Standing or Sitting?
 

This isn't really about F Mac in particular, but some Ledgies were commenting about this one one of the other threads. Feel free to move it somewhere else more appropriate.

My question is, how do most people feel about standing at shows? I am 5'10", so average height for a guy but probably above average for a women. My feeling is that I paid a lot of money for the concert and I love to get up and groove a little, especially on fast songs. It's a concert, after all. But I know other people don't feel that way. I try to sit during some songs as a sort of compromise to the people behind me, but I really think that expecting people to sit through a rock concert is kind of silly. But maybe I'm wrong. Feel free to chime in.

Kevin

p.s. I got front row tickets once for a Patty Griffin concert (she is my favorite singer) at a venue that is notorious for people sitting all the time. So before the show I burned some CDs of some Patty bootleg concerts that I have and then brought them to the show and before it started, offered them to the people behind me, asking them if I could stand for a few songs. That seemed to work very well, and Patty really appreciated us standing. She looked at us and smiled when we got up and got our groove on. I'm pretty sure that the performers are happy when the audience gets involved. But of course that solution would probably not work at big venues that the Mac play at.

I have been to Fleetwood Mac concerts since 1987 and solo concerts since 1983. Most of the crowd sits. But this tour is different. There is so much energy that people cant help but stand and dance. Lindsey said in the Red Beard interview that this tour is the first time the crowd is standing the entire show. I just posted a video on the Washington DC thread. Check out that crowd from the stage. It looks like a Lady Ga Ga concert. I saw her in concert in 2010 and it was borderline dangerous people were jumping and dancing all over the place. I love the fact the fans are into this tour and welcoming back Chris. The band feeds off that energy. So I say stand , dance and sing all you want!

Here is the video I was talking about. I love it!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nzi--R3eSU

I ended up watching many of elle's videos from that night. Very interesting and very fun to watch from that angle.

Dance if you want, but be prepared to feel the wrath of the people behind you. I had a cellphone light shined in my face for an entire song. I can't understand why you wouldn't want to stand for a song, but you'd stand to shine a light in the eyes of the person in front of you. Sad memory of what will probably be my last FM concert.

I've been going to F Mac shows and solo shows for a iong time and I have noticed that most people actually stand, though usually I have at least decent seats so maybe I'm only looking at people who are at least somewhat towards the front. I don't think it matters much for people in the back because they can't really see from there any way and probably end up looking at the screens (that's what I've done when I've been at concerts where I was sitting far away).

But I still would like to know if most people think it is reasonable or unreasonable to stand at a concert.

Kevin

So wait, they were behind you shining a light in your face? How does that happen?
But go get to the point, I always stand. You sit for an orchestra, not a rock concert. The only reason we are talking about this is because they are 60 year olds playing for mostly 50 years olds. I bet the ones standing are us youngsters.

I'm 52. I stood for the whole show.

I'm a 5' tall girl and I really don't mind when people stand, as long as they are courteous about it. I've been to shows where I couldn't see a single thing the whole show because even in 5 inch heels, i'm so much smaller than other people. Not gonna lie, at one concert I was at in philly a couple years ago, it was standing room only and there were really tall guys in front of me and not once did they sit or move a bit so I could see. I spent $50 to see nothing at all and was so disappointed. But recently at a show in NYC, there were many guys in front of me and I could kind of see but not completely. They were nice enough to ask me if I could see ok and when I said not really, they figured out how much distance to put between them so I could get a line of sight. At my FM shows this tour, I was at the front. At all but one of those shows, I was directly against the stage. But at the one where I was behind a row of guys, one offered to let me stand in front of him. Which was so thoughtful because his view wasn't affected at all. He was like 6 ft tall so he could see perfectly over my tiny self, but I wouldn't have seen anything behind him.

I'd say standing is totally fine, but if you want to be careful about upsetting people, just ask them. If you see people behind you are shorter than you, ask them if they can see. They'll appreciate your thoughtfulness even if they see fine. I noticed most people are standing for the majority of FM shows this tour, so don't feel bad about doing it. Just be nice about it.

