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Concert etiquette is nonexistent in a majority of teenage fan bases and there is a flaming culprit: social media. Since 2020, the live music industry has been on a downward spiral, with shutdowns, venue closings and price gouging becoming increasingly common. However, the biggest slap in the face to music fans is the drastic effect that social media, specifically TikTok, has had on concert etiquette.
It’s no secret that social media has completely altered the music industry. It has created new stars and given forgotten artists another fifteen minutes of fame nearly every week. But it also plagued live music, with fans who can’t seem to follow basic human decency in any venue.
One of the worst cases of this lack of etiquette that I have seen was at the Orlando Chappell Roan show I attended. She has had a steady fanbase for years, but recently went viral on TikTok for her song “Hot To Go”. It’s a poppy, feel-good song and was, before it went viral, a favorite at live shows. However, at her Orlando show, it was clear certain people were only there for that song alone, and their behavior was appalling.
Chappell was set to go on at 9:00, leaving about thirty minutes to spare after the opening act for fans to get last minute merch, drink and go to the bathroom, but those thirty minutes were like a battleground. Droves of people started trying to push through the crowd to get closer to the stage, and they weren’t just cutting through, they were actually shoving people out of the way.
The same people that were vying to get to the barricade were impatiently waiting for the song, loudly complaining about how long it was taking to get to the one song they wanted to hear. After she played it [“Hot to Go”] those same people who were physically pushing others out of the way to get to the front, up and left halfway through the set.
Then there were the sign people. Groups of them, all holding massive signs above their heads in the middle of general admission, effectively blocking a majority of the stage from view for half of the concert. The absolute lack of consideration for others was never as big of an issue pre-COVID.
The overall disrespect for both the artists on stage and other concert-goers is absolutely disgusting and is completely new on this scale. Until the general public learns how to behave, small venues and small artists are the way to go.
