A Guide To Live Concerts For the Inexperienced

So any Aussies out there watching Rage tonight will know what inspired this post :D

Seriously...The best Rage I've ever seen, Rob Zombie Guest programming FTW!

In any case, I thought it might be nice to write a few tips for those of you out there that might not be so knowledgeable when it comes to attending live performances of your favourite bands. I've been to many shows over the years and feel I've learnt the hard way about to 'to-do's and 'to-not-do's of the live music scene.

First and foremost,

1. Wear Comfortable Shoes.

If you're wearing shoes that rub when you're walking around all day at a festival or even just at a few-hour-long show (wear the pressures on your feet seem to equate to 5x the actual amount of time you spent on your feet) you're gonna get blisters. And then you're not gonna be able to stand, or if you do push through the pain you're not going to be able to devote your full concentration to the show.

Furthermore, if you're wearing heels you are going to break your ankle in a mostpit. And even if you're not standing in the moshpit area, your feet are gonna start whinging at you and you're gonna have to sit down. I can't tell you how many goth girls I've seen sitting against the walls of a venue alone and sullen-looking whilst their friends are off enjoying the show without them ('cause yeah, your friends aren't gonna wanna sit with you and your sore feet I'm sorry to say).


2. Wear Comfortable and Practical Clothes

Corsets and moshpits are like oil and water; they don't mix all that well (Though I did wear one at Emilie Autumn and it wasn't as bad as I had experienced at previous shows I'd been to). Not only are the restrictive but they tend to fall down and expose unmentionable areas of your person to strangers. So yeah, unless you're into voyuerism...Avoid corsets and/or low cut tops. I'd also recommend pants over skirts, though perverts will still have a go at feelin' up ya bits so be forwarned of that ladies :P


3. Wear Clothes You Can Learn To Live Without

By that I mean, don't wear anything that you'd cry if you lost/ripped/tore/ruined. I know, you wanna go out looking pretty and all that but seriously, once you're all sweaty and gross from jumping around/dancing/moshing you're gonna look like shit anyways in all likeliness so really, who cares?

This one I especially learned the hard way at Deathstars back a few years. I lost my favourite cameo, stained my favourite jabot and tore my favourite pants so badly in a place that required me to fashion a makeshift loincloth out of my newly purchased band t-shirt. Not.Happy.Jan.


4. Avoid Wearing Anything Sharp/Pointy

Just spare a thought for all the other party-goers out there for a second - Yeah spiked chokers and wristbands might look cool, but they don't look all that great when they're impaling you in the eyeball.


5. Don't Bring Anything Too Cumbersome

Heavy/large bags get old real quick. Plus they're even more of a pain when you've got people breathing down your neck and whacking it as they jump up and down. If you can't fit it in your pocket - leave it behind. Haven't got pockets? Use your bra. Not wearing a bra? Well why the fuck not, you're in a moshpit; those puppies need support :P


Some of these probably go without saying and of course they're not rules to live by or anything; rather guidelines to make sue you can concentrate all your attention towards the musicians :)


I hope this has been useful in any way shape or form (though I dubt it seeing as Amy's probably done something before that's better because she's fabulously insightful like that <3)


I should really sleep, seeing as it's 4am...


Goodnight lovelies!


The Green Fairy

xx