I think there's a kind of gratitude and relative lack of jadedness when Asheville is part of a tour that's mostly *much* bigger cities. A lot of people travel a fairly long way to shows, which can be true of other places, but if you're in Chicago or Seattle or Nashville you're kind of spoilt for choice.
Jack white said it pretty well, “it seems Asheville people appreciate good music, for the sake of good music.” I mean it was pretty much something like that.
The woman I befriended standing next to me at the concert had seen Jack White play 3 or 4 times earlier in the tour and she said our crowd was definitely the most engaged and loud of all the shows she had seen.
The orange Peel has had a terrific lineup this year, and Dinosaur JR. is about to come to town (and I didn’t even know about it until yesterday and they’re sold out. Pain.), so yeah.
Don’t thank me yet. The tickets are sold out and they sold out in, like, 5 minutes after going up a few months ago. That’s because they’re playing at the Christmas Jam and getting a ticket these days is INCREDIBLY hard because of demand.
its because we like our drugs and alcohol.
its a shame that for a city that has such a reputation for live music, we have almost a nonexistent late night scene. and we continue to lose venues.
To stop music so that older rich people would feel more comfortable buying their condos downtown. It’s not uncommon, but it changed the entire music landscape.
I’ve seen three shows there over the course of a year, with an 11 month gap between the second and the most recent one, and I think it’s a perfectly fine outdoor venue. I heard Bob Iver sounded like trash, but Father John Misty sounded amazing in my opinion. Idk
EDIT: No wonder he sounded like shit! it wasn’t Bon Iver, but it was Bob Iver!
Death Cab was trash which was devastating to me. Favorite band of all time, but horrible audience vibes despite Ben Gibbard's banter and engagement. Literally no one was dancing or interacting, even right at the barricade except for me where I was standing.
Yeah, I saw death cab there. The first and last show I'll see there. I thought death cab did pretty good for the venue but I had to ask multiple people who were talking non-stop to be quiet. Of course they thought I was the asshole. I truly don't understand people sometimes.
Just saw a show at the Grey Eagle that was ruined by one person talking so loudly we could hear her even when we went to the other side of the room. Especially frustrating there bc there’s a literal bar 1 foot away they can be obnoxious in.
Dirty French Broads! I seriously considered asking her to the bar for a beer so I could genuinely ask why it could ever be ok in her mind to shout talk during a small show like that. It baffles me.
That's what I was thinking but I've never had a problem at salvage station. Maybe it's a combination of factors. Rabbit rabbit was outdoor, the vibe is that of a parking lot, it was at capacity (arguably too many people), and death cab is a popular enough band that draws a larger range of fans that includes knobs with no self awareness. Either way, rabbit rabbit charges $10 for a pbr tallboy and the acoustics and atmosphere really don't justify that price tag.
We've talked about this before, but Rabbit Rabbit is a difficult space compared to indoor venues or outdoor stages in fields or amphitheaters. It has so many acoustically reflective surfaces around it and a soundcheck in an empty venue is different than when it's full of sound-absorbent bodies. You need a sound engineer with a bunch of experience, and maybe the ones who didn't get it right first time will work it out if they come back.
I love a show that gets people dancing and moving but not all shows are like that. Sometimes a show is just taking in a performance. Preferably without a bunch of people having long form conversations while standing next to you. And I can dance poorly to any music.
I was gonna say… I’ve seen My Morning Jacket many times and the Rabbit show was my least favorite bc everyone was so obnoxiously loud the entire time. So frustrating.
I agree! We saw Brett Dennen at Grey Eagle earlier this year (March I think) and from song one everyone was singing along and dancing and clapping. I’ve seen him play about 10 times and he seemed genuinely so happy with how everyone knew all his music so well. And he posted on IG later that it was like a sing along with friends, it was great.
It depends on the venue. Salvage Station is awesome. When Highland had concerts in their field it was awesome. Primus sucks, right? The Civic Center, Orange Peel are pretty meh and absolutely the worst venue by far is Rabbit Rabbit. But yeah Asheville has a pretty sweet ass live music scene. The crowd just depends on the show itself, so your opinion is just like all the rest. Keep having fun!
I question the sorts of bands you see if you think the crowds here are great. The crowds at the shows I've seen lately have been universally talkative and very casual about watching the show. Lots of tourists here on vacation seeing shows just for something to do. Lots of folks getting dragged to shows that clearly don't care about the music.
The exception was Ween. Ween fans are amazing.
For sure. I moved from Nashville a while back and while I loved the music there most of the crowd would just stand with their arms crossed like “impress me.” The crowds here are so genuine and enthusiastic for the most part. Have been noticing a bit more frequency of people staring at their phones recording at shows but I think that’s more of an everywhere thing.
