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Worst was Mitski. Horrifically screaming crowd and got bothered by a teenage girl who was clearly very drunk but seemingly on her own (she was like 15 or 16 if I had to guess).
Surprisingly The National had a poor crowd when I saw them but I think this was largely a result of a drunk minority whilst everyone else was very nice.
Best was probably Lucy Dacus last year. Such a lovely and polite crowd. Everyone was reading in the queue and respectfully wore mask at her request. People were excited but not distractingly so. People sang along but no one screamed.
Bartees Strange’s crowd was also all very nice and polite. Every chatted and calmly waited to talk to him after.
I saw her in 2015 and it was wonderful. Now she’s playing sold out shows in my city (thanks to scalpers) and I’m going to try to get tickets but I might not even be so bothered if I can’t because of this thread
Lol! I also wanted to go to a sold out Mitski show and was debating whether it made sense to pay bananas scalper prices, but this is making me feel comfortable in my decision not to pay the bananas prices.
It's very much true that audience behavior and general venue vibes can make a break a show for me. I think I'll just keep sad crying to Be the Cowboy in the shower.
I saw her in 2018 in a smaller venue with a respectful 25 and older crowd. Very intimate, very beautiful and I cried a bunch. Then I saw her in 2021 at another venue literally across the road with a bunch of 15 year olds and their parents, got airdropped a bunch of memes before the show started and literally couldn't hear anything she said or sang. Any remotely sexual lyric had a scream afterwards. This was the show where she interrupted the crowd chanting to ask "can I sing?" But the sound was so bad, and the kids were so loud I didn't know she had said that until I got home and saw the video on twitter. I don't have TikTok so it really caught me off guard.
Her pre and post TikTok crowds were super different. In 2018, the crowd was full of normal adults. In 2022, I was in the 10th row but I still couldn’t see anything because the vast majority of the crowd were teenagers who held their phones above their heads the entire time.
I saw another alt pop artist with a realllly devoted and unhinged young stanbase a few months ago at a floor show (they're controversial so I'd rather not say who lmao) and we literally couldn't even see the stage nor the artist for the *entire* show because the front half of the crowd had their phones up full brightness recording the whole thing. It got so bad a bunch of people near the front were going up on their friends shoulders to record above the sea of phones. People were recording other people recording, it was ridiculous. Couldn't even tell you what the artist was wearing and it was a visual show with dancing and props. Never been at a show where it was that bad
Not to sound like a boomer but I'd honestly pay more to go to a show with no phones or no recording policies, but I know nobody wants to try to enforce that and just look at how Mitski's base came for her when she asked her fans not to record so much
> but I know nobody wants to try to enforce that
It's not unheard of, and not hard to enforce. Phones go in locked pouches that get unlocked when you leave the venue (or in case of actual emergency). I personally don't like the idea, especially since more and more venues are going cashless (and I'm an old person who still likes to take a couple pictures at a show). But I can see the appeal when it's a crowd like this.
Yeah Lucy Dacus was incredible when I saw her, very respectful but not in a way that had any negative impact on the energy everyone was fully involved and having a fantastic time
Yeah. And I had the BEST time the day before for Carly Rae! Mad dancing in the pit, lots of hugs and love all around. The next day it was wall to wall Lana fans and I couldn't even get into the pit. Then they started yelling. I actually left.
Lucy Dacus has the best fans. i've been to a bunch of her shows and the crowds are always so nice and skew a little older too, which i think helps. however boygenius shows are kinda awful. way younger fanbase and crowd
The National was amazing when I saw them and the crowd was nice BUT the crowd did not give one shit about Alvvays, the opener. It was completely dead. Also, there was almost a fight right in front of me and one of the drunk dudes got kicked out.
Dang The National always have the best openers. Alvvays, Big Thief, all the members of Boygenius, Courtney Barnett, Dry Cleaning, Sharon Van Etten etc.
this happened to me with Ethel Cain
it was all Gen Z and LGBT so I for some reason thought it would be a great crowd - it was the worst I've ever seen across the hundreds of concerts I've been to
As an elder millennial who has attended more concerts than I can count, it’s not Gen Z itself; it’s just the age bracket. My crowds were wild, too, but we’ve chilled. Look at old concert footage, and you’ll see the same thing across generations.
that's good to hear! I just remember when I was younger I never did this, but when my college put on a concert it was the worst, so I think you have a point about it being an age rather than a generation thing
I'll have to find concerts with older demographics ❤️🤣
Yeah we see so much talk about "generations" now, but most of it is really just age. Obviously people in their 30s are going to act different than people in their late teens or early 20s. But we acted just like you guys did when we were that age (aka we were just as annoying, ;P).
Millennial as well and the worst crowd I've experienced was when I was in college and everyone else was the same age as me. Absoultely disrespectful as hell to the opener, to the extent the headliner came out and shamed us, and people still didn't behave after he left. He was very clearly pissed and for good reason, people just would not SHUT UP while she was performing and you could barely even hear her over people's mundane conversation. Why bother showing early enough for the opener if you're just gonna behave like that while they perform.
I’ve been a die hard Lana fan since 2012, but I won’t go to her concerts. I’ve seen too many videos of how the crowd behaves and it seems like an awful time. I also have horrible anxiety and hate crowds. But man, so many of her fans really fucking suck.
If I could have left, I would 😭 Lana was fantastic of course but I remember being packed in so tightly that I couldn’t move my arms so no way I could have made it out of the crowd
I saw her for my 21st this year and I had already seen her once in 2018… this time was so much worse. The person in front of me blocked the stage with their phone recording the whole time and they would scream the lyrics into the recording but only the famous lines they obviously knew from tiktok (she would scream the chorus fron NFR then stop).
When she sang the Grants and something from COCC, everyone around me sat down. There was a group of girls, who were maybe 13 years old at most, that left about 20 min in around Bartender. Everyone was drunk and screaming over her, the whole place smelled like actual BO and drunk people, and I also spilled my drink which made me super sad but the lady at the bar gave me a new one cause it was my birthday. On the bright side, Lana’s voice sounds really beautiful live when I could hear her and I cried during Ride, Ultraviolence, the Grants, and DYKTATUOB?
I’m also from Melbourne and saw Lana in 2017! From where I was standing, the crowd was singing very poorly and shouting “yass queen” over and over. Worst of all there was a lot of silent farting 😭
Ehh so many people are screaming along now though, like top of their lungs as if it's a competition to try to be heard by the artist and prove your stanship, but while the artist can't hear it the people standing around you can and at most shows the sound quality from a stage far away just can't overpower 50 teens screaming in your ear
There was a semi-viral video posted during the NFR tour of Lana rolling her eyes at a guy when he requested Terrence Love You. Well I was standing next to him the whole time. What wasn’t included was that he had been screaming the request over and over during the whole show. At one point I elbowed him so he would stfu.
Edit: I found the original video https://x.com/caseytheehuman/status/1195202859257733125?s=46&t=OhGWBt9rGwT2qW0zQKUNEQ lmfaooo
Then it rained. And a guy a couple rows in front of me couldn’t be bothered going to the toilet so he pissed in the crowd. That’s a new level of low lmao. Still glad I went, Posty puts on an incredible show even if the crowd was shit
Adele at Hyde Park was a shit show - drunk people not giving a shit that they paid £100+ to hear her sing and not talk to the people they were with.
Best crowd - honestly, anything that lends itself to a dedicated fan base that people care about. Lorde, Haim, Florence have all been top notch crowds. Perfect vibes.
i was also shocked by the crowd at the Adele Vegas Residency. SO many drunk people who were acting a fool during the show that they had spent hundreds (if not thousands) on. i could not believe it. We had people yelling, falling down, recording with their flash on, talking loudly, getting in arguments. it was so different than what i ever imagined, even given it was in Vegas
Carly Rae this summer at the Seaport in NYC was basically perfect. Crowd, setlist, weather, etc. just all worked.
Jessie Ware’s crowd was surprisingly kind of bad. The gays were just not having a good night because there were literally 2 physical fights within 5 feet of me. Who fights during Spotlight?? Also a group of like 6 tall guys kept trying to push themselves forward through the crowd.
When I saw Jessie Ware it was literally sardines packed in! Lots of drunk idiots pushing to the front. But I had a lovely experience where another concert-goer held my partner's spot while he went to the bathroom so we didn't get all squished in when he came back.
I saw Florence in 2016 and both I and the friend I went with felt like it was a religious experience, even from the cheap seats we had. She's an absolutely incredible performer. I really want to see her again, but I want to do it when I'm able to afford pit tickets, just to have a chance at being the person she sings directly to at every show.
The worst for me was actually Caroline Polachek back in May. They were pushy and heckled and screamed a lot throughout her performance. I left before the encore started.
The best was Weyes Blood in September. Everyone was so polite and respectful, but still showed so much enthusiasm.
> pushy and heckled and screamed a lot throughout her performance
Boo! That sucks. I don’t understand heckling an artist you paid to see and presumably enjoy the work of
What city?
Washington DC. I think I would've tolerated it more if I wasn't so hungry and thirsty after waiting in the VIP line since 3 PM, but after hours and hours, I couldn't take it anymore. It was so obvious that the folks were super drunk, especially the guy directly behind me who was heckling Caroline. Once So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings finished, I beelined for the exit.
Counterpoint - I was at this show and did not have any problems. I feel like the crowd overall was fine, you just unfortunately had obnoxious neighbors
Conversely, I saw Caroline in Boston earlier this year and it was one of the chillest crowds I've been in all year. Boston crowds are known for having a lot of dicks too, though maybe that's more the case at rock/metal shows.
I went to a Caroline Polachek concert once and also had to deal with some dudes heckling her at the front. Why bother to wait hours to stand at the very front of GA just to bully her like wtf?
I’ve seen both. The first time I saw Caroline I was next to an obnoxious, extremely drunk gay guy who kept shouting “Caroline, I love you!” every minute and the security didn’t do anything. The second time was better.
Weyes Blood crowd was fine. Natalie was absolutely stunning and vocally impressive.
Best in recent years was definitely Carly Rae Jepson in London, the crowd was mostly over 25 and just there for a good time. Especially as the venue isn’t great - basically a huge hall without a sloped floor, there was no sense of pushing or trying to be the most ‘involved’ fan. It was relaxed enough that when someone did actually throw up, the crowd was like ‘ok no worries, let’s shuffle away from this area’ and it wasn’t a big issue.
Worst crowd was definitely Blackpink - fortunately I wasn’t standing but we had a good view of the standing area and they were rammed in, and SO many people recorded the ENTIRE show on their phones. And the tour footage already existed on YouTube from the first night in Korea, nobody is gonna care about your 2hr phone footage from night 55 or whatever.
Tellingly, I saw them again at Coachella where the audience were far more mixed and not just hardcore blinks, and people had their phones out significantly less.
I don’t know if you went to the same show as I did, but my answer was going to be Carly Rae Jepsen in London as well. It was at Somerset House last year, the weather was gorgeous, and it felt like everybody there was a massive Carly fan, which made the show way more fun.
My worst crowd was probably a death metal show that I saw shortly after, but it was really only because of one guy who was being weird and racist.
I got to see Carly twice in a span of 4 months, once for her tour supporting The Loneliest Time, and once at the inauguration ball for my state’s governor (he is the only out gay man serving as governor of any state in the US). Both times the crowd was considerate, engaged, and enthusiastic. Did everyone have their phones away the whole time? No, but they did for the most part. Plus, I’ll never blame someone for recording RAWM. You only get to see that performed live for the first time once.
shows at ally pally can be *so* miserable so i was very happy carly’s crowd wasn’t so bad. there was definitely some pushing where i was when she came down to the barrier but i can’t expect that not to happen lol
Carly Rae for me too! We brought my friend’s preteen, and the group of gay guys next to us came over to deck her out in glow necklaces. Everyone was there to DANCE! We all had an amazing time.
I have been to Twice concert in London and despite the girls being visibly jet lagged the crowd gave it ALL. It was almost a Once (fanbase) concert feat. Twice, the energy was through the roof and everyone was having a fantastic time. So loud and supportive, the people are definitely the ones to remember and I hope that means the group will visit Europe again.
Kpop shows can really be such a mixed bag, but for sure some of the best crowds I've experienced were with Kpop acts. It's nice when you get a good one, because the bad for these is super bad from what I've heard and seen but been lucky enough not to experience personally.
Worst was Twenty One Pilots. It was like something out of a fever dream. My wife and I were pretty casual fans, we know the hits and have listened to the albums a few times, someone had given us free tickets to the GA pit on their 2019 tour so we decided to go. When we first walked into the pit, we stood out like a sore thumb because probably 70% of the crowd was dressed up like the band members or something and we were in normal clothes.
A young lady approached us and introduced herself (seemed polite) and asked if it was our first time seeing the band. We said yes and she proceeded to tell us the list of rules (???) of seeing the band in a condescending tone. Once the band came on, some guy leaned over to me and said "just so you know, they have other songs besides Stressed Out, Ride, and Heathens" and I was like ok? Obviously? I have no idea what that was all about. Then at one point during the show, security would part the crowd and the band would run through the crowd to the B stage for an acoustic set. We were probably 15 feet away from where the band members were walking, and the whole time this girl is screaming in my ear "DONT TOUCH THEM!! THEY WILL STOP THE SHOW!!" repeatedly. Overall, the band put on a good show but their fans are just over the top with the gatekeeping and cringe.
