Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Want to stand up at a concert? Go for it

I’ve got a possibly controversial opinion about standing up at concerts.

Last night, I went to see Metallica. Incredible show - way better than I gave them credit for yesterday.

But here’s what happened.

We were in the stands, seated tickets. A few rows ahead, there was this guy who, the second Metallica hit the stage, jumped to his feet. Everyone else stayed seated, but not him. Hands in the air, devil horns flying, head-banging, air guitar, singing every lyric. He was having the best night of his life - and honestly, watching him made the rest of us enjoy it more.

Not everyone agreed. People behind him started throwing cans. They hit him in the back; he ignored it. Then a couple of women clambered over seats, smacked him on the back, told him to sit down. He ignored that too. Eventually, a guy from way back stormed down, leaned across rows, got into a shouting match, even tried to physically drag him into his seat. After a few minutes, the head-banger gave in and sat down.

But he couldn’t help himself. Every time a new song started, he popped back up - horns up, air guitar blazing -before remembering he was “supposed” to sit. This went on until he finally squeezed into the stairwell so he could thrash without blocking anyone’s view. You could tell it wasn’t the same; cramped space, less freedom.

Here’s my take:

If you’re at a concert, you should be able to stand up and have the best time of your life - even if you bought a seated ticket. If someone in front of you stands, sorry, you’re going to have to stand too. It’s not okay to demand someone sit for the whole show. It’s music, not a movie. And it’s Metallica, not the Symphony Orchestra.

I’m with the metal-head from last night. He paid good money to enjoy himself. If that means horns up, air guitar, and head-banging - let him do it.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, I've got a possibly controversial view on standing up
at a concert. So I went to Metallica last night, which,
by the way, was great, and I shouldn't have bagged
them as much as I did on the show yesterday.
We were in the stands, we had some seats. There
was a guy who was a couple of rows in
front of us, and the minute that Metallica started, this
guy was up on his feet. Everybody was sitting that
he was up on his feet. He had both hands

(00:21):
in the air, he was pulling the horns, he was
banging his head, he was playing the air guitar, he
was singing all the lyrics. He was just having the
best night of his life. And him having a good
time was actually so much fun to watch. It actually
made the rest of us have a better time as well.
But the people behind him didn't love it, so they
started to throw cans at him, and the cans were
hitting him in the back, and he just ignored them.
And then a couple of ladies actually like reach, clambered

(00:43):
over their seats, whacked him on the back, told him
to sit down. He ignored all of this, and at
this point a guy this has been going on for
a couple of minutes, and a guy just had enough
and he got out of his seat way behind us,
walked down, leaned across the whole bunch of chairs, got
into a verbal altercation with the head banger, told him off,
actually tried to drag him down into his seat physically,

(01:03):
and this went on until the guy finally gave up
and just sat down. But he couldn't help himself because
he was having the best night of his life. So
every time another song started, old mate was back up
on his feet, double horning at it again, going for
a few bars on the air guitar, and then remembering
he was supposed to sit down. This carried on for
a whole bunch of songs until he eventually kind of
took himself off to the side and crammed himself into

(01:26):
the stairwell so that he was able to carry on
thrashing away without disturbing all of the nanas behind him.
But you could see it wasn't as much fun because
it was a much more cramp space that he was
having to push himself into. Anyway, here's my take on it.
If you are at a concert, you should be able
to stand up and have the best time of your life,
even if you have paid for a seated ticket, And

(01:48):
if you are behind someone who wants to get up
and dance, you are just going to I'm sorry, have
to get up as well. It is not okay to
ask somebody at a concert to sit down the entire time.
It's music. It's not a movie, and it's a mesal concert.
It's not the symphony orchestra. For God's sake. I'm with
the meddlehead of the gig last night. He paid good
money to have a good time. If having a good

(02:09):
time for him means standing up with the double horns
and the ear guitar and the head banging and all
that stuff. Do it for more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.
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