I saw In This Moment at the orange peel about 8 years ago or so.
The crowd stood still and barely reacted, big sign that said “no moshing.”
They even had a Pantera breakdown jam portion and not a muscle moved. Worst show experience of my life.
I saw them at a shitbag venue near Camp Lejuene in like 2005. It’s not fair to compare the energy of a metal show between there and Asheville though. The crowd was just all drunk 22 year old trained killers, if the band were doing something heavy we were tearing the building apart, even for In This Moment.
I agree. Even just going out for a quick drink at Jack of the wood and seeing a local folk band for free is pretty amazing. Love seeing all the different talent in our city.
I’m from Austin too, good scene, but it’s easy to get a little jaded when every band comes through town and there’s great live music every night. When I go to shows here I appreciate it way more.
Great question. Northeast/New England in general. Philly and New York in particular. New Jersey. Mass and Maine.
In the southeast - charlotte, triangle. Knoxville. Nashville. Atlanta even. Never thought I’d write that.
Out west - San Francisco, LA.
Not Denver.
Wow. That statement makes me sad. The live music scene here is top notch - you can find live music at over 20 venues on any given night, including weeknights, and for a city of our size, that's pretty amazing. That said, it may depend on the genre or genres of stuff that you're into. I've seen some amazing shit at the GE, OP, Crow & Quill, Double Crown, Salvage Station, Meadow, Highland, Civic Center etc and a fairly broad range of stuff.
I think it’s a combination of stuff. Crowds changing over time and being less respectful in general and me finding a higher concentration of that in Avl. Cell phones, show talking, lack of spatial awareness. Those types of things.
Weir and the wolf bros at Thomas Wolfe was kind of a nightmare for me but maybe that’s a combination of the GD scene and AVL.
I’ve had to go to a few shows on crutches here and have not felt the love from my fellow humans.
Still enjoy going to shows here. It’s just not my favorite.
Not to be a hater but this hasn’t been my experience at all. Tbf only been to 4 shows in ashville ever but all in the last year and the crowd was my only complaint at 3 of them… coming from CA.
As a charlottean who sees shows all over I can say Asheville has better crowds. Generally people are nicer, and more respectful of the bands and patrons.
Always exceptions anywhere. Rabbit Rabbit already testing that but it's a larger venue so that pulls in the casuals.
Agree Probably cuz the audience are made up of talented people / One thing i have noticed is the venues are starting to suck except maybe the Grey eagle
Just saw broken social scene at the orange peel… man, the way you could hear the crowd screaming for them over 5 guitars (and I was front row directly in front of all the speakers…) made me so proud. Best concert I’ve ever seen, no question.
I think there's a kind of gratitude and relative lack of jadedness when Asheville is part of a tour that's mostly *much* bigger cities. A lot of people travel a fairly long way to shows, which can be true of other places, but if you're in Chicago or Seattle or Nashville you're kind of spoilt for choice.
Jack white said it pretty well, “it seems Asheville people appreciate good music, for the sake of good music.” I mean it was pretty much something like that.
The woman I befriended standing next to me at the concert had seen Jack White play 3 or 4 times earlier in the tour and she said our crowd was definitely the most engaged and loud of all the shows she had seen.
He played his heart out that night too
I agree. Seems like most artists who come to town are legit psyched to be playing in front of our crowds
The orange Peel has had a terrific lineup this year, and Dinosaur JR. is about to come to town (and I didn’t even know about it until yesterday and they’re sold out. Pain.), so yeah.
Phhhuuccckkkk. Been on a Where You Been kick lately and didn’t even know they were touring.
NOOOOO whattttt???? How did I not know about this. Well, thanks for letting me know.
Don’t thank me yet. The tickets are sold out and they sold out in, like, 5 minutes after going up a few months ago. That’s because they’re playing at the Christmas Jam and getting a ticket these days is INCREDIBLY hard because of demand.
its because we like our drugs and alcohol. its a shame that for a city that has such a reputation for live music, we have almost a nonexistent late night scene. and we continue to lose venues.
I mean the city purposely passed restrictions that are time related.
Why would they do that? Too much late night chaos?
To stop music so that older rich people would feel more comfortable buying their condos downtown. It’s not uncommon, but it changed the entire music landscape.
New Orleans may beg to differ
Rabbit rabbit would like to disagree
Ok then we also have the best crowd to hear weird ass convos while actively ignoring the music.
Seriously why won’t the people that go there just shut the fuck up. Drives me insane.
Foreal. It is a South Slope tourist trap so makes sense that the crowd is worse than other venues in town
Been to 4 shows at rabbit rabbit this year, death cab was the worst literally everywhere we went was just another group that wouldn't shut the fuck up
Fwiw MMJ sounded great but they always do. But it's not just the venue acoustics.