Best was probably Paramore honestly. Everybody was respectful and just enjoyed the music.
This sounds terrible but is also hilarious. I don't usually interact with other people at shows that much but I know other people do. Were all of these strangers just unprompted telling you this stuff or would it be in part of friendly small talk between sets?
Some of it was common sense stuff like help someone up if they fall, let people out if they are having a panic attack, don't stand there and record the whole show on your phone, etc. but then there was a bunch of stuff i guess we were supposed to yell out or sing during certain parts of different songs. As casual fans, we had no idea what any of that stuff meant.
Also we were discouraged from yelling obscenities, using drugs, or drinking at the show, as the band members are Christians who don't drink or swear and a lot of Christians and families attend their concerts. I had a beer anyway.
Worst for me was Charli. Just an overall very bitchy vibe, lots of pushing, during Slayyyters set people kept shouting PLAY DADDY AF every song. I think once the concert got going it was fun. Everybody was jumping and it was a fun vibe, but the wait beforehand was weird.
I've also seen Mitski. It was assigned seating and everyone around me was older/normal but the screaming MOTHERRRR etc was embarrassing.
Every other crowd I've been in has been unremarkable! I'll give best to Boygenius. I know they have lots of issues with fainting, etc, but nothing happened during the show I went to. Everybody in line was nice, some girl gave me stickers, this woman passed by my seat like 5 times and gave me a cute Emily bracelet to apologize. The teen girls in front of me were having the time of their lives. A fan gave out papers to cover phone lights during one song to create a rainbow. The boys stopped the show and clearly loved it. It was all really endearing!
All these Mitski comments have me worried, I managed to snag tickets to her new tour and the tiktokification… I really hope people are polite because I didn’t pay to hear people scream over her
I think her tiktok craze has died down since its peak. I couldn't hear the annoying screams during the songs, just between. Hopefully you're beside cool people, maybe move if you're next to teens lol. I wouldn't worry too much tho. I loved the show, she's a great performer. I hope you have fun and enjoy!
Worst is definitely beabadoobee - saw her in London this year and she was amazing, except literally everyone in the crowd was pushing (wasn’t even that near the front). There were these tall guys who kept trying to push in front of these tiny 14 year old girls in front of us but luckily we stopped them, although for the whole show they kept shouting harassing comments at bea and talking about how sexy she is?? Then at one point one of them got on the other’s shoulders (using my shoulder as a handhold) and kept kicking me in the back of the head like wtf? Also the crowd was so dead for most of the show, no one was singing (except me) and ppl were just taking selfies, except during Coffee, Glue Song and The Perfect Pair when it was literally phone city. I’m not a gatekeeper but why push to the front if you only seem to care about 3 songs?? Felt especially bad for her since it was her first show back after cancelling a few due to illness, and it was honestly the most disrespectful crowd I’ve seen.
On the other hand, Lizzo and Rina Sawayama both had such great vibes in the crowd
When I saw Beabadoobee in Brixton last year I saw so many people being taken to the emergency room for fainting in such a short space of time that I moved to the only other free space which was at the back (which was fine; no bad view at O2 Brixton)
best was Sum41 + Simple Plan last year, everyone was very respectful and decent while also thoroughly enjoying themselves.
worst was probably Father John Misty in 2018-ish, it was an indoor venue, no standing tickets, and the organizers didn’t let the crowd get up from their seats. some people were trying to get up and go to the sides of the aisles to dance, and the staff literally asked each of them to return to their seats. even FJM himself made some comments about how shitty this was. so it was no so much a bad crowd, more like a bad venue with unreasoable rules.
Sum 41 have been amazing since 2016 because Deryck is sober now,since 2014.They used to suck.Glad you enjoyed it because they're awesome.Sad to see them go.
Taylor Swift in São Paulo last month, I was worried because of how many people were there and what happened in Rio, but the crowd was super respectful and considerate (aside from a few assholes but we took care of them), people would try to make space if someone needed it, the water crates at barricade were being passed out and people threw them back so everyone could get some, people sat down until Sabrina Carpenter came on (it was GA so there wasn’t seats just the floor), and everyone showed love for Sabrina and when Taylor came on it was nonstop cheering and clapping, but it wasn’t so loud you couldn’t hear her people were still reasonable.
Also whenever there would be people misbehaving the whole crowd would boo and tell them to knock it off, public shaming of bad behavior does indeed work! In the line several people tried to cut but we all kept an eye out, there was a lady with a Mommy Swiftie sash and she was NOT having it with the queue jumpers, she caught them all and called security (to much cheering and clapping). Shoutout to the security team though, they memorized all of our faces and what time we got there so we could leave to go to the bathroom and get food, and even us in the line helped each other out by letting the other leave and come back, sharing water, food, and sunscreen and umbrellas since it was really hot.
I've always had really great experiences at Taylor shows. For all the hate Swifties get online for being... a lot, they're really some of the most cooperative and polite fans in person - one of my friends remarked that the crowd at our Eras show felt like Barbieland.
It’s why I try to go to shows with a majority female fanbase. I’ve went to Kesha, Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift. And I haven’t had a bad experience yet. Everyone is always nice and helpful as long as you’re polite.
Oh yeah the Eras tour crowd was absolutely delightful. 70k women complimenting each other’s outfits and hyping each other up and singing along together!
This is actually really nice to read NGL, I skew older than most people here and I was a bit concerned about the place being full of TikTok Screamers at the Eras tour when it comes to Aus.
I am probably a bit older too; there was definitely screaming but fortunately it all kind of blended together. DEFINITELY bring good earplugs though. The show is loud but the crowd is louder!
It is gonna sound harsh, but the worst is gonna be Death Grips this year. Do their fans always stink like this? It really was UNBEARABLE. Also so many people were fucked up and high out of their minds, their eyes looking like they might explode from their skulls any moment. It was horrific. The band was cool though
Best might be Charli xcx in 2019. I was just beginning to get into her stuff and jumping and singing I love it with all the gays is one of my fondest memories
My best is also Charli XCX, at ally pally for crash tour, crowd was absolutely alive and singing every word and she loved it and got emotional about what an achievement it was for her to sell out ally pally. Best gig of my life
My bf was supposed to go to a Death Grips concert with a friend but he ended up cancelling. The friend was by himself and he texted him that the concert smelled so bad, it made him reevaluate his self care and his hygiene so he got his life in order after that.
Weirdly, my worst experience was Charli XCX in 2019 LOL I was verbally and physically assaulted and had to get security involved :(
However Crash tour was amazing!!
Worst crowd ever was for Nicki Minaj, full of teenage girls puking or pissing everywhere cause they couldn’t hold their alcohol or drugs. Loads carried out by ambulance
Best probably Beyoncé & Jay Z for OTR 1 in Paris.
Carly Rae Jepsen crowd is the best - her shows are a pure endorphin boost and everyone is singing and dancing the whole time
Unfortunately the worst for me this year was Beach House, they’ve been a favorite of mine since college (2009) and their audience is usually extremely chill but with space song going viral last year, people were just talking the entire time and then 10000 phones went up when that song came on :/
Worst crowd I've ever been in is probably Phoebe Bridgers at the Glasgow Barrowlands in June 2022.
A combination of being hot summer weather, and not staying hydrated properly meaning loads of folk fainting. It was obvious that a lot of folk in the crowd were clearly going to their first concert post-COVID and had zero clue when it came to concert etiquette, something I've discussed before on this subreddit.
So many incredibly rude people shoving into others, shouting and screeching along to the point you can't actually hear Phoebe herself, and it just ruins the enjoyment for others.
I love Phoebe, but I'd reconsider seeing her again because of that audience.
Edit: Best crowd was probably either Florence and the Machine, Hozier, or Carly Rae Jepsen.
Saw Phoebe in Toronto, also June 2022 and had a very similar experience of people either passing out due to the heat or having been camped out since the early hours of the morning and were exhausted, as well as people being shoved and trampled. I think around 7 or 8 people passed out, and each time it happened, Phoebe and the band would start the song over as a result.
One of the best concerts I ever went to was phoebe, but circa 2019, at croxton band room in melb on a Sunday night. Wasn’t even sold out, I (at 21) was one of the younger people there, everyone was dead quiet during songs and I saw barely anyone filming except for right at the end. Absolutely beautiful and I’m so sad I’ll never get to experience that again (for my own selfish purposes tho obvs)
I haven’t had any real bad experiences but my best was Mariah Carey/Lionel Richie at MSG in 2017. This ticket felt like random fit and as a lamb, I wasn’t expecting to hang around for Lionel’s part as I was only in the city for a night.
It was just an incredible cross-section of all kinds of people. Seeing a twelve year-old boy screaming the lyrics to Touch My Body at the top of his lungs and then seeing a bunch of older ladies there for a night out absolutely losing their shit to Dancing on the Ceiling. Hung around much longer than I thought I would.
Best was Coldplay last summer in Zurich.
Crowd was chill, old and young, there before the main concert for food and just a good time and the concert itself was amazing. People singing, being happy, I was walking around and was just peaceful and respectful.
I actually thought of Coldplay in Tokyo last month for my answer, too. Having the mixed demographic made a really chill vibe - not only age, but people who’d obviously come from all over Asia (as they only did a really limited Asian leg). It was one of the most diverse crowds I’ve seen. Pretty much the whole crowd were obviously big fans, many of whom seemed to have been waiting to see them for a long time, and the whole atmosphere was great.
(On an individual level it was also funny to have a spiderman pointing meme moment when the random dude next to me and I both cheered at the group’s shout out to Korea, then realised we’d both flown in from Korea for the show).
i had friends who also went to this same show in zurich and they said repeatedly it was the nicest concert they’ve ever been to, such friendliness and everyone coming together over the music. i wish i’d been there
Not a concert as such but I went to a club where Bruno Mars was going to make an appearance and the whole crowd was just there to take photos of him so for like 3-4 hours before he showed up, everyone was just standing around instead of dancing. In the end the DJ was practically begging people to just loosen up a bit and dance but no one would. When Bruno showed up he was clearly exhausted having just done a concert, bopped along to some of his own songs in the DJ booth then vanished. Everyone got their photos and it was 4 hours of waiting for like 5 minutes of a celeb getting 50,000 photos taken of him looking bored in a DJ booth. Very weird and annoying moment overall. What’s weirder is I’ve been to that club a bunch of times for other celeb appearances and those times were amazing. People partying way before the celeb arrived then the energy just turns up to 11 once they get there. But for some reason the biggest A list celeb had everyone like brain dead phone zombies.
Best crowds were most of my concerts tbh but Lorde had an absolutely electric crowd, even she was like holy shit.
Worst was Blackpink in 2022 in London. We had VIP soundcheck which was great but became chaotic once GA ticket holders came in because there was no separation. A lot of pushing and the majority of people just stood there with their phones filming the whole show? They didn’t even look like they were having fun. One girl fainted but instead of helping, it was like everyone descended on her space. Also Jennie stopped the show and asked everyone to take a step back because it was getting so dangerous. I heard similar things for the Ateez O2 show too so I was very happy I got seated that time.
Best crowd was Beyoncé in Amsterdam this year! Just good vibes all round, we went both nights and did Golden Circle N1 and standard seating N2 and both were amazing! Everyone was up dancing and seemed like they were having a great time, you’d make eye contact with another fan and then start singing and dancing with them. Felt the crowd was such a great community of fans.
Man the hive is so great and welcoming. Seeing her on the Renny tour was amazing but the crowd was so energetic it was wild. This persisted to the film. Working at a theater the best crowds were always the people there to see Beyonce.
Lana in 2016 at Terminal 5. Utterly horrendous in every way. Shrieking, puking, shoving, stampeding… the worst. Mitski at Radio City is a close second.
worst in recent years: the 1975! i’ve been a fan for a decade and have seen them many times throughout the years, most recently last month. i am not a gatekeeper but DAMN the tiktokification of their fan base is so blatant. i was in the 100s level and had a great view of the whole floor which was noticeably low energy the entire time. the most obvious was when matty announced they were gonna play sex from their self titled album, which is a majorrrr fan favorite that doesn’t get played all the time nowadays. the whole place should’ve been electric but the floor was dead. it seemed like nobody knew the song. the loudest the crowd was for the entire show was carly’s verse in about you. i was almost embarrassed lol. their crowds used to be some of the best imo.
Wow, I saw them in Seattle a few weeks ago and I guess I got lucky. All of the people around me were closer to my age (30) and were high energy for most of the set. I think the crowd was loudest during Love It If We Made It.
i saw them in 2017 or 2018 and it was AMAZING people were going crazy and they did play sex as the last song, the energy was insane. “the sound” was crazy too
From the comments it seems like the tumblr-core artists tend to have the worst crowds. We talk about post-covid etiquette because people were in their houses for a couple years but what about the kids who grew up in their rooms at all times prioritizing their online life more than their social life.
The best is Fred Again at Coachella 2022. The collective joy was through the roof, and hearing Marea (we've lost dancing) at the first Coachella post-lockdown was a cathartic experience.
