Y’all, the Artists Are Kinda Right: Can We Bring Back Concert Decorum, Please?

Is it just me, or does it seem like more and more artists are fighting with fans onstage in what appears to be a cultural shift away from appropriate concert decorum? Blame it on my years in music school or my Midwestern proclivity for politeness, but there seems to be a growing trend toward blaming artists for having expectations of their audience.

In fact, some arguments against these expectations would happily dissolve an artist’s boundaries altogether, leaving the onus of deciding what’s suitable behavior at a concert in the hands of the ones off the stage instead of the ones on it. Y’all. Can we not?

Backlash Against Artists Calling For Concert Decorum

On October 18, 2024, country star Brett Young had to walk off-stage because so many fights were breaking out in the crowd. Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, and Billie Eilish have all come under fire for publicly calling out attendees who were ignoring them while they performed. Brass in Pocket frontwoman Chrissie Hynde got major flack for suggesting local fans should get priority over the concertgoers who travel from city to city to attend every tour date.

Remember when the country music fan community tore Miranda Lambert to shreds because she said she didn’t want people taking full-flash selfies in the front row while she sang a song about painful emotional vulnerability? I know, I know—people have been throwing rotten tomatoes or beer cans and heckling musicians since time immemorial. But even with that in mind, things have gotten weird when it comes to live performances.

Blame it on a post-COVID world, the era of streaming and soundbites, smartphone domination, or a dystopian mix of all three, but audiences seem to be losing their grip on the role they play at concerts, big and small. I know this might sound a little preachy, but hear me out. I’m going to make my case for why I’m on the side of the artist and the fans.

Recalibrating Our Idea Of An Artist’s Job

The relationship between a musician and listener has to be symbiotic to be worth either party’s time. Without the listener, the musician is playing their music to themselves. Without the musician, the listener has nothing to, well, listen to. Each party serves a unique purpose in the art consumption cycle. But lately, it seems like fans are demanding more than they’re willing to give.

Before I get my own tidal wave of backlash, let me be clear: as a fan, I get it. Money’s tight, and if I spend my hard-earned cash on live music, a part of me wants to experience it on my terms. I’m also aware that when an artist gets on stage, no matter how big or small, they lose some personal and artistic control. They’ve signed a contract, literal or metaphorical. The entertainer must entertain.

But having said that, it’s a listener’s job to listen. Part of the beauty of live music is the active energy that accumulates between the performer and the crowd. At the risk of sounding the most curmudgeony I’ve sounded yet, eyeballs on cell phones break that connection. It takes the magic out of it, regardless of whether you feel it at the time.

Look, I’m not suggesting you leave your phone in the car at the next concert you go to. Nor am I suggesting that every artist who berates their fans is in the right (ahem, Liam Gallagher). However, if you take anything away from my humble opinion, dear reader, let it be this: in this online era of dehumanizing, AI-generated media and albums reduced to TikTok soundbites, let your attentive and empathetic concert decorum be a small act of rebellion that says, “I value and want to support real, human art.”

Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Shutterstock