Though I have attended hundreds of concerts, due to the nature of the music I listen to, until last week I had never seen one held at a stadium. I was suprised by the behaviour of the audience there but realised that their actions were only alien to me because they were all over the hill and should not have been there what is acceptable varies with each genre. To save anyone else the discomfort of not knowing, I have compiled this handy guide. I have sought to bring the thrill of the live show to your computer screen through the medium of animated gifs.
Throughout the 1970s, there were two main which in which music could be enjoyed. To represent these by those who characterised each style. The fitst is to relax in tiered seating and enjoy the audio-visual experience of a Pink Floyd laser display show. The audience in the above screen captures certainly seem to enjoy seeing Pink Floyd tear it up like they were still only 50.
The second is to endure the full audio-visual onslaught of a naked GG Allin defacating on stage. Then throwing it.
(The 1980s will be covered by a seperate article on Duran Duran. It could not be done justice by a paragraph alone.)
In 1992, Megadeath were sufficiently popular to play prominent slots at festivals. This wide platform brought its own problems, like the ineffectual pointing of the youth above, failing to rock on international television. Large filesize prevents me from embedding the image in this page, but I encourage everyone who does not recognise his folly to watch this longer animation (318kb) for the full effect.
This is Pantera at Ozzfest. Do not be deceived by the crowd's lack of movement - this image is animated, just like all the others. However, these are cool kids in makeup who are here to see Marilyn Manson. For some reason they seem to prefer crying and swooning to rocking, presumably to represent the 1930s in solidarity with Manson's newly fashionable burlesque / Weimar cabaret leanings.
As I like Pantera, I can only presume that this marks the point at which I am no longer qualified to authoritivly discuss new music. I will proceed as well as I can. I do notice that Avril elicits are more animated response, albeit live on Nickoldeon. At the start of the song, Avril announced that they were going to rock, and this is what they then did, so one must presume that this is now rocking. Take note: rocking is swaying in unison with those either side of you, preferably with hands held aloft.
I am told that the music industry is is dire straights because everyone downloads music rather than buys it. I cannot accept this. I would be more than happy to buy any music that is neither bland nor Europop from people with names like 'Special D'. I think most of the malignment of the music industry can be attributed to the fact that this man is employed to tell kids what is cool. The song he is so spiritedly introducing is 'Changes' by Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne.
Fortunately, some people will never stop rocking.
