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The state of live music

Last week, I went to the Music Hall of Williamsburg, and it was the first indoor concert I’ve seen in three years that seemed post-pandemic. No masks, no vaccination cards at the door, no concern for the germs of the sweaty people around you. I live for live music, though it’s hard not to compare my experience before to whatever quasi-state of the pandemic we’re in now. If I had to put a finger on it, the sense of community between concert-goers seems to be missing, or at least harder to find. 


The first general admission concert I attended at age 16, roughly 250 people, had one of the nicest crowds I’ve ever been in. When I was flat-tired and my shoe fell off, a group of people banded around me to make sure I didn’t get knocked over trying to put it back on. If the crowd got rough, people checked to ensure no one was trampled. Since ASTROWORLD, a 2021 Travis Scott concert where 10 people died and 25 were hospitalized from injuries due to crowd surges, more artists are getting recognition for pausing a concert to check on the crowd. Crowd surging is a much more prominent problem, which is morbidly ironic now that the 6 feet apart rule isn’t being enforced. There seems to be less respect for people’s space, whether it’s shoving to the front or dragging all 8 of your closest friends around trying to find a better view. 


Based on my own experience, and the people I’ve talked to in person or through the internet, there’s an influx of people without concert etiquette. Smaller venue general admission shows are about experiencing the environment and the people around you, bonding over your mutual appreciation for an artist. The focus should be on the performance, experiencing the live music and the scene. There seem to be more people whose focus is on getting the artist to notice them. They see strangers not as companions who are also there to enjoy their night, but as a hitch in their plans because this concert is for them to get the best experience, regardless of how that affects the people around them. 

The connection people feel to their favorite artists is special; despite entertainment industries like Broadway and movie theaters still struggling from two years of being virtual, concert-goers show rabid enthusiasm. The Met Opera, among other fine arts industries, saw major decreases in attendance, dropping from 75% capacity in 2019 to 61% capacity in 2022. By contrast, Live Nation’s second quarter results show their highest quarterly attendance ever, with a 38% increase in tickets sold from 2019 to 2022. The historically dedicated Taylor Swift fans overloaded the Ticketmaster website when her newest tour went on sale, resulting in both Ticketmaster and Taylor Swift releasing statements apologizing for long wait times and bad purchasing experiences. 

With the industry booming as artists return to live performances, it makes sense why the scene has changed in the past three years. New people are arriving without the experience of the past few years to teach them concert etiquette, and their obsession with big-name artists compels them to act selfishly, interested in their own experience rather than the mutual experience that makes live concerts truly special. Unfortunately, I’d say my experience has been worse at recent concerts compared to pre-pandemic ones, but I have hope that it’s getting better as people remember how to socially interact. My final piece of advice to anyone going to concerts is simple: wear deodorant.

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