Is it ever tolerable to heckle an opener? (full review 9/24)

[Rebel]

I was at the show last night, Cleveland, Dark Arena opened, great band, bassist played a 6 string, awesome solos, drummer has some serious skill, and the singer could hit CRAZY high notes (Like Tim Owens in 10,000 strong). But some fat bitch shoved her way to the front row (next to me), and started insulting the band "You suck", "You have no talent", whatever. I'm an aspiring musician, so I get the mentality of an opener, and so when I'm in small clubs, I go NUTS for openers, because I know how much it means to them, and when I hear this bitch insulting the band, I turn to her,
"Get the fuck out of here"
She proceeds to go "Oh, I'm sorry everyone doesn't like the music you do", insults them loudly again and turns around with an "Am I right or what?" look on her face, everyone else was cheering for the band though. So after my buddy starts chewing her out about it she resorts to "I was just expressing my opinion", I told her "So was I".
Which would have been nice, had that been the end of it.
I went back to rocking out with the band, I tried to make eye contact with everyone, and Dark Arena's vocalist obviously took the insult better than I, because he blew a kiss to the bitch. My respect went through the roof. But after every song, she kept at it, until my buddy had to resort to insulting Hammerfall (She had a hammerfall tattoo), her eyes BULGED out of her head and she was ENRAGED by this.
At the end of the set, the drummer pretty much hands me his drumstick, which was AWESOME.

Anyways, Pagan's Mind rolls around, and she is enjoying them, she somehow shoved back to the front row and started reaching in for a high five or whatever, and at one point put her fingers in the way of the bassist. Pagan's mind was great. Loved their set.

Stratovarius comes round, she shoves her way next to me, I was RIGHT in front of Matias, which was one of the coolest experiences ever, she keeps reaching in to try and grope TK every time he walked by. I had a pretty cool moment where I locked in with Matias while we were both singing the speed of light chorus, and in Twilight Symphony, the guy I went with, an extremely capable vocalist, was giving TK some note for note help. The setlist was the Japan setlist without forever and legions.

Talked to the band after the show, they're all awesome, Lauri was a bit shy I think, but that's alright. He played the most face melting solo EVER.

Just wondering if the forum agrees that it is NEVER acceptable to insult an opener, especially if they're good (Darkarena wasn't awful by any means, their singer looked like Jean Luc Picard, and sang kind of like Kai Hansen sometimes)

[icecab21]

leave the insults to private and after the show. there is no reason to have bad vibe in the place.

what is your friend doing insulting hammerfall?

[Rebel]

leave the insults to private and after the show. there is no reason to have bad vibe in the place.

what is your friend doing insulting hammerfall?

The bitch said "This band is no Hammerfall", and we were both pretty much enraged at this lady, so he says "You assume Hammerfall has talent?" purely to make her angry, neither of us are great Hammerfall fans, but anything with Anders in it has to be good.

[AAAAAAAAAA]

leave the insults to private and after the show. there is no reason to have bad vibe in the place.

what is your friend doing insulting hammerfall?

The bitch said "This band is no Hammerfall", and we were both pretty much enraged at this lady, so he says "You assume Hammerfall has talent?" purely to make her angry, neither of us are great Hammerfall fans, but anything with Anders in it has to be good.

I don't think you realize how little everyone cares about your battle of wits with the trifling tattooed troglodyte. But because I am such a great guy (an antimiserere, if we must get technical), I would like to endow you with this fine sword; you may use it to slash the stout schlemiel into submission should your paths cross again.

______
:D____

:D____
______

I will now plaster this post with a plethora of portraits. They help me escape my personal demons!

:rotflmao1: :rotflmao2: :jump2: :crazy2: :repuke: :sick: :cyclop: :crazy1:

[SinisterStar]

A buddy of mine would have just pissed on her leg

[Rebel]

A buddy of mine would have just pissed on her leg

That would have been a good policy. I mean, I could have started something in there, but I resorted to pretty much "NEVER boo an opener, get out".

I mean, has anyone seen this happen at a show, where someone decides their opinion on a band is important enough for EVERYONE to hear, including the band?

[Oceansoul324]

That is just messed up. I think EVERYONE had experiences where they disliked one of the openers, and that's fine, but KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. The fans are there for the bands, not to hear someone bitch and whine. It's people like her that make girls who go to enjoy the music and have a good time (like me) have a bad reputation.

WHY would she shove her way to the front to complain anyways? That i don't get.

[browneyedgirl]

The girl was very impolite and childish. Why did she come to a concert to see a band she so obviously did not like anyway?

