Concerts

yourdeadwright

i just can't get why people enjoy them so much, they are just odd to me you stand there & watch some bloke/girl sing & you all just stand in front of them cheering them on, I'd get it for a song or two but for an hour or two its just weird

I don't get it for me music is for the back ground as in your doing something else have another goal but music is in the back ground to add to the atmosphere, Just standing there looking at the person singing is weird ? or is it me who's odd.

I convinced its one of those things people say they love doing just because other people think its "cool" to be there, Like surely after 2 songs your bored ,

I get a festival you sit around socialising in the sun chatting and drinking having the crack but just a once off indoor concert to me that is just odd,

Am i right or am i the odd one,

Arghus

I can see why they don't appeal to some people.

Of all my circle of friends there's some who I know I could ask to go to anything, some who would be willing to go to some things, and some who would never go to any gig whatsoever. Just not their thing.

I love, love, love going to gigs and have been doing it for years. I'd give just about anything a look. I feel compelled to.

But, I totally get how it could be a hard sell for many.

You don't have much comfort at them typically, there's a cost in terms of time and effort, and you may not necessarily be the biggest music fan - so it probably wouldn't appeal on even that level.

Maybe I'm wrong here OP, but reading what you have written, I get the sense that you aren't a huge music fan? Or at the very least you view it very differently to myself.

I don't play any instruments, but, music is definitely one of the most important things in life for me: I wouldn't like to live without it.

Sometimes I put it on in the background, but, honestly, not that much. Most of the time I am actively listening to it. If I go for a walk I have to listen to music and most of the time I'll be more focused on the music than on putting one front in front of another, or even where I'm going.

I suppose what a person is looking for a gig can be a variety of things.

Sometimes it can be just as simple as wanting to hear the songs. Sometimes it can just be as straightforward as wanting to see the act in the flesh. It can be about wanting to be in the same space as people who are just as into as that thing that you are. It can be curiosity about how the songs will sound in a live setting: better, worse, modified? It can be to witness admirable musicianship up close. Or to see something wild you haven't seen before. It can be to experience the intensity of a live performance of a song or an act that can't be replicated by just simply listening to it on your own at a remove. It can be about atmosphere - when the crowd and the act are on the same wavelength and you get wrapped up in the communal aspect of it all. And you can go because you want to support the artist; because so little money is made off traditional forms how music used to function as a way to make a living in the streaming world of today.

Jesus, I could be here all night listing off all the different reasons for going to a gig.

I've floated out grinning from ear to ear out of gigs where I was absolutely physically and sonically brutalised, and others where I bore witness to such displays of musical grace and finesse that tears were brought to my eyes. Different sides of the spectrum, but the motivation is coming from the same place for me: I want to see something transcendent.

I actually much prefer going to an indoor gig of an act, rather than a festival: where the audience is there to see that act and the act is there to give them a proper performance - rather than at a festival where people are a lot of the time only half interested and hopping around from act to act or just looking on from where they've decided to sit fir a while . Give me the purity of purpose of a bunch of people in the same place who have made a conscious decision to spend a few hours in the company of a particular act any day of the week.

Pauliedragon

OP the world would be very boring if we all had the same interests. You could apply the same logic to sport. Kicking/carrying a bag of air around the place seems like nonsense and boring to a lot of people. I personally enjoy music and sport but going to a play for example would put me to sleep.

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122056350#Comment_122056350

Ye of ocurse i understand that ,

Sport has a different outcomes a concert is just the same music you can listen to anywhere but with worse quality ,

Strumms

😎 my favourite night out, a ticket for one of my favourite bands/artists or one I’m just discovering. I just adore live music. Seeing a band or artist live is a distinctly different experience to listening to them at home.

If you enjoy 2 songs why would you be bored for the remainder ?

If you go to a cinema will you enjoy the first 15 minutes and get board ? You can watch films at home too.

o1s1n

OP, for some people music isn't just 'background music' or filling the void of silence, it IS the thing. I'll happily listen to music as a form of entertainment. (as do many others!)

