Gig Etiquette

[Keith Houchen]

[Merzbow]

I can't think of Nick Cave without thinking about the time Coil were "too gay" for him and he had to leave their gig because he couldn't handle it, pussy.

[Shy Dad]

I went to see Hot Milk in Cwlb Ifor a few days ago and being in the smallest, most cramped room ever, everyone just seemed so just happy to be there. The mosh pits went as expected without any incident, the few that did crowd surf due to their being so little space in the room got there without being dropped, kicking me in the head or security being pissed off.

Even at the end people who hadn't met before were just hugging, high fiving and singing along together and it was just great. I'd say there was maybe 250 max in the room but it was just a great gig.

I'm particularly short (lucky to push 5' 7'') but I've never had a problem with taller people standing in the way at gigs. They paid their ticket price, they want to enjoy it and if I want a better view then it should be on me to use my small nature to squeeze into a free gap, not ask someone to move away so I can see better. 

A few of the bands and artists mentioned though definitely I've experienced poor audiences. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds was an absolute disaster of bucket hat teenagers and grown up drunk people arguing with each other any time he tried to play anything that wasn't Oasis and their was just a stupid amount of pushing and shoving as people tried to start a mosh pit to one of his less tempo songs.

The less said about Reading Festival and the spawn it breeds the better as well.

[SuperBacon]

31 minutes ago, Shy Dad said:

The less said about Reading Festival and the spawn it breeds the better as well.

Big fat nope to this. Often the first festival experience for a lot of young people (certainly was mine) and the fact that we are, or are turning into boring old cunts, doesn't mean that the experience should be devalued for that reason.

Loads of teens got on my train the other week going to Reading, mostly drinking a beer at 8am. I wish I'd been able to fuck work off and go with them and hope they all had a great time. 

There was no one on the entire weekend I'd have wanted to see, but thats the point. It's not for me anymore, and so what? 

[WyattSheepMask]

One thing that I’ve learned in this is that Hot Milk is one of the shitest names for a band I’ve ever heard. If you like them that’s great and all, but that definitely fails the Stephen Merchant (?) “Ladies & Gentleman please welcome to the stage...” test

[Shy Dad]

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

Big fat nope to this. Often the first festival experience for a lot of young people (certainly was mine) and the fact that we are, or are turning into boring old cunts, doesn't mean that the experience should be devalued for that reason.

Loads of teens got on my train the other week going to Reading, mostly drinking a beer at 8am. I wish I'd been able to fuck work off and go with them and hope they all had a great time. 

There was no one on the entire weekend I'd have wanted to see, but thats the point. It's not for me anymore, and so what? 

I think for me it's just the pure horror stories I've heard this year from some mates going. Obviously it's been the first one in two years and a first festival for a lot of people but between Reading and Leeds and hearing stories of acid attacks, someone with a machete that got past security, various assaults, security selling drugs to teenagers and the likes it just sounded like utter bedlam this year. Which is a shame as Reading used to be a really fun weekend. The line up was good this year for me as well but I knew I'd have hated being in that environment for a weekend.

[Egg Shen]

I went to Reading/Leeds 8 times in the late 90s/early 00's. The lineups were still fantastic then, but it was bedlam. The median age was probably higher than it is now, but I was only in my late teens/early 20's myself so i was in the average demographic. The actual festival itself always felt safe, the camp site was a warzone. I didnt really partake in the carnage but I would wander around pissed, taking it all in. I dont know if its like that now, but i'd never go back (not that i would based on the change in direction musically). Every other festival ive camped at pales in comparison to Reading/Leeds.

[neil]

Reading in the late 90s was cracking. The campsite was a warzone though, I remember walking around at night and the low level smoke from campfires (including god knows what but almost definitely plastic) was absolutely brutal. Definitely only something I could do in my teens. Even moving onto the more snobby but infinitely more comfortable All Tomorrows Parties was desperately needed even as a 21 year old.

[SuperBacon]

"TROLLEY! TROLLEY! TROLLEY!" 

[LaGoosh]

I remember every Reading festival just struggling to sleep because I was always petrified some wrongun would set fire to my tent with me in it. I had many good times going to Reading but there was definitely always a nasty vibe and hostile undercurrent to the crowd. Especially in comparison to every other festival I've been to where everyone is friendly and chilled out.

[Chest Rockwell]

I never experienced that at Reading at all. It's definitely for a young crowd and I would never go these days but I had loads of fun when I did and it was always pretty chill. Leeds on the other hand had a rep for being the one that could get a bit nasty, from the couple mates I had who went to that.

[SuperBacon]

21 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I never experienced that at Reading at all. It's definitely for a young crowd and I would never go these days but I had loads of fun when I did and it was always pretty chill. Leeds on the other hand had a rep for being the one that could get a bit nasty, from the couple mates I had who went to that.

I never felt unsafe, but the campsite as others have said, was carnage, especially the last night.

But then that was half the fun. 2001, which was my first time, on the Sunday was one of the funniest nights of my life. 

The last time I went 2014, I took my ex as she had never been, and we stayed at my Dad's (who lives 15 minutes away) and drove in and out every day, but you still walk through the campsite from the parking.

The level of smug you feel, in clean clothes, having had a poo on a toilet, and showered, whilst people look like death around their tent is how I imagine the upper class look down on the rest of us. It was lovely to be honest, I'll never camp again.

[wordsfromlee]

I went to Leeds in 2002 when they had the infamous Sunday night riots that got them banned from hosting it at that site again. It was absolute carnage. Ice cream vans beings tipped onto their roof and smashed up, any food stall that didn't have the for-thought to pack up early got looted, telegraph poles holding the lights up somehow getting snapped in half, people duct taping 6 gas stove canisters together and throwing them on bonfires. We packed our stuff up after the last band on the Sunday night and spent the night watching mushroom clouds from people blowing up gas canisters and fire engines rushing around. People were just walking around looking to see if a tent was empty and if it was, on the bonfire it went. If it wasn't empty, they'd empty it and chuck in on the bonfire. People just became feral. It was pretty scary at times. Some people also tried to blow up the long drop toilets. I remember the next year at the new site, on the last night if you needed to use the toilets you had to empty all your pockets out before they'd let you in.

I also remember four lads walking around with a big metal fence each and they'd randomly enclose two people and wouldn't let them out until they fight each other.

[King Mal the Glorious]

Pretty much the exact same thing happened the one time I went to Download in 2006, that was Hell. 

It's a very British thing, I've been to festivals all over Europe and Download and Bloodstock are the only places I've seen any aggro.

[Chest Rockwell]

1 hour ago, wordsfromlee said:

I also remember four lads walking around with a big metal fence each and they'd randomly enclose two people and wouldn't let them out until they fight each other.

That's hilarious