On a date with a guy who is into guitars? Some may be there to see Stevie or attending with older friends or family who are fans. And maybe they are groupies too who have met the band / crew and have been given free tickets anyway.

I suppose. But these people then willingly separate from their parties to go up and get close to an old guy on an ego trip (not to belittle LB, but if I were a non-fan that's likely how he might come off at the time)? I'm not saying that's an unlikely scenario. Just trying to get the situation clear in my head.

I have no idea - the girl I saw was already at the front with her boyfriend, I assume.

I have seen groups of girls go up front together. I was speculating on the reasons these non fans may be there not that all of them aren't familiar with the music to a degree. But say they met the band or crew in a bar and have kept in touch then they are just there for the gawk factor anyway and to say they went. I'm not sure the offer would be made as in separate from your party - surely people would say they are with a group and the offer would be extended to everyone.

Hm fair enough. I clearly need to go to more gigs. These behaviours are still quite mysterious to me. But I'm sure Lindsey enjoys himself. And in a way, it's a nice cozy reminder that he's a normal human guy, and not a "serious artist" 24/7.

It may not be his idea, but I think he would have to be dead not to enjoy it. I'm just saying, share the love . Lol.

Who knows - maybe it makes FM feel less old to have younger beautiful people in the sea of faces at their feet every night. It must be a heck of a wake up call when the folks your age are sitting down yawning because it's past their bedtime and you're left with some middle aged fans who are reliving their youth. I'm sure it's an encouragement to see young people there at all or kids and to think you have made a mark musically that will continue to touch people - maybe it motivates them to want to make new fans and put on a better show.

And it probably is a big stroke to the egos. I mean I am amazed at the young fans on twitter after every show making it know they would still like to sleep with Stevie or Lindsey despite their ages. :laugh: I wonder if they are aware of that.

They are aware. One of my favorite stories comes from a young Ledgie who told Stevie how hot she was at one of those Barnes & Noble things and Stevie's response was, "you know I'm old enough to be your Grandmother, right?"

:lol: Gotta love Stevie.

I think they do it to make the stage area look younger, hipper, and more exciting. They don't want FM to look like a boring old nostalgia act. They want the stage to be surrounded by excited youthful 20 something's dancing and having fun, so it looks like a hipper crowd. I don't know if it's fair or wrong or whatever but I see the reasoning.
3 of my bestfriends were pulled up before (the infamous "we're legal" girls). Luckily in their case they are indeed real die hard fans (one having even flown cross country for the show!) and know everything and have histories following the band and Stevie solo, which actually everyone in my close group of friends has. We're lucky to have had so many opportunities for such young women. (:

At the show in San Jose Lindsey flirted with the young 18 year girl standing next to me all night long. It was really weird. We were right up at the front and all through the night he'd walk over and give a her this lecherous stare and smile that were just creepy. It was distracting and uncomfortable to watch. For the girl too. She said she liked that he noticed her at first but after a while it all became too much and wanted to go back to her seat a few rows back. I wondered how many other girls he was doing this with.

We were in Lindsey's hometown so I also wondered why he was behaving this way with his wife, family, and friends probably in attandance. Turns out they were all at the LA show a few days later. Hopefully he was better behaved there.

Look younger and hipper to who, though? The band themselves? Is there any point in trying to skew the representation of a band's true fanbase to the band themselves in that way? I'm not saying it's wrong, I just don't know if I see the reasoning there. If they were filming a DVD, perhaps it would make sense, but otherwise? I think I'm more inclined to think the reasoning is of a more... erm... base nature. ;)

blahhh I literally felt myself getting mad at this information (or the thought of Lindsey requesting girls being placed in front of him)...but then I kind of thought it through...

I think (and I hope) that people are just reading too much into things...it does not surprise me that groups of girls are being treated like VIPs. Also, a lot of times concert venues will have extra tickets that are up front and offer them to lucky fans...it seems natural that if the security guy (or a male worker) has them he'd offer them to good looking girls first, or if cute blonde 20 year olds are begging for a better seat, I'm sure they'd do it in an effort to flirt with the girls themselves.

It also seems like LB picks a few people to flirt with over others....but I also have seen him give sweat towels and sign stuff for people at shows that aren't 20 and blonde. I think I've read stories on here about him flirting and kissing women who were older and brunette too! I guess I just had to tell myself all these things to make it better lol :lol:

It's interesting. In the case of Lindsey's career with FM, being treated/acting as a sex icon, so to speak, has probably been so intertwined with his work in the band for so long that it is probably difficult to separate, even after his age has begun to betray him a little in that regard. I'm not going to reduce all his behaviour to just being "part of the job" but I do think that has to be a part of the thinking behind it, in his mind.

Maybe so. :nod:

Regardless of the motivation or whose idea it was to put them there, isn't the bigger issue that someone who had their place at the stage fair and square got pushed back in order to accommodate people much less interested in the show? I would be seething.

I think just in general. They often have cameras taping the shows just in case, and usually in those cases they tape multiple shows for the best takes. Also keep in mind they probably want the stage to look younger and more exciting to the actual crowds there and also in the bootlegs and YouTube videos and all that. They want people to leave feeling like they were just at an exciting hip show rather than a boring sit-down nostalgia act. I see the reasoning. I've been to Stevie shows with all executive type people in the front rows sitting down silently and sipping their drinks and looking like they just don't care, and without a doubt the shows I've been to with more excited, fun fans up front (regardless of age or sex) who were jumping, singing, dancing, and having fun, were much better shows and experiences in my opinion.