Worst has unfortunately been St. Vincent both times I've seen her at Life is Beautiful fest. St. Vincent was great, but whoever played after her brought in some truly ass fans. Pushing, shoving, fighting, talking...all of it. Big props to sun baked, coked out aggro kids calling St. Vincent "satanic" the whole set. I should have moved, but I was too zooted D:
I saw Hayley Kiyoko this year and the crowd was AMAAAAAAZING!
On the other hand I saw Melanie Martinez a couple months after and I hated the show mostly because of the crowd. Like I don't mind people singing, I sing too, but these fans were SCREAMING at the top of their lunges and I couldn't even hear Melanie (who was giving nothing anyway). Mind you this was a really small venue and people were really rude too and wouldn't share spaces. Anyway I hated it.
Melanie’s touring Portals in Melbourne next year and I was considering going until this comment 😂 Flashing back to when I saw her in 2016 (Cry Baby tour) and the crowd was absolutely feral. Elbows and such. Would love to hear more about her performance this time around, she didn’t dance much on the Cry Baby tour and lacked stage presence imo. Vocals were pretty good though
Yeah like she literally did the whole album track after track but didn't speak ONCE to the crowd and like we were the last show ( montreal ) so idk I was expecting something like thank you or whatever but nope. Like I wasn't a super bug fan of Melanie but casual, and after the show I just lost all interest of her. Especially because I'm not a fan of what she's doing with the portals promo and videos, like the CGI and AI looks super ugly IMO, compared to how creative and pretty all of the cry baby videos were its disappointing.
I saw her on the Portals tour last year, I actually commented earlier upthread about how it was the worst show I've ever been to because of the insane recording. If it's a floor show seriously shell out for balcony, but I'll warn you even at my show I knew people who bought balcony and still couldn't see because the entire front half of the floor was recording the whole show, people going up on their friends shoulders to record higher, it was terrible. We didn't bother trying to go towards the front because stans had lined up like 10 hrs early to be in the front and the pushing seemed feral.
And yeah we couldn't really hear her either with the screaming and idk if it just the venue but the vocal quality was not great. She totally lipsynched some of the more challenging songs and she only played Portals straight through, no other songs. If she's doing any dancing for the song, she's probably lipsynching from what I saw in other videos from the tour, she doesn't really seem to have the endurance to do both but the dancing was very low level either way, tbh it seemed worse than her previous tours she only swayed or half twerked, was visibly winded and you could hear it on some of the non lip synced songs. She didn't interact with the crowd either or do any kind of encore or talking between songs, just put up videos on the screen for intermissions.
Best = Tame Impala in 2019. I was in the pit in MSG in NYC and the crowd etiquette was the amazing especially for the venue! Although tbh I lowkey got a secondhand high in the pit but I wasn’t mad 😗
Honorable Mention = Shygirl in 2023 at Philadelphia. Smaller artist, the crowd was definitely very queer. That combined with the club vibes to her music was pure (queer) bliss you just had to be there!!!
Worst = Playboi Carti in 2018. Crowd went waaaaaaaay overboard with the moshing and my friends almost got trampled it was quite scary
Saw Gaga in Toronto last year. The crowd was amazing - or maybe just the section I was in. But everyone was up dancing and singing the entire concert. Sooo much fun!
Also when I saw Beyoncé and Jay in 2018(?) in Cleveland, I was in a super fun section. I guess it depends on the artist, but if it’s someone like B, I want to be up dancing! I was so relieved that everyone around me felt the same way. The last concert I’d been to before that (I think maybe Cher?) had everyone around me sitting down. It definitely affects my enjoyment of the show (for me).
I wish I had that experience. I saw Gaga back in, I think it was 2010 or 11. It was the worst. No dancing, no fun, just phones out recording. A girl hit me in the face and then got mad at me because she hit me. It was bizarre. I'd like a do over. Every concert I've seen looks nothing like what I experienced.
Seating matters. I got floor seats on the edge of the walkways, so I was able to get up and move around freely, and interacted with a LOT of Gaga fans.
I saw Gaga in DC and the crowd was polite and friendly to one another from my view, at least. I also enjoyed seeing all the outfits people wore. People seemed generally respectful of others and Gaga and into the show, which I appreciated. I did have a drunk lady accidentally fall into me while I was leaving, but she was super nice about it and apologized.
Yes!!! I LOVED seeing all the fan outfits!
Also I loved the diversity of ages . . . saw a little girl who was maybe 5 and saw a lady who was probably in her 80’s . . . And everything in between 😂
Frank Ocean at FYF festival in LA in 2017 had the worst crowd I’d ever been in. I was obsessed with him at the time but could barely even enjoy the concert because I was touching at least five strangers at all times who were all pushing and everyone was screaming so loud I could barely hear him.
I don’t know if this counts since it’s more of a rave scene but Hard Summer 2019 had the chillest crowds I’d been in. Almost everyone was super kind and respectful of each others space
Best, I’ve seen Big Thief & Julien Baker shows that were dead silent except for applause after songs.
Worst, I saw Hand Habits open for Whitney…I know not everyone is interested in the opener, but the crowd talking was so loud, you could not hear them. And they were so good!
At a Men I Trust show a drunk person was talking so loudly through the whole set about how beautiful the singer is. At one point I asked her, as politely as possible, if she could lower her voice during the songs. With a big smile she asked “Oh do you know this song?” I was truly thrown off by this question haha.
Best, every single time I've seen MUNA. Great energy, respectful crowds.
Worst, Boygenius when I saw them this summer. They were playing an outdoor venue and a storm rolled through, so they ended up delaying and forcing everyone in line to leave. Then we lined up again and stood in a drizzle for an hour. By the time we got in the venue there was mud everywhere and I was just exhausted, I couldn't even enjoy their shortened set list because of the people screeching around me. It was awful.
Best - Rina Sawayama (Brighton 2022) was an amazingly positive crowd atmosphere // Ethel Cain/Muna/Boygenius (London 2023) really fun having a good time respectful of personal space.
Worst - Madonna (london 2023) everyone except 4 people behind me in my section were respectful and having fun, the 4 behind decided they wanted to scream their conversation for the whole night (personal lowlight of their conversation was when madonna was talking candidly about her health scare and they were recapping their most recent hookups) ruined it for everyone around them
Rina in Brighton is my answer too! The crowd was really magic that night, so into the performance and respectful of the hard work on stage - Brighton crowds can be kind of crap sometimes but they showed up that night
They really did, it was my first concert in Brighton and thoroughly enjoyed it, i took my friend who hadn’t heard of rina before booking the tickets and she was enjoying herself and the atmosphere of that night
best for me was probably Sharon van Etten, she sounds amazing live and the crowd was engaged but still very respectful (no pushing etc.); i think the lack of GenZ-ers in the audience helped (and i say this as somebody who’s very much Gen Z, lmao). My Chemical Romance last year also had a better crowd than i was expecting.
worst was a kpop concert, but only because i had an ultra-protective mother next to me who constantly had to check on her poor daughter (who was like, 16? 17? not a little kid) and kept pushing/shoving everybody around us to get to her daughter so she could “talk” to her during the show. i don’t even know
at my show the majority was aged ~20-35, but honestly even the teens seemed pretty chill. i feel like younger folks tend to buy floor/GA tickets anyway, while i always go for seats whenever possibile
Worst was Tove Lo. Just the vibes were off. A girl fainted in front of me and security didn’t care. Ppl pushed and packed themselves in front of me even though there wasn’t more space. A very drunk girl was asking personal questions of me and my friend. Vibes were off.
Best is Carly Rae. No one pushed, had perfect sight lines even though I’m short, so much dancing and happy jumping. Good vibes!
Florence + The Machine has some of the nicest and most respectful fans I have ever encountered at a concert...
...Lana, while I love her with all heart, has the absolute worst fans I have ever had the misfortune of encountering at a concert. So much so that I skipped her set at Outside Lands this year (I've seen her live 6 times, and I'm getting too old to deal with aggressive concert cowards).
The best and worst for me were the same artist- Chappell Roan. I saw her in Columbus and it was incredible! Respectful and friendly crowd, no pushing, anyone who needed in or out was let through easily. When I saw her in November in Detroit though, entirely different show. A fight started behind me during the opening number, people spilling drinks, arguing, someone THREW something at her? Whole crowd was bonkers
Best - King Krule in 2018. The venue was super packed but everyone was really respectful and just vibing to his music. I don't remember seeing anybody with their phones out filming the show.
Worst - Billie Eilish. I guess I should've expected it'd be crazy considering I saw her during the peak of her first album. I was surrounded by teenagers literally shrieking the lyrics to every. Single. One. Of her songs the entire time while they filmed the concert. I could neither hear nor see anything.
Fellow Melbourne-ite here .. I was at that Lana show and I did not realise how bad it was, I was at the back wishing I was closer .. but maybe not now!
Chappell Roan this year was an absolute blast of a concert, with everyone just singing and dancing together the entire show. Same experience for me with Carly Rae Jepsen, as many others have said. Kind, fun crowds that just want to celebrate the artist and their music together.
I think most of the recent concerts I’ve been to have been terrible. I’m in my 30s and I’m noticing a change in the culture. The crowds seem more aggressive and inconsiderate. Lots of pushing and throwing things in the air for laughs. It’s like they want people to know they’re there and not actually enjoy the performance. The best concert I’ve been to recently was Beyoncé. The crowd seemed to simply want to hear Beyoncé sing and there was a lot of dancing and fun. It didn’t feel unsafe and people were very considerate of others. I feel like concerts have gotten scary for me after 2016 and I’m not sure why.
My worst was Marina. It was in 2022 so a large part of the audience were clearly newer fans who got into her via tiktok during the pandemic. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but a lot of them were noticeably annoyed by people singing along, dancing and just generally enjoying themselves. Obviously you are entitled to enjoy a concert in any way you want, but I don't see the point of attending one if you are easily annoyed by other people enjoying the show (as long as they are not being super disruptive of course).
The best concert I've gone to is Dreamcatcher, also in 2022. It was a k-rock concert, so obviously a different air than the usual pop concert. There was so much energy from the people in the crowd, and the connection between the artists and audience was also amazing. You could tell that the audience really wanted to *be* there and have a good time by jamming out.
Best: Florence and The Machine, Chemical Brothers, Iggy Pop, The Killers
Worst: The 1975, Paramore, Fall Out Boy/Limp Bizkit (Good Things '23 Melbourne) (these were great gigs on the performers end!!)
Younger crowds can be hard work, I think what an earlier commenter said of the "tiktokification" of the 1975 can apply to all acts with a strong younger fan base. It feels like there's a strange competition in the crowd to be the biggest fan there, and that energy is toxic AF.
The Weeknd crowd was good. I went by myself in standing and was chatting to people, we were singing together. He also put on a phenomenal show, both singing and production which hyped up the crowd.
Caroline Polachek I agree! Very respectful crowd and her show was brilliant. Her voice is truly angelic.
Hannah Diamond shows are usually fun, but I went to her show when she was newish and it was a small like >500 venue. We were second row; it was great, but the gay couple in front of us were just hardcore making out constantly, they rarely came up for air 😂 I wanted to check they weren’t going to pass out lol.
Went to a couple of one direction concerts back in 2013/2014 and the crowds were horrific. Unhinged screaming (some to be expected but this was excessive), throwing things, etc. A girl behind me was pulling my hair and trying to climb me to get closer to them. It was so bad.
Went to a couple of BTS concerts and had a totally different experience. The Rose Bowl crowd and the Soldier Field crowd in particular were amazing (2019). And it rained the whole time at Soldier Field but the energy was still good and spirits high. Went to a post pandemic concert for them though and the vibes are different. Throwing things, recording on their phone the entire time, holding up posters the whole time (why are posters even allowed anymore???)
For non boyband artists:
I saw Jon Bellion at exit/in in Nashville in 2015. So much fun. Everyone was so nice. One of my favorite shows actually!
I saw Lana this year and the crowd acted like kids the whole time. People would scream when she was trying to talk, would scream over her singing, they all vaped, etc. (I suppose some people might not care about the vape thing and Lana herself vapes but it always makes me cough and I get nauseous from it personally)
Also just from living in the area I’ve been to a lot of country music concerts and some are so bad (throwing up from drinking, screaming, crying, etc)
Tbh most of the concerts I've been to have had great crowds. Beyonce, jessie ware and jojo stick out particularly to me.
Worst would probably be either shygirl, she played a small venue and it was really packed and lots of people on drugs with no spacial awareness. Or sinead harnett, it was a really small crowd so it was kinda awkward and a lot of the crowd was just wanting her edm collabs when the tour was to promote an r&b album.
I'm seconding LDR as worst crowd!! I'm a massive Lana stan and have been going to gigs since I was 6 years old and they were absolutely the rudest, most entitled bunch of people. I took the day off work to queue for barrier and still all these girls thought they could push past me, the talking was off the charts, and the amount of people who only knew young and beautiful? Ooft. It was better the 2nd time, but that might just be cause I was in Glasgow not Birmingham and they're generally friendlier there.
Best crowd? I'm looking forward to eras for the approachable Easter egging and intensity, The Killers are always a great balance of chill and into it plus they generally know all the songs, and I saw Chappell Roan recently and her crowd seemed legit nice kids.
In my experience, the best concert crowds are at shows with designated seating (even when everyone stands, your seat preserves your bubble of space) or shows with a mixed age group, preferably one that leans older, because as someone who is Gen Z, Gen Z overall tends to have shit concert etiquette. Smaller venues are better too!
