[j-monster]

A lot of good points raised by people... and some dumbass comments too, but I'll let those slide for now.

In my opinion... and this applies for any other band as well as the Hip... it's simple, really.

When you go to a concert, whether it's in a small sweaty bar with a hundred people or at a huge venue with tens of thousands, have a great time and enjoy yourself. Cheer for the band, sing along a little, have a couple beers, even smoke a j or two... let loose and let 'er rip a little! That's the whole point of the exercise.

Just don't be a complete idiot!! Think of it this way, if someone were doing any of these things to you... getting so wasted they puke all over you, shoving you out of the way to get their "prime spot", yelling dumb things in people's ears repeatedly, waving huge flags in front of people and obscuring their view... would you be pissed off? You would, wouldn't you?

Then DO NOT do these things yourself when you go to concerts!!!

Rant over. Thank you for your time.

[The Darkest Canuck]

you guys read too much into things, if you want to hate on a group of concert goers, i think you should focus on the kids that go to hardcore shows and wave their arms/fists around wildly because that's what they've seen people do on tv, now that shit's just ghey! it's not harcore, it's not cool, it's not dancing, it's not anything but stupidity and an invitation to get your ass kicked, especially when you start connceting and punching people, and what's worse is that half the time it's stupid little girls doing it and nobody really wants to do anything to stop them because they don't want ot be the one who "beat up/picked on" a girl....

i just realized i'm probably the only person on the board who has to deal with this problem .

[The Darkest Canuck]

know what the funniest thing about this thread is? the giant flag-waving, brawling, puking fans aren't ever going to read any of this, haha, so what's the point of having this big long dragged out arguement about it? it's probably not going to change anyone's mind or solve anything... let's be lovers instead of fighters, isn't that what Gord would want? ...

I CALL DIBS ON JENNA :mrgreen:

[cferneyh]

I CALL DIBS ON JENNA :mrgreen:

Oh man, I can't WAIT to see her response to this one.

[Ponch]

Again, aside from the flag waving, I'm still not totally sure the poor concert behavior is specific to Hip concerts.

That being said, I agree that the people we are talking about that are not concerned about their fellow concert goer don't come to this forum, and still won't have a clue how their behavior is viewed by other people.

My next question is, what will the crowds and fans be like on the ARA 2006 tour. It has been a while since they have done several festival style shows on the same tour. Has the typical Hip fan/crowd changed in 9 years?!?!
And I'm not sure many of us here on this forum are going to want to deal with the 'moshing', flags, and fists to get up close enough to have a decent view of the show(s). Which is a shame.

I dunno, maybe we shouldn't open up that can of worms just yet because this thread has already gotten quite contentious.

[Jenna_Bird]

I CALL DIBS ON JENNA :mrgreen:

who what now? hock: I'm already comitted...sorry...and..ah...I am speechless. Literally without speech. I'm gonna go...brush my teeth. Oh...and also, wouldn't your fiance be a little squirmy with all that? Polyamory just ain't my scene. And...if anyone is "calling dibs" on me it better well be: 1) My boyfriend 2) Kate Beckinsale 3) Kathleen Edwards 4) The guy at Starbucks who gives me free biscotti. If you are any of these people, excellent. If not...thanks for sharing. And one more thing...it would never work, I'm a Sox fan. :mrgreen:

-Jenna

[gratts99]

2) guess what? at a hip show here in Canada the rowdy ones are the majority,

umm, i have been to 10 hip shows and out of those 10 shows, 1 had a rowdy crowd. I wouldnt call them the majority, and hell i wouldnt even call them hip fans, i think these punks where there because it was a nice summer day to crowd surf and throw full bottles of water around.

so you dont know shit about hip concerts (yes i know the last one in sudbury was rowdy, but you get a bad crowd maybe 5% of the time), and for you to say that your not an obsessive hip fan then why the hell do you have near 1500 posts?

[skippy the wonder dog]

The trouble with the Hip is that they're a symbol as well as an act....

There's actually something uniquely pathetic about someone who hasn't bought the last three Hip records but goes to a show and waves a flag and pukes, etc. Not only is a great band being reduced to a symbol, but the symbol is pure nostalgia. Meanwhile, some great shit is being played out before their ears, and they're oblivious.

What's really too bad is that Gord's most stinging address to his nationalist constituency---The Dark Canuck---was ignored because the Hip were 'passe' exacept as a nostalgia act to drunken frat boys by that point. Ah well.

All true.

But the other trouble with the Hip is that while they decry this nationalist stuff out of one side of their mouth, they pander to it out of the other. They sell merchandise like hockey sweaters with maple leaves on them, and then say, "Nationalism? Who, me?"

This is their biggest problem. By pandering to that nationalist constituency they perpetuate the band as symbol and make their new music irrelevant, which drives them towards becoming a gang of staggering dinosaurs on a Guess Who reunion tour, instead of a great band doing great new music. And the image alienates potential new fans.

That's what this supposed fan problem is really all about: not what Hip fans are really like, but the idea of what they're like. Because popular music is all about image, not music.

