Many of us love going to concerts, but we aren’t so in love with the prices of tickets. At an average cost of $125.00–$150.00 per ticket, we expect to see great shows at great venues. Fair enough. What we shouldn’t expect is to have to sit next to people who apparently have more money than sense, and talk at one another through an entire concert.

More than a couple of times, this has happened to me. And I was surprised that, at a gathering of friends, I discovered that many of them have had the same miserable experience. With that in mind, here is a list of concert-going practices you may wish to adopt, or encourage your friends or children to adopt:

There is no need to film the entire concert on your phone. That is annoying to people around you. Enjoy the beauty of the live performance. Besides, filming it takes the ability for it to become even more golden later.
Don’t talk to your friends during the show. They don’t care about the shoes you wore to work, the size of casserole dish your mom uses to make mac and cheese, and certainly don’t give a da*# about how much you drank last night. Shut up and enjoy the music. If you must talk, go to the bar. It seems that the show was only providing background music for you anyway.
Yelling requests at a show is bush league. I heard a guy yell at Bruce Hornsby to play “Funeral for a Friend”. One, that is an Elton John song, and two, he sounded like the fool. You don’t want to be the fool at a show. I think Katy will sing ‘Teenage Dream”. You don’t need to keep shouting it.
Wear earplugs. The band wears them. Everyone associated with the act is wearing them, too. Earplugs actually help filter out some of the high treble associated with a concert. When you’re 50, you be glad you took this advice. Unless you enjoy non-stop ringing in your ears.
Don’t get ridiculously drunk before a show. If you want to do that, invite some friends over, take their car keys, do your worst, and turn up the stereo(do people still say ‘stereo’?).

We can all deal with the occasional photo, a few “WOOHOOO’s”, and commentary between songs, but remember, you aren’t the only one who spent $150.00($300 if you took someone) for that ticket. That kind of expenditure doesn’t give you the right do to whatever you want. We are in shared space together. Show respect for one another.

Burn