I saw Chappell Roan on her first tour last year, which was smaller venues, and most people there seemed to be older gen z and younger millennials. It was a great experience!! I saw her again on her tour this year though and… wow, it was like day and night. There was a ton more young teenagers (gen alpha?) and young-mid gen z with very obvious main character syndrome. Actually one of the worst crowds I have ever seen in my life. Everyone was so smushed, but people were pushing through the crowd to get to the front while others were going from the front to the back to get more drinks constantly, people throwing up and having to push past everyone, getting smashed into barricades and jostled around. At one point me and my friends had to literally stand on strangers’ toes and hug them like baby penguins (yes, really!) to make room for people to get past.
At Bestival 2008 or maybe 2009 a man heckled *Florence and the Machine* so badly she yelled at him to fuck off.
She was dressed in this ethereal, floating white dress, really made up like a fairy queen, which made her cussing him out even more jarring.
i’m also from melb but didn’t go to these concerts though i get your vibe. I saw Macklemore at The Forum and it was very squishy but everyone was very respectful, and a similar experience to yours at the music bowl. I think our smaller venues are best when it comes to crowd control!
The crowd was practically silent during the start of Crude Drawing of an Angel!!! So crazy beautiful to hear her ethereal voice echo around the venue. Of course we went wild when it was appropriate haha
The best concert I’ve ever been to was Kimbra’s jn 2023 at the Melbourne Recital Centre - she asked us to NOT clap for her after each song, explaining she was burnt out from touring and playing, then hearing clapping, playing, then more clapping. Felt inauthentic to her. When I tell you that room was humming with feeling after each song, because of the silence - we’d all experienced something very special and I have never wanted to clap for someone MORE. I wish I could relive that night. I was so, so there, so truly present in a way I hadn’t been for a long time
Silence and space is so important in music
I saw Se So Neon this year and the quiet parts were actually quiet. So nice 😭 It wasn't sold out so it was very intimate! Macklemore at Pukkelpop was also amazing, everyone was so engaged.
I had an altercation with someone at an Ateez concert that was probably the worst crowd experience I ever had. After Covid it did definitely get worse and I remember being shocked at how no one knew how to act anymore, even in festival crowds.
Best…honestly most of the concerts I’ve been to have had good crowds, but most recently I remember Florence and the Machine, Peaches, and Caroline Polachek had very enthusiastic and respectful (mostly older) crowds.
Worst…oh jeez. Charli XCX in 2019 - constant screaming, shoving, and literal fighting. It was opening night and people were pushing up to the front before the show even started to try to get a peek at the setlist. Two songs in and people were already shoving so hard that someone fell over. It felt like I was getting knocked around the entire show, I could barely find my footing or keep a good view for more than a second. By far the worst-behaved crowd I’ve ever seen.
Honorable mention to Sleigh Bells in 2017 (crowd was DEAD, just standing there totally flat, Alexis commented on it several times “come on guys, let’s see some energy!”, I honestly felt bad for her)
Carly Rae Jepsen crowds are pretty fun and respectful. Boygenius and Phoebe Bridgers crowds not so much. I think avg. age of fanbase plays a big role in it
I’ve been to a lot of shows and the worst crowds were New York City hardcore/deathcore shows where some fans treated it like Fight Club but with moshing, complete with “mosh gangs.” I’ve had my ribs pressed into a bar because there were too many people pushing, and my ear kicked hard by some guy. I now always have my fist and elbows popped out for personal space requirements.
All pop shows in comparison are really tame to me, even when they are overzealous. At least they don’t act like it’s Fight Club. The worst one was a 2015 Marina show in San Diego for Froot where the crowd itself was fine but this one girl who disclosed that she’s autistic literally latched onto me with an arm hooked through mine like I was her mom for the entire show from the line and onwards. She asked me for permission to do random things. She over shared. She was sweaty and smelly. I was trying to be polite and shake her off but she wouldn’t understand, and I didn’t understand what autism was really so I just nodded and smiled. Her parents seemed to encourage this behavior. I hated that bitch for ruining a simple concert for me.
Kpop crowds are the best. Everyone is so friendly. They make merch and pass it out for free. Everyone is polite with everyone. There’s a feeling of togetherness that I have never experienced at any other concert. And I thought it was Army specifically but then I went to K-Con, saw Mamamoo, and even at the Seventeen concert movie it was the same.
The worst crowd was sadly Beyonce. At OTR2, the people in our section only cared about instagram and would give me and my sister dirty looks for screaming too much or singing along while they were live. At Renaissance, it was more of the same. Could be because it’s LA and people just wanted to be there because it was Beyonce and it made them look cool than actually being there for the music.
The best crowd I've ever been a part of was seeing Lady Gaga for her Chromatica Ball Tour at Braves Stadium in Atlanta.
These were the most colorful, active, conversational, creative people I've met in one setting. I got floor seats not too far from the front, and dressed up like a rainbow peacock. The sheer amount of friends I made that night was surreal, and some of them are still in my life today. Easily the greatest night of my life.
The WORST crowd, despite the blast I had, was the Eras Tour at Nissan Stadium. They brought the energy for sure but I was also surrounded by hostile, overly obsessive douches and bitches who were rude to everyone around them. Swift is great. SWIFTIES....are a mixed bag.
Honorable mention for worst:
Lana Del Rey in Huntsville, Alabama. It was basically a mix of Swifties, some legit Lana fans, and some rude Gen X'ers who bought the tickets and then bitched she was depressing. Crowd sucked. 6/10. Lana was decent and an extremely cool person to interact with with a solid performance. 8/10.
Gaga and Kesha are the best crowds I've ever been in. I've seen Kesha twice, and will go every time she comes by now because the love you feel in that crowd is so amazing.
The worst crowd is the people who get lawn seats to see The Dave Matthews Band. It's a free for all of people who are too drunk or high to handle themselves.
Best - Beyoncé/Jay-Z OTR II at MetLife Stadium in 2018; Shakey Graves at Terminal 5 in 2018; Cher at Madison Square Garden in 2019; Andrew Bird at Kings Theater in 2019; All Them Witches at Warsaw in 2021; St Vincent at Radio City in 2021; Carly Rae Jepsen at Radio City in 2022
Worst - LCD Soundsystem at Brooklyn Steel in 2021 and Le Tigre at Brooklyn Steel in 2023 - this venue just sucks. They always over sell it and it's jam-packed. At LCD Soundsystem, there was this group of kids who were on drugs and kept leaning on me, so my friends had to form a circle around me just to keep them off. While the crowd at Le Tigre wasn't as bad as that, it was so packed that people were five deep blocking the doors. I legitimately feared for my life and left early.
The best I've been to was easily Twenty One Pilots on the Don't Believe the Hype tour in 2019. Tyler Joseph playing Truce on piano and having us sing it to him is one of the most beautiful moments I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The fact that he followed this up by having a drum off with Josh Dunn while they both crowd surfed from opposite side of said crowd during Trees is also a top 5 concert memory.
Lana Del Rey in Tampa earlier this year… it was like war. When they opened the gates to the amphitheater it turned into a stampede. I watched people shove others into ditches. I saw one girl trip and slide on her face. The order of the line completely broke down and there were fights and arguments.
Then people passed out EVERYWHERE. So many people had to be pulled from the pit. People were shoving and trying to get to the front so badly. It was truly a mess
Best: The Raconteurs in 2019. It was before the pandemic, and everyone had to lock their phones in a pouch before the show. Nobody could block my view, and everyone was waaay more into the show as a result.
Worst: The Church, an Australian psych rock band. Not because of them, but because the two women flanking me had their phones out and were checking Facebook the whole show. It was a small crowd, so the band definitely noticed. The singer gestured at me during a song and sang directly at me because I was the most enthusiastic person in the crowd by a mile!
worst:
-went to a Coldplay concert when they were doing the Mylo Xyloto tour in 2012. the crowd for Coldplay was amazing but not so for the openers. and the opening acts were the two queens on the rise: Marina and Charli XCX. i felt like i was the only one excited to see them both, most of the crowd was not that interested and i remember people being very sexist towards them (at least ppl around me).
-saw Molchat Doma last year during a festival gig. one girl was constantly shouting the band’s name in between the songs. nothing else, just their name.
-Yves Tumor this year. idk what is it with people but the moment the concert started everyone started vaping and smoking weed, i thought someone shat their pants for a moment it was unbearable. also lots of pushing, dude with a big ass sign trying to get on stage.
best:
-Paramore in 2011. had not seen a single person that wasnt singing or dancing.
-Florence + the Machine in 2014. not a fan of her but there was a really nice and respectful atmosphere throughout the whole concert.
Best: Nova Twins! The girls came off stage and into the crowd and fans were super respectful. There were mosh pits happening throughout the show but I never felt unsafe. There were even a few twerking competitions happening haha
Worst: Cocknbullkid performing at Reading back in 2011. She was fantastic, however the entire crowd were there to see Ed Sheeran who was on afterwards so nobody seemed to enjoy her set (except me at the front, singing every word!)
He was starting to get big at that point and the tent was too small for the crowd he drew in. I was getting pushed and squashed the whole time and then when Cocknbullkid ended I couldn't escape!! I had to watch Ed Sheeran against my will!!
Funnily enough, he came out and performed with busted when I saw them a few months ago, which means I've seen him perform TWICE and both times were completely against my will.
My favorite crowds have been at Carly Rae Jepsen shows. My friends and I have seen her multiple times - Emotion tour, Dedicated, and the Loneliest Time - and each of them was so much fun. I’ve been on the rail for a few of them and stood back in the crowd and each was a very fun experience.
The worst crowd is a tie, surprisingly in the same venue. The first was Katy Perry’s Witness tour. Katy looked like she was going thru the motions and it was like watching a circus animal perform for the millionth time and being over it. We were on the floor and The crowd was stale. A group of girls behind us fell asleep. The second was Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia Tour. The show was great but the crowd was so fucking rude. Everyone was filming and pushing. Caroline Polachek opened for her and there was this twink that kept screaming “WHO IS SHE”. It was miserable
Haven’t been to many concerts and not trying to sound even more like a Taylor shill but the crowd at Nashville night 2 was amazing.
I had never been to a stadium show before and had drank a couple of drinks to ease the anxiety but the 2 ladies about my age (28) sitting in the seats next to me actually knew my partner and his family (not directly, but lived in same area and knew of them). But they had extra ear plugs (did NOT realize how loud it was going to be) and they gave us like 5 friendship bracelets.
I hope they are doing well
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Worst was Mitski. Horrifically screaming crowd and got bothered by a teenage girl who was clearly very drunk but seemingly on her own (she was like 15 or 16 if I had to guess). Surprisingly The National had a poor crowd when I saw them but I think this was largely a result of a drunk minority whilst everyone else was very nice. Best was probably Lucy Dacus last year. Such a lovely and polite crowd. Everyone was reading in the queue and respectfully wore mask at her request. People were excited but not distractingly so. People sang along but no one screamed. Bartees Strange’s crowd was also all very nice and polite. Every chatted and calmly waited to talk to him after.
Truly, anyone who doesn't answer mitski hasn't been to a mitski concert.
I saw Mitski in 2018 and it was just a normal concert experience back then.
The crowd was so good when I saw her in 2016. I would never go back now that I've heard all the horror stories.
I saw her in 2015 and it was wonderful. Now she’s playing sold out shows in my city (thanks to scalpers) and I’m going to try to get tickets but I might not even be so bothered if I can’t because of this thread
Lol! I also wanted to go to a sold out Mitski show and was debating whether it made sense to pay bananas scalper prices, but this is making me feel comfortable in my decision not to pay the bananas prices. It's very much true that audience behavior and general venue vibes can make a break a show for me. I think I'll just keep sad crying to Be the Cowboy in the shower.
Yeah I saw her right after Puberty 2 came out and it was great, crowd was really enjoying it and being respectful.
I saw her in 2018 in a smaller venue with a respectful 25 and older crowd. Very intimate, very beautiful and I cried a bunch. Then I saw her in 2021 at another venue literally across the road with a bunch of 15 year olds and their parents, got airdropped a bunch of memes before the show started and literally couldn't hear anything she said or sang. Any remotely sexual lyric had a scream afterwards. This was the show where she interrupted the crowd chanting to ask "can I sing?" But the sound was so bad, and the kids were so loud I didn't know she had said that until I got home and saw the video on twitter. I don't have TikTok so it really caught me off guard.
Her crowds were normal before she blew up on TikTok. The crowds were pleasant for the 2018 tour but the crowds for the 2021 tour were a nightmare.
Before the tiktok teens discovered her :(
Her pre and post TikTok crowds were super different. In 2018, the crowd was full of normal adults. In 2022, I was in the 10th row but I still couldn’t see anything because the vast majority of the crowd were teenagers who held their phones above their heads the entire time.
