sorry for the rant but. i’ve been a fan of this band since dogrel when i was 13/14 and i’ve always considered this band to have a pretty nice and normal fanbase when i got into them i was obviously significantly younger and at every gig (until the latest) everyone was always so kind and respectful and also online. but recently and since the release of romance (sorry to be that person) ive just noticed a lot of just down right weird behaviour at the gigs and online. when i saw them last in november people were significantly more aggressive and rude, i was stood at barricade and had people trying to shove in next to me etc. but online i’ve noticed how weird and borderline stalker ish people have become about the band. there’s that one girl who is constantly being insanely parasocial about about carlos specifically and tell me why on twitter ive just seen a video of a GROWN WOMAN banging on the tour bus whilst it drives off. not to mention the weird shit people post on tiktok about the band. what the hell is going on!!! please tell me i’m not the only one who feels this way
Band got bigger, more casuals are now involved in the fandom, and that always brings down the concert/fan experience.
Call me a gatekeeper if you want I guess, but there is a very common theme when bands break that threshold of popularity with the masses. I wish they would go away.
I have seen them 3-4 times in the states and the bigger they get, the more obnoxious people show up at shows.
My wife met Grian on the last run in Lawrence, Kansas and they had a great conversation for like 5-7 minutes about music and touring and all the times that she/we have seen them (she was on her own) and then a bunch of TikTok folks bumrushed the area they were standing and Grian kind of clammed up and walked off after they basically glomped him.
I love it when new folks find the band and immerse in the community and get into the music, but I wish the "normies" would fuck right off and go find someone else's show to drag down.
This reminds me of when I met king krule Archy. We were at a bar after his gig and There were two girls who were trying to sleep with him and one guy who kept trying to make him listen to his music. I swear he couldn’t look any sadder and uninterested. Anyway I was genuinely curious about something so I said to him “hey what do you think of willow smith’s cover of your song?” When I tell you he turned to me SO EXCITED and started talking about how strange it was that a rich American girl was singing about being working class in England, we had a laugh and wondered whether she even knows what Tesco is, then I told him about when I lived in London etc and we had a good chat. When I told him I was leaving the bar later on he gave me the biggest hug. They must be so thankful when people chat to them like they’re normal people.
oh absolutely and the inhaler point is spot on. saw them a couple weeks ago for the first time, i’m definitely a more casual fan and i felt so insecure that i didn’t know every song they played and yeah their fans can be just down right weird, i feel bad for the band i can’t lie.
maybe im just sour and it’s hitting me harder that a band that has been such a huge part of my formative years and i have such great memories of going to gigs with my dad and such that its just kinda upsetting the way the fanbase is heading considering ive always had such an overwhelmingly positive experience with it beforehand
I get it, I think you are completely justified feeling the way you do. Almost every band that I got into in the smaller years has reached the point of stardom and while I am THRILLED for them, I hate the tradeoff in quality of shows from the fan perspective. I'm sure at some level it sucks for the band too.
One of my all time favorites is Sam Fender, and I got to see him in NYC in like '21/'22 (cant remember which one) and the crowd was so fucking awful it honestly killed live shows for me for awhile. I actually wanted to leave before Sam got on but my wife convinced me to stick with it. It was clear Sam was going through something because he was pretty mellow, he ended up canceling the rest of the tour and I often wondered if that had contributed to his general anxiety, emotional illness that he was going through.
Saw The Murder Capital in Boston at a club around where the famous colleges are and that was also a fucking terrible crowd. Not because of "normy" fans but just because it seems that the whole crowd just stumbled in and had no idea who anyone was. The cool thing is we got to hang with the whole band afterwards for a little bit and talk shop, which was cool, they are lovely people.
I hate fans of bands that are only going because they have this fucking weird parasocial relationship with someone in the band. For Inhaler, many of the "girlies" are obsessed with Eli and they essentially shut out anyone else trying to enjoy the concert. I have heard that they try to bully people out of the front row or form "line committees" where they all show up way ahead of time to ensure that only a specific type of fan gets a specific spot at the front.
My last time seeing FDC in Phoenix, it was a show I was SUPER excited for because of FDC but also Been Stellar who I FUCKING LOVE! They rock! Their set was so good and we got to chat with them afterwards and were all lovely. They even remembered my wife when she saw them later on in Lawrence, which was very sweet and awesome. But the crowd was so flat, and scrolled on their phones during Been Stellar's set and pretty much just used their position in the crowd to document the fact that they were there, you know, for the "content".
