For the rockers - I've lost the will to headbang

Duck Tape

Duck Tape

Platinum Member
I'm turning 30 this year and I have seen 3 of my favorite bands in the last 10 days or so. I have seen a change in my attitude and the enjoyment I get from these experiences. It is a bit of a whinge so if you don't like those click the back button now.

I can be impatient and the more I go to watch a band the more I get bothered by the inconvenience of having to stand around for an hour while the bands setup and dick around etc surely it's all about maximizing alcohol consumption.

My legs get tired, and as soon as I find a good vantage point - of course I need to go pee. And I want to get up close but I just can't stand being bumped into by sweaty people. Why do they have jump like that? I don't think that's interpretation of music, I think they're putting on as much of a performance as the guys on stage. Or guys at prog concerts that want to show you that they can clap their hands or nod their heads in time to tricky music - is that what music is about? Appearing a certain way to others? And what's with all the yelling?

I find myself challenging my own outlook and picking apart the whole scenario. Of course we want to see a band play but is it a bit confronting and perhaps unfair that the band be up on a pedestal and under scrutiny like that? Is that what music is about? Or just an artificial construct for fans to prove their devotion?

Don't get me wrong, I love watching bands because I'm a musician, I love to sing and dance and move about but not nearly as much as the people around me.. And I'm trying to understand if perhaps my musical appreciation has gone down a notch or if I'm just in a sea of posers and I'm one of the few authentic observers.

Waa waa yes I know I'm either being a pessimist or a realist but this a turning point in my concept of music and identity and heroism and I wonder if it can affect the direction I'm heading in.

Hopefully this makes sense and someone's been here.
 
At 43.....no, can't say I feel the same way.

I am over the way venues won't tell you when the band goes on. They'll give a door time, but that's it. And you know the venue will add 4 opening acts on top of whatever opening acts they've already announced. And the door time is like an hour before any of that even happens.

The ticket says "doors at 6" but the band in question probably doesn't go on until 10 or 11. But then you never know.

You don't want to arrive too late, but if you get there too early, then you have to wait around..

And I'm over every tour being a package tour these days. I don't want to pay $40-$50 for 4 bands to play 45 minutes sets when there is only one of them I really want to see.
 
Your expectations are probably just changing, and I think it happens to alot of people. You're seeing through alot of the BS that goes along with seeing live acts, and about the time I hit my late 20s, I was pretty much over it too. Nowadays if I want to see a band play, I'll buy a concert ticket just to see them because at least those start when the ticket says they'll start. I haven't gone to a club situation like the one you described in decades.
 
Bo Eder said:
Your expectations are probably just changing, and I think it happens to alot of people. You're seeing through alot of the BS that goes along with seeing live acts, and about the time I hit my late 20s, I was pretty much over it too. Nowadays if I want to see a band play, I'll buy a concert ticket just to see them because at least those start when the ticket says they'll start. I haven't gone to a club situation like the one you described in decades.
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Yeah. And more than that - Playing on stage in that setting has always been a goal. Not one I fantasize about but it is a measure of success. But not as much anymore.
 
Sounds like maybe you might be happier at a large venue where the show IS the band you're coming to see with little more than a 30-40 minute opening act. I too wouldn't go to a club-type venue where I was standing around for hours. At summer Jazz festivals there is the necessary 30 minute reset of the stage for the next band. That's just hot dog time.
 
Coming up to 30 and your legs get tired? Try coming up to 62. I love to watch bands play but I am not interested in standing in a mosh pit. Never was.

I went to see Jethro Tull three years ago, at the same venue I saw them play in 1974. I sat there before the show looking round at the audience thinking "What are all these old people doing here" It was only when I was In the toilet at half time and saw myself in the mirror I realised that I was one of the "Old" people.

In my head it was still 1974. Ha. It was still a great gig and I got just as much of a buzz out of it as I did when I was a long haired hippy back in the day. It sounded like the rest of the audience felt the same way.

Age? It is just a number, and me? well In my head I am still 18.
 
mikel said:
I sat there before the show looking round at the audience thinking "What are all these old people doing here" It was only when I was In the toilet at half time and saw myself in the mirror I realised that I was one of the "Old" people.