Going to a live gig is akin to going to see your favourite film, but if all the actors you loved in the film were literally on stage in front of you.

I see sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058348446/concerts

It's you who's odd.

Badly Drunk Boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122056387#Comment_122056387

You're obviously just dead inside 😜 or not listening to the right music or going to the right bands. Certain performances of certain songs have sent shivers through me or made the hairs on my arms stand. Listening to an album will rarely make that happen.

And a lot of artists put on a performance, not just spewing out their songs one after another. Different versions of the songs you love. And they may sometimes even inject a bit of humour in the act too!

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122056642#Comment_122056642

Its possible

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122056633#Comment_122056633

I'd rarely ever watch a movie twice so that wouldn't work for me either,

All standing the same direction jumping up and down watching someone sing , Your not even dancing its just odd

I'm convinced people just say they like it because they think its a cool thing to say,

I do like music, Car journeys, gym, running, even on a dance floor of a night club drunk , but to me music is always a part of doing something else if you get me, Not the just standing there watching the person perform .

Gary_dunne

Concerts can give you an experience that a CD, Spotify or Vinyl simply can't.

Listening to Andrea Bocelli singing Nessun Dorma live is unlike anything you could imagine from hearing it on a CD or Vinyl.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122056712#Comment_122056712

For me music is a thing in itself, I've always bought nice stereo systems. I'll happily sit on my couch with a beer facing some nice speakers just listening to music. Going to a gig is a more involved version of that with the band I like literally in front of me. I'm watching each band member do their thing live, it's fascinating to see and can be exceptionally moving and ethereal if it's a band you really like.

On the flip side, I absolutely hate dancing. With a passion. Think it's the stupidest thing on earth. Wouldn't dare disparage anyone else from doing it though 😁

Rothko

It seems to me that you're just not that into music really. I can't relate to anything you said tbh. Nothing wrong with that though. We all have our own interests.

Thelonious Monk

I'm kind of with you OP, watching some guitar band for an hour or two bores the bejesus out of me. Nearly every gig I've ever been to like that I'm dying to leave and get on with things by the time it's over. I do love festivals however as you're there with a bunch having the craic usually and boozing and taking other things etc.

Mister Vain

I'm not a fan of them myself but its nothing to do with a lack of interest in music. It's more so the traffic jams, trying to get parking and large crowds of people standing around with their phones in the air.

Kurooi

You might be missing the point that people go to concerts of music and artists they enjoy. When you go to say a metal or a rock concert, the bass, the vibration, the atmosphere, the culture. There is a LOT there to enjoy that headphones don't give you.

There is a slight celebrity aspect to it, it's nice to see your heroes live. Or just people whose art you enjoy. It tickles something in the brain even if you're not bragging about it later.

Another thing is it's a bit of a bucket list, avoiding regrets. You only think decades later that you wish you've gone to more things, seen (now legendary) bands live. I already have that feeling about some and I'm young enough.

Now I have gone to gigs where I had more loose interest in the band and I would indeed drink and socialize and try to kill time. It's a different experience. I also think some music genres lend themselves to concert better than others. Pop music for example doesn't boast bass or in fact generally doesn't shine on instrumentals, 'atmosphere and culture' is a lot of noisy kids trying to get a drink or parents who got dragged in against their will. I don't enjoy that.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057293#Comment_122057293

That's not so much you disliking concerts as it is you disliking traffic jams, a lack of decent parking and people with their phones out. :D

Thankfully some bands are stopping idiots with their phones. Was at Tool the last time they played Dublin and it was absolutely amazing to be at a show again without 20 gombeens standing in front of me with their phones out like drones recording videos nobody will ever watch.

Quitelife

What i cant understand is how people afford to go to concerts…kinda looking at 100 Euro for a ticket..200 for a couple. ??

TheIrishGrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122056387#Comment_122056387

Why would anyone listen to a song more than once or watch a movie or TV show or read a book more than once? The outcome is going to be the same.

As for going to concerts, it is nothing like listening while sitting at home or on the bus into work.

