There has been a lot of controversy lately regarding how society has fallen back into normal practices since lockdown was lifted. One of the biggest indicators of how society has gone back to normal practices is through concerts. Concerts are supposed to be the time of a music lover’s life. They can see their favorite artists live and interact with other fans who love the music as much as they do.
Recently though, a question has come up during online discourse. Has concert etiquette declined after quarantine?
From a quick look on social media such as TikTok, the answer to that question is yes. One quick look at concert etiquette at recent concerts shows how people have forgotten how to act in a concert setting. That, or they don’t appreciate the space they’re in or the artist performing.
At Mitski’s concerts, fans have been lacking manners and are making the artist uncomfortable during performances. Mitski is an Asian indie/alternative artist who gained popularity with younger crowds for her emotional and hard hitting music. Along with being a musical idol for many, Mitski is a more reserved artist, who simply wants to make people happy without facing extreme amounts of idolization.
On Sept. 15, 2023, Mitski released her most recent album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We. Gaining traction from the album’s release, Mitski announced a tour that began in late 2023.
The etiquette issue stemmed from a few incidents at that recent concert. Many users on TikTok recorded the most recent issues.
User @yellowjacketts filmed a moment during one of the concerts where a fan was shown to be making meowing noises during quiet moments of the concert. The audience made it clear they were not pleased with that behavior, audibly groaning and shushing the individual.
Other moments include times when fans call the artist “Mother,” which is a term in fan spaces that Mitski expressed her disdain for. She has gone as far as to remind the audience that she cannot hear their yells and that she is not anybody’s mother.
Along with these recent events, there has just been a general vibe in concerts that isn’t respectful towards the artist performing or their music.
Fans have also filmed videos of other concerts where fans quiet down during songs that aren’t rapidly trending on TikTok. That’s been a separate point of discourse, because it causes a divide between fans of the artist and those who know them from 15-30 second clips of their most popular songs.
It’s not to say that people can’t go to concerts just to enjoy themselves, but it is disrespectful to an artist when their crowd is only screaming their love during a “popular TikTok song” and staying silent during the rest of the show. As a place to connect for music fans, concerts have lost their spark because of the people attending them.
A popular video on TikTok, posted by user @.prettysickk, compared the crowd’s volume during a TV Girl concert between popular and lesser known songs.
TV Girl is an indie pop band that started around the early 2010’s and gained popularity in around 2021, due to their albums French Exit and Who Really Cares.
Their most popular songs include Lovers Rock and Not Allowed. In the video posted by the user on TikTok, Lovers Rock started a loud crowd, but when the concert hit songs such as Heaven is A Bedroom, the crowd was far quieter, with less people singing along and filming.
By the looks of just those instances at concerts, it is obvious that people have lost some of their concert etiquette. People stopped respecting silence at concerts when it was needed and are yelling out as if they’re the only ones there.
People need to learn the basics of concert etiquette. They should learn when it is appropriate to yell out during concerts and respect the people around them when they yell. People should also respect the work artists do, and that should involve cheering at every song with the same energy, not just the ones making their rounds on social media sites.
As young audiences enter music fandom spaces, they should be aware that they don’t want to be the person of interest in a video negatively highlighting concert audiences on the internet. They should learn from the mistakes of recent concerts and make those spaces welcoming and entertaining for everyone attending. Concerts are a hub for music fans to enjoy themselves, so they deserve to have that space free from people without the proper etiquette.
So, yes, concert etiquette has hit a decline in the past few years, but there are ways to fix it. People just need the right information. Things like learning when to yell, understanding artists’ boundaries with names, and familiarizing yourself with an artist’s work can improve the quality of a concert immensely.