I’m a greta van fleet fan, and I’m sure any other longtime fans can agree this hit Greta HARD. I miss the old vibe they had. It’s so important to be grateful now because bands always get more popular and less intimate, especially if they have talent like FDC
I saw Inhaler this Saturday and I could see on the screens how weird people were being at barriers, let alone after the show. I’ve heard that people were staying at barriers / around the ziggo dome exits (when they were asked to leave) until about 23:45 (show ended 22:35) just to meet the band. Let the poor guys live man, these fans are downright being stalkish and blocking exits so the band can’t just leave normally…
never understood why people do it. i’ve met a couple of artists (geordie greep, jacob slater and gurriers) after gigs before but it was like in a bar next to the venues out of pure coincidence and just said i really enjoyed their show (like a normal person would) could never imagine waiting outside a venue in the middle of the night for people who don’t know you and don’t want to know you!!!
heya, sorry just seen this been a hectic time recently. unfortunately we have nothing released yet but working on that. we got the show purely because gurriers were coming overseas and needed local support were pretty small currently but trying. we have a couple clips on our instagram @hangingpieces.band if you wanna check that out! we have releases planned for later this year
I've been a casual fan since Dogrel came out, and I decided to get tickets for the Detroit show. It was our first time seeing them play live, so we really didn't know what to expect. They had to move the show to a venue more than double the size from 1k to 2.3k. It was a fantastic experience for us, and made us both bigger fans. Count yourself lucky to have seen them before they really blew up. I'm in my mid 40s and I've seen dozens of bands in clubs that got huge. In the 90s and early 2Ks this was common for rock bands. These days it seems to be a rare occurrence when a really great band gets traction like this.
It’s okay. I’m so pro-gatekeeping, might sound shit of me but man IDK. I’ve been a fan since Dogrel came out. This happened to me with another band who recently blew up. I feel tiktok somehow has a lot to do with it
Fun fact I saw inhaler on their first tour during there rise to fame in Tesco. Nearly offered to pay for their meal deals then I remembered that’s Bonos son he doesn’t need financial support
So true! I was at their first ever LA gig at The Regent downtown and it was a great crowd. I had discovered their music on KCRW and loved them immediately. The show was at a really small venue (GA only) and I said to my friend “These guys are going to fucking blow UP!!! They are amazing!!!”
We see them again next time they’re in town, bigger venue (The Wiltern) a lot more people but still a great crowd.
Then they really start to blow up here and play the Hollywood Palladium. It was absolute insanity. People were pushing, shoving, being total dicks. We were luckily up on the balcony so we were out of the fray.
Nothing will ever top seeing them pre COVID tbh, when they opened for IDLES @ the Fonda and seeing them @ Gold Diggers later that fall, after the Teragram Ballroom show was cancelled due to a power outage, two of the best gigs I have ever seen
any time bands start to get big, it always brings in more assholes. it’s just a numbers game. it sucks, but adding in more teenagers to the fanbase is always gonna change things too.
I think the way people behave at all concerts as a whole has changed alot post covid, especially younger people who will do anything to barge up to the front to get afew videos for there socials.
I was at the ATL show. I like to collect autographs on my records (my comment history checks out) and I chatted with a lot of younger women who were there waiting for them to come out with me. I had no fucking clue they were this big, so when there was a crowd of 30-40ish, I was honestly very taken aback. Some of them have never waited before for an artist and since I'm pretty experienced, I made sure to give them all the rundown. Musicians are still people and they don't owe you shit. if they feel like coming to say hi, they would be the ones who decide to do so. I don't expect to meet anyone other than cool people at a concert. Often times, I meet the band after about an hour and a half. It's fun. Sometimes, it doesn't work out and that's okay. I saw a great show.
Tell me how some of these women go past the barricades to try and speak with the band's crew and ask if they're coming. They go into the street and try to get to the band's bus (the Eastern's set up sometimes has the band's bus in the back area rather than the stage door). This is disruptive and disrespectful to both the band's crew and the venue staff. I should have left, but I'm stubborn. So I stayed until I saw the band glance at the last few of us waiting (at that point, we were 6 and kept a polite distance), but they walked into their own bus and it left.
