue, waiting for ages cramped between people. Annoying...
 
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We just had a double.concert weekend. We saw Foreigner and Cheap Trick on Friday and Nickelback and Daughtry last night. I'm 45, fiancee is 48, and we took her oldest son who is 17. We had a blast at both shows, but also experienced the smoking, standing, cattle call lines, and general BS that one finds at arena shows. For me and my fiancee, we are starting to feel like we are getting too old to deal with it, but who knows?
 
And for my next band, I think I'll find a couple of acoustic guitarists, and I'll play acoustic bass...
Heck yeah - Tomorrow I'm checking out an acoustic trio with gigs on the books down along our coastal "money belt" that's looking to add a bass and/or hand percussion. I'll bring my cajon and bass uke :thumbsup:.
 
Man, I stopped decades ago, and the last couple I went to were I drove and the folks I drove got me a ticket (which was a fair-ish trade then) but still sub-par. These days it's a no-brainer to head on down to my surviving local CD/record shop and drop half the price to get more music, far better mix and volume, and less obnoxious idiots. I already play in an acoustic group (on the upright.) Not that it's rock, but then, rock isn't much of a thing other than "from the past" these days anyway. I can find that at the CD/Record shop.

I'm not 100% sure, but it's possible that the last rock concert I went to was also Yes - back on the Union tour. With a drunk idiot that was screaming Buffalo! over and over (I guess he just stays drunk at the arena all the time and thought it was a sports event. I assume he's still there decades later, as death would certainly be too good for him.)
 
<<Rant warning>>

LOL...and I'm only 47. Last night, I took my family to see U2 in Detroit. Besides the usual ridiculously inflated ticket prices (having to buy on StubHub because nothing good is ever available on Ticketmaster), concert traffic, jacked up parking prices, long security lines, lousy concert sound, etc. -- I was actually having a great time. Until the drunk broad next to me punched me in the face, that is.

About 2/3 of the way through the show, the girls next to me got up from their seats. Immediately, a drunk middle-aged couple poured into the seats. Rude, obnoxious, annoying. This broad's style of dancing was to flail her arms like she was drowning. Lovely, I'm glad I paid hundreds for these seats. A couple songs later, she pulls out her cigarettes and starts to light up. I'm not having it. I tap her on the shoulder and said "that's not happening here...take it outside." She told me to f*off and lit up anyway. 49,999 other people in the stadium got the memo that Ford Field is a no-smoking venue, just like every other stadium in the USA. Not her, she's special. I turned around and got the attention of the usher, who immediately realized what was going on. Security arrived a couple minutes later and removed them from the seats. Zero tolerance, apparently. On the way out, the drunk chick told me to f*off again and back-handed me across the face. I guess I deserved it. Problem solved.

Maybe I'm a little too uptight? Probably because I seem to run into these idiots at every show I go to. Last year, we went to see the sold-out Steely Dan at the Hollywood Bowl. We got to our seats to find this meathead and his drunk friends in our seats. He wasn't about to move, and caused a huge scene before the ushers sorted everything out...disrupting the show for a good 15 minutes. Before he left, he got in my face like a drill sergeant and called me every name in the book in front of my 15 yr old daughter. Am I wrong for just wanting to sit in the seats I paid for? There were no other open seats...it was sold out.

Primus show a few months ago. We are sitting in the balcony with the 500 or so other people...all sitting...every last one...except for the guy right in front of me. I get it, it's a rock concert. People get excited and want to stand. I sat patiently staring at this guys back for a couple songs until I got tired of the people behind me asking to get the guy to sit down. When I tapped him on the shoulder, he told me to f*off and continued to stand. All by himself. Despite the fact that there was an acre of space to stand on the floor and mezzanine. An usher arrived eventually and moved the guy back to the cheap seat he actually paid for.

It's just getting to the point that it's just not worth the hassle and aggravation. Oh, and get off my lawn!



You are far more patient than I am.

She assaulted you.

You had witnesses.

There would not have been a second time she would have jail hands on me.

You just enabled her to do that to someone else, because you didn't want to make a fuss.

Not good.
 
I generally avoid this whole issue by seeing only geriatric appropriate bands. For example, this fall I'm going to see Yes (the ARW version), King Crimson, and the Strawbs. All three shows are at very staid and respectable venues, so I think I should be able to avoid vomiting, chain smoking, seat hogging, stand up and yell types. We'll see....
 
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This is why I GREATLY prefer going to jazz shows:

Tickets are waaaay cheaper, seats are waaaay better, patrons tend to be much more respectful of the music, and you usually get to meet the musicians.

Yeah, I'll take a meeting and after-show chat with someone like Chick Corea, Marcus Miller, John Patitucci, Marc Johnson, Eliane Elias, Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, Sonny Rollins, Dave Holland, Mark Helias, Mike Stern, et al over putting up with drunks standing up blocking my view, knocking into me, crooning along off-pitch at an Allman Bros', Rush, Cream, Slash, or whatever else rock concert.

I would say though, I had a great concert experience at a Phish show in MsG recently. I'm no Phish fan (can't even name one song, don't own any album), but the audience was really into serious about the band, and the overall vibe , as well as musicality was excellent. The light show alone was worth the price of admission (although I got the ticket for free).

I'm sorry you had your concert ruined by that tobacco smoking drunken troglodyte, OP.