[The Horrible Esthete]

Again, aside from the flag waving, I'm still not totally sure the poor concert behavior is specific to Hip concerts.

But that’s just it - the ‘flag waving’ is the defining characteristic that draws the scorn, not just the rowdiness alone.

Tell me, Ponch: When was the last time you attended a concert for an American act on Canadian soil, where a frenzied pack drunken, riotous New Englanders draped themselves in the Stars and Stripes and forced their way ‘front and center’ through of some sense of nationalistic privelege, and screamed out The Star Spangled Banner over everyone else’s pre-show conversations?

I’m telling you that this form of misbehavior IS specific to a contingent of Hip fans, or else I would have witnessed it at the all the Neil Young, Rush, and Guess Who shows I’ve seen here in the US, too, don't you think?

[macyme]

Just a few points to make regarding hip concerts

everyone wants to see the concert so a flag being waved in front of you for the whole concert is annoying just like some one having their girlfriends on their shoulders at an outdoor concert. once in a while is not a problem.

I like it when hip fans are drunk standing up dancing, singing to the songs, it makes for better atmosphere.

IMO nothing worse than going to a concert where people are sitting down the whole time not singing, not dancing.....those people don't even know all the hip songs or they only get up when NOIS is being played.

go to a concert have fun, enjoy the music but at the same time don't be an asshole.

[LoftyPines]

The overly drunk guy that pukes on my shoes at a concert, or the ass pushing the girls on the rail out of the way just so he can wave his Maple Leaf jersey at Gord (newsflash pal...he's a B's fan) make me wonder why I even try to enjoy a concert.

A little unrelated, but at the Sarnia show this last summer I was wearing my Hip Jersey with Downie on the back. I hear some idiot yell "He's a leafs fan dumbass". I turned around and he kinda went "Oh...". He must have thought it was a wings jersey hahaha.

Just thought it was funny that the guy had no idea what he was talking about anyways. He was wrong twice at the same time. :lol:

[bluehour]

This sounds like a technique called "fencing" and it goes back to the schoolyard but is widely used (most notably by the Bush administration). It's a method of attacking someone out of envy or spite by going after the people who support them, fencing them off and labeling them to discourage others from joining them. (The Bush administration tried to fence off Kerry supporters as girlie men because Kerry speaks French and is an intellectual and to distract from the fact that the man was a genuine war hero who risked his ass while bush did not.)

It stinks. If anything, true Hip fans are much smarter, cooler and have better taste than those trying to fence off their fans.

[LastStop]

And what the hell is wrong with waving the Canadian flag?

Not a damn thing!

...assuming of course that you've somehow managed to invent a flag that is visible from the front, yet entirely transparent from the back side...

ya know, that way all the people behind you could, like, see and stuff. cratch:

[tigerthelion]

The trouble with the Hip is that they're a symbol as well as an act....

There's actually something uniquely pathetic about someone who hasn't bought the last three Hip records but goes to a show and waves a flag and pukes, etc. Not only is a great band being reduced to a symbol, but the symbol is pure nostalgia. Meanwhile, some great shit is being played out before their ears, and they're oblivious.

What's really too bad is that Gord's most stinging address to his nationalist constituency---The Dark Canuck---was ignored because the Hip were 'passe' exacept as a nostalgia act to drunken frat boys by that point. Ah well.

All true.

But the other trouble with the Hip is that while they decry this nationalist stuff out of one side of their mouth, they pander to it out of the other. They sell merchandise like hockey sweaters with maple leaves on them, and then say, "Nationalism? Who, me?"

This is their biggest problem. By pandering to that nationalist constituency they perpetuate the band as symbol and make their new music irrelevant, which drives them towards becoming a gang of staggering dinosaurs on a Guess Who reunion tour, instead of a great band doing great new music. And the image alienates potential new fans.

That's what this supposed fan problem is really all about: not what Hip fans are really like, but the idea of what they're like. Because popular music is all about image, not music.

I tend to agree with what you just said. I know Gord is against nationalism but selling merchandise that is ripe with images of Canada and maple leaves only furthers the nationalistic pride of the fans. There is a fine line between "nationalist" and just being proud of your country. I think Canada is a great country but if I lived in the US I'd think it was a great country, or Holland or England or whatever. I think fans should be proud that the Hip are Canadian. Heck, the Hip and medicare REPRESENT CANADA FOR ME!!! :thumb: It's good to have someone from your home country or even province to support. The only problem I have is generally at general seating concerts where the elbows are flying and the shoving is plentiful. I think Hip fans should dance all they want and smoke up and drink all they want AS LONG AS THEY AREN'T (1)Pushing or elbowing other fans (2)Blocking the view of others (3)Yelling "We love Johnny Faye or "Gordie" EVERY SECOND OF THE SHOW (4)Vomiting on others.

At the seated concerts I've been to this hasn't been much of a problem but I have noticed some of it. I'm all for rocking out in your own space but once you start making physical contact with others and bothering them, you cross the line.

[The Darkest Canuck]

Kate Beckinsale

-Jenna

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm



you and her eh?





:lol: