I know this headline grab would lead you to believe that I am a buzzkill that enjoys sucking the life out of every concert. In a similar perspective it could indicate that I am a full blown dad trapped in a 23 year old’s body. Well, be that as it may, this post will be solely dedicated to folks like me (or not) that love music, but hate the distractions that surround the live performance. This goes without saying, but anyone attending a concert should be aware of inevitable situations that could arise. Expect the drunk girl puking right next to your new shoes or the oblivious tall guy who is conveniently located right in front of center stage. These things happen. I am mainly here to illustrate many incidents that can be stopped with proper action. Through my series of anecdotes and personal tales, I hope that you can relate and find some solutions to any of the problems you may face with live music. Again, please don’t think I am a buzzkill.

Prior to moving to Los Angeles, I had been to enough shows to get the general format of each concert. A couple warm up bands that perform an array of their songs that could land them a spot with a reputable label, followed by the anticipated headliner who steals the show. This information is incredibly basic and shouldn’t require any explaining, but there are always individuals out there who still don’t get it. Moving forward, for any given show I am always planning ahead.  Knowing the specific genre, venue, and crowd are vital elements that can attract or deter any casual music lover to a show. You won’t be witnessing sock hop dancing at a metal show similarly you won’t be seeing a mosh pit at a philharmonic holiday showcase. While these two examples provide extreme scenarios that would never happen (I hope), there is often an area of grey where venue courtesy and music intelligence are not comprehended by the listening audience.

My experience at a Beach Fossils concerts serves as a testament to my past frustration with ignorance to venue courtesy. Beach Fossils has been a favorite band of mine for a couple of years and I was so psyched to see them play at their own show in LA. This band, especially since their release of their newest album two months ago, was bound to gain traction to a multitude of new and casual listeners due to their clean and polished sound, acting as a “real” studio LP. However, I knew that there would also be a great deal of fans who fell in love to their signature raw and buttery lo fidelity twang in attendance. Contrary to my expectations, I was surrounded by a rip tide of eighteen year olds who were still riding high (literally) on their first puff of shake and intoxicated of their makeshift vodka diet rite (I don’t know if that soda still exists).I get it, I was a kid too, we all were. The best thing we got to do was experience the thrill of doing something illegal in an environment that makes it practically undetectable. Moving forward, I was able to shake most of the disruption off, but grew incredibly irritated when stagediving and moshing commenced at the first click of a drumstick. What was more perplexing to me was not the amount of stagediving and moshing, but why people were doing it in the first place. After observing and paying close attention to the entire discography from this band, it was obvious that this was not the show to do this at. A group that is known for its dream pop and airy melodies should not be a safe haven for adolescents to act rambunctiously and carefree. Two fights were also broken up within the first thirty minutes of the show. I was so annoyed with the outcome of this highly anticipated concert, that I left a song before their encore. Additionally, I was an utter awe that a group of so-called “fans” could force me to leave a show before the final curtains closed. It wasn’t all bad because I got to chat with Zach Smith from DIIV as I waited for a Lyft.

Video of footage from Beach Fossils concert:

Too many frequent concert-goers, I am positive my experience has hit a sore spot in every one of your rich musical muscles. Unfortunately, this has been one of multiple incidents that has happened to me in my serious three year live music tour of duty. Two things that I hope for in the future that can better the concert experience are smarter security and active band to fan engagement. Of course when I say smarter security, it is bound to trigger thoughts of obnoxiously nosey guards being in everyone’s business, inhibiting and taking away the joy of the show. Me being a security guard myself, I even think about the same possible problems arising. However, smarter security, to me, doesn’t involve stricter bag checks or being on higher alert than normal. It involves knowing the show crowd demographic and consistently iterating the policies and requests from both the venue and performers. Most concert goers will claim that the rules were not explicitly exclaimed to them prior to the show, which intentionally shifts blame away from the violator. Sadly, the fact that individuals have to be redundantly explained basic courtesy of a venue should be enough to deny access to anyone. It shouldn’t have to be reiterated that talking to your girlfriend via facetime in a movie theater is deemed inappropriate and unacceptable. This also ties into my last aspiration in venue courtesy, which is band to fan engagement. While many of the basic rules at a venue can be dismissed faster than you can read them, I have become increasingly aware that people feel worse about misbehaving at a show when it is condoned by the performing group, rather than the venue management. If you think about it, a longtime fan who gets pointed out of a crowd for being disruptive or quarrelsome to the performance is more likely to be attentive and correct it, rather than the security team pointing it out initially. Bands who are often transparent about what they would like to see at their shows, often have the better outcomes. I saw a great show in Louisville, Kentucky from garage rock band, Twin Peaks, where they told fans upfront to “leave if you are gonna get violent and do stupid shit, we aren’t about that.” To me that spoke volumes, because their music invoked jumping and nostalgia through their stripped garage rock undertones. However they were there to perform and showcase their harmonious music rather than brew a destructive storm of reckless incoordination and lackadaisical regard to others.  It wasn’t supposed to invite shoving, stagediving, and a platform to self-absorb.

All in all, this may seem like a 1200 word blog post about me bitching on what is wrong with live entertainment. But to be frank, I will never stop going to shows and pray that there is nothing that prevents a casual or diehard fan to step away from that due to negligence of common venue etiquette. Go out there, get drunk, dance, have a good time, and most importantly SUPPORT YOUR ARTIST without being a stupid idiot.

*drops mic*