[Rebel]

The girl was very impolite and childish. Why did she come to a concert to see a band she so obviously did not like anyway?

Oh she loved her some Strato, she was trying to grope Timo every chance she got, I guess she was harassing Edguy and Sonata Arctica fans at concerts at that venue about how much better Stratovarius was than them.

[icecab21]

just another proof that people can listen to stratovarius without any of the messeges sinking in.

[Rebel]

just another proof that people can listen to stratovarius without any of the messeges sinking in.

Yeah, Unfortunately. We actually apologized to her after the show, because I felt bad for her husband (Who was a really good fan, rocked out for all the bands, and kept his wife in check as best he could)
She had some "interesting stories" about these musicians she "knew really well" like Gus G.
(Which were almost assuredly all made up)

[Ragehead91]

The only thing more annoying than those kind of people are thoses hardcore dancing fucks. I can live with people doing moshpits and stuff, but hardcore dancing just sucks.

[rikkertje]

I hate it when people do moshpits. I mean, come on! I assume you go there to listen good music and see a good band. Not to jump around like some kind of monkeys on speed or something. I think it is one of the most stupid things to do...

[Rebel]

Because you've never been to a good Death Metal concert, where moshing is a must.

[Oceansoul324]

I hate it when people do moshpits. I mean, come on! I assume you go there to listen good music and see a good band. Not to jump around like some kind of monkeys on speed or something. I think it is one of the most stupid things to do...

Agreed, but to each their own.

I feel so bad for the husband, putting up with her.

[Ragehead91]

And about the opener thingy:
If you don't like the opening band, don't watch it. It is that easy. Go outside to smoke, go to the bar (if there is one) and have a drink or whatever. There is no need to do shit like this one girl did.

[Oceansoul324]

Agreed ragehead. Or check out the merch.

[fernandotcl]

There's a problem, though. Some times the opener bands have absolutely nothing to do with the main attraction. Then it's really frustrating to experience the whole thing with a smile on your face.

It's not easy to simply "go smoke outside" or something. When you're close to the stage, you have to be active at all times or you'll lose your spot next to the stage. And obviously, if you go somewhere else, you will not be able to return to your original position.

I think it's rude to insult opening bands, but it's equally tasteless to have two bands that have nothing to do with each other play at the same night at the same venue.

I personally dislike opening acts because they make you wait longer, the main band's setlist gets a tad shorter and you get much more tired. Unless I happen to like the opener band (and that was never the case for me), I stand still, try not to get tired and don't even look at the stage so that I waste a minimal amount of energy keeping my spot.

It's also bad for the fans of the opener bands because their shortlist is really small and they have to fight their way closer to the stage against many people who are trying to do the same thing only to secure a position for when the next band comes in.

It might be good for the opener band due to the greater exposition when supporting a famous band, but it mostly sucks for the fans (it always sucked for me).

[Ragehead91]

I agree to a certain degree. I think bands should only pick openers who play music that resemble the music of a main act. Stratovarius for example should not get a Death Metal band to play as the opener.

[Burning Reflection]

^ I agree Ragehead, or she could have made friends with the person next to them and had a private discussion about it Was it really worth all the angst and discomfort to make this girl feel this way though? There are so many reactions and outcomes from the spectrum of possibilities that there could have been some alternative. My mentality is to live and let live and be kind to just about everyone.

I think at every concert there's some selfish person that thinks that they are the only ones there and that they are the star of the show. I go to a lot of metal shows by myself, but I never feel alone because we're all there for similar reasons. This girl probably felt like she was alone and treated others like they were inhuman objects, or at least, without dignity. I guess if I were in the situation, I'd introduce myself between songs and try to have a friendly conversation to melt the ice.

On another note, the only times I've seen opening bands get heckled is when they are totally not metal and opening for a metal band; as for rebel's case it seems to be the opposite...it doesn't justify booing them, but you would think that the promoters would have enough sense to add a band that would fit the crowd's preferences right? I remember seeing horse the band open for Dragonforce and they got booed off stage (I honestly thought it was retarded to have this band on the bill and would have rather not saw them play, but it wasn't the end of the world to listen to them either). Either way the dynamics of shows and people's preferences at them would require much more thorough research and analysis than would permit on this forum.

[Oceansoul324]

Going alone is no excuse to do that to an opening band. I go to shows alone sometimes, cause honestly, we're there for the music, and i do end up making friends. Besides, didn't Rebel say that she was there with her husband?

