Concert pet peeves

  • I'm with Mosh and Knickerbocker on solos. Unless you're Vai or Satriani, I really don't want to hear a dedicated solo (even Yngwie...I saw him on G3 and it was pretty boring after the first couple of tunes).
  • I think audience participation depends on how it's incorporated. Actually, Metallica were pretty fun when I saw them touring for Load - the die chant in Creeping Death was fun, and the 'hey, hey, hey' stuff for the count in to For Whom the Bell Tolls and the intro to Sad But True was pretty powerful. I hated it though when Hetfield had the audience sing half the verse for Master of Puppets (I thought it was a cop out).
  • Same thing with between song banter. Sometimes it's great/hilarious, and sometimes it's stale/scripted. Devin Townsend and Peter Steele were two of the best frontmen I saw for that because they both 'localized' their quips/jokes and responded to specific stage/venue gaffes that happened at the gig. Neither one was scripted as I saw them both multiple times on their tours and they varied the delivery each time (and were genuinely really funny). Trent Reznor, on the other hand, gave the same canned spiel when I saw NIN multiple times on tour (Burton from Fear Factory is another one that sounds like he memorizes a script at the start of the tour).
  • I also tend to hate medleys. Play the frickin' full songs - Metallica in the Black Album/Load eras were horrible at that.
  • Also, singers who call out members of the audience. Unless there is something really specifically dangerous that someone is doing, I don't want to hear a rant about people on their phones or if they're sitting down to eat garlic fries (Bruce frustrates me to no end on this). Just ignore them.
  • Excessive swearing and 16 year old boy bravado. It just sounds ridiculous when a grown man says something like "We're going to f*cking kick your f*cking ass you f*cking motherf*ckers! Then we're going to go home and f*ck our girlfriends with our 20 inch c*cks! F*ck yeah!" I get that you're excited, and the occasional f bomb is expected, but too much and you sound like an idiot.
 
I agree with all of that and I think it mostly just boils down to lazy showmanship. Live concerts are an opportunity to give fans something special beyond just playing songs from the album. You have to put extra effort to deliver a truly unique experience and most bands just aren't interested in that.

Medleys can go both ways. The R30 Rush medley was cool, but the Rush In Rio medley where they played excerpts of songs that would've been better in their entirety not so much. Same with Dream Theater. Instrumedley was a cool reimagining of their instrumentals but the Systematic Chaos tour medley just felt patchy and I would've preferred any one of those songs in its entirety instead. Overall I'm glad Maiden never went the medley route.
 
People that sit during a show are the worst. When I went to Queensryche everyone was sitting. Damn near ruined the show. The same thing happened at the Eagles, but I expected that. Joe Walsh told me everyone to stand up for "Heartache Tonight" after the song everyone immediately sat down.

Heck when I went to Metallica there were even people sitting. Unless you are paralyzed, you have no excuse to sit during Battery!
 
I don't like getting seat tickets, but if I already got them, I'm gonna sit. Not everyone wants to stand up and I don't wanna block anyone's view. That being said, last time I sat I was in the first row so I could see everything without needing to stand up.
 
Pretty much how I feel. Only Metal concert I've been to where people sat was Dream Theater and it was fine. I don't care if I'm sitting or standing, not what I came to the concert for.
 
Sitting is fine if seats are provided, but don't be pissed if everyone else around you is standing.

If I have balcony tickets to a show I usually sit, especially during Dream Theater.
 
Collin said:
Heck when I went to Metallica there were even people sitting. Unless you are paralyzed, you have no excuse to sit during Battery!
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Or Creeping Death.

That was a major shock to me the one time I saw Metallica. I didn't manage to get a floor ticket, so I was in the stands - and during most songs there were more people sitting than standing around me!

The one time I had a seat ticket at a Maiden show, people around me were into it, so they were standing up. Which was only right.
 
I have no idea either, but I always figured that was just Blaze's inexperience fronting an arena act. Hopefully by now he's gotten less awkward on stage.
 
Okay, I know this one will be unpopular, because most people here seemed to agree with him then, but fuck that...
It's been mentioned already, but I hate on-stage rants. And yeah, I'm looking at you, Bruce. Gee, that bloke is looking into his phone. That bloke who has bought the ticket. That bloke who helps to put bread on your table. That bloke who's been there for the whole concert, longer, in fact, because he's in the front row, so he's probably been doing some standing for quite some time. And - get this - you don't know what he's really doing. He might be writing home to his pregnant wife to check on her and tell her he's having a blast. You're really not a hero for denigrating him. You're just being a pompous arse.

You're a fucking entertainer. Looking into one's phone is not "disrespectful" - booing would have been. You're no fucking Colossus of Rhodes.

I'm glad when the official releases cut most of his... "embellishments". And I wonder how does 'Arry keep up with that. I know most people here seem to appreciate that and find it funny or cute, but sometimes, just sometimes, you know, I kinda get the feeling they'd need another Ed Force One just for Bruce's ego. And I really like him and respect him for everything he's achieved. In fact, that's why it pisses me off more.
 
I agree with all of that except the part about cutting it out of live albums. I want it to feel like a complete concert experience, warts and all. But yea it took Bruce a few years to learn how to be an entertainer again.
 
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