Something about live music brings out both the best and the worst in humanity. Standing in a crowd of hundreds or thousands, it’s easy enough to see examples of people acting like heroes and horrible monsters. If you’ve been to enough shows, you’ve likely seen enough people behaving badly to shake your faith in humanity to its core.
But sometimes, the biggest jerks at shows aren’t entirely sure that they’re the ones acting like assholes. Some behavior – punching people, throwing up on others – is visibly terrible, but some far more subtle annoyances can add up to an awful concert experience. If you find yourself guilty of any of these ten terrible behaviors, it’s time to start on that journey to becoming a better person. We believe in you.
10. LIMIT YOUR BEER RUNS
Beer and concerts go together like peanut butter and jelly, but it is entirely unnecessary for anyone to make constant runs back to the bar. At a seated venue, this is particularly annoying because you’re dealing with either standing up every five minutes or enduring some dude’s ass in your face as he squeezes by. Learn the fine art of double-fisting, enlist a friend, whatever you have to do to avoid shoving your ass into people’s faces.
9. EMBRACE THE VIBE OF THE ROOM
You might be turnt up at the idea of seeing Carly Rae Jepsen or Kacey Musgraves or whoever the hell it is, but that doesn’t mean that everyone else in the room is trying to party. Some artists cultivate a quiet, “listening room”-type environment, and if you’re the only jackass in the crowd causing a ruckus, you’re distracting both the performer and the people around you. Sit down, listen and pretend you weren’t raised by wolves.
8. DO NOT GROPE, HARASS OR CREEP ON ANYONE
For weirdos, creeps and perverts of all stripes, the dark and crowded confines of a music venue are a fertile hunting ground, and pretty much every female music fan knows that. As much as you might think that you can get away with grabbing that girl’s ass or forcing her to brush up against your junk as she walks by, you’re really just acting like a predator and deserve to be kicked in the balls and out of the venue.
7. DON'T BE OBLIVIOUS TO THE PEOPLE STANDING AROUND YOU
Sometimes, the music just hits you and requires that you get down with your (arguably) bad self. That divine intervention does not, however, give you the right to hit people with your flailing limbs or spill your beer all over someone’s jacket just because you’re feeling the music. Dance if you must, but avoid infringing on your fellow concertgoers' personal space.
6. DO NOT YELL OUT RANDOM SONG TITLES
In the vast majority of cases, the artist that you’re seeing has already deliberately chosen the evening’s setlist. No matter how many times you holler out that obscure first single from the lead singer’s first project, they’re probably not going to play it for you. And if you are that punk who still, somehow in this year of our Lord 2016, thinks it’s okay to yell out “Freebird!” well, there’s probably no saving you.
5. DO NOT HARASS THE SECURITY GUYS
Aside from the fact that the guys working security at most venues are big and scary as fuck, harassing them is really a dick move. They’re already having to make sure that nobody fights or falls face-first into the pit, and slipping into a restricted-access area or shoving people for fun is just giving these hardworking employees a hard time. Imagine how you’d feel if unruly drunks showed up to make your job more difficult.