Great video. 3 comments 1. I love Chrs in her UGGS and the little bebop dances she does every now and then. 2. I love Stevie coming over and tapping her tamborine along people's hands. 3. I thought we were going to see a Lindsey bike rack and I really didn't want to see that! (When he was jamming with Chris).

As for standing, I'm a tall woman but it can be very annoying when your line of sight is blocked. But I also like to get up and dance as well. Seems like each venue and situation can be different. I think the secret is to just be respectful of those around you. I know at the last Eagles concert I was at, 2009, security would not let anyone stand on the floor. And I think the band members asked at the beginning of the show for noone on the floor to stand.

One thing that needs to be put in perspective about standing is where the seats are. If you are in the nose bleeds or not near the stage or on the floor, standing is much less acceptable. If you are far away, there really is no reason to stand and people will yell SIT DOWN.

That's a different take than I have. For you, why is it different if you sit far away? I have sat in the nosebleeds for Bruce Springsteen many times (I go to a lot of shows but very rarely go to stadium shows--F Mac and Bruce I think are the only two) and for some of his songs I like to get up and dance, and for me it doesn't matter where I am.

Kevin

I always thought standing was like a wave....if the row in front rises, so do you and so on. There was no choice, unless you didn't care to see anything.

Of course it depends on the bands too. I think FM has too wide an audience age range where this becomes a problem. If I go to a Primus concert....there is no issue. Everyone is a maniac. Haha.

I've seen many, many shows and the smaller venues....everyone stands cause there is usually no chairs! Well, at least in the middle area.

Let's just say it didn't end pretty.

That wasn't written on my ticket - and the usher said if we want to dance, we could dance...And we did. It's FLEETWOOD MAC people! You may never see them again!

I am 5'2" and the last time I had floor tickets for a concert in an arena, everybody in front of me stood, so I stood, and literally all I could see was the top of the lead singer's head. (This was not Fleetwood Mac.) I think that's grossly unfair.

What the venues should do is break the floor section into corrals. Put seats in some of them, and leave some of them open. When people buy tickets, make it clear that if you buy a seat in a seated section, you're expected to sit for most of the concert. If you want to stand, or dance and not even watch the band, buy a ticket to one of the standing corrals. Within the corral it can be "general admission," meaning if you get there early you can go towards the front of the corral. And they can charge more for the corrals nearer the stage.

Would this solution work?

By the way, I love the energy of a rock band in a standing venue, but that would be in a small club that has a high enough stage so that people in back rows can still see. (Think the Paradise in Boston for an example.) I go to a concert not just to listen to the music, and certainly not to watch on a jumbotron, but to actually watch what's going on on stage.

I have said it before, but I have never understood the purpose of chairs at the floor at a rock-concert. OK, it's a money-machine but that's it.

In The Netherlands most (if not all) the big pop- and rock concerts are general admission on the floor (though they are selling more and more platimum-like tickets with a special reserved area in front of the stage), with no chairs. So you have to be early at the venue and run for your live when the doors are open (wear daipers as well) to get upfront. I'm only 5,5 so I just have to be as close as possible.

Standing up is more fun, more atmosphere etc. And no room for security to shove up hot, blond, you girls in front of Lindsey, because the last two times I was there :-)

If I sit in the tiers on the side, I always have the feeling that I'm watching other people attending a concert. If I want to be seated, I buy the DVD.

Alas, at last and forthcoming Antwerp-shows I had no choice, but then I have seen them already twice from the floor this trek.

It has nothing to do with money.Wayyyyyyyyy more money could be made if they got rid of the chairs. Back in 1979 at a Who concert in Cincinatti, Ohio, a bunch of people got trampled in the rush to get to the stage when the doors to the venue were opened that evening. Standing room only was common practice up to that point. A band had a choice to use chairs if they so desired.But after that sad incident which really shook up all concert goers, it became law to ban that way of doing things and then there had to be chairs for the floor audiences. This is fact only in large arenas of like 4,000 or more.Not too sure on that number but I bet Homer McVie knows.

I do think a ga section in the front area would be cool.
I've seen Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, Nickelback, Foo Fighters etc which all had floor as general admission and these venues were pretty big at least 12k and up. Its always a good time but sometimes you cant see sh*t!