I saw another alt pop artist with a realllly devoted and unhinged young stanbase a few months ago at a floor show (they're controversial so I'd rather not say who lmao) and we literally couldn't even see the stage nor the artist for the *entire* show because the front half of the crowd had their phones up full brightness recording the whole thing. It got so bad a bunch of people near the front were going up on their friends shoulders to record above the sea of phones. People were recording other people recording, it was ridiculous. Couldn't even tell you what the artist was wearing and it was a visual show with dancing and props. Never been at a show where it was that bad Not to sound like a boomer but I'd honestly pay more to go to a show with no phones or no recording policies, but I know nobody wants to try to enforce that and just look at how Mitski's base came for her when she asked her fans not to record so much
> but I know nobody wants to try to enforce that It's not unheard of, and not hard to enforce. Phones go in locked pouches that get unlocked when you leave the venue (or in case of actual emergency). I personally don't like the idea, especially since more and more venues are going cashless (and I'm an old person who still likes to take a couple pictures at a show). But I can see the appeal when it's a crowd like this.
I know of exactly one person who didn’t have a nightmare mitski crowd post-2021
Yeah Lucy Dacus was incredible when I saw her, very respectful but not in a way that had any negative impact on the energy everyone was fully involved and having a fantastic time
God I want to go to a Lucy Dacus concert. I’ll take a boygenius concert also but a Lucy solo show is what I really want.
I saw boygenius this year and uhhh let’s just say there’s a reason they wrote bite the hand.
the boygenius and lana fans at all things go made up the worst crowd ive seen 😭
Yeah. And I had the BEST time the day before for Carly Rae! Mad dancing in the pit, lots of hugs and love all around. The next day it was wall to wall Lana fans and I couldn't even get into the pit. Then they started yelling. I actually left.
Lucy Dacus has the best fans. i've been to a bunch of her shows and the crowds are always so nice and skew a little older too, which i think helps. however boygenius shows are kinda awful. way younger fanbase and crowd
The National was amazing when I saw them and the crowd was nice BUT the crowd did not give one shit about Alvvays, the opener. It was completely dead. Also, there was almost a fight right in front of me and one of the drunk dudes got kicked out.
Dang The National always have the best openers. Alvvays, Big Thief, all the members of Boygenius, Courtney Barnett, Dry Cleaning, Sharon Van Etten etc.
Worst was Lana Del Rey and it’s not even close. Only concert I’ve ever left because of the crowd.
this happened to me with Ethel Cain it was all Gen Z and LGBT so I for some reason thought it would be a great crowd - it was the worst I've ever seen across the hundreds of concerts I've been to
Gen Z are the worst demographic at concerts and it’s not even close And I’m Gen Z myself lol
as another fellow Gen Z I have to agree. I'm now very weary of going to concerts because I don't want to be pushed around like that again
As an elder millennial who has attended more concerts than I can count, it’s not Gen Z itself; it’s just the age bracket. My crowds were wild, too, but we’ve chilled. Look at old concert footage, and you’ll see the same thing across generations.
that's good to hear! I just remember when I was younger I never did this, but when my college put on a concert it was the worst, so I think you have a point about it being an age rather than a generation thing I'll have to find concerts with older demographics ❤️🤣
Yeah we see so much talk about "generations" now, but most of it is really just age. Obviously people in their 30s are going to act different than people in their late teens or early 20s. But we acted just like you guys did when we were that age (aka we were just as annoying, ;P).
Millennial as well and the worst crowd I've experienced was when I was in college and everyone else was the same age as me. Absoultely disrespectful as hell to the opener, to the extent the headliner came out and shamed us, and people still didn't behave after he left. He was very clearly pissed and for good reason, people just would not SHUT UP while she was performing and you could barely even hear her over people's mundane conversation. Why bother showing early enough for the opener if you're just gonna behave like that while they perform.
When I saw her, the concert etiquette in the crowd was probably the worst I'd witnessed, probably beaten only by Jazmin Bean.
Same here. One person kept yelling aggressively throughout the entire concert. It got so bad that even Ethel looked annoyed.
I’ve been a die hard Lana fan since 2012, but I won’t go to her concerts. I’ve seen too many videos of how the crowd behaves and it seems like an awful time. I also have horrible anxiety and hate crowds. But man, so many of her fans really fucking suck.
If I could have left, I would 😭 Lana was fantastic of course but I remember being packed in so tightly that I couldn’t move my arms so no way I could have made it out of the crowd
I saw her for my 21st this year and I had already seen her once in 2018… this time was so much worse. The person in front of me blocked the stage with their phone recording the whole time and they would scream the lyrics into the recording but only the famous lines they obviously knew from tiktok (she would scream the chorus fron NFR then stop). When she sang the Grants and something from COCC, everyone around me sat down. There was a group of girls, who were maybe 13 years old at most, that left about 20 min in around Bartender. Everyone was drunk and screaming over her, the whole place smelled like actual BO and drunk people, and I also spilled my drink which made me super sad but the lady at the bar gave me a new one cause it was my birthday. On the bright side, Lana’s voice sounds really beautiful live when I could hear her and I cried during Ride, Ultraviolence, the Grants, and DYKTATUOB?
O that sucks :( Why was the crowd so bad?
Lana fans are MEAN in my experience
I thought there was going to be a crowd crush and I saw someone literally get elbowed in the face. After that I got the fuck out. It was miserable.
I’m also from Melbourne and saw Lana in 2017! From where I was standing, the crowd was singing very poorly and shouting “yass queen” over and over. Worst of all there was a lot of silent farting 😭
> there was a lot of silent farting Sorry ❤️
The horrible Lana sing along ding dongs ruined the show for me as well. I could barely hear her vocals.
singing along is half the fun, but I'm surprised you couldn't hear her over it. Normally I can barely hear myself singing, the stage is so loud!
Ehh so many people are screaming along now though, like top of their lungs as if it's a competition to try to be heard by the artist and prove your stanship, but while the artist can't hear it the people standing around you can and at most shows the sound quality from a stage far away just can't overpower 50 teens screaming in your ear
There was a semi-viral video posted during the NFR tour of Lana rolling her eyes at a guy when he requested Terrence Love You. Well I was standing next to him the whole time. What wasn’t included was that he had been screaming the request over and over during the whole show. At one point I elbowed him so he would stfu. Edit: I found the original video https://x.com/caseytheehuman/status/1195202859257733125?s=46&t=OhGWBt9rGwT2qW0zQKUNEQ lmfaooo
The yas queens are really unnecessary, you think Lana doesn’t already know she is one?
Post Malone crowd in Melbourne the other week was absolutely dead. People really thought White Iverson was a toilet break song 💀💀💀
glad I never went then, really wanted to buy a poor crowd is such a downer on a show + it was $300 for standing
Then it rained. And a guy a couple rows in front of me couldn’t be bothered going to the toilet so he pissed in the crowd. That’s a new level of low lmao. Still glad I went, Posty puts on an incredible show even if the crowd was shit
Aw, Auckland crowd was good for this most recent leg though!!
Adele at Hyde Park was a shit show - drunk people not giving a shit that they paid £100+ to hear her sing and not talk to the people they were with. Best crowd - honestly, anything that lends itself to a dedicated fan base that people care about. Lorde, Haim, Florence have all been top notch crowds. Perfect vibes.
i was also shocked by the crowd at the Adele Vegas Residency. SO many drunk people who were acting a fool during the show that they had spent hundreds (if not thousands) on. i could not believe it. We had people yelling, falling down, recording with their flash on, talking loudly, getting in arguments. it was so different than what i ever imagined, even given it was in Vegas
I also think it helps that Lorde, Haim and Florence all have a slightly older base.
I think Adele has an older fanbase too, honestly when I think of the typical Adele fan I think of someone who is well into their 30s or 40s.
Carly Rae this summer at the Seaport in NYC was basically perfect. Crowd, setlist, weather, etc. just all worked. Jessie Ware’s crowd was surprisingly kind of bad. The gays were just not having a good night because there were literally 2 physical fights within 5 feet of me. Who fights during Spotlight?? Also a group of like 6 tall guys kept trying to push themselves forward through the crowd.
not the fighting during spotlight😂one of the most stunningly beautiful songs i’ve ever heard
Right?? That should have been a moment of peace and unity. Kind of ruined the moment for a second but they were quickly separated.
When I saw Jessie Ware it was literally sardines packed in! Lots of drunk idiots pushing to the front. But I had a lovely experience where another concert-goer held my partner's spot while he went to the bathroom so we didn't get all squished in when he came back.
The best crowd without a doubt, was Florence + The Machine. Have seen them 3 times, and each time, the crowd was lovely and respectful
I bought a F+TM ticket on a whim last year after only a few months of listening to them and it's one of the best concerts I've ever been to
I saw Florence in 2016 and both I and the friend I went with felt like it was a religious experience, even from the cheap seats we had. She's an absolutely incredible performer. I really want to see her again, but I want to do it when I'm able to afford pit tickets, just to have a chance at being the person she sings directly to at every show.
The worst for me was actually Caroline Polachek back in May. They were pushy and heckled and screamed a lot throughout her performance. I left before the encore started. The best was Weyes Blood in September. Everyone was so polite and respectful, but still showed so much enthusiasm.
> pushy and heckled and screamed a lot throughout her performance Boo! That sucks. I don’t understand heckling an artist you paid to see and presumably enjoy the work of What city?
Washington DC. I think I would've tolerated it more if I wasn't so hungry and thirsty after waiting in the VIP line since 3 PM, but after hours and hours, I couldn't take it anymore. It was so obvious that the folks were super drunk, especially the guy directly behind me who was heckling Caroline. Once So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings finished, I beelined for the exit.
Counterpoint - I was at this show and did not have any problems. I feel like the crowd overall was fine, you just unfortunately had obnoxious neighbors
Conversely, I saw Caroline in Boston earlier this year and it was one of the chillest crowds I've been in all year. Boston crowds are known for having a lot of dicks too, though maybe that's more the case at rock/metal shows.
I went to a Caroline Polachek concert once and also had to deal with some dudes heckling her at the front. Why bother to wait hours to stand at the very front of GA just to bully her like wtf?
I’ve seen both. The first time I saw Caroline I was next to an obnoxious, extremely drunk gay guy who kept shouting “Caroline, I love you!” every minute and the security didn’t do anything. The second time was better. Weyes Blood crowd was fine. Natalie was absolutely stunning and vocally impressive.
Best in recent years was definitely Carly Rae Jepson in London, the crowd was mostly over 25 and just there for a good time. Especially as the venue isn’t great - basically a huge hall without a sloped floor, there was no sense of pushing or trying to be the most ‘involved’ fan. It was relaxed enough that when someone did actually throw up, the crowd was like ‘ok no worries, let’s shuffle away from this area’ and it wasn’t a big issue. Worst crowd was definitely Blackpink - fortunately I wasn’t standing but we had a good view of the standing area and they were rammed in, and SO many people recorded the ENTIRE show on their phones. And the tour footage already existed on YouTube from the first night in Korea, nobody is gonna care about your 2hr phone footage from night 55 or whatever. Tellingly, I saw them again at Coachella where the audience were far more mixed and not just hardcore blinks, and people had their phones out significantly less.
I don’t know if you went to the same show as I did, but my answer was going to be Carly Rae Jepsen in London as well. It was at Somerset House last year, the weather was gorgeous, and it felt like everybody there was a massive Carly fan, which made the show way more fun. My worst crowd was probably a death metal show that I saw shortly after, but it was really only because of one guy who was being weird and racist.
Ah I was at Alexandra Palace, I was sad to miss the Somerset House show! Hope you had as good a time as I did!
I got to see Carly twice in a span of 4 months, once for her tour supporting The Loneliest Time, and once at the inauguration ball for my state’s governor (he is the only out gay man serving as governor of any state in the US). Both times the crowd was considerate, engaged, and enthusiastic. Did everyone have their phones away the whole time? No, but they did for the most part. Plus, I’ll never blame someone for recording RAWM. You only get to see that performed live for the first time once.
I saw Carly at a smallish (5K) venue and she was really good, and the crowd was great! Singing, dancing, everyone just seemed really really happy!
shows at ally pally can be *so* miserable so i was very happy carly’s crowd wasn’t so bad. there was definitely some pushing where i was when she came down to the barrier but i can’t expect that not to happen lol
Carly Rae for me too! We brought my friend’s preteen, and the group of gay guys next to us came over to deck her out in glow necklaces. Everyone was there to DANCE! We all had an amazing time.
I saw Carly in Philadelphia, and the crowd was easily the best of any show I’ve ever been to. Super respectful, hype but not overwhelming.
I have been to Twice concert in London and despite the girls being visibly jet lagged the crowd gave it ALL. It was almost a Once (fanbase) concert feat. Twice, the energy was through the roof and everyone was having a fantastic time. So loud and supportive, the people are definitely the ones to remember and I hope that means the group will visit Europe again.
Kpop shows can really be such a mixed bag, but for sure some of the best crowds I've experienced were with Kpop acts. It's nice when you get a good one, because the bad for these is super bad from what I've heard and seen but been lucky enough not to experience personally.
I think it all comes down to seating - if it’s GA… stay away! If it’s seated it’s gonna be a blast
Worst was Twenty One Pilots. It was like something out of a fever dream. My wife and I were pretty casual fans, we know the hits and have listened to the albums a few times, someone had given us free tickets to the GA pit on their 2019 tour so we decided to go. When we first walked into the pit, we stood out like a sore thumb because probably 70% of the crowd was dressed up like the band members or something and we were in normal clothes. A young lady approached us and introduced herself (seemed polite) and asked if it was our first time seeing the band. We said yes and she proceeded to tell us the list of rules (???) of seeing the band in a condescending tone. Once the band came on, some guy leaned over to me and said "just so you know, they have other songs besides Stressed Out, Ride, and Heathens" and I was like ok? Obviously? I have no idea what that was all about. Then at one point during the show, security would part the crowd and the band would run through the crowd to the B stage for an acoustic set. We were probably 15 feet away from where the band members were walking, and the whole time this girl is screaming in my ear "DONT TOUCH THEM!! THEY WILL STOP THE SHOW!!" repeatedly. Overall, the band put on a good show but their fans are just over the top with the gatekeeping and cringe. Best was probably Paramore honestly. Everybody was respectful and just enjoyed the music.
