Concert Etiquette

[Venus193]

Most of this will apply to classical music venues:

1.  Get there at least a little early so you can be settled by the stated start time.

2.  If you need to leave your seat for any reason, remember that the venue is unlikely to allow you to resume your seat until the current piece is between movements or has ended.  Opera houses will not allow you to resume your seat until intermission.

3.  No food or drink is permitted, especially any that will make any noise.  This is not limited to potato chips.

4.  If you have chocolate or hard candy, remember that crinkling paper will annoy other concert goers.  Either unwrap the item between musical pieces or under your coat on your lap.

5.  No talking, for obvious reasons.

6.  No leaning your heads together.  This obstructs the view of the person behind you.

7.  If you have a cold, bring cough drops and follow rule regarding wrappers.  If you have a very runny nose, bring enough tissues to take care of the problem without having to blow.  If it's too bad to follow this rule, do not attend.

8.  Shut off all portable communication devices.

9.  If you need to leave a row, face away from the others in your row and say "Excuse me" as you pass.  Facing toward them (if there is the usual lack of leg room) will cause you to fall into them or step on their feet.

10.  If you are one being passed, accept the apology graciously.  If the seat flips up, stand if you can to make it easier for them to pass.

11.  Dress decently for the venue.  Classical music events are not cheap and you will not want to look like a slob in a venue where people are often dressed to the nines.

12.  Follow the rules regarding applause.  These may vary by venue or composer.

[lady_disdain]

13. Avoid making noise in general: jewelry jangling, foot tapping, humming, etc

14. Avoid foot jiggling. Seats are often connected, so a vigorous foot shaking can annoy a lot of people

15. Not every concert deserves a 10 minute standing ovation. Clap appropriately to show your appreciation, but don't go over the top (specially if the purpose of this is to get the artist to do an extra piece)

16. Relax and enjoy

[Lisbeth]

17.  No singing unless it's encouraged by the concert promoters.  The other persons in the audience are there to hear the performers, not you.

[PitBullMom]

18.  If you bring young children, please keep them from kicking the seats in front of them.  And please apologize profusely if your child happens to kick anyway.  If (s)he won't stop, take her/him home.

19.  Please only bring children to age-apropriate concerts/shows.

[TylerBelle]

20. If you go to a concert just because family/friends like the musicians/type of music, but you really aren't into any of it yourself, at least attempt to find something to enjoy for the length of the concert. If you feel you can't or simply won't, either stay home or politely leave during intermission. But please don't sit and make snarky, chastising remarks to your companions about the musicians/concert or their enjoyment of it. This includes continous audible sighing, too.

[JoanOfArc]

19.  Please only bring children to age-apropriate concerts/shows.

19a.  There are concerts aimed at most every age group; find one that suits your child.  Also, if you are an adult attending said child-focused concert, you still need to make an effort to teach your child how to behave in a concert venue. 

[JadeAngel]

20. Discuss the show either before it starts or during intermission. If someone from your group doesn't understand what's going on you can sit and explain it to them or read it from the program during intermission not in the middle of the performance.


and as always cellphones are turned OFF! Not down, not silent, not vibrate... OFF!

[ccpb1214]

This one is regarding a rock concert. If the person onstage asks for a moment of silence, do they mean they’re going to stop playing for a few minutes or do they want the entire arena to be quiet, too?

I saw a video clip of a band’s show. This was just after the death of a close friend of the band. The front man gave a little speech and then asked for a moment of silence. He and the band bowed their heads and the lights went down. While I was watching the video, I couldn’t understand why the audience was still screaming. 

[JonGirl]

ohh I don't know, did he address the crowd or was he just talking amongst the band?

[ccpb1214]

ohh I don't know, did he address the crowd or was he just talking amongst the band?

The clip is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MBkX-o1Gyk

(Poor guys!)

It seemed to me he was asking the crowd for a moment of silence.


He said "Right now I'd like to take down the lights and have a moment of silence for our friend Adam."

[Nurvingiel]

4.  If you have chocolate or hard candy, remember that crinkling paper will annoy other concert goers.  Either unwrap the item between musical pieces or under your coat on your lap.

I would say unwrap the candy in advance, or wait until the intermission (not just the end of the movement) to unwrap it. Even if the coat is already in your lap, it seems to me that it would just muffle the wrapper sound, not hide it.

At a rock (or etc.) concert, this is not a big since the volume is significantly higher.

[mechtilde]

This is just my personal opinion, others may disagree.

If a support group are playing in the first part of the concert, it is impolite to them arrive at the interval and only watch the main act. Also foolish- you might miss a real treat!

[Nurvingiel]

I don't think it's rude to do that, though I do agree you could be missing an amazing bands. My husband and I discovered one of our favourite bands when they opened for a band we already loved.

[Sophia]

The new Dallas Opera building had a free performance/acoustic fine tuning. They wanted a full building and people had to be absolutely quiet, because any crowd noise would make that segment of data worthless.  Did I mention the tickets were FREE.  Before one segment, the conductor announced a 10+ minute modren symphony-only piece and said if you have kids that can't be quiet, leave now and you can come in for the next piece. No one leaves.  So, they start. Throughout the entire thing I could hear a baby coo and make noises.  For a movie, it wouldn't have been a problem.  But, jeez, a baby to an acoustic check?  The engineer in me wanted to scream. 

[ccpb1214]

This is just my personal opinion, others may disagree.

If a support group are playing in the first part of the concert, it is impolite to them arrive at the interval and only watch the main act. Also foolish- you might miss a real treat!

I agree with the foolish part. I saw the Believers Never Die Part Deux tour when it came to Toronto in March. There were five bands playing. I was excited about three of them and had never heard of the other two.


I decided to apply my mother's "No, Thank You Portion" rule of thumb to them and I was so glad I did. I loved them, and when I left the show, I made it a point to add stuff from the two other bands to my iPod.