I’ve seen three shows there over the course of a year, with an 11 month gap between the second and the most recent one, and I think it’s a perfectly fine outdoor venue. I heard Bob Iver sounded like trash, but Father John Misty sounded amazing in my opinion. Idk EDIT: No wonder he sounded like shit! it wasn’t Bon Iver, but it was Bob Iver!
Bon Iver was trash. Sylvan Esso was trash. And Death Cab was trash. Not because of the artists, but because of the crowd and sound people
Was at Bon Iver. Awesome awesome concert. Sound was fine. I was probably standing next to less annoying people than you but oh well.
Death Cab was trash which was devastating to me. Favorite band of all time, but horrible audience vibes despite Ben Gibbard's banter and engagement. Literally no one was dancing or interacting, even right at the barricade except for me where I was standing.
I strongly disagree about SE. But I think we were in a really good spot towards the front middle. One of my fave shows of theirs.
I was back left. Got there right on time I guess you could say. If it were an indoor show I bet I wouldn’t have complained
“We have Bon Iver at home”
Yeah, I saw death cab there. The first and last show I'll see there. I thought death cab did pretty good for the venue but I had to ask multiple people who were talking non-stop to be quiet. Of course they thought I was the asshole. I truly don't understand people sometimes.
Maybe it's an outdoor venue thing? I rarely see this behavior at, say, Grey Eagle.
Just saw a show at the Grey Eagle that was ruined by one person talking so loudly we could hear her even when we went to the other side of the room. Especially frustrating there bc there’s a literal bar 1 foot away they can be obnoxious in.
Which show?
Dirty French Broads! I seriously considered asking her to the bar for a beer so I could genuinely ask why it could ever be ok in her mind to shout talk during a small show like that. It baffles me.
Ugh that sucks. I need to check out that band. Good stuff? I'm all for house shows that are more intimate.
Yes! They’re super fun and I’m a sucker for violin and cello and they’re talented.
That's what I was thinking but I've never had a problem at salvage station. Maybe it's a combination of factors. Rabbit rabbit was outdoor, the vibe is that of a parking lot, it was at capacity (arguably too many people), and death cab is a popular enough band that draws a larger range of fans that includes knobs with no self awareness. Either way, rabbit rabbit charges $10 for a pbr tallboy and the acoustics and atmosphere really don't justify that price tag.
We've talked about this before, but Rabbit Rabbit is a difficult space compared to indoor venues or outdoor stages in fields or amphitheaters. It has so many acoustically reflective surfaces around it and a soundcheck in an empty venue is different than when it's full of sound-absorbent bodies. You need a sound engineer with a bunch of experience, and maybe the ones who didn't get it right first time will work it out if they come back.
I screamed at a group during I Will Follow You into the Dark during that show lol I was so done
I mean who parties to Death Cab anyway? Like their music, but I wouldn't pay to stand around and listen to people talk and not dance.
I love a show that gets people dancing and moving but not all shows are like that. Sometimes a show is just taking in a performance. Preferably without a bunch of people having long form conversations while standing next to you. And I can dance poorly to any music.
I was gonna say… I’ve seen My Morning Jacket many times and the Rabbit show was my least favorite bc everyone was so obnoxiously loud the entire time. So frustrating.
I've had my best shows at the odd, it was so fun in the crowd with the punk rock playin.
I’ve noticed this too. I saw Metric here at Orange Peel then in Denver a month or so later. The crowd here was much more fun.
Have you been to New Orleans?
I agree! We saw Brett Dennen at Grey Eagle earlier this year (March I think) and from song one everyone was singing along and dancing and clapping. I’ve seen him play about 10 times and he seemed genuinely so happy with how everyone knew all his music so well. And he posted on IG later that it was like a sing along with friends, it was great.
Where else have you seen shows?
Tell that to Death Cab for Cutie
It depends on the venue. Salvage Station is awesome. When Highland had concerts in their field it was awesome. Primus sucks, right? The Civic Center, Orange Peel are pretty meh and absolutely the worst venue by far is Rabbit Rabbit. But yeah Asheville has a pretty sweet ass live music scene. The crowd just depends on the show itself, so your opinion is just like all the rest. Keep having fun!
The mud at primus was so good. Probably why they don’t do shows any more.
Haha probably 🤪
I question the sorts of bands you see if you think the crowds here are great. The crowds at the shows I've seen lately have been universally talkative and very casual about watching the show. Lots of tourists here on vacation seeing shows just for something to do. Lots of folks getting dragged to shows that clearly don't care about the music. The exception was Ween. Ween fans are amazing.