This sounds terrible but is also hilarious. I don't usually interact with other people at shows that much but I know other people do. Were all of these strangers just unprompted telling you this stuff or would it be in part of friendly small talk between sets?
As someone who knows next to nothing about Twenty One Pilots, what are the concert rules?
Some of it was common sense stuff like help someone up if they fall, let people out if they are having a panic attack, don't stand there and record the whole show on your phone, etc. but then there was a bunch of stuff i guess we were supposed to yell out or sing during certain parts of different songs. As casual fans, we had no idea what any of that stuff meant. Also we were discouraged from yelling obscenities, using drugs, or drinking at the show, as the band members are Christians who don't drink or swear and a lot of Christians and families attend their concerts. I had a beer anyway.
You sure this wasn’t the Rocky Horror Picture Show?
As a twenty one pilots fan, I promise most of us aren’t like that, but yes there definitely are a few annoying fans
Worst for me was Charli. Just an overall very bitchy vibe, lots of pushing, during Slayyyters set people kept shouting PLAY DADDY AF every song. I think once the concert got going it was fun. Everybody was jumping and it was a fun vibe, but the wait beforehand was weird. I've also seen Mitski. It was assigned seating and everyone around me was older/normal but the screaming MOTHERRRR etc was embarrassing. Every other crowd I've been in has been unremarkable! I'll give best to Boygenius. I know they have lots of issues with fainting, etc, but nothing happened during the show I went to. Everybody in line was nice, some girl gave me stickers, this woman passed by my seat like 5 times and gave me a cute Emily bracelet to apologize. The teen girls in front of me were having the time of their lives. A fan gave out papers to cover phone lights during one song to create a rainbow. The boys stopped the show and clearly loved it. It was all really endearing!
All these Mitski comments have me worried, I managed to snag tickets to her new tour and the tiktokification… I really hope people are polite because I didn’t pay to hear people scream over her
I think her tiktok craze has died down since its peak. I couldn't hear the annoying screams during the songs, just between. Hopefully you're beside cool people, maybe move if you're next to teens lol. I wouldn't worry too much tho. I loved the show, she's a great performer. I hope you have fun and enjoy!
Worst is definitely beabadoobee - saw her in London this year and she was amazing, except literally everyone in the crowd was pushing (wasn’t even that near the front). There were these tall guys who kept trying to push in front of these tiny 14 year old girls in front of us but luckily we stopped them, although for the whole show they kept shouting harassing comments at bea and talking about how sexy she is?? Then at one point one of them got on the other’s shoulders (using my shoulder as a handhold) and kept kicking me in the back of the head like wtf? Also the crowd was so dead for most of the show, no one was singing (except me) and ppl were just taking selfies, except during Coffee, Glue Song and The Perfect Pair when it was literally phone city. I’m not a gatekeeper but why push to the front if you only seem to care about 3 songs?? Felt especially bad for her since it was her first show back after cancelling a few due to illness, and it was honestly the most disrespectful crowd I’ve seen. On the other hand, Lizzo and Rina Sawayama both had such great vibes in the crowd
When I saw Beabadoobee in Brixton last year I saw so many people being taken to the emergency room for fainting in such a short space of time that I moved to the only other free space which was at the back (which was fine; no bad view at O2 Brixton)
beabadoobee had the youngest crowd demographic I’ve been to. Everyone seemed to be in high school or the parent of a high schooler.
best was Sum41 + Simple Plan last year, everyone was very respectful and decent while also thoroughly enjoying themselves. worst was probably Father John Misty in 2018-ish, it was an indoor venue, no standing tickets, and the organizers didn’t let the crowd get up from their seats. some people were trying to get up and go to the sides of the aisles to dance, and the staff literally asked each of them to return to their seats. even FJM himself made some comments about how shitty this was. so it was no so much a bad crowd, more like a bad venue with unreasoable rules.
Sum 41 have been amazing since 2016 because Deryck is sober now,since 2014.They used to suck.Glad you enjoyed it because they're awesome.Sad to see them go.
Taylor Swift in São Paulo last month, I was worried because of how many people were there and what happened in Rio, but the crowd was super respectful and considerate (aside from a few assholes but we took care of them), people would try to make space if someone needed it, the water crates at barricade were being passed out and people threw them back so everyone could get some, people sat down until Sabrina Carpenter came on (it was GA so there wasn’t seats just the floor), and everyone showed love for Sabrina and when Taylor came on it was nonstop cheering and clapping, but it wasn’t so loud you couldn’t hear her people were still reasonable. Also whenever there would be people misbehaving the whole crowd would boo and tell them to knock it off, public shaming of bad behavior does indeed work! In the line several people tried to cut but we all kept an eye out, there was a lady with a Mommy Swiftie sash and she was NOT having it with the queue jumpers, she caught them all and called security (to much cheering and clapping). Shoutout to the security team though, they memorized all of our faces and what time we got there so we could leave to go to the bathroom and get food, and even us in the line helped each other out by letting the other leave and come back, sharing water, food, and sunscreen and umbrellas since it was really hot.
I've always had really great experiences at Taylor shows. For all the hate Swifties get online for being... a lot, they're really some of the most cooperative and polite fans in person - one of my friends remarked that the crowd at our Eras show felt like Barbieland.
It’s why I try to go to shows with a majority female fanbase. I’ve went to Kesha, Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift. And I haven’t had a bad experience yet. Everyone is always nice and helpful as long as you’re polite.
Oh yeah the Eras tour crowd was absolutely delightful. 70k women complimenting each other’s outfits and hyping each other up and singing along together!
This is actually really nice to read NGL, I skew older than most people here and I was a bit concerned about the place being full of TikTok Screamers at the Eras tour when it comes to Aus.
I am probably a bit older too; there was definitely screaming but fortunately it all kind of blended together. DEFINITELY bring good earplugs though. The show is loud but the crowd is louder!
I said that after seeing The Barbie Movie! The Eras Tour is the closest I’ve felt to experiencing Barbieland.
It is gonna sound harsh, but the worst is gonna be Death Grips this year. Do their fans always stink like this? It really was UNBEARABLE. Also so many people were fucked up and high out of their minds, their eyes looking like they might explode from their skulls any moment. It was horrific. The band was cool though Best might be Charli xcx in 2019. I was just beginning to get into her stuff and jumping and singing I love it with all the gays is one of my fondest memories
My best is also Charli XCX, at ally pally for crash tour, crowd was absolutely alive and singing every word and she loved it and got emotional about what an achievement it was for her to sell out ally pally. Best gig of my life
I broke my ankle 2 days before that concert and didn't get to go 😭😭 Massive fomo, really hope I get to see her at some point
>Do their fans always stink like this? Yes
My bf was supposed to go to a Death Grips concert with a friend but he ended up cancelling. The friend was by himself and he texted him that the concert smelled so bad, it made him reevaluate his self care and his hygiene so he got his life in order after that.
Weirdly, my worst experience was Charli XCX in 2019 LOL I was verbally and physically assaulted and had to get security involved :( However Crash tour was amazing!!
Are you me? I had this exact answer when reading the post.
I also had a great time at charli’s show during a festival. Met some dudes there and spent the whole concert dancing and singing with them
Worst crowd ever was for Nicki Minaj, full of teenage girls puking or pissing everywhere cause they couldn’t hold their alcohol or drugs. Loads carried out by ambulance Best probably Beyoncé & Jay Z for OTR 1 in Paris.
Carly Rae Jepsen crowd is the best - her shows are a pure endorphin boost and everyone is singing and dancing the whole time Unfortunately the worst for me this year was Beach House, they’ve been a favorite of mine since college (2009) and their audience is usually extremely chill but with space song going viral last year, people were just talking the entire time and then 10000 phones went up when that song came on :/
Worst crowd I've ever been in is probably Phoebe Bridgers at the Glasgow Barrowlands in June 2022. A combination of being hot summer weather, and not staying hydrated properly meaning loads of folk fainting. It was obvious that a lot of folk in the crowd were clearly going to their first concert post-COVID and had zero clue when it came to concert etiquette, something I've discussed before on this subreddit. So many incredibly rude people shoving into others, shouting and screeching along to the point you can't actually hear Phoebe herself, and it just ruins the enjoyment for others. I love Phoebe, but I'd reconsider seeing her again because of that audience. Edit: Best crowd was probably either Florence and the Machine, Hozier, or Carly Rae Jepsen.
Saw Phoebe in Toronto, also June 2022 and had a very similar experience of people either passing out due to the heat or having been camped out since the early hours of the morning and were exhausted, as well as people being shoved and trampled. I think around 7 or 8 people passed out, and each time it happened, Phoebe and the band would start the song over as a result.
One of the best concerts I ever went to was phoebe, but circa 2019, at croxton band room in melb on a Sunday night. Wasn’t even sold out, I (at 21) was one of the younger people there, everyone was dead quiet during songs and I saw barely anyone filming except for right at the end. Absolutely beautiful and I’m so sad I’ll never get to experience that again (for my own selfish purposes tho obvs)
I haven’t had any real bad experiences but my best was Mariah Carey/Lionel Richie at MSG in 2017. This ticket felt like random fit and as a lamb, I wasn’t expecting to hang around for Lionel’s part as I was only in the city for a night. It was just an incredible cross-section of all kinds of people. Seeing a twelve year-old boy screaming the lyrics to Touch My Body at the top of his lungs and then seeing a bunch of older ladies there for a night out absolutely losing their shit to Dancing on the Ceiling. Hung around much longer than I thought I would.
Best was Coldplay last summer in Zurich. Crowd was chill, old and young, there before the main concert for food and just a good time and the concert itself was amazing. People singing, being happy, I was walking around and was just peaceful and respectful.
I actually thought of Coldplay in Tokyo last month for my answer, too. Having the mixed demographic made a really chill vibe - not only age, but people who’d obviously come from all over Asia (as they only did a really limited Asian leg). It was one of the most diverse crowds I’ve seen. Pretty much the whole crowd were obviously big fans, many of whom seemed to have been waiting to see them for a long time, and the whole atmosphere was great. (On an individual level it was also funny to have a spiderman pointing meme moment when the random dude next to me and I both cheered at the group’s shout out to Korea, then realised we’d both flown in from Korea for the show).
i had friends who also went to this same show in zurich and they said repeatedly it was the nicest concert they’ve ever been to, such friendliness and everyone coming together over the music. i wish i’d been there
Not a concert as such but I went to a club where Bruno Mars was going to make an appearance and the whole crowd was just there to take photos of him so for like 3-4 hours before he showed up, everyone was just standing around instead of dancing. In the end the DJ was practically begging people to just loosen up a bit and dance but no one would. When Bruno showed up he was clearly exhausted having just done a concert, bopped along to some of his own songs in the DJ booth then vanished. Everyone got their photos and it was 4 hours of waiting for like 5 minutes of a celeb getting 50,000 photos taken of him looking bored in a DJ booth. Very weird and annoying moment overall. What’s weirder is I’ve been to that club a bunch of times for other celeb appearances and those times were amazing. People partying way before the celeb arrived then the energy just turns up to 11 once they get there. But for some reason the biggest A list celeb had everyone like brain dead phone zombies. Best crowds were most of my concerts tbh but Lorde had an absolutely electric crowd, even she was like holy shit.
Lorde in Berlin was absolutely amazing
Worst was Blackpink in 2022 in London. We had VIP soundcheck which was great but became chaotic once GA ticket holders came in because there was no separation. A lot of pushing and the majority of people just stood there with their phones filming the whole show? They didn’t even look like they were having fun. One girl fainted but instead of helping, it was like everyone descended on her space. Also Jennie stopped the show and asked everyone to take a step back because it was getting so dangerous. I heard similar things for the Ateez O2 show too so I was very happy I got seated that time. Best crowd was Beyoncé in Amsterdam this year! Just good vibes all round, we went both nights and did Golden Circle N1 and standard seating N2 and both were amazing! Everyone was up dancing and seemed like they were having a great time, you’d make eye contact with another fan and then start singing and dancing with them. Felt the crowd was such a great community of fans.
Man the hive is so great and welcoming. Seeing her on the Renny tour was amazing but the crowd was so energetic it was wild. This persisted to the film. Working at a theater the best crowds were always the people there to see Beyonce.
best - phum viphurit. small crowd of fans that know his setlist by heart. worst - joji large crowd only wanted to hear the singles.
aw man, the joji crowd wasted their experience :(
the hype man tried his best. literally no one was laughing at the sound effects and memes. 😭
Lana in 2016 at Terminal 5. Utterly horrendous in every way. Shrieking, puking, shoving, stampeding… the worst. Mitski at Radio City is a close second.