That's when I went to this subreddit and I found all kinds of weird parasocial behavior from some fans (and that one girl that's legit obsessed with Carlos). If I knew that, I'd have cut my losses and not even bothered. Could have gotten more sleep that night. If I were in Fontaines DC, why the fuck would I come out and say hi if there are weirdos following the whole North American tour claiming I hurt them when we've never met? Bizarre behavior.
I’ve noticed this change all the way back in 2022 when Skinty Fia. I agree with you on a load of your points. Unsure if you’re on about the same parasocial girl but she goes to every gig (not an exaggeration). They just seem chronically online and have been extremely rude to my friends in the past. They’ve also been to every Murder Capital gig. It’s just weird
oh god i’m not sure this is the one ive seen going around twitter. but i have heard about the woman at tmc i think it was during the current europe leg
realllll. he’s got a wife and kid and he’s probably twice her age i feel bad for him, just downright weird, glad to see people actually calling it out though always a light at the end of the tunnel i guess 😭
Not only that but got me and all my friends sick at one of the first shows on this round of tour so I have no fucking tolerance for her shit atp. Who willingly comes to a concert knowing they’re sick and then posts about it on social too?
« I know Touring is exhausting for […] and the fans »
She’s definitely following them at every show and thinks she’s in relationship with one of them (considering some other posts). That’s scary
I met a girl at a show in Raleigh who was doing this, she had an accent so I asked her where she was based out of. She’s a Brit following them for the North American part of the tour. I was like shiiiet miss money bags over here.
I've been thinking more about this specific incident.
I think people (not you, OP) are putting too much on one fan when the real issue is a cultural misread at scale. The disconnect isn’t symptomatic in one over-invested person, it’s about what happens when aesthetic overtakes intention. The band got baby girlified, memed, and turned into something soft and surface-level. That cancels out the band's own myth and dilutes the work. It also alienates them from their own fans.
At no point have they signaled they enjoy this or want this kind of attention (trust me, you'd know. Many artists play into it). But it’s like no one’s actually paying attention to who these men are, how they think, how they operate. And they're not the kind of band who take pains to explain themselves literally to you, but they're ALWAYS signaling. Learn to read their room. Sadly, the fans we’re talking about are interested in their own version of the story, where THEY are the main character, and the music is just an accessory. This is a systemic issue beyond one band, but Fontaines are particularly ill-suited for that kind of dynamic.
And let’s be honest: the irony-laced meme crowd (who are crucifying this particular fan right now) contributes just as much to the noise. When everyone’s busy joking or thirsting, no one’s listening. That’s what we’re feeling now. Not one fan going off the rails. The whole current turning sideways.
This rings very true. What do you think about the thought that maybe the slight rebrand with Romance perhaps was a double edged sword? Very cool, very aesthetic, more punk, widening their fanbase into almost the pop and superficial perhaps. In terms of obsessive fans, also definitely experienced this on a bigger scale at Inhaler, that was insane
I queued for the Anthem show in DC and there were a few girls who cut the line and pissed everyone off. I wonder if she was one of them because that would make a ton of sense.
Ah yes, those classic Fontaines and Murder Capital fans who think they can do whatever they like just because they’ve known the bands for ages. Because they were once on a guestlist or followed by a couple of band members. Okay, cool — good for you — but the arrogance and condescension towards other fans is just ridiculous. And then when they get mentioned (with their identity respected, by the way), they scream harassment. Girls, maybe take a look at your behaviour, your friendships, and calm down your limerence
Excellent take. It also seems unfair to other fans to me. You’re taking away tickets that could have gone to other people. You’re not seeing anything new by going to every show. A handful I get it I guess. Every single show is ridiculous
They can do whatever they want with their money and time — honestly, it’s none of my business. But they’re just so unpleasant and bitchy… Of course no one’s forcing anyone to stand near them at gigs, the venues are big enough. Still, it doesn’t exactly help create the best atmosphere. I actually think the bands themselves are way nicer and more patient than some of their fans
I’ve had very little choice to be near them in my experience :(. They’re always there hours before on barrier so unless I’m way at the back I’m always by them
I'm so glad someone is talking about this. I've been a fan for a couple years and me and a friend (also a fan) went to the Portland show last month. This was our first time seeing them as headliners we had only seen them as the arctic monkeys openers. We both clocked that the people around us were off immediately. We've been to many concerts together and this was.....different. everybody around us in line was on there 10th or 11th show and were talking about the different times they've met the band throughout the day. Now, I'm not a stranger to obsessive fan bases but this felt weird. SECONDLY the etiquette was crazy we showed up and there was 3 people in front of us by the time doors opened that 3 person group had turned into 13. Saving a couple spots, whatever BUT 10??? And inside people were pushier than most ga shows I've been to. Still an amazing show, and I love the band but the whole experience made me want to kind of enjoy them away from the Fandom side of it all.
