To stand or not to stand: the great concert question

Some acts don’t want bums on seats, they want them up and dancing. But where does that leave the people sitting behind them, asks Cameron Adams.

How often should you use the seat you paid for at a live concert?

At this week’s first Melbourne Leon Bridges show, the American soul man spent most of the concert politely but firmly trying to get his audience on their feet.

In his defence, his previous shows here have been at smaller standing room only club venues, which create a different vibe to a theatre.

The Palais is a seated venue and Bridges has now outgrown those more intimate spaces — a good problem to have indeed.

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Most of his new songs are what you’d call bangers, yet he’s also got slower tunes comfortably enjoyed seated. (Side note: it was a million degrees outside and half a million degrees inside thanks to a sold out show full of sweaty, excited people).

By the end, Bridges literally asked the audience to do him a favour to stand, which happened. Then there was that awkward mix of some people still standing and some sitting down, until the end. It looked like a real life game of Guess Who.

General consensus from years of gig-going — unless they’re playing classical music or soppy ballads most artists don’t seem like to play to a seated audience. They take it either as a personal insult to their music (despite, you know, people paying to see it) or a personal challenge to get them to stand.

Sitting or standing isn’t just a consideration for the crowd, but one for the artists and venue bookers, too. Picture: Luke Drew

Does sitting through a show give off the impression you don’t enjoy it as much? Everyone appreciates music in different ways. Is someone jumping around wildly loving it more than someone having a private party on the inside?

It’s certainly up to the artist to handle the situation — much like a conductor.

Some come out on stage straight away and insist people stand up. It’s a bold option, and you often see the people drifting back towards their chairs the second the tempo drops. Then it’s like dominoes — once one goes down, it’s game over.

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Then there’s the party artists who simply just shouldn’t be playing in seated venues, especially ones with fun police staff who take personal offence at anyone dancing. Who doesn’t love seeing a rock star scald a security guard telling off a fan for daring to enjoy themselves at a concert.

Of course, standing at a seated venue creates tension when not everyone’s game for stretching their legs. Views are blocked. Seats get knocked. Drinks get spilt. It’s why the ideal show is one where you can pick seated or standing tickets. Because there are seated people and standing people, and when they’re forced to mix at seated shows it can get messy. But not every venue can cater for that. Sometimes the two worlds have to mix and people forget their day manners at night.

John Farnham has said he’s loved playing his recent Red Hot Summer Tour, where the crowd is always predominantly standing. Picture: Luke Drew

John Farnham has admitted he’s loving playing the Red Hot Summer Tour regional circuit because they’re all standing and when people stand up at a show it’s a particular kind of energy.

Certainly at an outdoor festival, where people have been standing all day, you’re hardly going to be filling your set with ballads. You tailor the show to audience who are well-oiled and have committed to standing all day.

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Then there’s the extreme of rock’s grumpy old man Don Henley who has his own security personnel on hand to make sure everyone sit at Eagles shows so no one’s view is blocked — the No. 1 gripe of the seat-warmer vs the dance-in-seat punter is watching someone’s back.

There has be a happy medium somewhere between Leon Bridges and Don Henley, between mosh pit and Morning Melodies. Maybe if musicians really have a problem with people using their arses they need to take a stand and write into their contracts they’ll only play in venues with no seats? Or maybe the cat and mouse of trying to get people up and dancing is part of the theatre of playing in a theatre?

Cameron Adams is a national music writer for News Corp. @cameron_adams