Concert pet peeves

I'm not a fan of Bruce's rants either. In 2010 he had a really boring anti-BBC rant about how Maiden are still able to sell loads of albums and sell out arenas without any radio play. It was basically because his crap radio show was dropped by the BBC.
 
That would be me.
bowuu.gif
There are several reasons why: first of all, I'm short and if I stay behind, I would see nothing. This is exactly what happened when I saw Sabaton last time. Or should I say heard Sabaton, since I could only see the top of the backdrop the whole time. Second, I never go to concerts alone, and because of that I have to wait for other people who are never in a rush to go in and would much rather wait in a merch line for one hour. (Yes, I'm looking at you @LooseCannon! :p) If it was up to me, I'd always be there before the gates open. So I either have to leave everyone behind and go in the venue early, or wait for my buddies and stand at the back, which brings me to my previous point. And last, but not least, I can't stand being behind anyone in general and have been known to jump queues on various occasions, when I lose my patience.
Tall people standing in front of short people is my pet hate too. Also venue organisers who don't know what they're doing. The first time I saw Alestorm was in a fairly new venue and although we were queing from before the doors opened, by the time I got in Rainbow Dragon Eyes (the first and most interesting of the support acts) was on his last song. Then the singer of Lagerstein made and appeal for "all the wenches with big tits" to be let through to the front and I was forced about two thirds back down the hall and when Alestorm came on I couldn't see anything except Christopher Bowes' hat! Being somewhat lacking in loftiness my usual course of action is to get there before the doors open, go straight to the front and then stand there as long as I need to, so I really think it's not on to get that sort of interference from the stage. Also during Alestorm's set the singer of Largerstein (yes, him again) was right at the front of the audience, sitting on someone's shoulders and waving a massive half-full bottle of rum - if he'd dropped that on someone's head he could have killed them, I don't understand why the venue staff allowed that sort of thing to go on.

Consequently I was a little nervous by how late we got into the Maiden show in May, thinking I'd end up right at the back. However I was surprised to discover that the fight for the front, at least away from the centre, doesn't actually go back that far: there was quite a lot of room further back and I was able to walk up to, say ten from the front without difficulty. I'd never force my way in front of someone else but from then on, every time a space opened up I stepped into it (which I think was inoffensive enough) and thus was able to get to about five from the front by the end without apparently upsetting anyone - I imagine @Ariana and the rest were basically doing something similar in the middle.
 
Also venue organisers who don't know what they're doing.
I had this issue when I saw Anthrax in February. Doors opened about 2o minutes late so we were forced to queue in freezing cold with some snow and the support band had to play to a virtually empty venue. It was The Raven Age though, so I wasn't upset about missing part of their set.
I imagine @Ariana and the rest were basically doing something similar in the middle.
@Dr. Eddies Wingman and I had fun.
 
Rainbow Dragon Eyes is probably worth a rant (or celebration?) thread in his own right. :D

Speaking of organisers who don't know what they're doing....Drownload. To be fair they did ask for, and get, feedback via social media after 2016, and took action on it, but it's really shoddy when compared to Sonisphere.

I think rants by Bruce, and others, are planned to some extent. They think angry/forthright/outspoken frontman is a bonus for band image. Just leave it for Bruce to find something topical on the day.
 
I don't care about the justification; if the people in front of you showed up 3 hours early, waited through 2-3 opening bands without drinking or using the bathroom just to see the headliner, they deserve that spot more than you.

Damn straight. I'll weasel my way closer if I can, but always politely, stepping into gaps left behind by other people who moved and being mindful of people holding drinks. People who just bull their way through the crowd to the front deserve whatever spilled drinks, elbows to the ear, and stepped-on toes they get.

I showed up early to a Chris Robinson Brotherhood show a few years ago, parked myself right at the front of the near-empty floor and held my place through 1-2 openers without going to the bar or the bathroom. The floor filled up when the headliner started, and a couple songs in I felt something knocking into the back of my leg. It was a guy in a wheelchair just deliberately slamming into me to try to force his way up front. His two companions asked me to move for him. I told them to fuck off and show up early next time, and that if he bumped into me again I'd let the air out of his tires. If he hadn't been so deliberately rude and inconsiderate I might have made some room for him, but I wasn't about to reward that behavior.

Related pet peeve: clubs with no cocktail waitress service or trash bins for empty cups.
 
Last edited:
Pff. Why exactly can't I make my way to the front?
You can, you just need to be subtle and tactful with it ... ;)
I'm not a fan of this I've been at the front for three hours with this beer. Don't nudge me.
Agreed - if they've been prepared to stand for three hours in order to be at the front then they deserve to be there, but they should have acknowledged that being nudged (at least) is part and parcel of being at the front :)
 
We don't "hate tall people", only their insensitivity to shorter people behind them whose view is being blocked by their heads ...

(Especially when the short people were there before them :grumble:)
If the short people are already there before me, then I completely agree. But if I get there early and get a spot at the front before someone else comes up behind me, I'm not going to move just because the person behind me isn't as tall as me. If that were the case, then I'd end up only being allowed all the way in the back!
 
If the short people are already there before me, then I completely agree. But if I get there early and get a spot at the front before someone else comes up behind me, I'm not going to move just because the person behind me is shorter than me. If that were the case, then I'd end up only being allowed all the way in the back!
How tall are you? I'm 5'4" and I think @Ariana may be a bit less tall than me.

I agree that if you get there first then you have a priority right to that spot, and that is why I won't force my way in front of you if that happens. But I will step into any space that opens up and having done so I won't surrender the space afterwards (unless I get the chance to step a bit further forwards of course!) But if I notice someone behind me is even shorter (which has happened a couple of times, believe it or not) then I will make an effort not to stand directly in front of them.
 
How tall are you?
I'm about 6'4. Probably more precisely 6'3.5

I agree that if you get there first then you have a priority right to that spot, and that is why I won't force my way in front of you if that happens. But I will step into any space that opens up and having done so I won't surrender the space afterwards
Fair enough!

But if I notice someone behind me is even shorter (which has happened a couple of times, believe it or not) then I will make an effort not to stand directly in front of them.
If the person directly behind me is obviously much shorter, I don't have any issues with stepping to the side a bit to accommodate them. Provided, of course, they aren't being a complete asshole or demanding to get in front of me.
 
Easy for me. Idiots who spend the entire show coming back and forth to the bar. Far more annoying than cell phones. Why don't they just get pissed at the pub? Why do they buy an expensive ticket for a band they barely watch?

I also seem to always end up lurched behind a teenage couple who spend the entire gig swapping saliva.
 
Back
Top