I saw the Smashing Pumpkins a few years ago here in Seattle. The show was fantastic, but that's not the point.
There were a handful (a very small handful) of young guys who were in the audience, standing up the whole time despite being in the seated section, where there's really no benefit to standing up because you can't see any better.
They were the only ones standing. The people behind and around them would ask them to sit down, and they would act like everybody else was the problem. And then on Reddit, I saw people complaining as though the older fans were the problem for wanting to sit in the sitting section as opposed to the standing section, despite the fact that most of the attendees were in their '30s-40s or older.
No. In the '90s, maybe. But we're getting old now and you need to sit down. Those guys ruined the show for those people who had probably looked forward to seeing Smashing Pumpkins in concert for the last couple decades. Why ruin it for somebody else?
Now, if I went to some random punk show, I would expect to not be sitting. You have to consider where and when you are.
Out of curiosity where did you see them? Was it at Climate Pledge Arena? We went to a concert there not too long ago and the new seats were just awful. They really jammed as many as possible in during the remodel.
Like, my friend who is the average size of a fit 35 yr old was pretty much squished and uncomfortable. I mean, I'm pretty sure I had bigger seats in elementary school and these weren't the cheap seats either! Not the Cadillac premium seats, no, but not far off.
We were in the back row of the section (in front of the tables) so we ended up standing most of the time because the seats were too frickin small to be even remotely comfortable. The people behind us were cool with it.
It could explain why the dudes in your experience didn't sit, but I agree it is rude to stand in front of someone sitting, ESPECIALLY if you're at the front of a section.
Thanks for replying. I've heard that the seats seemed normal from others, and people who experienced what we did. I suspect the seat widths are variable in different sections and appreciate you adding data to the hypothesis. :)
I was there, too, and I saw those guys. They were like the only young people in the vicinity and were so rude too the people around them. I was very glad that they were over to the left of me and not in front of me. There was zero reason to be standing in that section.
Concerts should be as inclusive as possible. If that means people can only go if there are seats, then it's perfectly reasonable that there should be seats.