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It's Hard Being a Fan of Metal When People Like to Mess Up Your Fun

May contain some offensive words because I'm mad.

It’s hard being a true fan of metal. I’ve been to many shows, and I loved every one of them. If a band doesn’t particularly fit my taste, I still respect that they’re making me experience something new, and I sure as Hell can’t play an instrument! But in my time since I’ve been attending concerts, which has not been very long, I have seen the most blatant displays of disrespect and the basic shitiness that people can muster up to ridicule people. It’s hard being a true fan of metal when people attend the concerts of the artists you love just to make it a bad experience for you.

Why would a person 1) pay money to go to a show when they don’t like the music 2) they do not want to associate with the crowd present, except for their similar asshole friends 3) completely disrespect the artist playing his heart out on stage for their entertainment. These people I encounter at every large show and a few small shows mostly have these characteristics:

1. Mostly white males, some white females
2. Yuppies (somewhat wealthy, at least enough to be able to waste money)
3. Ages 20-45
4. Not dressed appropriately for a metal concert (Men: pastel polo shirts and baggy khaki shorts with thong sandals; Females: white or beige clothes with 5-inch heels they are too drunk to walk in properly)
5. Stand at the back or near the bars
6. Incredibly drunk or on some other drug
7. Have the ability to talk and laugh louder than the music
8. Eventually try to act like they are the toughest motherfuckers there

These are some of the specific atrocities I’ve seen committed by these people:

1. Metallica and Down Concert: I don’t particularly like Metallica (Hail Megadeth!), but at least respect them enough not to mock them. No one moved an inch for either band while they performed, even when Phil Anselmo was yelling at then to do something (I danced for him). Some people held their arms up limply for short periods of time. A small moshpit formed where no one actually touched each other; they would run and then shoulder past the other people. Many of the moshers were the accursed concert ruiners and made fools of the institution of moshing. I witnessed one man simple walking tough on the outside of the “pit” when he slipped and fell on his ass when nothing at all touched him. After that, some rather large female concert ruiners entered the “pit” and started headbanging and weakly pushing each other (although at their size, they could easily hurt someone). The more brazen yuppies brought their doobies to smoke so that they looked dangerous. It was the worst concert of my life because although people paid good money to go, they just didn’t seem to care.

2. Turisas Concert: There are two concert halls in the House of Blues where I’m from. On this night, Turisas played in the small room, but put on a gigantic show. In the main hall, a Journey cover band played for the concert ruiners, but that was fine because they could ruin their own show and not ours. While the faitful waited outside after the show to meet the men and woman of the Finnish Battle Metal band, the drunken yuppies who went to see a band that doesn’t have any original music, wasted no time in harassing us. One thing said to me was “You’re kinds hot in a scary way.” While I would normally take that as a compliment, I knew he wasn’t trying to compliment me. I just don’t understand how someone who just spent $40 to see a JOURNEY COVER BAND could make fun of people who saw a real band all the way from Finland. This is a special breed of concert ruiner indeed.

3. Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, Municipal Waste: What a great lineup this was! Yea, Lamb of God is popular with people from many walks of life including concert ruiners. As Children of Bodom played and did an incredible job, a rather large woman who looked like a drunken soccer mom who just dropped her kid off then sat her large posterior in the stands to smoke a j was bellowing quite loudly during their entire set, “Boo, get off the stage you assholes!” amongst other things. I was surprised with how loud she could be. And if I didn’t want to see the rest of Children of Bodom’s set, I would have flipped her fat ass over the guard rail for the stairs that her flubber was hanging over. I’m glad the band couldn’t hear her crass words, but their fans had to suffer through them, lest they get kicked out for giving her what she deserves.

4. Hatebreed, Chimaira, Toxic Holocaust: The show I recently went to was amazing. However, in this town, there is less entertainment that is spread around. This show was the only event happening and everyone went. It was not as terrible as other shows mentioned, but it is an example of what happens at many other concerts. Basically, some stupid little boys and girls that think what they’re seeing on stage is a joke, and it can be made fun of. The girls in Shinedown shirts headbanged then laughed, then headbanged then laughed…I think you get the picture. When the bands were done, they retreat to the bar to make the yuppie guys buy them drinks with promises of one-night stands that they are so used to doing for boose.

These are just a few examples of people purposefully fucking concerts because they don’t care for the show they paid to see. I do not understand their behavior, but I’ve had too much of it and will start handling the situations if they are too out-of-hand. No one should get away with such bullshit. My friends and family don’t like metal at all. But they read my articles and occasionally attend shows with me. We always enjoy talking about what they saw after; often saying “I really don’t like the music, but it’s cool seeing them perform and how people react to it.” Either they know better than to piss me off or they’re making a real effort to understand something that I love.

Please share any stories you have on the subject. I know I’m not alone in this.