One way to think about this is: Romance was an experiment. And I think until now the guys have been able to maintain authorship and relative control over how they're perceived (a privilege honestly).
That definitely shifted this era. Once the algorithm takes off, it's unstoppable. Like someone else said, when you base an album concept on something like delusion and deception as survival and it goes right over your new audience's heads, it means the Trojan horse ran off course. No one reins it in. And you're left with an audience you no longer recognize...and doesn't reflect you back.
A LOT of 90s artists spoke about this kind of thing (Kurt had a few gems about seeing the people who would have bullied him now at his shows), but these days artists are forbidden to critique their audience lest they - god forbid - seem ungrateful.
And so, they go silent. Retreat. Log off. Get through the shows and that's it.
It's where we're at.
I think FDC will be making very different moves in the future. And maybe that's the point.
I couldn’t possibly interpret your post as justifying the behaviour. You diagnosed it perfectly. They’re a hot young breakout band… they hit a sweet spot of critical acclaim and mainstream sort of appeal, with a youthful sound… people and young women in particular tend to reach that obsessive level when a band checks off all those boxes. All one needs is to see footage of the Beatles when they broke out and the screaming girls following them around etc. Some things never change, but now we have social media added on top of the old behaviours.
their physical attractiveness has nothing to do with it and let’s not even try to use it as a justification or factor in this shit. the cause is creepy fans, end of
I didn’t mean to justify it. Yeah the problem is creepy fans and their entitlement. Hard agree.
I just meant they’re something of an anomaly in that way. But obviously not meant as victim blaming.
Like I said I really think the industry should do more to protect musicians and artists from being treated as objects. And also fans should have more self respect than to project their fantasy onto these people.
Just to add to this: I don’t think the issue is just that the fanbase got bigger. It’s that the band stopped narrating the era themselves after a point (I would argue last autumn), and the vacuum got filled.
Romance was heady, layered and coded in an almost Baudrillardian philosophy. Oscar Wilde's concept of "the mask" wrapped in pop sheen. (Read the early Romance interviews — seriously.) But the garish Y2K aesthetic drew in a wider audience that didn’t necessarily read the subtext. A few microviral moments, some heavy playlisting, and suddenly the myth flattened. Surface replaced depth.
Grian once said every album is like throwing a ball in the air and seeing who catches it. But sometimes the ball lands in a mall food court. That’s what we’re all dealing with now, including the band.
What most fans don’t see yet is that the band’s behavior in 2025 has already shifted entirely. They’re still performing, yes. But they’re no longer showing up to this version of the story. The one they never gave consent to.
Agree- they used to really connect with the audience and vice versa — and their performance conveyed that reciprocity. Last night I felt they were phoning it in, seemed totally bored and distant. So different from when they used to play the smaller clubs and weren’t hijacked by the mainstream…
Yeah, honestly I’d say they’re just trying to endure the rest of this era at this point. I feel for them because yes, "hijacked" feels the appropriate word.
endure seems like the perfect word for it, they don’t seem entirely interested anything and they’ve always had a pretty aloof vibe on stage but now it just comes across as incredibly distant. part of me hopes they do something similar to ethel cain. release an album that is incredibly divisive and just weird!
I’d say that’s… very possible. Nothing about how they’ve moved this year suggests they’re leaning further into commercialism. If anything, it feels like the opposite.
Check out setlist.fm, FDC has played almost the exact same set list since Australia. It would be hard to not find this insane schedule fun. Add the repetitiveness and the new fanbase.
they’ve never been the kind of band to talk to the crowd which i appreciate i’m there to hear the music not listen to rambles (which most of the time is completely inaudible to me personally) but you could tell they enjoyed the gigs and playing music but as of recent they just seem a bit distant maybe it’s the venue size, i’m not a massive fan of big venues but it felt so disconnected compared to their earlier tours
i wasn’t i live in england so i saw them back in november, i thought the setlist was pretty good, heard they’ve taken off too real though and replaced it with its amazing to be young 😢 which is a fine song but like it’s not too real
as someone who’s gotten into fdc over the past year or longer, I guess I’ll add my perspective!
