Gig it to me baby....

Bearing in mind music is my hobby and passion, I should really engage with all aspects of the musical experience.  I listen to as much as I can, wear the t-shirts and go to gigs if possible.  I must admit though, I have let the side down this week as I am not going to see FOB when they tour the UK much to my disappointment.  I should really pull my finger out and do it, but sometimes it's just not that easy.

I have been to a lot of concerts over the years, festivals, intimate gigs and all sorts. They are pretty much a crucial part of the fan experience as you are getting something as a one off (unless its recorded of course). It's just you, the band and the other people attending who have participated in this moment.  The banter, the shout outs, the comedy moments that "you had to be there" to appreciate.

I enjoy live music very much and have been lucky enough to see most of my favorite bands and singers in concert.  I've also seen a few that I've never heard of, but enjoyed none the less.  Let's go back in time to my first concert when I was about 11 years old...

The year was 1988 (I think!) and I would have been 11 years old.  My musical hero was Rick Astley and I begged my mum to go and see him live when he played at Wembley Arena.  I can't remember all the details, but we got tickets and I was really excited as it was my first ever concert.  When the day came my dad drove me and my mum to Wembley and we went inside.  We had seats about 6 rows from the front.  As this was over 20 years ago now I can't recall all the details, but I do remember my mum getting quite irate at the girls sitting behind us as they all had whistles round their necks which they proceed to blow throughout the concert!  I have no other recollections of the event, but it would be the first of many outings for me to see live music.

Growing up and living in London was great for music as all the big artists would play somewhere in the capital.  I can't say the same now though as I no longer live in London and this has become is a pet peeve of mine.  Anyway, I went to loads of London venues over the years including Bush Hall in Shepherds Bush, Hammersmith Apollo, Wembley Arena and the Royal Festival Hall.  A lot of the musicians I saw were at the Shepherds Bush Empire which was a great venue. No idea what it's like now though.

One of my old friends had never been to a concert before so I took her with me for her first experience of live music.  It was an amazing double headline at Shepherds Bush of Ben Folds and the Divine Comedy.  It was the perfect gig for her as her first time.  Both acts were excellent and when they did a cover together of 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' with Ben playing guitar and Neil playing piano it was breathtaking. All in all a success!

Over the years I have seen my favourite band, Crowded House, somewhere in the region of 6 times.  Plus solo gigs for Neil Finn and an amazing intimate concert of the Finn Brothers at Union Chapel which is possibly one of the best venues I've ever been to.  The acoustics in the building were amazing. Go and see someone, anyone, there if you can.

I now live in Nottingham and there are some pretty good venues here too.  We have the famous Rock City which has to be seen to be believed!  Sticking to the floor is part of the charm!  We also have the Capital Arena which was the scene of the last gig I went to a few weeks ago.

Stick to the floor for free!

My friend at work was going to see Frank Turner at the arena with her daughter, but said daughter now wanted to bring her boyfriend instead!  Me and another friend said we'd get some tickets too and we could make a night of it.  Of course, being of the slightly older persuasion, we went for seats rather than being thrown around in the mosh pit in front of the stage.  And a good job that was too!!  Now, I didn't know any of Frank's work and had only listened to a few songs on YouTube.  "He reminds me of Billy Bragg" I said and I was kind of correct.  This was a first for me, attending a concert without having any idea of the songs, the type of music or what to expect.  I usually like to do my homework, but on this occasion I was going in blind. 

There were 2 support acts to enjoy first who again I knew nothing about either.  Beans on Toast was the first, and was absolutely brilliant.  Check him out online, he is awesome and a new poet for the generation. Next were Flogging Molly who are an Irish band that certainly got the crowd completely riled up!  There was much dancing in the mosh pit, some of which was extremely energetic and I was very glad to be sitting up in the crowd watching it from above. It was certainly a sight to behold.

And then to the main event - Frank.  Well, what can I say?  He was amazing.  The crowd loved it and I went away as a brand new fan.  It was one of the moments when I was so happy that I took the chance and went otherwise I would have missed a brilliant night. I'm now a Frank convert and follow him on Twitter whilst listening to his CD (well, not quite, but you get the idea) and love his music.  Sometimes taking a chance can bring you a lot of happiness along with something new and great to try out.  This is what music is all about.

Yes, I was there. Where were you??