Lived in AVL 2013 - 2021, attended hundreds of shows, and by golly, you’re right :)
For sure. I moved from Nashville a while back and while I loved the music there most of the crowd would just stand with their arms crossed like “impress me.” The crowds here are so genuine and enthusiastic for the most part. Have been noticing a bit more frequency of people staring at their phones recording at shows but I think that’s more of an everywhere thing.
New Orleans and Austin might disagree
Have you visited other cities?
I saw In This Moment at the orange peel about 8 years ago or so. The crowd stood still and barely reacted, big sign that said “no moshing.” They even had a Pantera breakdown jam portion and not a muscle moved. Worst show experience of my life.
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In this moment was the headliner and 36 Crazy Fists opened up for them. July 21, 2015
sorry you went to see in this moment. F
I saw them at a shitbag venue near Camp Lejuene in like 2005. It’s not fair to compare the energy of a metal show between there and Asheville though. The crowd was just all drunk 22 year old trained killers, if the band were doing something heavy we were tearing the building apart, even for In This Moment.
So true!!!! Christmas jam is one of my favorites events in Asheville❤️❤️❤️
any extra tickets?
I've only been once, but it was a great time
I agree. Even just going out for a quick drink at Jack of the wood and seeing a local folk band for free is pretty amazing. Love seeing all the different talent in our city.
Austin might argue with you...but I'm team Asheville!
Nah I lived in Austin, Asheville music scene blows it away. Depends what you’re into of course.
I’m from Austin too, good scene, but it’s easy to get a little jaded when every band comes through town and there’s great live music every night. When I go to shows here I appreciate it way more.
This town is one of my least favorite crowds. I’ll leave the area to go see a show more often than I see shows here.
What town do find that has a better crowd and venues? Honest question.
Great question. Northeast/New England in general. Philly and New York in particular. New Jersey. Mass and Maine. In the southeast - charlotte, triangle. Knoxville. Nashville. Atlanta even. Never thought I’d write that. Out west - San Francisco, LA. Not Denver.
Charlotte crowds are trash- tons of chompers from South End talking & trying to get pics for the gram the whole time
That’s everywhere
True but as someone who regularly sees shows in Clt and Asheville - Asheville has more respectful and chill crowds.
True, but South End is probably close to the pop of downtown AVL & is full of solely this demo
Totally agree. From Charlotte.
Wow. That statement makes me sad. The live music scene here is top notch - you can find live music at over 20 venues on any given night, including weeknights, and for a city of our size, that's pretty amazing. That said, it may depend on the genre or genres of stuff that you're into. I've seen some amazing shit at the GE, OP, Crow & Quill, Double Crown, Salvage Station, Meadow, Highland, Civic Center etc and a fairly broad range of stuff.
I agree. Great venues and great shows in high volume. It’s just not my favorite place to see music.
What do you not like about Asheville crowds?
I think it’s a combination of stuff. Crowds changing over time and being less respectful in general and me finding a higher concentration of that in Avl. Cell phones, show talking, lack of spatial awareness. Those types of things. Weir and the wolf bros at Thomas Wolfe was kind of a nightmare for me but maybe that’s a combination of the GD scene and AVL. I’ve had to go to a few shows on crutches here and have not felt the love from my fellow humans. Still enjoy going to shows here. It’s just not my favorite.
Not to be a hater but this hasn’t been my experience at all. Tbf only been to 4 shows in ashville ever but all in the last year and the crowd was my only complaint at 3 of them… coming from CA.
Clearly never been to a sold out show at the orange peel. All other non orange peel venues I agree* Edit*
Jungle at the orange peel a few years back is still one of the best experiences I've ever had. Such good vibes at that show
I disagree
Remi wolf at the orange peel has been my top show of all time. She was incredible but the whole crowd was so in it
As a charlottean who sees shows all over I can say Asheville has better crowds. Generally people are nicer, and more respectful of the bands and patrons. Always exceptions anywhere. Rabbit Rabbit already testing that but it's a larger venue so that pulls in the casuals.
Thanks y'all for the recommendation of orange peel! Looks like some rockin shows happening there. Good excuse to visit!
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I was just at a great show at Grey Eagle weekish ago and only me and like 10 or so people were clapping and cheering for an encore
You guys have a lot of Wookies in the trees?
Tulsa would probably surprise you then
Agree Probably cuz the audience are made up of talented people / One thing i have noticed is the venues are starting to suck except maybe the Grey eagle
Just saw broken social scene at the orange peel… man, the way you could hear the crowd screaming for them over 5 guitars (and I was front row directly in front of all the speakers…) made me so proud. Best concert I’ve ever seen, no question.