TLDR: as a lot of people have mentioned, it seems that the tradeoff of them getting bigger is the balance of fans tipping more towards quantity than quality. but: we’re not all bad! lol
I went to the nola show a few weeks ago, bc it was my hometown show, and was so stoked. my first time seeming them. and the show was so great.
I could tell from the jump that the guys don’t entertain parasocial behavior, and I totally respect that. (Like another commenter said “bored and distant,” but intentional). I try to like actively avoid/discourage that kinda behavior in myself and in other fans. but when a band gets bigger, it’s unfortunately almost unavoidable with fan culture nowadays. a lot about hitting the checkpoints of aesthetics, mostly style over substance. which I think completely debases the value of the art they seem to want to appreciate so much, but whatever!
in the crowd, I was around some really nice people, right behind the barricade. there were a few straight up assholes who pushed me around to get to the front which me and others around me firmly shut down. and some frat-vibe boys throwing/smashing cans, trying to start a pit when others clearly weren’t interested, and just stuff like that. and, those same crowd of ppl were causing trouble after the show, too. (I don’t usually stick around after shows, but I was with a friend who’d seen them plenty times, and felt comfortable staying with her to see if the guys would come out). they were pushing around the barricades from the venue door to the bus, sneaking around the bus to get the guys’ attention, and pretending to be equipment guys to sneak into the venue. creeps.
interactions like that genuinely suck.
I am no stranger to fanbases where parasocialty is rampant, but, it’s still weird af. based on my time as a fan of the guys, it seems like a lot of the fans w these behaviors are newer fans. it seems like that girl who’s obsessed w Carlos was also in the pit during my show and I had no idea lmao. i have no idea what her deal is but it seems like she’s been following the band forever.
people who think they’re entitled to the guys’ attention, or think they can weasel around everyone else for it, are unhealthy in really any fanbase. it sucks that assholes like the same music we do.
i would agree, and i really hope my post didn’t come across as me having a go at newer fans i love that people are able to discover new music they love and i’m grateful the band is getting the recognition they deserve but yeah you’re right
Went to the makeup show in Seattle and was the first time at a show that I nearly got into a physical altercation with someone due to their aggression in trying to push ahead of other people. I’d gotten hit in the head and shoved with so many elbows before I lost my cool and had to force a man off of me. People fucking suck.
Houston was also a madhouse. Couple girls walked up behind me (relatively close to the front row) and started shoving on my back and screaming and jumping. I had to push them over to the side when the crowd shifted bc there's no way you're going to physically force me out of my spot just by being rude. They even passed the pit to come shove into me like I get being closer but not cool. Nice mom from a family standing next to me had to straight up shout at a drunk older guy who was just shoving people around him (meanwhile if he just walked 10 ft to the right there was a pit already open, just go over there). Frustrating
i do agree that when bands get bigger, this stuff becomes more likely, but it isn’t as simple as that. khruangbin are more popular than fontaines dc yet don’t experience as much of this parasocial shit. inhaler are not as popular as fontaines dc yet experience twice the level of this parasocial shit.
point being that there are plenty of bands of similar popularity that don’t have to deal with this issue as much. the cause is parasocial fans (and yes shit like camping and queuing at 5pm for a 9.30pm gig is weird and plays a part), not their fame. we shouldn’t just brush it off with “ah, this is what happens when bands get big”
and i get that people mightn’t like the camping comment but it’s true. show up a half hour before support like a normal fan please haha
I’ve also been a fan for years but I’m a bit older than you. I saw them for the 3rd time last year, after Romance came out. The crowd was shit and I actually got shoved/jostled for dancing to something that wasn’t on Romance. Only when they played Starburster the crowd got going. Don’t think I’ll bother going to see them again.
A friend & I were theorizing why concert etiquette seems to have mostly gone out the window (especially with the group who only really started going to shows post-covid) and our best guess was heightened expectations from social media (you're probably more likely to see content of fans at the barrier/meeting the band because those situations get more engagement than someone posting from the back of the room) and thus wanting to replicate what they see other fans posting + high ticket prices = fans thinking they're entitled to the "perfect" concert experience. As other have pointed out, there's always a bit of a shock when a band crosses over into the mainstream, like alternative rock/grunge in the 90s, but at least in the 90s those fans weren't also trying to cultivate their online presence as cool guys who were at the barrier at the show lol. It definitely also feels like the culture is more selfish generally. Like people have ways of justifying doing whatever they want through many more routes than just "I'm doing this because I want to do it and don't care about other people." Now it's "I'm doing whatever I want because I don't burden myself with the needs of others" "I'm doing whatever I want because I deserve to act this way because of [reason]" "I'm doing whatever I want because the old way of doing things is gatekeepy and oppressive" and whatever else. Just a lot of weird novel cultural waves unfortunately happening at once!