So, where am I off to next?  Well, 2014 has been christened as the 'Year of Yes' to going to gigs and I have many more to go to this year.  Next I will be seeing Therapy? at Rock City in a few weeks time.  I was not exactly a fan, I like a few songs, but I am going for my sister in law as they are her favourite band.  In the vein of saying 'yes' to new experiences I decided to go along with her and find out why she loves them so much.  I have no idea what to expect, they are nothing if not loud, so I'm kind of a bit nervous about this one. Fingers crossed it turns out to be another excellent night.

What else?  Also coming up this year is my hero Neil Finn in a few months which I am really looking forward to.  I haven't seen him for a few years and he was tweeting recently about doing a 3 hour show if the audience had the stamina!  Should be a great one.

I am also waiting with baited breath for festival tickets to go on sale.  As I said earlier, I am being a bad fan and not going to see Fall Out Boy in concert this week when they play the UK.  But, I am going to make up for it by heading to the Download festival for the day this year to see them play.  They are on the bill along with Linkin Park and it should be a fabulous day.  Just waiting for those tickets to go on sale....

The panic in getting the actual tickets is a big part of gigging aswell.  Waiting for them to go on sale and praying that you get good seats.  Then there's queuing up to get to the front when you are standing.  My Frank Turner pals daughter is a veteran at this.  She queues all day and then rushes to the front to get a good view.  I can see the logic in that, but my lovely Twitter pals have gone one step further and are actually camped outside the venue overnight to ensure they get to the front for FOB.  What crazy and beautiful people they are!  I couldn't do it myself, I mean where would I plug in my laptop??!  I'm kidding of course.

Don't forget to fight over the set list if you can.  I got one once after I saw the High Llamas at the Garage in London, but I gave it to my mate Kev as he liked them more than I did. Small price to pay, but whip it off the stage afterwards if you can as they can be like gold dust.

Grrr! Give me that setlist you git!

There are a few reasons why I'm not going to see FOB live this week.  I am somewhat lame in my moaning as really I only have myself to blame for this one.  They are not playing near to me for a start.  My nearest venue would be Birmingham, which can be done, but I don't drive so it would mean public transport. Again, do-able, but it's on a Sunday night and I have work the next day.  I could take the day off of course and really I am just making excuses for the fact that no-one wanted to come with me.  I should have been brave and gone alone, but really that's just not me.  I like to be part of the group and share it with someone else and doing it alone means I have no-one to experience it with.  I think if they would have played in my home town I would have gone regardless, but not in a city I don't know.  I also think I have at the back of my mind that I have been spoilt by attending an acoustic set they did last year which was amazing, so how can anything ever live up to that?  I should have gone and I shouldn't moan about it, but I am no doubt missing out on a experience that will be amazing. Hopefully there will be a next time.

So, what have we learnt about gigs?  They are unique experiences and hugely rewarding. You get to see your idols perform live, buy some really cool merch, meet like minded fans and have a bit of a dance.  Oh, and pay over the odds for a bottle of pop with no lid on it.  Just saying...

What it feels like for a fan (aka Hi-Fives and Hugs)...

As you may know, I spend an obscene amount of time lurking on Twitter and have been lucky enough to meet some wonderful people on there and make friends in far flung places.  They have welcomed me into their conversations and I now feel like I am part of the FOB fandom.  We are a happy and friendly group of people who care about each other and just love talking about FOB.  It's great.

But this week we saw what I can only call the rudest tweet ever written being directed at one of our hero's, Patrick Stump.  It questioned his loyalty to his fans and basically belittled him into ignoring the fact that he was tired after travelling and leaving his hotel room to go outside and see some so called 'fans'.  No biggie you'd think, but this wasn't a pre-arranged meet and greet.  No, these people had stalked the band to their hotel and decided to wait outside in the hope of seeing them and when this didn't happen, one of them tweeted that he was letting them down by ignoring them.  It made him feel so bad (as he is a sensitive little thing) that he relented and went down to see them.  This act filled a great many of us with anger as we felt that ignorance and rudeness should not be rewarded with kindness. 

The tweet in question has since been deleted from the persons profile it would seem (although I have found it and thought I'd share it below). Thing is, the band don't actually owe us anything.  The fact that they do take the time to meet fans and answer so many tweets on Twitter is amazing in itself, but this display of rudeness was a step too far.  The person responsible then had the cheek to whine that people were being mean to her!  It made me so mad that I ended up insulting a tree, but that's another story....

Anyway, following on from this 'episode', it made me think about what being a music fan actually means.  The person in question is clearly not a fan as you would never in a million years behave in such a manner, especially to your idol.  So I asked my fellow Twitter friends what being a fan it means to them.  