A good energetic crowd can totally transform a song. I wouldn't be a big fan of Coldplay. Find them quite bland but have seen them twice in concert at festivals and, whatever I think about their music, they sure know how to get a crowd going.

A few years ago I was at The Point to see Eddie Vedder and he played Jeremy with string quartet and it was amazing. The crowd erupting at "Elderly Woman"? Shivers

I can understand people being put off by standing in a field, listening to a song but, for me, it's chalk and cheese. There is no comparison.

Personally, I have no interest in sport and cannot understand how mainstream it is for people to, in effect, cosplay as their favourite footballer. But I get I am very much in the minority

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057560#Comment_122057560

The trick is to like bands that don't charge you exorbitant amounts for gigs and that don't play arena shows.

Smaller venues like The Olympia are far, far better than the Three Arena for pricing. Better shows too IMO.

Rothko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057560#Comment_122057560

That's only concerts in bigger venues. Most live music is still considerably less than that.

munchkin_utd

you obviously never clicked with a band/ music genre and whilst I dont get that, I can imagine its something similar to how some people cannot get sport, cannot understand how people are competitively running around after a ball or thumping each other in a boxing ring.

>I'd rarely ever watch a movie twice so that wouldn't work for me either, All standing the same direction jumping up and down watching someone sing , Your not even dancing its just odd

em…. many concerts I have been to I have stood there and enjoyed it without singing along, and I definitely dont dance, but might nod my head a bit. I find concerts that turn into a giant karakoe session to be annoying, but luckily I've been at few that that ever was an issue.

Your analysis that concerts and festivals have become more of an event to go to rather than to enjoy the music is more true by the year with big acts charging silly money and selling out and smaller acts with less of a bandwaggon struggling to sell tickets. You are also right that often live sound is substandard , whether thats in stadiums or industrial old warehouses. With stuff like rock it doesnt matter too much, it often adds to the atmosphere, for stuff like classical if the speakers are not set up right you may as well have listened to a CD, or wait till the recorded version of the live concert becomes available

I see the hassle to get to a concert mentioned but if youre going to a normal concert with a few 100 to a couple of 1000 in the likes of Wheelans or the Olympia rather than something in Croker or the Aviva (or Slane), traffic isnt a massive issue and with smaller bands people are there to see the band, not to be at an "event" and to take instagram photos.

What is bonkers though are people who will not go to a concert because they have nobody to go with, which is a good excuse if youre 12 and cannot go without a parent, but a sad excuse if you are a fan of a band/ artist and somehow you cannot go to a place and watch an act without having someone beside you with whom you cant have a conversation anyhow cos of the loud racket made by the person youve paid to see.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057764#Comment_122057764

One of my most memorable gigs was Ministry in Tripod back in 08. Was meant to go with a friend but they cancelled, so went by myself. Had an absolute blast, was amazing not having to worry about other people and just do my own thing in the crowd.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057560#Comment_122057560

you are only spending that sort of cash if a legacy act like the stones are playing…they aren’t even the worst, look at the likes of Deaf Leopard, charging over $300 in the US for a ticket to a poxy stadium or festival type gig and all of them in front of cameras every year bullshîtting about their working class Sheffield backgrounds.

Richard Hawley an award winning consistently quality artist live & in studio, also a Sheffield man with pedigree and a following, here at home and internationally is charging 42.50 I think plus fees per ticket…. That isn’t extortionate considering he has…

Himself, 6/7 band members, tech crew - 7/8 people minimum, transportation costs for gear and personnel , accommodation costs, venue hire costs, maybe insurance cost, definitely cost of equipment hire.. PA etc… get a good quality gig, 90 minutes usually a very decent support…

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058348446/concerts

It's just you that's odd. Especially as you seem to think you are right, and everyone else must be wrong.

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057833#Comment_122057833

No i don't think there is a right or wrong at all ,

I just don't get it ,

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057865#Comment_122057865

That's fine, you don't have to get everything.