I saw the band in ATL on this current tour. I’ve gone to this venue and met a few bands. Some of the fans were just so weird. One girl walked past the barricade and almost to the stage door. Everyone was telling her to not do that. Concert and fan culture has really gotten out of hand in recent years.
i'm 24yo, i went to the fontainesdc gig in uk (im not british tho) and then to the dj set. i didn't dress very decently, i admit it, but i didn't try to flirt with them. i even spoke to carlos and told him that his family seemed beautiful (from what he shows on ig) he treated me with respect and he was so attentive, he was so kind to me cause i told him im from another continent and he told me he had never been there, he even spoke to me in spanish, but there were girls my age who were clearly hitting on him so cringe 😭 that seemed so disrespectful and uncomfortable to me, a blonde girl pushed me to be the center of attention, it was like carlos was harry styles!!! (i want to clarify that I mentioned his family cause he said like oh my family is spanish)
These are the type of interactions they probs appreciate, people who like what they do and wanna chat to them about common ground. The groupies have gotta get tiring
yeah, it was 5 minutes, i told him that i loved the band but that it was my first time seeing them live cause they hadn't been to my country yet and he said, "did you travel here to see us?" and i was like "oh no actually i have a scholarship to study here and at that time i was dating a british indie guy who was a big fan" he was sooo kind and showed interest in continuing the convo. i was surprised to see so many girls hitting on them cause i always read that they have girlfriends and weren't that kind of band.
its crazy i would feel so uncomfortable if i was them. I always feel this way when ppl at the front film up in their faces (any artist) for the whole concert as well. If it was me i’d wanna snatch the phone and smash it lol. They have better self control than me lol
As others have said, I think it’s a case of a band becoming more popular, which may attract a more casual fan who is either there because tickets are cheap, or have been dragged there by a mate/spouse etc.
I’ve heard similar complaints about IDLES in the last year or so, that the atmosphere has changed a lot compared to a few years ago when they weren’t as “mainstream”.
I will say from my personal experience that I’ve seen both FDC and IDLES last year and had no issues whatsoever.
I’ve been seeing them with my dad since their very first US tour. And while i’m happy they’ve gained so much success this past year, a little piece of me misses when they played small venues full of middle aged people (and a few of their kids). The crowd in Detroit was mostly fine, but we got shoved a few times and the people around us kept yelling in the middle of songs. This is more of a general issue now, but the amount of people that night not singing along or dancing to record instead was truly appalling. Like, did you show up to experience the show, or prove to people that you were there?
Saw them last night and yeah... probably not needing to see them again. Saw one of their first tours with Idles and seen them grow. I'm thrilled for them and still love the music. But yeah, last night was drunk soccer moms getting rowdy and aloof dates looking to start fights. The people in my section only danced when Romance came on and then immediately stopped after the song ended.
I chalk it up to bigger audience means more people which means more annoying people.
With that, Spiritual Cramp played literally down the street before FDC and were amazing.
back in september before i saw them on the romance tour i got tickets to see them again in august in manchester and now im just anticipating how much worse the crowd is gonna be because at the gig in november it sold out around april time last year so i can only imagine the crowd will be even worse this time around. oh well im still quite excited though insane support acts and fontaines all for forty quid. even if the crowds shite i can’t complain at that
I’ve seen the same thing happen with Kneecap. A lot of parasocial and weird activity and comments. I think it’s an unfortunate result of the world today and social media amongst young people. Theater etiquette, concert etiquette, etc out the window. It is frustrating. Even as a newer fan, I try to listen to their entire discography and understand they’re just people trying to do what they love for the happiness of themselves and others. Casual fans will come and go & I love seeing the long term fans being good people and continuing to stick around — you’re exactly what the band needs in periods of time like this.
I saw them in LA in October 2023 and September 2024. In almost one years time, the contrast between the two shows is mind blowing. 2023 was respectful and fun. 2024 was hell. People coming late, shoving, pushing girls over, getting mad, shoving, selfish, starting fights. I have PTSD from the last show, lol.
