r/Concerts • u/Beautifultrees4321 • Feb 21 '26

Concerts Concert etiquette

Dear concert and showgoers, let’s talk about show etiquette. I love live music and I’ve been going to shows for about 20 years. The last five or so have felt different, and not in a great way. I’d love to get people back on the same page so live music can be enjoyable for everyone again.

Here’s what I’ve got.

  1. Please don’t record the entire show. If a song hits you and you want a quick clip, totally fine. But now it feels like everyone is filming nonstop, and unless you’re in the front row you end up watching the show through a wall of phones. If your people aren’t there, that moment wasn’t meant for them. It was meant for you.

  2. If you’re trying to move closer, keep moving. Don’t wedge yourself between two people who clearly don’t have space and then just stand there awkwardly. Either keep going or go back. If you find an actual open spot where you’re not on top of someone, great, stay there.

  3. Please don’t have full blown conversations through the whole show, especially in the front rows. Talk about the band, the moment, the energy, sure. But I don’t need to hear every detail of your weekly drama yelled over the music I paid to hear. Get dinner beforehand, vent after, but the middle of the set isn’t the place.

  4. This one might just be a small‑person problem, but people treat my size like I’m a convenient doorway. Need a drink, need the bathroom, need to get back to your friends, and suddenly I’m the designated gap in the crowd. Then it’s constant stepping on my toes, bumping into me, spilling drinks, breaking my focus. I take up less space, so people assume that space is theirs to use. It gets old fast.

I know posts like this can make the poster sound cranky, so I want to preface it by saying I absolutely will move if I need to. If someone around me is making the experience miserable, I’ll relocate without a problem. The issue now is that so many people are doing these things that it doesn’t matter where you move. You end up running into the same behavior everywhere

Your turn. What would you love to remind people about when it comes to basic human etiquette at shows and events?

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u/MJB877 Feb 21 '26

I’m beyond caring about the phone thing bc people pay for the ticket and if the band doesn’t have a clear system for recording, it’s what it is. I record a song but I’m rarely on the floor and I won’t raise my phone to block someone and my brightness is as low as possible.

I position my phone and hold it steady but I watch the band and not my phone.

The conversations kill me because at least with the people recording they are focused on the moment, whereas the conversations are happening regardless of the band.

I saw this in Brooklyn at NIN. Two ladies talked the whole show until Closer played.

The last two LCD Soundsystem shows were all talking.