Imagine attending the concert of your dreams, a concert in which you’ve been saving up your minimum-wage salary for years in advance. However, rather than dancing or singing your lungs out, you are reprimanded by the performer because of pushy fans who lack self-awareness.
Concerts are supposed to be a place where fans and artists can connect with one another and enjoy their love for music. When did audiences suddenly start slipping out of control?
Fans shouldn’t have to worry about an artist yelling back at the audience because one idiot doesn’t know how to behave.
In March of 2022 rapper Tyler, the Creator posted a tweet about fans throwing unnecessary items on stage.
“Stop throwing your shit on stage, i dont want it, now mid show i gotta move it, whats the logic fucking stop thanks b,” he tweeted.
A big part of attending concerts is behaving decently. While concerts are a perfect place to dance and sing to your heart’s content, they are not an invitation to disrespect the artist you have paid so much to see.
There have been numerous situations recently where fans have completely forgotten what concert etiquette actually means.
During his sold out ‘Love on Tour,’ Harry Styles was hit in the eye with a skittle thrown by a fan in Los Angeles on Nov. 14, 2022. Lady Gaga almost fell victim to raucous crowd behavior when she was nearly hit in the face with a teddy bear in Toronto on her Chromatica Ball Tour on Aug. 6, 2022.
I don’t understand how people enter an arena and suddenly lose every modicum of common sense. It’s infuriating to witness artists being disrespected, despite their efforts to please their fanbases.
Many fans believe concert venues allow them to blend in with others and remain anonymous, giving them an excuse to act out. However, attempting to grasp the artist’s attention and seeking a few seconds of fame is a selfish approach, especially when the artists’ safety is at stake.
Not only is it irritating to see artists be mistreated, but it also bothers me when fans think concerts are the correct forum to throw spatial awareness out the window.
During Travis Scott’s two-day Astroworld festival, 10 people were killed and hundreds were injured, according to a New York Times article.
During the Astroworld festival, 50,000 fans began pushing towards the front stage, in hopes of getting close to Scott as he performed, leading to a case of mass compression asphyxia, according to an NBC News article.
Compression asphyxia happens when there is an external force limiting the ability of the chest to expand, disallowing air to get into the lungs, according to Eric Adkins, an M.D. and emergency medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
I still remember feeling sick after hearing about Astroworld. Concerts are supposed to be a place where fans can feel safe and comforted, recently it's been the opposite.
Safety was not at all a concern of mine when I attended Shawn Mendes’ The Tour in 2019, or the Agust D concert with my sister in May. However, with crowds getting crazier, it's something I have to be wary of.
Concerts should be a place that brings people together not only physically, but emotionally. They should also never be a place where safety is questioned.