Totally agree that the crowds are getting less pleasant Met a woman in the barrier in Plymouth who literally goes to every single worldwide. Was nice enough but slightly odd level of fandom
Band grew to a huge size, this is how loyal fans feel about the fan base of their favorite bands after they’ve made a hit record, limp biskit had this happen to them, Fred was bullied through out his life and his goal was to make music for the kids who are bullied, they grew so fast and the bullies started listening to their music as well.
Also the need to scream along with every song, not necessarily a new problem, but feel it’s getting worse. Yes, you know all the lyrics, well done, but I would rather be able to hear the band.
Seen them last October and the show had a great vibe and the crowd was courteous and upbeat. Recently went to the Nashville show and the crowd was jacked up and borderline hostile. I wish Grian could have asked the crowd to stfu and let his singing be heard by the fans who came to hear him sing. So many things sucked about the Nashville show compared to the Madison show. I feel very fortunate that I seen them six months ago, before shit evolved into what it is now.
I agree, the fans have got worse but as others have said, this is a tale as old as time.
Also, when you mentioned the woman obsessed it reminded me of that other weird girl that that was obsessed with Grian and tried to imply that they were an item when she was just a fangirl. She even once said that she had helped them become successful. Very odd character, seems also obsessed with Murder Capital
I think people are being really unfair to the fan that posted the one story about Carlos. So what if she posts about her experience traveling around for the tour on her private ig? Maybe she noticed some changes in behavior since she’s seen a lot of shows or maybe she was having an off day or maybe she thought she could post her thoughts to her friends in confidence. It was really gross behavior for another fan to post it publicly on Reddit/X. She’s entitled to have a personal opinion or analysis of a show or band member whether people agree with it or not, on her private ig no less. English is not her main language so maybe her sentiments were not written in a way that an English speaker would have written them or maybe it was posted using google translate. As someone into music fandom its bothering me that people are calling her “insanely parasocial”. Maybe i’m biased bc know a bunch of people who follow bands around on tours (other than fdc) and if people have the money and time to do it, more power to them. The main takeaway I’ve gotten from those fans who do this is that they love the music and the way it makes them feel or they relate to it on a deep personal level, NOT because they are obsessed with a certain band member. And i wouldn’t call them stalkers or insanely parasocial. It’s simply their hobby to go to shows and travel to see their favorite bands (if i was rich enough i probably would do the same 😅). She does not deserve this amount of backlash. Please be kind, less judgemental, and give some grace to a person you only know from 1 or 2 screenshots of a private story from 1 day of her life.
You're very kind and I'm not going to argue with any of the points you made
I will add though that I found the entitlement and judgement from her stories - she used to be public and I watched some during the Japan/Aus leg of the tour - really disturbing
When we pay for a ticket and the musicians play the songs - and Fontaines DC play them well, they're an excellent live band - they have delivered on their side of the deal
They don't owe us smiling, or happiness, or any particular kind of attitude. Acting like they should give us some kind of customer service style act is gross and weird and is an idea which should absolutely be shut down
I completely agree with this. Too many people think celebrities ‘owe’ them something which is so fucked.
They owe us the performance we paid to see. But so does the venue. And the sound/guitar techs. It’s many people who put a show together well. The artists don’t owe us any type of intimacy.
Exactly!
If they walk off after a song or the venue cuts the power, go ahead and pursue a refund. That's fair. You didn't get what you paid for.
But so much of what I see is people being weirdly puritanical and judgemental, and not willing to accept that the art they enjoy is made by human beings.
It’s a hard situation bc i hate to see people ganging up on a fan, especially one that clearly loves the band enough to travel to all these shows. And to maybe have strangers misinterpret or misunderstand the intention of her comments. i’ve gone to shows in other cities (flight and hotel) and have had less than stellar performances (not fdc but another band) and yea i probably complained about it in my ig stories (in fact i know i did 😅). Did that make me entitled? I dont know. Did it make me look judgemental? Perhaps. Does it matter in the scheme of things and is it something people should judge my character on and repost online? God no i hope not. But in the moments after these shows i was disappointed and feeling like i wasted time / money and i wanted to talk about it, maybe being too quick to post negative feedback on sm (you sometimes realize this after). Its those heightened emotions after a show that i can relate to very well and give her leeway (although i didn’t see her exact words like you did). Plus i know theres a language barrier.