Here is my friend Michelle's take on what being a fan means to her:

"I'm well over 30, and still what many would call a "fangirl".  I listen to my favorite bands (mainly Fall Out Boy & Patrick Stump) over and over again, watch hours of interview footage repeatedly, and read their websites, Facebooks, and Twitters in order to get a feel of the type of people they are and the things that make them tick and inspire them.  I can hardly have a conversation without one of my favorite bands or band members coming up, because they really are that inspirational to me and ingrained in my psyche.

That said, they are human beings with their own lives and the right to live them, and I respect that deeply.  I don't cry and beg for my favorite performers to be on Twitter any more than they themselves would like to, and I don't cry and beg for product from them (new songs, albums, videos, etc.).  

Quite frankly, I'm just overwhelmingly grateful that they exist and are doing what they do at all, not to mention the fact that they would take down the fourth wall and let fans in the way they do now.  I can remember when there was no way to contact your favorite celebrity--they were completely elevated away from us unwashed masses.  You might have been able to send a letter a PO Box in Modesto that might have been cleaned out once a month by a flunky to a secretary to a handler, and said flunky might spend the postage to send you back a generic typed reply, or (s)he might toss it in the garbage, for all you knew.  There was no internet, no Twitter, no Instagram, and certainly no direct replies or reciprocated support or gratitude from your heroes the way there is now.  

Again, though, they are still human beings.  They are not "perf(ect)", they are not ours, they are not commodities or things, and really, neither is their art.  Their craft, their lives, and their persons are THEIRS; they simply CHOOSE to share it with us, and we really ought to be OK with that being on THEIR terms, not ours.  Do be grateful.  Do be happy.  Do be supportive, positive, and kind.  DO BE RESPECTFUL OF THEIR OPINIONS, THEIR PERSONAL SPACE, THEIR WISHES, AND THEIR COMFORT LEVELS.  Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to treat these PEOPLE--that's right, PEOPLE--like they were your property or like they owe you anything.  They don't.  They've already given us more than we could ever ask or hope for, just by being themselves and doing what they do.  Respect that."  Michelle @littlehotmess77

And this is Ashley's thoughts on it:

"Being a fan to me means having respect for personal space and remembering that bands don't owe us anything.  They don't have to come out and meet fans, they choose to out of the kindness of their hearts and it sickens me when fans guilt bands or band members to come out and meet them.  Fans pay to see the show that's it.  Getting to meet your idol is just a bonus.  If you're lucky enough for that to happen and remembering that bands are busy and can't always reply to every single person that tweets them, but they'll certainly try their best so all in all the biggest thing is showing respect for boundaries and personal space." Ashley @ashleyriot

So what do you think it means to be a fan?  I guess it can means different things to different people.  For me, it's about being part of something and supporting the person/s that make me feel happy.  Music for me is a way of life and without it, I don't know what I'd do.  It's more than just a distraction in the background, it's finding something that moves me and makes me think and feel a variety of emotions. 

Especially when attending a concert and having a shared experience that only the other people who were there too will have is amazing.  Like a secret that only you and the band know about, it's mine and no-one elses cos I was there.  You can buy all the albums, the merch, attend all the gigs you want, but if you're just doing it because you think it's what  you should be doing, then you're not really a fan.  You should believe in the people you are listening to and they should mean more to you than just being there for your own disposal.  

They are not ours to dictate to and we shouldn't expect them to be at our beck and call.  Respect pays a big part and we should also respect the views of each other.  What I don't respect is that there are some people, like the person on Twitter, who think they are better than everyone else and who must get what they want.  Do you not think that we would all like a little bit of their time, or a reply to our tweet?  Of course we would, but some of us are polite enough to wait our turn.  And when it happens for our friends, we are pleased for them as we know how long they have waited for this moment.  I am not pleased, however, when I see a 'selfie' that has only been obtained by harassing someone into taking part in it because you made them feel like they owed it to you.  Nice picture, dumbo.

But, I can pretty much say this incident is a one off and I think the reason it made us so annoyed is because we are not like that.  The people I have met and speak to regularly are a lovely group of individuals who are kind and supportive to each other.  We genuinely want to know how each others days are going or like nothing better than to cheer each other up by sending pictures.  And most of all we love the music that unites us and the people that make it.  There are hi-fives and hugs in the fandom and if you come and speak to Michelle, me or any of our Twitter friends then we'll tell you about it! 

The tweet in question - the names have been deleted to protect the idiots...