In my head it was still 1974. Ha. It was still a great gig and I got just as much of a buzz out of it as I did when I was a long haired hippy back in the day. It sounded like the rest of the audience felt the same way.

Age? It is just a number, and me? well In my head I am still 18.
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Oh boy, does this resonate with me :( :( :(
 
Stay at home and put the CD on instead.......and while you're at it, make yourself a cup of herbal tea, find your comfy slippers and wrap a shawl around your shoulders you old woman!! :)
 
One day you'll understand, sunny jim.

I know it's easy to say ''you're getting old'', and there were some older guys standing near me, looking composed like me, but I wanted to explore my other options too :)
 
You're just getting wiser and appreciating music on a deeper, more cerebral level rather than just rocking to the beat and having fun like most of the folks.

So you haven't played much on stage yourself? Or what? You're a damn good drummer, Dre, based on what I've heard so far.
 
I hope you're right. I hate to think I'm getting jaded and I much prefer the idea that I'm growing and changing. Yesterday was a looong day.

And thanks for the kind words - I've done a little bit of on stage playing.
 
Dre25 said:
Or guys at prog concerts that want to show you that they can clap their hands or nod their heads in time to tricky music
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Yup, that's me. I get offended when people say there's no way to headbang to Meshuggah haha.

But you're not alone, man. There are plenty of people who would rather get lost in the music than jump around. I'm not much of a mosher myself, and it's not because I'm scrawny and noodle armed. I want to watch my heroes up on stage and really concentrate on their music, because that's what makes a show memorable, at least to me.
 
I turn 40 this year and I am the first guy at the show. I get as close to the rail as possible and I enjoy moment of it. I despise sitting at concerts, I will pay whatever to get a pit ticket to get the full experience. I mix it up in the pit, I bang my head, I throw up the devil horns, I sing along to the words I know (and make up the ones I don't). There is nothing like the experience of a live rock concert. The people and the standing and the waiting are just part of the experience.
 
Dre, here are some sure fire tests for you:

1. When you place your panama hat on the parcel shelf of your Camry, is it on the driver's side or the passenger side?

2. How long is your afternoon nap?

3. How do you feel about kids on your lawn?

James (old enough to know better, off to see Ed Kowalczyk next week and Jimmie Vaughan in April)
 
It seems ridiculous to me to criticize people for jumping around at a rock show - they're not there to give the band their full attention. The audience is there to have fun. That usually involves a bit of physical movement. Now, if they were jumping around at a jazz concert, that would be a little bit different, but then again, it's not unusual for people to start dancing.
 
JustJames said:
Dre, here are some sure fire tests for you:

1. When you place your panama hat on the parcel shelf of your Camry, is it on the driver's side or the passenger side?

2. How long is your afternoon nap?

3. How do you feel about kids on your lawn?

James (old enough to know better, off to see Ed Kowalczyk next week and Jimmie Vaughan in April)
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Hahahahaha! GET OFF MY LAWN YOU PUNK KIDS!!!!!
 
eclipseownzu said:
I turn 40 this year and I am the first guy at the show. I get as close to the rail as possible and I enjoy moment of it. I despise sitting at concerts, I will pay whatever to get a pit ticket to get the full experience. I mix it up in the pit, I bang my head, I throw up the devil horns, I sing along to the words I know (and make up the ones I don't). There is nothing like the experience of a live rock concert. The people and the standing and the waiting are just part of the experience.
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Wow- I would have written the exact same post (except I turn 40 early NEXT year) : )
 
I occasionally go out to see friends playing but the venue's are jazz/dinner clubs.(My friends and I are in our 60's) There's always a table. I never go to bars any more.

If there's a really popular band I want to see, the concert hall needs to have reserved seating. I won't do the general admission thing anymore.
 
Dre25 said:
I'm turning 30 this year ...
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... geez Dre, you make me feel like a dinosaur.

I love it all, just as much as when I was in my 20's... except I don't headbang anymore, I just appreciate it more than when I was in my 20's and I like it that way...

... off to get a cup of tea and straight to bed... I might watch The Who live on a DVD tomorrow, my living room will be on fire... exciting time for an old git like me :)
 
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