I see you like running. I don't get that at all. Running for me is part of escaping from something 😁. Why would I just… run?

munchkin_utd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057906#Comment_122057906

+1 . If you want to go somewhere and see something then get a bike, or drive to the mountains and walk and enjoy the beauty, but to just clock up kilometres seeing barely changing scenery running is mindknumbingly boring

I will tip my hat to anyone who has the dedication to train for a marathon and the reward from it paying off must be great, but I dont get how you can enjoy the process. If I wanted pain I'd just get the mrs to tie me up and whip me, in the warm of the bedroom.

Mister Vain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057520#Comment_122057520

I believe Adele gave a fan a bollocking for that before. :)

Say Your Number

In my experience of gig going, there is always gobshites going in and out to the bar during the gig or blathering on about some inane bullshit to each other, they seem to find gigs boring too, wish they'd stay at home as well.

thebourke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057560#Comment_122057560

It depends on who you go and see …not every concert is 100euro…

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057906#Comment_122057906

I run but i don't like it in fact i hate it ,

i just run to keep weight down and stay cardio fit, yes id prefer to be doing a sport to get there but when that's not possible i just run ,

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122058026#Comment_122058026

Ever think of cycling instead? It's a lot more fun and you get to buy kit like fancy new bikes! I cycle everywhere I can. Have a car sitting out front that never really gets used. Just find if I commute and just get around generally on the bike that does me exercise wise.

Lewis_Benson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058348446/concerts

You don't like music.

BaywatchHQ

I have been to around 25 concerts. Not a good place for a loner incel, I will probably give them up after I turn 40. I would never attend one sober again like I used to.

I don't care about people recording videos, I watch the good quality videos on YouTube, particularly the ones recorded from the seated area. Without phones you are going to have a restricted view anyway because of people sticking their arms up and that ridiculous horn hand gesture that rock fans do.

The people I try to avoid at concerts are the men who stand behind their girlfriends hugging them. Girls bring these boyfriends to the concert as their protector.

I remember at an outdoor show last year a woman's boyfriend didn't like a man brushing up against his girlfriends chest and the man laughed at him and said "have you never been to a concert before".

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122058393#Comment_122058393

i do

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122059711#Comment_122059711

My favourite made up concert story of yours is the one where you walked into the venue and a girl just started randomly laughing at you.

gym_imposter

Best thing ever when young , I wouldn't have anything like the enthusiasm for them aged forty six

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122060728#Comment_122060728

My parents still go to rock/heavy metal gigs with me (standing too) and they turn 60 this year 😁

gym_imposter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122060767#Comment_122060767

They still have the fire in the belly unlike some of us

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122056712#Comment_122056712

OP I don’t go to many concerts – I have a few bands that I love & I will go to them. I’d say a large amount of people would not count these bands as “cool” & I’m definitely not trying to impress people by going. I go because I love their music. Hearing it sung live as opposed to recorded (which is very different) brings me joy. I get that, for you, music is a background to other things. And sure, I have music like that a lot of the time. But for me, certain songs, certain artists make me want to stop what I’m doing & just enjoy the song for it in itself.

Like I said, I don’t go to many gigs – the last one was in 2019 as that’s the last time my favourite band was here. I don’t judge people who spend their money on it. If they can afford to, why not? I personally wouldn’t pay more than €100 for a ticket but that’s me. That being said, a while back my favourite band were playing in London but not Dublin & I flew over to see them. It was expensive, but very worth it to me.

You mention that sports have different outcomes all the time – I would argue that no song is sung the same way twice, even by the same person. So every concert is different.

Zimmerframe

I don't do many concerts anymore, but realistically for a couple from the stix to go to a "major" concert or sporting event in Dublin you are looking at 1K, between car fuel, tolls, hotel, concert tickets, food and drink etc.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061106#Comment_122061106

More fool them for listening to shite like Garth Brooks 😁

BrianD3

I don't get the appeal, the music is too loud and you can't hear it properly, you're in a big crowd of idiots drinking, shouting and dancing. There will be tall fcukers obstructing your view. And there's always the possibility that idiots will get overly excited and stampede like herd animals.

I like music but would much rather watch a gig live on TV with professional camerawork etc. Or listen to a studio album.

