Just a few days after Olivia Rodrigo revealed that she has smelled fans wearing adult diapers to avoid losing their front row spot at her concerts, Noah Kahan ended up with a similar, and probably worse, anecdote.
Following his June 26 show in Philadelphia, Kahan took to Twitter/X to remind fans to “just go to the bathroom.” The response came after a video went viral showing human feces left in the corner of the venue after the show.
“If you have to poop at a show please dear god just go to the bathroom lmao,” Kahan tweeted. “I’ve pooped my pants as much as the next 29 year old but you guys gotta understand there’s a venue worker out there with a 1000 yard stare after dealing with that.”
On June 18, Olivia Rodrigo shocked the hosts of KISS FM UK when she dropped the aforementioned diaper bomb. Apparently, camping outside of a venue isn’t enough anymore, and there seem to be no limits to how far diehard fans will go.
“I have been to certain concerts and certain festivals where people wear diapers so that they can be front row of the show,” Rodrigo revealed. “And that’s been an experience as a performer that I have smelled.”
Just When You Thought The Breakdown in Concert Etiquette Couldn’t Get Any Worse
It seems that the concerning trend of acting like a fool at concerts has gotten increasingly worse in recent years. During the global lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, many live events went remote or were outright canceled. That isolation already had tensions running high and patience running short. Concerts eventually returned, but some people left their concert etiquette in lockdown.
Bad behavior started occurring more and more, facilitated by viral videos. Fans throwing objects at artists on stage, or shouting obnoxious or inappropriate things during quiet sets. Social media also fostered unhealthy parasocial relationships. Fans felt like they deserved complete access to an artist’s personal life just because they’re on Instagram. Overall, people started treating artists like they owe them their time, physical health, and mental stability just because they’re a fan.
Is Social Media to Blame?
“One thing that I’ve noticed at concerts a lot is people playing games in the middle of the show, and lifting it up for everyone to see,” Michala Zappitelli, who worked in Artist Relations and Fan Engagement at the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame at the time, told VICE in 2022. “And then it’s on TikTok the next day. And then, of course, it goes viral. So everyone else thinks it’s funny and wants to do it, too. Five years ago, no one would have done this at a concert.”
The hunt for social media clout has fueled a lot of bad concert etiquette, it seems. But according to a 2021 report from Billboard, it’s also fueled by younger fans. Gen Z is already a prominent social media demographic. Additionally, a lot of those kids came of concert-going age during the lockdowns when there were no concerts. Imagine being isolated at a crucial age for social skill development. Then, suddenly being thrust into a highly social situation like a concert.
A Gen Z Obsession With Main Character Energy Possibly Contributed To Entitled Behavior at Shows
At the same time, there’s not really a universal handbook for concert etiquette. Maybe someone should make one. But in the meantime, there are unspoken rules that are basically learned by doing. It used to be things like “turn your flash off when taking video”. Now it includes things like “don’t throw your phone at an artist so hard that you give them a mild concussion” and “stop calling Mitski ‘mommy’”.
Not only is this degrading and frustrating for many artists, but it also ruins the overall concert experience for everyone else. Who wants to go to a show and stand next to the person who s**t themselves so they could be front row? Who really wants to hear some chucklehead yelling “spit in my mouth!” during an acoustic set? Buying concert tickets now involves a detailed risk assessment. This includes questions like “can I afford to pay rent after buying this ticket?” and “what’s the likelihood that someone’s going to do something bats**t insane in the crowd?”
Other theories highlight the obsession with “main character energy” on social media. Throwing your phone on stage so Harry Styles can take a selfie is a symptom of that solipsistic disease. Pelting Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift with bracelets in the hope that they’ll keep yours and become your best friend is a terminal diagnosis.
In Short: Show Some Respect to the Artists On Stage
Going to a concert is not a right; it’s a privilege, something that many concertgoers seem to have forgotten. Not to single out young fans, but there’s clearly evidence of a generational divide. Musicians are not commodities, and they’re not products. Performing on a stage doesn’t make them any less human. And actually, a concert ticket is not a legally binding contract. If you want to throw things on stage and yell at a band just trying to entertain you, go to Chuck E. Cheese and torment the animatronics instead.
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