Different shows can bring about different groups of people. For example, you’re likely to see different behaviors from the attendees of a punk rock show than you will a classical opera. Part of that is the atmosphere that’s been set, while part of it is the background of the people who enjoy these types of music. Either way, being familiar with the type of crowd that you’ll come across at your next concert can make your experience a lot more enjoyable.
Here, we’ll take a brief look at what you can do to anticipate the crowd of your next show so you can get the most out of the event.
Let’s get the bad out of the way first.
Start out with awareness. This is especially necessary if you’re going to a show with a group of teens. Teenagers are at an age where they know a lot of stuff, but they don’t necessarily realize that they don’t know everything. Talking to your kids about what kinds of behaviors they might experience at a show can be a helpful way to get this conversation started. They might already know about this kind of stuff but having a conversation will give you a better idea of where they are and what they are mature enough to handle. You may have already had this conversation, and that’s awesome. If not, maybe this is a good time to start.
Floor seats or standing room only tickets can be especially rowdy. Depending on the type of show that you’re going to see, you might want to be sure that you have plenty of room around you. If things do get rough, you want to be able to retreat to a safe place. An energetic concert is not a bad thing, but there’s no point in sacrificing your personal safety or that of your friends just because you’ve found a great spot to check out the band. Most major venues have good security regarding this, but sometimes that’s not enough. It’s always better to make sure that you have enough space and that you can get to where you want to go if things start to get too intense.
Another helpful tip is to avoid food and drink from people that you don’t know. Most people are kindhearted and just want to have fun, but not everyone. There have been horror stories about people being drugged and hurt thanks to the malicious actions of another person. The best policy is to just stay away from things that you’re not sure of. Most people are not like this, but some are. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know this for certain until it’s too late.
Encourage your group to have an emergency plan in place. There have been some scary events at concerts in the recent past. The Las Vegas shooting and the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester are two examples that come to mind. While it’s impossible to prevent one of these occurrences on your own, you can be aware of your surroundings and have a better idea of what to do if something unforeseen were to occur. Pay attention to the people around you, know where emergency exits are, and always have a meeting place planned with the group that your with. The odds are that nothing bad will happen while you’re at a concert, but it’s always better to be too prepared rather than not prepared enough.
Now, the good.
Concerts are an amazing experience. Sure, there are sometimes a few bad apples at shows, but that’s true of any event that you might be going to. Being aware of what’s around you, what to do in the event that you’re around a group that you don’t want to be around and helping the others that you’re with to understand the same can go a long way toward helping you have more fun. One of the cool things about going to a concert is that you are with a huge group of people that all have similar tastes in music to you. No matter what your differences might be in other areas of life, there are going to be similarities. A concert is a great way to meet people who you share something in common with, who you can have fun with, and who you can enjoy the company of for a few hours. For that time, all of your other differences are cast aside and you can just have fun together.
After all, that’s what concerts are about, right? Knowing who you will be having that fun with ahead of time can make it even more enjoyable.