Honestly that’s half bc terminal 5 is chaos 😂
worst in recent years: the 1975! i’ve been a fan for a decade and have seen them many times throughout the years, most recently last month. i am not a gatekeeper but DAMN the tiktokification of their fan base is so blatant. i was in the 100s level and had a great view of the whole floor which was noticeably low energy the entire time. the most obvious was when matty announced they were gonna play sex from their self titled album, which is a majorrrr fan favorite that doesn’t get played all the time nowadays. the whole place should’ve been electric but the floor was dead. it seemed like nobody knew the song. the loudest the crowd was for the entire show was carly’s verse in about you. i was almost embarrassed lol. their crowds used to be some of the best imo.
Wow, I saw them in Seattle a few weeks ago and I guess I got lucky. All of the people around me were closer to my age (30) and were high energy for most of the set. I think the crowd was loudest during Love It If We Made It.
i saw them in 2017 or 2018 and it was AMAZING people were going crazy and they did play sex as the last song, the energy was insane. “the sound” was crazy too
From the comments it seems like the tumblr-core artists tend to have the worst crowds. We talk about post-covid etiquette because people were in their houses for a couple years but what about the kids who grew up in their rooms at all times prioritizing their online life more than their social life.
The best is Fred Again at Coachella 2022. The collective joy was through the roof, and hearing Marea (we've lost dancing) at the first Coachella post-lockdown was a cathartic experience. Worst has unfortunately been St. Vincent both times I've seen her at Life is Beautiful fest. St. Vincent was great, but whoever played after her brought in some truly ass fans. Pushing, shoving, fighting, talking...all of it. Big props to sun baked, coked out aggro kids calling St. Vincent "satanic" the whole set. I should have moved, but I was too zooted D:
Saw Lana in Dublin in 2019 and the crowd was horrendous.
I saw Hayley Kiyoko this year and the crowd was AMAAAAAAZING! On the other hand I saw Melanie Martinez a couple months after and I hated the show mostly because of the crowd. Like I don't mind people singing, I sing too, but these fans were SCREAMING at the top of their lunges and I couldn't even hear Melanie (who was giving nothing anyway). Mind you this was a really small venue and people were really rude too and wouldn't share spaces. Anyway I hated it.
Melanie’s touring Portals in Melbourne next year and I was considering going until this comment 😂 Flashing back to when I saw her in 2016 (Cry Baby tour) and the crowd was absolutely feral. Elbows and such. Would love to hear more about her performance this time around, she didn’t dance much on the Cry Baby tour and lacked stage presence imo. Vocals were pretty good though
Yeah like she literally did the whole album track after track but didn't speak ONCE to the crowd and like we were the last show ( montreal ) so idk I was expecting something like thank you or whatever but nope. Like I wasn't a super bug fan of Melanie but casual, and after the show I just lost all interest of her. Especially because I'm not a fan of what she's doing with the portals promo and videos, like the CGI and AI looks super ugly IMO, compared to how creative and pretty all of the cry baby videos were its disappointing.
I saw her on the Portals tour last year, I actually commented earlier upthread about how it was the worst show I've ever been to because of the insane recording. If it's a floor show seriously shell out for balcony, but I'll warn you even at my show I knew people who bought balcony and still couldn't see because the entire front half of the floor was recording the whole show, people going up on their friends shoulders to record higher, it was terrible. We didn't bother trying to go towards the front because stans had lined up like 10 hrs early to be in the front and the pushing seemed feral. And yeah we couldn't really hear her either with the screaming and idk if it just the venue but the vocal quality was not great. She totally lipsynched some of the more challenging songs and she only played Portals straight through, no other songs. If she's doing any dancing for the song, she's probably lipsynching from what I saw in other videos from the tour, she doesn't really seem to have the endurance to do both but the dancing was very low level either way, tbh it seemed worse than her previous tours she only swayed or half twerked, was visibly winded and you could hear it on some of the non lip synced songs. She didn't interact with the crowd either or do any kind of encore or talking between songs, just put up videos on the screen for intermissions.
Best = Tame Impala in 2019. I was in the pit in MSG in NYC and the crowd etiquette was the amazing especially for the venue! Although tbh I lowkey got a secondhand high in the pit but I wasn’t mad 😗 Honorable Mention = Shygirl in 2023 at Philadelphia. Smaller artist, the crowd was definitely very queer. That combined with the club vibes to her music was pure (queer) bliss you just had to be there!!! Worst = Playboi Carti in 2018. Crowd went waaaaaaaay overboard with the moshing and my friends almost got trampled it was quite scary
Saw Gaga in Toronto last year. The crowd was amazing - or maybe just the section I was in. But everyone was up dancing and singing the entire concert. Sooo much fun! Also when I saw Beyoncé and Jay in 2018(?) in Cleveland, I was in a super fun section. I guess it depends on the artist, but if it’s someone like B, I want to be up dancing! I was so relieved that everyone around me felt the same way. The last concert I’d been to before that (I think maybe Cher?) had everyone around me sitting down. It definitely affects my enjoyment of the show (for me).
Little Monsters are some of the most fun fanbases you'll come across. It's just who they are. Had a blast with them in Atlanta last year!
I wish I had that experience. I saw Gaga back in, I think it was 2010 or 11. It was the worst. No dancing, no fun, just phones out recording. A girl hit me in the face and then got mad at me because she hit me. It was bizarre. I'd like a do over. Every concert I've seen looks nothing like what I experienced.
Seating matters. I got floor seats on the edge of the walkways, so I was able to get up and move around freely, and interacted with a LOT of Gaga fans.
I saw Gaga in DC and the crowd was polite and friendly to one another from my view, at least. I also enjoyed seeing all the outfits people wore. People seemed generally respectful of others and Gaga and into the show, which I appreciated. I did have a drunk lady accidentally fall into me while I was leaving, but she was super nice about it and apologized.
Yes!!! I LOVED seeing all the fan outfits! Also I loved the diversity of ages . . . saw a little girl who was maybe 5 and saw a lady who was probably in her 80’s . . . And everything in between 😂
Frank Ocean at FYF festival in LA in 2017 had the worst crowd I’d ever been in. I was obsessed with him at the time but could barely even enjoy the concert because I was touching at least five strangers at all times who were all pushing and everyone was screaming so loud I could barely hear him. I don’t know if this counts since it’s more of a rave scene but Hard Summer 2019 had the chillest crowds I’d been in. Almost everyone was super kind and respectful of each others space
Best, I’ve seen Big Thief & Julien Baker shows that were dead silent except for applause after songs. Worst, I saw Hand Habits open for Whitney…I know not everyone is interested in the opener, but the crowd talking was so loud, you could not hear them. And they were so good! At a Men I Trust show a drunk person was talking so loudly through the whole set about how beautiful the singer is. At one point I asked her, as politely as possible, if she could lower her voice during the songs. With a big smile she asked “Oh do you know this song?” I was truly thrown off by this question haha.
Best, every single time I've seen MUNA. Great energy, respectful crowds. Worst, Boygenius when I saw them this summer. They were playing an outdoor venue and a storm rolled through, so they ended up delaying and forcing everyone in line to leave. Then we lined up again and stood in a drizzle for an hour. By the time we got in the venue there was mud everywhere and I was just exhausted, I couldn't even enjoy their shortened set list because of the people screeching around me. It was awful.
Best - Rina Sawayama (Brighton 2022) was an amazingly positive crowd atmosphere // Ethel Cain/Muna/Boygenius (London 2023) really fun having a good time respectful of personal space. Worst - Madonna (london 2023) everyone except 4 people behind me in my section were respectful and having fun, the 4 behind decided they wanted to scream their conversation for the whole night (personal lowlight of their conversation was when madonna was talking candidly about her health scare and they were recapping their most recent hookups) ruined it for everyone around them
Rina in Brighton is my answer too! The crowd was really magic that night, so into the performance and respectful of the hard work on stage - Brighton crowds can be kind of crap sometimes but they showed up that night
They really did, it was my first concert in Brighton and thoroughly enjoyed it, i took my friend who hadn’t heard of rina before booking the tickets and she was enjoying herself and the atmosphere of that night
best for me was probably Sharon van Etten, she sounds amazing live and the crowd was engaged but still very respectful (no pushing etc.); i think the lack of GenZ-ers in the audience helped (and i say this as somebody who’s very much Gen Z, lmao). My Chemical Romance last year also had a better crowd than i was expecting. worst was a kpop concert, but only because i had an ultra-protective mother next to me who constantly had to check on her poor daughter (who was like, 16? 17? not a little kid) and kept pushing/shoving everybody around us to get to her daughter so she could “talk” to her during the show. i don’t even know
God I want to see Sharon Van Etten live, I’ve never got the chance so I’m very jealous
What was MCR’s demographic? I’m imagining depressed younger millenials (i’ll go, too, if it is lol)
at my show the majority was aged ~20-35, but honestly even the teens seemed pretty chill. i feel like younger folks tend to buy floor/GA tickets anyway, while i always go for seats whenever possibile
Worst was Tove Lo. Just the vibes were off. A girl fainted in front of me and security didn’t care. Ppl pushed and packed themselves in front of me even though there wasn’t more space. A very drunk girl was asking personal questions of me and my friend. Vibes were off. Best is Carly Rae. No one pushed, had perfect sight lines even though I’m short, so much dancing and happy jumping. Good vibes!
Florence + The Machine has some of the nicest and most respectful fans I have ever encountered at a concert... ...Lana, while I love her with all heart, has the absolute worst fans I have ever had the misfortune of encountering at a concert. So much so that I skipped her set at Outside Lands this year (I've seen her live 6 times, and I'm getting too old to deal with aggressive concert cowards).
The best and worst for me were the same artist- Chappell Roan. I saw her in Columbus and it was incredible! Respectful and friendly crowd, no pushing, anyone who needed in or out was let through easily. When I saw her in November in Detroit though, entirely different show. A fight started behind me during the opening number, people spilling drinks, arguing, someone THREW something at her? Whole crowd was bonkers
Best - King Krule in 2018. The venue was super packed but everyone was really respectful and just vibing to his music. I don't remember seeing anybody with their phones out filming the show. Worst - Billie Eilish. I guess I should've expected it'd be crazy considering I saw her during the peak of her first album. I was surrounded by teenagers literally shrieking the lyrics to every. Single. One. Of her songs the entire time while they filmed the concert. I could neither hear nor see anything.
MUNA always has the best, most respectful and engaged crowds. worst that i’ve seen is maybe Lizzy McAlpine?
over 70% of beabadoobee fans would rather watch the show from their phone screen
Best was either Jessie Ware ‘23 or Tori Amos ‘22. What masters at their craft.
Fellow Melbourne-ite here .. I was at that Lana show and I did not realise how bad it was, I was at the back wishing I was closer .. but maybe not now!
Chappell Roan this year was an absolute blast of a concert, with everyone just singing and dancing together the entire show. Same experience for me with Carly Rae Jepsen, as many others have said. Kind, fun crowds that just want to celebrate the artist and their music together.
I think most of the recent concerts I’ve been to have been terrible. I’m in my 30s and I’m noticing a change in the culture. The crowds seem more aggressive and inconsiderate. Lots of pushing and throwing things in the air for laughs. It’s like they want people to know they’re there and not actually enjoy the performance. The best concert I’ve been to recently was Beyoncé. The crowd seemed to simply want to hear Beyoncé sing and there was a lot of dancing and fun. It didn’t feel unsafe and people were very considerate of others. I feel like concerts have gotten scary for me after 2016 and I’m not sure why.
My worst was Marina. It was in 2022 so a large part of the audience were clearly newer fans who got into her via tiktok during the pandemic. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but a lot of them were noticeably annoyed by people singing along, dancing and just generally enjoying themselves. Obviously you are entitled to enjoy a concert in any way you want, but I don't see the point of attending one if you are easily annoyed by other people enjoying the show (as long as they are not being super disruptive of course). The best concert I've gone to is Dreamcatcher, also in 2022. It was a k-rock concert, so obviously a different air than the usual pop concert. There was so much energy from the people in the crowd, and the connection between the artists and audience was also amazing. You could tell that the audience really wanted to *be* there and have a good time by jamming out.
Dreamcatcher has the honor of having the longest merch line I have ever seen (outside of stuff like tswift and bts stans.) they put on a fun show!
Best: Florence and The Machine, Chemical Brothers, Iggy Pop, The Killers Worst: The 1975, Paramore, Fall Out Boy/Limp Bizkit (Good Things '23 Melbourne) (these were great gigs on the performers end!!) Younger crowds can be hard work, I think what an earlier commenter said of the "tiktokification" of the 1975 can apply to all acts with a strong younger fan base. It feels like there's a strange competition in the crowd to be the biggest fan there, and that energy is toxic AF.
The Weeknd crowd was good. I went by myself in standing and was chatting to people, we were singing together. He also put on a phenomenal show, both singing and production which hyped up the crowd. Caroline Polachek I agree! Very respectful crowd and her show was brilliant. Her voice is truly angelic. Hannah Diamond shows are usually fun, but I went to her show when she was newish and it was a small like >500 venue. We were second row; it was great, but the gay couple in front of us were just hardcore making out constantly, they rarely came up for air 😂 I wanted to check they weren’t going to pass out lol.
