Alcohol and Live Shows

Discussion in 'Serious Chat' started by Andrea, Aug 9, 2008.

  1. #1
    Andrea

    Andrea best friends. LPA Addicted VIP

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    Before I start my rant, please know you can agree and disagree on this subject, that is if you choose to read it, lol. It's just my opinion of what I've witnessed last night and over the years and you don't have to like it, lol.

    Ok...onward...

    I have been attending concerts since I was 10 years old. My parents are big on attending live shows because they love music a lot so therefore I was brought up in that type of atmosphere. If a favorite band that they like or one of my favorite bands are in the area, we just go. We don't really think twice about it. I've seen pretty much everything at concerts - from a guy hitting his girlfriend in the face, women exposing their breasts, people pushing there way up to get up front to the stage, people throwing up, people passing out, fights and my personal favorite (sarcasm): drunk people who are only there to start shit and nothing else.

    So here's the issue I am sick and tired of dealing with and I'll use last nights Maroon 5 concert as a PERFECT example. I was at the venue since 11:30 am. Crazy, I know, but I had at 3:00pm sound check to attend. It was worth it.

    At the time when the doors opened for the actual concert I got right up front at the barricade infront of where Adam Levine would be. Hell yes. Anyway, when the second band left the stage, Maroon 5's crew started setting up their stage set up. That's when a few girls tried to push there way up to the front. Excuse me but no. If you wanted to be up front, you should have been there early. So I stood my ground and told them you better think twice if you're going to push me out of the way because I wasn't playing around. It worked and they didn't do shit.

    Lights go out, Maroon 5 comes on. It was heaven...at least for a short while. About maybe three songs in, a nasty fight broke out a few rows back. I believe, at least from what I was told, it was a drunk girl starting shit. Fists start flying and people who were up front started looking scared. After Maroon 5 finished their song, Adam said, "Really? Is this really going to happen? Get the people who are fighting the fuck out of here. We're a peaceful loving band that likes to have peaceful crowds." People cheered. Then they started their next song, ANOTHER fight broke out in the same area. This time it was with guys and it was vicious. Adam threatened to leave if it doesn't stop. It didn't stop and Adam said into the mic "We're leaving. Goodnight." They walked off the stage. In all the years I have attended live shows, I have never seen a band walk off stage. I was pissed and livid. Eventually when the fights got under control and the people who started it were kicked out, the band came back out. Everyone on the floor cheered but everyone in the back, who had seats, booed them. I was shocked. After they finished a song and got more boos, Adam explained why they left the stage and he acknowledge the people booing and he said "you don't have to be here if you don't like it". Haha, nice. So after those two fights, they carried on with their set and not a single fight broke out after that. But the magic that could have been was gone. Adam clearly wasn't having the best of time and most likely couldn't wait to end their set and get out of there. I can't say I don't blame him. It was just embarrassing.

    The fights were alcohol driven. Even the girls next to me were drunk out of their minds and acting like fools. I absolutely hate it. I've seen this at so many shows but last nights Maroon 5 show was absolutely the worst in terms of drunkenness and unruly behavior. I know it comes with the territory so it's obviously to be expected, but what I am so sick and tired of is paying lots of money to see my favorite bands play only to have it semi-ruined by drunk bitches and drunk assholes. Do people really have to drink to the point of acting like a douche bag? No, but it happens anyway. I have such a huge problem with this. I mean, I never expected the outcome of last night at a Maroon 5 show. At a rock/heavy metal show, yes, but not Maroon 5, lol. It's so stupid and embarrassing. I just wish there was some sort of a drink limit at shows. To me, the amount of alcohol consumption at shows is out of control. I'm basing that on last night and on past shows I've attended. Even last years Killers concert a fight broke out because of someone being completely drunk and acting a fool. I'm tired of it.

    Long rant but I had to get that off my chest. After all of that, I did have a good time and enjoyed seeing them extremely up close and personal, but it wasn't the best experience that it could have been. I'd love to know if people here go to live shows and experience similar things like I have or have an opinion on the subject of mixing alcohol with live shows.
     
  2. #2
    Heavy is the Louis

    Heavy is the Louis No really, we are so back. LPA Team

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    I went to a Placebo show once and I got beer spilled all over me. That was not fun.

    But man, that really sucks. I'm sorry to hear that, Andrea.
     
  3. #3
    Joeverflow

    Joeverflow It's all the same to me LPA Administrator

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    I hate everything about gigs except seeing the band. I couldn't agree more on all of your points. I hate people pushing in, it's the worst thing. I book days off work and god knows what to get to a gig early enough to ensure I'm at the front. Then someone comes half hour before opening and expects to push in? EAT SHIT.

    I never drink at a gig. I'm not that kind of person. Why be so fucked off my face that I can't even remember seeing them play? People who go to gigs and drink that much aren't clearly there for the music. They're probably there because "it's a fun night out and even though I can't stand the band I'll go anyway to cause shit". Gigs really annoy me. You'd think people who are going to see the same band you like would have the same mind set and be the same kind of people. More often than not though I find this isn't the case, and it's a shame.
     
  4. #4
    Chris.

