What are concert crowds like?

Going to a concert is about more than just listening to music. You’re sharing the experience with everyone else present. This could be just a handful of people at the concert for your friend’s garage band, or a packed stadium listening to some of the most famous people on earth.

The size of the crowd very much determines the atmosphere of the concert. Some people are not comfortable in a large crowd. However, attending a concert like that may give you a feeling of being part of something historical.

The people at Rod Stewart’s 1994 New Years Eve concert in Copacabana Beach must have certainly felt that way. Over 3.5 million music lovers gathered - that is the largest concert crowd in history. French composer Jean-Michel Jarre came very close to breaking that record at the State University of Moscow in 1997.

The musical genre is also a key factor in determining what kind of experience you’ll have at the event. The people at rock star Rod Stewart’s concert behaved very differently from the people at new age composer Jean-Michael Jarre’s concert.

Evidently, you would have to dress much more sharply and behave much more subdued at a classical music concert. At a rock performance, however, you’re welcome to be loud, energetic and show that you’re having fun. While singing along the lyrics and shouting in excitement would certainly be unacceptable at a classical concert, you can feel free to do all that at a rock concert. Partly, it’s because of the volume. Rock, and other related genres, such as metal concerts tend to be very loud and thus audience interaction is a lot less distracting.

At some rock concerts, you can even get into a so-called “moshpit”. A mosh pit is a group of people close and center to the stage - the “pit” - where audience members dance aggressively with sudden, powerful movements while deliberately slamming into each other. Such activity can be described as “moshing”.

Going to a good concert can give you a feeling of being part of something larger than yourself. You’re in the same venue, or even in the same room as the performer who might a world-famous superstar. Now, in some way, you are part of their art.

Probably the best manifestation of this is the 1977 Queen song “We Will Rock You”. Guitarist Brian May wrote it with one specific idea in mind: he wanted to give Queen fans the chance to perform a number with their favorite band. Most of the song is a capella, meaning there are no instruments accompanying the vocals - however, the audience provides a beat with their rhythmic stomping and clapping. It quickly spread well beyond rock fans - it became a cliched stadium anthem sung by fans around the world.

In summary, you need to find out what genre fits your personality and pick a concert based on that. Depending on what genre you picked, your experience can be widely different in different concerts - so choose wisely!