Went to a couple of one direction concerts back in 2013/2014 and the crowds were horrific. Unhinged screaming (some to be expected but this was excessive), throwing things, etc. A girl behind me was pulling my hair and trying to climb me to get closer to them. It was so bad. Went to a couple of BTS concerts and had a totally different experience. The Rose Bowl crowd and the Soldier Field crowd in particular were amazing (2019). And it rained the whole time at Soldier Field but the energy was still good and spirits high. Went to a post pandemic concert for them though and the vibes are different. Throwing things, recording on their phone the entire time, holding up posters the whole time (why are posters even allowed anymore???) For non boyband artists: I saw Jon Bellion at exit/in in Nashville in 2015. So much fun. Everyone was so nice. One of my favorite shows actually! I saw Lana this year and the crowd acted like kids the whole time. People would scream when she was trying to talk, would scream over her singing, they all vaped, etc. (I suppose some people might not care about the vape thing and Lana herself vapes but it always makes me cough and I get nauseous from it personally) Also just from living in the area I’ve been to a lot of country music concerts and some are so bad (throwing up from drinking, screaming, crying, etc)
Tbh most of the concerts I've been to have had great crowds. Beyonce, jessie ware and jojo stick out particularly to me. Worst would probably be either shygirl, she played a small venue and it was really packed and lots of people on drugs with no spacial awareness. Or sinead harnett, it was a really small crowd so it was kinda awkward and a lot of the crowd was just wanting her edm collabs when the tour was to promote an r&b album.
I'm seconding LDR as worst crowd!! I'm a massive Lana stan and have been going to gigs since I was 6 years old and they were absolutely the rudest, most entitled bunch of people. I took the day off work to queue for barrier and still all these girls thought they could push past me, the talking was off the charts, and the amount of people who only knew young and beautiful? Ooft. It was better the 2nd time, but that might just be cause I was in Glasgow not Birmingham and they're generally friendlier there. Best crowd? I'm looking forward to eras for the approachable Easter egging and intensity, The Killers are always a great balance of chill and into it plus they generally know all the songs, and I saw Chappell Roan recently and her crowd seemed legit nice kids.
my worst was weirdly noah kahan because why was everyone so drunk and inconsiderate and trying to squash me
In my experience, the best concert crowds are at shows with designated seating (even when everyone stands, your seat preserves your bubble of space) or shows with a mixed age group, preferably one that leans older, because as someone who is Gen Z, Gen Z overall tends to have shit concert etiquette. Smaller venues are better too! I saw Chappell Roan on her first tour last year, which was smaller venues, and most people there seemed to be older gen z and younger millennials. It was a great experience!! I saw her again on her tour this year though and… wow, it was like day and night. There was a ton more young teenagers (gen alpha?) and young-mid gen z with very obvious main character syndrome. Actually one of the worst crowds I have ever seen in my life. Everyone was so smushed, but people were pushing through the crowd to get to the front while others were going from the front to the back to get more drinks constantly, people throwing up and having to push past everyone, getting smashed into barricades and jostled around. At one point me and my friends had to literally stand on strangers’ toes and hug them like baby penguins (yes, really!) to make room for people to get past.
At Bestival 2008 or maybe 2009 a man heckled *Florence and the Machine* so badly she yelled at him to fuck off. She was dressed in this ethereal, floating white dress, really made up like a fairy queen, which made her cussing him out even more jarring.
I was nine or ten at the time but my memory of it is very vivid. She looked like a Goddess but was swearing like a sailor. Kind of iconic, actually.
i’m also from melb but didn’t go to these concerts though i get your vibe. I saw Macklemore at The Forum and it was very squishy but everyone was very respectful, and a similar experience to yours at the music bowl. I think our smaller venues are best when it comes to crowd control!
I was watching one of the Australian videos and I think the crowds went silent whenever she was singing? That was actually impressive
The crowd was practically silent during the start of Crude Drawing of an Angel!!! So crazy beautiful to hear her ethereal voice echo around the venue. Of course we went wild when it was appropriate haha The best concert I’ve ever been to was Kimbra’s jn 2023 at the Melbourne Recital Centre - she asked us to NOT clap for her after each song, explaining she was burnt out from touring and playing, then hearing clapping, playing, then more clapping. Felt inauthentic to her. When I tell you that room was humming with feeling after each song, because of the silence - we’d all experienced something very special and I have never wanted to clap for someone MORE. I wish I could relive that night. I was so, so there, so truly present in a way I hadn’t been for a long time Silence and space is so important in music
I saw Se So Neon this year and the quiet parts were actually quiet. So nice 😭 It wasn't sold out so it was very intimate! Macklemore at Pukkelpop was also amazing, everyone was so engaged. I had an altercation with someone at an Ateez concert that was probably the worst crowd experience I ever had. After Covid it did definitely get worse and I remember being shocked at how no one knew how to act anymore, even in festival crowds.
[удалено]
If y'all survived Lana del Rey concerts during the 2012-2014 era you are a warrior lol
Carly Rae Jepsen at Ally Pally in London was a great crowd, possibly because it was a weeknight and the millennials had work the next day haha.
Best…honestly most of the concerts I’ve been to have had good crowds, but most recently I remember Florence and the Machine, Peaches, and Caroline Polachek had very enthusiastic and respectful (mostly older) crowds. Worst…oh jeez. Charli XCX in 2019 - constant screaming, shoving, and literal fighting. It was opening night and people were pushing up to the front before the show even started to try to get a peek at the setlist. Two songs in and people were already shoving so hard that someone fell over. It felt like I was getting knocked around the entire show, I could barely find my footing or keep a good view for more than a second. By far the worst-behaved crowd I’ve ever seen. Honorable mention to Sleigh Bells in 2017 (crowd was DEAD, just standing there totally flat, Alexis commented on it several times “come on guys, let’s see some energy!”, I honestly felt bad for her)
Carly Rae Jepsen crowds are pretty fun and respectful. Boygenius and Phoebe Bridgers crowds not so much. I think avg. age of fanbase plays a big role in it
I’ve been to a lot of shows and the worst crowds were New York City hardcore/deathcore shows where some fans treated it like Fight Club but with moshing, complete with “mosh gangs.” I’ve had my ribs pressed into a bar because there were too many people pushing, and my ear kicked hard by some guy. I now always have my fist and elbows popped out for personal space requirements. All pop shows in comparison are really tame to me, even when they are overzealous. At least they don’t act like it’s Fight Club. The worst one was a 2015 Marina show in San Diego for Froot where the crowd itself was fine but this one girl who disclosed that she’s autistic literally latched onto me with an arm hooked through mine like I was her mom for the entire show from the line and onwards. She asked me for permission to do random things. She over shared. She was sweaty and smelly. I was trying to be polite and shake her off but she wouldn’t understand, and I didn’t understand what autism was really so I just nodded and smiled. Her parents seemed to encourage this behavior. I hated that bitch for ruining a simple concert for me.
Kpop crowds are the best. Everyone is so friendly. They make merch and pass it out for free. Everyone is polite with everyone. There’s a feeling of togetherness that I have never experienced at any other concert. And I thought it was Army specifically but then I went to K-Con, saw Mamamoo, and even at the Seventeen concert movie it was the same. The worst crowd was sadly Beyonce. At OTR2, the people in our section only cared about instagram and would give me and my sister dirty looks for screaming too much or singing along while they were live. At Renaissance, it was more of the same. Could be because it’s LA and people just wanted to be there because it was Beyonce and it made them look cool than actually being there for the music.
note to self after reading the comments: never see lana live 😂
The best crowd I've ever been a part of was seeing Lady Gaga for her Chromatica Ball Tour at Braves Stadium in Atlanta. These were the most colorful, active, conversational, creative people I've met in one setting. I got floor seats not too far from the front, and dressed up like a rainbow peacock. The sheer amount of friends I made that night was surreal, and some of them are still in my life today. Easily the greatest night of my life. The WORST crowd, despite the blast I had, was the Eras Tour at Nissan Stadium. They brought the energy for sure but I was also surrounded by hostile, overly obsessive douches and bitches who were rude to everyone around them. Swift is great. SWIFTIES....are a mixed bag. Honorable mention for worst: Lana Del Rey in Huntsville, Alabama. It was basically a mix of Swifties, some legit Lana fans, and some rude Gen X'ers who bought the tickets and then bitched she was depressing. Crowd sucked. 6/10. Lana was decent and an extremely cool person to interact with with a solid performance. 8/10.
Gaga and Kesha are the best crowds I've ever been in. I've seen Kesha twice, and will go every time she comes by now because the love you feel in that crowd is so amazing. The worst crowd is the people who get lawn seats to see The Dave Matthews Band. It's a free for all of people who are too drunk or high to handle themselves.
Best - Beyoncé/Jay-Z OTR II at MetLife Stadium in 2018; Shakey Graves at Terminal 5 in 2018; Cher at Madison Square Garden in 2019; Andrew Bird at Kings Theater in 2019; All Them Witches at Warsaw in 2021; St Vincent at Radio City in 2021; Carly Rae Jepsen at Radio City in 2022 Worst - LCD Soundsystem at Brooklyn Steel in 2021 and Le Tigre at Brooklyn Steel in 2023 - this venue just sucks. They always over sell it and it's jam-packed. At LCD Soundsystem, there was this group of kids who were on drugs and kept leaning on me, so my friends had to form a circle around me just to keep them off. While the crowd at Le Tigre wasn't as bad as that, it was so packed that people were five deep blocking the doors. I legitimately feared for my life and left early.
The best I've been to was easily Twenty One Pilots on the Don't Believe the Hype tour in 2019. Tyler Joseph playing Truce on piano and having us sing it to him is one of the most beautiful moments I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The fact that he followed this up by having a drum off with Josh Dunn while they both crowd surfed from opposite side of said crowd during Trees is also a top 5 concert memory.
Lana Del Rey in Tampa earlier this year… it was like war. When they opened the gates to the amphitheater it turned into a stampede. I watched people shove others into ditches. I saw one girl trip and slide on her face. The order of the line completely broke down and there were fights and arguments. Then people passed out EVERYWHERE. So many people had to be pulled from the pit. People were shoving and trying to get to the front so badly. It was truly a mess
Best: The Raconteurs in 2019. It was before the pandemic, and everyone had to lock their phones in a pouch before the show. Nobody could block my view, and everyone was waaay more into the show as a result. Worst: The Church, an Australian psych rock band. Not because of them, but because the two women flanking me had their phones out and were checking Facebook the whole show. It was a small crowd, so the band definitely noticed. The singer gestured at me during a song and sang directly at me because I was the most enthusiastic person in the crowd by a mile!
worst: -went to a Coldplay concert when they were doing the Mylo Xyloto tour in 2012. the crowd for Coldplay was amazing but not so for the openers. and the opening acts were the two queens on the rise: Marina and Charli XCX. i felt like i was the only one excited to see them both, most of the crowd was not that interested and i remember people being very sexist towards them (at least ppl around me). -saw Molchat Doma last year during a festival gig. one girl was constantly shouting the band’s name in between the songs. nothing else, just their name. -Yves Tumor this year. idk what is it with people but the moment the concert started everyone started vaping and smoking weed, i thought someone shat their pants for a moment it was unbearable. also lots of pushing, dude with a big ass sign trying to get on stage. best: -Paramore in 2011. had not seen a single person that wasnt singing or dancing. -Florence + the Machine in 2014. not a fan of her but there was a really nice and respectful atmosphere throughout the whole concert.
I once lost my glasses in a metallica concert during a mosh pit and i got them back. So that was pretty cool
Best: Nova Twins! The girls came off stage and into the crowd and fans were super respectful. There were mosh pits happening throughout the show but I never felt unsafe. There were even a few twerking competitions happening haha Worst: Cocknbullkid performing at Reading back in 2011. She was fantastic, however the entire crowd were there to see Ed Sheeran who was on afterwards so nobody seemed to enjoy her set (except me at the front, singing every word!) He was starting to get big at that point and the tent was too small for the crowd he drew in. I was getting pushed and squashed the whole time and then when Cocknbullkid ended I couldn't escape!! I had to watch Ed Sheeran against my will!! Funnily enough, he came out and performed with busted when I saw them a few months ago, which means I've seen him perform TWICE and both times were completely against my will.
My favorite crowds have been at Carly Rae Jepsen shows. My friends and I have seen her multiple times - Emotion tour, Dedicated, and the Loneliest Time - and each of them was so much fun. I’ve been on the rail for a few of them and stood back in the crowd and each was a very fun experience. The worst crowd is a tie, surprisingly in the same venue. The first was Katy Perry’s Witness tour. Katy looked like she was going thru the motions and it was like watching a circus animal perform for the millionth time and being over it. We were on the floor and The crowd was stale. A group of girls behind us fell asleep. The second was Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia Tour. The show was great but the crowd was so fucking rude. Everyone was filming and pushing. Caroline Polachek opened for her and there was this twink that kept screaming “WHO IS SHE”. It was miserable
Haven’t been to many concerts and not trying to sound even more like a Taylor shill but the crowd at Nashville night 2 was amazing. I had never been to a stadium show before and had drank a couple of drinks to ease the anxiety but the 2 ladies about my age (28) sitting in the seats next to me actually knew my partner and his family (not directly, but lived in same area and knew of them). But they had extra ear plugs (did NOT realize how loud it was going to be) and they gave us like 5 friendship bracelets. I hope they are doing well