    Chris. LPA Super Member Über Member

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    I never got why people get so trashed at shows. Sure, alcohol may open some people up so they can have more fun but to get trashed off your ass to the point where you cant even comprehend what your doing is absolutely ridiculous. I remember going to the Coheed and Cambria and Avenged Sevenfold show and during Avenged Sevenfold a fight broke out right in front of me and it ended in a fucking bloodbath. There was blood all over the floor and the two idiots that were fighting lost teeth and shit. It eventually stopped but it was in the middle of the floor so the security guards couldnt even get to them fast enough.
     
  5. #5
    El Muerto

    El Muerto LPA Super Member LPA Super Member

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    I don't drink at concerts because I have a pretty active bladder and then I'd have to go to toilet every five minutes :lol:

    But even if I did I would drink that much, because it's just stupid.
     
  6. #6
    esaul17

    esaul17 antichrist

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    Funny, I've never seen a fight at a concert. I recall I believe it was Bert of The Used, (although it may have been Cove from Saosin) say at the Taste of Chaos tour: "That is why I love playing in Canada! You can mosh all you want and no one starts a fight."
     
  7. #7
    aki*lp

    aki*lp LPA Super Member LPA Super Member

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    Wow. I am really dissapointed to hear about such shit happening at a concert. :hug: You really were looking forward to it, right?

    It's a shame. What idiots.
     
  8. #8
    Mark

    Mark Canadian Beauty LPA Administrator

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    I'll post a Note I wrote on Facebook about seeing Queens of the Stone Age back in May (NSFW language):

    First off, QOTSA were unbelievable last night! What a fucking show! By far the best concert performance of which I've been in attendance.

    I'm well aware that without Molson Canadian sponsoring this event, QOTSA very likely would not of come here. I'd still be stuck having to travel outside the province to see the bands I like (Oasis + Foo Fighters in Sept!), which is expensive and not something you want to do often.

    The problem I have with Molson Win-To-Get-In concerts is the distribution of the tickets to assholes who are just going to the concert to get hammered and start shit in the standing area. Last night, some people in the crowd were ridiculous. The pit was filled with drunken idiots who didn't give a shit about the music and just wanted to have an excuse to push people around and assault them for no reason. There were fights all over the place! There's meant to be respect for others at this concert. Nobody should be trying to ruin someone else's night.

    This isn't some "oh noes, I can't fend for myself and got banged up at a concert!" whine-fest, for I've been to numerous large-scale shows in the standing area which were filled with moshpits and held my own. The thing is, those previous shows were filled with people who were there for the band because they paid for the tickets and respected the band and the audience because that's the code you're supposed to follow when you're attending a concert. Not those who opened up a case of beer and got a ticket.

    Some people (perhaps the majority) went to this concert for the sole reason that the ticket was free, the beer was cheap, and then got into the pit with the sole purpose to be a shit-disturbing idiot, trying to bulldoze their way through the crowd because they're out of their mind drunk and rambunctious. I'm well aware that the shows can get rough, and I love that. But this was taken to a new level.

    I had one guy purposefully elbow me on the top of the head because I wouldn't let him past me into the 2nd/3rd row. Another drunken guy kept pushing me and elbowing me with no intention of getting past me, which led to me dropping behind him, throwing a punch at him, then dissipating into the crowd. He was so out of it that he didn't even know where the punch came from.

    The worst part of the night was when one asshole threw a shoe on the stage and prompted Josh to stop "Little Sister" and flip out. You can see video of it here: removed for privacy reasons.

    And how typical that the night ended with a water bottle being thrown on stage, leading the band to leave during No One Knows.

    Somehow I think that if the show wasn't win-to-get-in and people were allowed to buy tickets (let's say, for $35-$50 each) that the drunken assholes would have stayed home and let the real fans enjoy the show that much more.


    It pretty much ruined the night. All I really remember from the show is trying not to get the shit beat out of me instead of watching the band.

    Alcohol and shows can mix well, but when people go over the line with it, things can go sour very quickly. Some people just step into the standing area and think the rules are out the window because they blend into the crowd and receive no repercussions for their actions. That's wrong.

    An example of alcohol and shows mixing well: Me and a few friends thought it'd be hilarious to get hammered and go see the Backstreet Boys in concert when they ran through town. Every once in a while a BSB song would come on through the iPod playlist at parties and we'd all love it, so it translated perfectly to the show. We didn't cause any trouble or ruin anybody's night; the alcohol just opened us up to the point where we didn't care about singing at the top of our lungs because our insecurities were gone. Otherwise, I think I would have just been in the crowd clapping and singing to myself. It really made the concert that much more enjoyable.
     
  9. #9
    $pvcxGhxztCasey

    $pvcxGhxztCasey meanwhile... LPA Addicted VIP

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    It just depends, really. Getting drunk and eating mushrooms made Bonnaroo 2007 a much more enjoyable experience, and made me forget about the extreme heat and all the smelly, dirty hippies. Then again, it was my first concert ever and I was seeing Tool later that night, so I think either way I'd be acting giddy and have a dumb, goofy smile on my face.

    But, uh, yeah. I think it just comes down to what kind of person they are when they're intoxicated. Some are more mellow (Mark, apparently) when they're drunk, and some are violent alcoholics.

    I'd probably have to show up drunk if I was going to a Killers or BSB concert, anyway. :p
     
  10. #10
    Mark

    Mark Canadian Beauty LPA Administrator

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    I was half in the bag when I got to the concert, and fully in it once I bought another bunch of beer. :lol:
     

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