[Burning Reflection]

^ Agreed, but that's exactly what I meant, we're all there for at least one similar reason and she or I could have made friends with somebody. She could have easily talked to her husband, but she wasn't striving for, and was probably guaranteed his approval no matter what. Undoubtedly, hating the woman would have been the easiest choice. Condemning a problem never does anything to solve it though...

[Oceansoul324]

I guess, but that was still rude. I wonder why she didn't talk to her husband though.

[thefreeone]

hahaha believe me!.. in Ecuador lots of times they throw bottles or any kind of thing tho openers!... they insult them ....or scream for the headliner!... i think its stupid too but shit happens... at least i dont do it! haha

[Oceansoul324]

I actually remember that it was reported that at bloodstock (in the UK), some idiots threw gobstoppers at Cradle of Filth and one hit Paul and he was sent to the ER. Now I don't really like them too much (Maybe a few songs), but still.

Anyways, back to the point...

[Fuuso]

I think it's just plain stupid to insult the opening band just because they aren't the headliner. And I agree with Ragehead91 about the fact that openers should be chosen around the same genre as the headliner to avoid these uncomfortable moments.

In 2007, when Gamma Ray and Helloween were on the Hellish Rock tour, I actually went to see Gamma Ray live, the headlining Helloween was just a great bonus.

[Rebel]

Well, The opening band was DEFINITELY metal.

http://www.myspace.com/darkarena

I guess this lady is fairly frequent at this place, and she gave Sonata Arctica and possibly Edguy some shit when they played there. However she also had some story about Tony Kakko demanding to know how she got some scar on her neck.

She was there with her husband, but if anything, he was keeping her in check.

It's just a community of musicians thing IMO, a band is up there to have fun, Stratovarius wasn't even in the venue at the time of this show, they were eating dinner. They were there to have fun, the singer seemed to have fun regardless, but I always go nuts for openers because they really appreciate it.

[Star_Ocean]

The only time I've ever heckled an opener was at a Nightwish concert. It was Paradise Lost, which I'm sure many of you have heard. But they were just shit and the singer was a dick to the audience, so about halfway through everyone started heckling the shit out of them.

[Dragon Queen]

I know who you are, and it's funny how you didn't have the nerve or the rudeness to call me a fat bitch to my face that night, instead you decided to kiss up after you realized what a sad waste you were.

Was it because you knew it would make you look like a jerk in front of a crowd of people? Or was it because you were too busy trying to look like a hard-ass in front of a bunch of people who don't give a shit about you either way?

And I paid for my ticket, this is America and I can say anything or look any way I want. Sorry I feel that the booking people made a poor choice. Not my fault, Junior.

So, you think I'm pathetic for standing up for a group of people who were not there to defend themselves in a matter that had nil to do with them, but for the fact that I did not view this band as being anywhere near them in talent. (HammerFall, who have probably done more for the world than you ever will but I'm not here to bash, so..), but yet you are all excited about some no-name's drumstick. You were such a fanboy that you acted like that guy was Neil Peart like you did. And if your buddy is so much better than me, why didn't he leave HammerFall out of it? Is it because you stalked them the way you did Stratovarius, and they told you to get lost?

I didn't "shove" anyone, I politely excused myself by saying I couldn't see over certain people and I happened to get to the front row. Shoot me.

And again, no one got shoved, except for me when you pushed your way to Matias Kupiainen, which made me want to step on your foot just out of spite. And no, I did not try to grope Timo Kotipelto every time he walked by, unless you call high-fiving groping someone so keep your pornogrpahic little fantasies to yourself, please.

Your "pretty cool moment where you locked in with Matias" consisted of you screaming in the poor man's face like you were a 12 year old who'd just seen Robert Pattinson as he gave a terrified look. and I heard your friend attempt to sing, and an extremely capable vocalist he was not.

You and your friend are just typical sad, obsessive power metal geeks who have to go on bands' message boards to try and act like you're cool and make other fans look like morons because they don't think or act the way you do.

Talked to the band's ears off was more like it. Lauri wasn't one bit shy, I don't think as he talked quite a bit to everyone I saw, except for you guys.

And the singer from Dark Arena came up to me and told me he thought I was hilarious and invited me to heckle him at the next gig, so you were the only ones who were so offended at a simple heckler that you lied about someone being sexually harassed when all I did was kiss their cheek and shake their hand.

Please leave my husband and I out of your stalkerish little fantasies and seek help before posting nonsense like this again.

[dirtclaw]

You and your friend are just typical sad, obsessive power metal geeks who have to go on bands' message boards to try and act like you're cool and make other fans look like morons because they don't think or act the way you do.

Quick, everyone! Abandon the thread before it's too late!