Similarly with sporting events, IMO you usually get a better experience watching on TV than being there.

munchkin_utd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061400#Comment_122061400

funnily I found tall fuckers (like 2m / 6foot 6 +) to be more prevelant at more popular concerts but for more indy alternative stuff I often found the crowd to be wierdly a bit shorter.

As in, at a Foo fighters standing only gig I barely got to see the band at any stage of the concert with herds of giants all over the place - sometimes with girlfriends on their shoulders so they could see, and to make it even less optimal the sound in that venue is shocking echoy and the only good sound is right by the mixing desk, but at some niche concert at a similar time (could well have been Stereolab) I was stunned to be able to see perfectly well and that was in a venue with much better acoustics. I remember back in the days going to Bjork or other things like that and never an issue with tall fuckers.

Nowadays I am as happy to sit at an indoor gig but standing at a major outdoor gig is grand once you stay out of the middle. With safety regulations nowadays the standing areas are nowhere near max capacity and when the fanboys all squeeze toward the stage theres LOADS of space towards the back a bit

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061492#Comment_122061492

Never go to a gig in The Netherlands. We travelled to Amsterdam to see Nine Inch Nails ten years ago or so and at 5'11 I struggled to see anything at all. And I was fairly close to the front!

Won't be making that mistake again.

witchgirl26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061400#Comment_122061400

When was the last concert you were at? Unless you're right at the front, you're going to be looking at the screens at times to see the close up & even at 5ft 1" I'm able to see them when standing! And I've never seen a stampede at a concert. Even in the pit, it's usually pretty chill unless, again, you try to get right to the front. They also have seats at the majority of gigs which helps with it a bit too.

It's about the atmosphere of the gig or the sporting event. The being there. The cheering with the crowd. You can't get that through a TV.

Arghus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061579#Comment_122061579

Yeah, I went to a gig in Amsterdam once and it was noticeable how much taller everyone was than an average Irish crowd.

BrianD3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061492#Comment_122061492

I don't think that's weird. People who are into niche and indie things would tend to be shorter and often skinnier. Tall and jock men who have spent their lives receiving positive vibes will tend to gravitate towards whatever the latest popular, social thing is.

Badly Drunk Boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122061690#Comment_122061690

That's a load of rubbish. I'm 6'5" and have been going to 'niche' or 'alternative' gigs for the last 35 years. The friend that I'm most likely to go with is 6'3", and two others that sometimes accompany us would be about 6'2/6'3" too.

Tall people definitely don't get positive vibes at gigs. I always remember being at Witnness in 2000, waiting for Death In Vegas to come on. Halfway through the first song, somebody started thumping me on the (lower) back, some 5' nothing girl who was annoyed that I was blocking her view, even though I'd been waiting patiently there for ages. She probably wouldn't have been able to see even if an average person was in front of her.

And munchkin_utd, I was at that Stereolab gig in Vicar Street a few years ago, but was probably wasn't blocking your view because I was huddled, shaking in a corner from the cumulative abuse of the short angry people over the last few decades. 😉 Or I was probably just at a different part of the venue.

munchkin_utd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122062190#Comment_122062190

you werent blocking my way because I saw Stereolab in Munich!

In Germany people there in general are taller than in Ireland, so for the likes of Foo Fighters you just arent going to see feck all but for more niche gigs its generally grand.

Still, every concert has its own specific crowd. I saw Bjork just before covid in Dublin at the point (or random telekom company arena or whever it is called now) and a huge chunk of the crowd was mid 40s, bar was dead. Went to Florence and Machine in Munich and was full of lesbians on the lash, Red hot chili peppers about 70% female (not expecting that), Dead can Dance 99% of the crowd morbid and dressed in black (myself and the wife was among the other 1%), Guns and roses at Slane was a mixed crowd but wouldnt be surprised if the half of them were also at Garth brookes and/ or the ploughing or whatever is the big gig of the year and the bars were rammed, couldnt get enough booze out.

Actually.. european concerts are a bit more restrained with the boozing than Ireland and considering the cost of travel and accomodation in Dublin for any night with something happening, flying to the continent for a gig and making it into a mini break will often make sense.