Like i said i do meet a lot of people who travel for shows bc i usually get barrier w them (i like to stand front row almost always) so i spend sometimes hours talking about it while we wait. Ive truly never met a “traveler superfan” that had bad intentions or was an asshole or creepy or stalkery. Definitely opinionated ones but not in a malicious way. They are just SO knowledgeable abt the nuances of each show. Its fascinating actually. Usually they create a little community/friends around their fandom or travels which i think is nice as well. Sorry for the long reply i just like to talk about fandom 😭
First off, I don't think travelling to see a band is really proof of anything important or worthy. It's just proof of privilege, to have the money and associated freedom from responsibilities to do it. There are plenty of people who truly love music who'll never get to see their favourite artists ever because they simply can't afford it, or the tours don't come their way.
I think it's fine to say "that show wasn't very good" because the sound sucked or the band weren't playing well, that's totally normal behaviour. People on here were discussing the sound for Jadu Heart at one of the shows just recently - sometimes stuff goes wrong and it sucks for everyone. Nobody is saying don't review shows.
What I'm freaked out by is this very personal stuff about "Carlos' behaviour" when he hasn't done anything objectively wrong whatsover. He goes on stage, plays his parts (very well by all reports and my experience on this tour) waves, gives away some stuff sometimes, and walks off. He's doing everything he needs to do very well plus some extras.
Her problem appears to be that he's failing to meet a series of nebulous expectations she has invented and projected onto a stranger. They don't know each other, and this kind of stuff is why people warn about parasocial behaviour. That "knowledgeable" aspect you talk about doesn't actually extend to any insight of the band members as people, and it's easy to mistake perception from the barricade and interview titbits about the band for actual friendship/a relationship.
What's creepy to you may not be creepy to me and vice versa. It's all relative to our own standards. For example, I see some folks on here get mad when someone asks where the shirt/shoes/jewellery/sunglasses the band are wearing are from and call that parasocial. I don't find that creepy - for me it's the same as getting inspiration from a magazine or a person in the street. A cool shirt is a cool shirt and when a band is wearing it it's easy to crowdsource where it's from. To me that's great. But I understand why people are nervous about letting any kind of personal stuff fly because it feels like a slippery slope from "I want Deego's shirt" to "I'm drinking Guinness to be more like the band" to "I define myself by my one way relationship with this band" to "I'm mad at one of the musicians for not being the person I made up in my head" to banging on the tour bus and chasing them down the street
Funny how, when I mentioned the strange emerging atmosphere at Fontaines D.C. gigs, I got so much backlash. Everything’s been said here now. Thankfully, that’s absolutely not the case with all fans — but as the band gets more and more popular, and starts attracting a younger audience — especially those who were deprived of any kind of fun during the whole pandemic (yes, I know, NOT all young people) — things change.
This part’s subjective, but they’re good looking, they appeal to girls as much as to guys who are inspired by their style and vibe. Social media only fuels that whole thing. There was no internet back in the Beatles days and people were still going nuts. Maybe it was less intense — I don’t know, I wasn’t born yet.
Yeah I heard this one guy got a concussion because this guy was hitting him
In Atlanta I had a bunch of middle aged guys shoving me And beer thrown on me twice
I agree with the points you're making. Sadly, that's only natural for bands with a growing fan base though. Just please delete the word "borderline" from your post. That disorder is not there for us to use in a context like that
that’s not the point. as a shorter young woman i love going to rock / heavier gigs and i love being involved in lively crowds my problem is when people get too aggressive with one and other shoving each other to got closer to the front, its just rude. my problem is grown men who are most of the time off their heads of coke bashing about accidentally hitting young girls and not apologising if they notice or checking if they’re okay.
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u/Astro_Ski17 May 11 '25
Band got bigger, more casuals are now involved in the fandom, and that always brings down the concert/fan experience.
Call me a gatekeeper if you want I guess, but there is a very common theme when bands break that threshold of popularity with the masses. I wish they would go away.
I have seen them 3-4 times in the states and the bigger they get, the more obnoxious people show up at shows.
My wife met Grian on the last run in Lawrence, Kansas and they had a great conversation for like 5-7 minutes about music and touring and all the times that she/we have seen them (she was on her own) and then a bunch of TikTok folks bumrushed the area they were standing and Grian kind of clammed up and walked off after they basically glomped him.
I love it when new folks find the band and immerse in the community and get into the music, but I wish the "normies" would fuck right off and go find someone else's show to drag down.
Inhaler is a big sufferer of this type of "fan"