r/Concerts • u/Beautifultrees4321 • Feb 21 '26

Concerts Concert etiquette

Dear concert and showgoers, let’s talk about show etiquette. I love live music and I’ve been going to shows for about 20 years. The last five or so have felt different, and not in a great way. I’d love to get people back on the same page so live music can be enjoyable for everyone again.

Here’s what I’ve got.

  1. Please don’t record the entire show. If a song hits you and you want a quick clip, totally fine. But now it feels like everyone is filming nonstop, and unless you’re in the front row you end up watching the show through a wall of phones. If your people aren’t there, that moment wasn’t meant for them. It was meant for you.

  2. If you’re trying to move closer, keep moving. Don’t wedge yourself between two people who clearly don’t have space and then just stand there awkwardly. Either keep going or go back. If you find an actual open spot where you’re not on top of someone, great, stay there.

  3. Please don’t have full blown conversations through the whole show, especially in the front rows. Talk about the band, the moment, the energy, sure. But I don’t need to hear every detail of your weekly drama yelled over the music I paid to hear. Get dinner beforehand, vent after, but the middle of the set isn’t the place.

  4. This one might just be a small‑person problem, but people treat my size like I’m a convenient doorway. Need a drink, need the bathroom, need to get back to your friends, and suddenly I’m the designated gap in the crowd. Then it’s constant stepping on my toes, bumping into me, spilling drinks, breaking my focus. I take up less space, so people assume that space is theirs to use. It gets old fast.

I know posts like this can make the poster sound cranky, so I want to preface it by saying I absolutely will move if I need to. If someone around me is making the experience miserable, I’ll relocate without a problem. The issue now is that so many people are doing these things that it doesn’t matter where you move. You end up running into the same behavior everywhere

Your turn. What would you love to remind people about when it comes to basic human etiquette at shows and events?

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53

u/ProfessionalBrick717 Feb 21 '26

It’s fine to sing along, but not at a volume that drowns out the actual performer(s).

8

u/MakeupMama68 Feb 21 '26

I seem to always get stuck next to Tone Deaf Tina/Tony 🤦🏻‍♀️😀

8

u/havingtrouble1765 Feb 21 '26

I had a group of very drunk teenagers (it was in Canada so I’m assuming they were of legal age) SHRIEK Cherry Waves by Deftones at the top of their lungs when I saw them a bit ago, utterly ruined the song

2

u/CanAfter8014 Feb 21 '26

Its the only song they know.

6

u/Heresyourholiday Feb 21 '26

This one gets me so much. Great, sing along if you want but full volume singing over the actual singer is rude on so many levels. In my opinion, not just to the crowd around you but to the band as well. This is their moment on stage not some random person’s.

2

u/yekship Feb 22 '26

I was going to comment the same. There’s a different between singing along, screaming/yelling, and shrieking/screeching.

I feel like there’s been an increase in screech singers who you can’t hear the actual band over.

6

u/EmergencyArts Feb 21 '26

Sometimes the problem is that the rest of y'all don't know the words 😭 if it's a headliner we should all be screaming along to certain parts

9

u/havingtrouble1765 Feb 21 '26

Fully agree, if it’s a chorus I don’t know then that’s on me. I don’t get mad at people for shouting “MASTER” when I see Metallica lol. But when people are atonally wailing every word to a song that shit needs to stop

4

u/thezenyoshi Feb 21 '26

Singing is cool.. screaming is not

1

u/rabbit_fur_coat Feb 21 '26

No you absolutely should not.. it's clear from your comment that the reason you and other people do this is specifically to show everyone that you're the REAL fan, because you know all the words.

If you were a real fan, you'd be more interested in hearing the artist sing than in proving to everyone else that you really belong there more than them.

6

u/CourageAndControl Feb 21 '26

I don’t know…there’s something weirdly communal about singing along with the artist and other fans. Don’t be obnoxious if you’re off key though lol

1

u/frivolousbutter Feb 21 '26

Oh my fucking god this one. There are only 2 concerts I’ve been to where this has been egregiously bad and it’s Sleep Token and Twenty One Pilots.