My experience at the Seattle show— just some FYI and warnings

[drownsoda 57]

So I was at the Seattle show yesterday on the 27th, and I thought I'd share my experience just to give other people some insight into what they are really getting themselves into at these shows.

 

We showed up at 6am outside the venue and there were already a few people waiting. By 8am, there was a full line that had formed, and the venue staff gave us raffle tickets for being the early birds that guaranteed us first entry into the show, which was really nice. I was in a group of four— myself, my brother, my friend, and my brother's girlfriend. We hung out all day at the show and would leave in groups of two for food and bathroom breaks. By 10am there was a line around the building, and by noon they had herded the line into winding gates, and later formed more lines on the opposite side of the venue doors. By the afternoon it was a zoo there, and one lady told me about an hour or so before the doors opened that the line on our side had extended into three levels of the parking garage across the street. There were A LOT of people there.

 

As far as the tickets went, myself, my brother and his girlfriend all had will-call through Adventures in Wonderland, and my friend had gotten hers through the Ticketmaster presale. The staff kept telling everybody it was a paperless event and that you needed your credit card only to get inside, but they failed to acknowledge the fact that a lot of us had the AIW tickets which were made available to us around 2pm at the box office. Anyway, the AIW tickets were totally valid. Our line got first entry as promised when the doors opened at 6:30pm, and everyone of course ran to the stage against the staff's command. My friend had a hurt knee so we walked as fast as we could and were still able to get a spot up against the barricade. About 20 minutes later we were given the okay to stand, and then shit really got insane. My brother and I secured spots at the barricade and had the two girls in front of us with our arms extended around them so that they wouldn't get crushed against the barricade. 

 

I'm going to be honest here— the majority of the crowd was extremely rude. "Feral teenage girls" is the only way I can describe it. Fortunately my brother and I are both over 6 feet tall and weight 200 pounds each, so we were able to hold our ground, but it was a nonstop struggle from the time we stood until the end of the show. It honestly was the worst during the opening act— SO much pushing and shoving. There was a group of girls behind me who were physically assaulting me the entire show— hitting me, pinching my ribcage, kicking the backs of my knees, scratching me, pulling at my hair— it was ridiculous. One girl who looked like she was sixteen told me she was going to stab me if I didn't move. I of course didn't move, and she of course didn't stab me. One girl poured water on me. My point is, people are INSANE at these shows. My friend in Chicago warned me about it and I took her warning lightly, but now that I experienced the show, I cannot imagine being under 5'5" and lasting long on the floor. There were at least 20 girls who I saw get pulled over the barricade and taken out by security; some of them were stone cold passed out, and at one point during the show, cops came in and were arresting people. 

 

The large group of girls behind me who were attacking me the whole time did not seem to understand that I was physically pressed against a metal fence with a 5 foot tall person in front of me whom I was trying to protect from getting crushed— they still thought they were entitled and should have been allowed to be where I was standing. Before Lana came on, after the opening act, a security guard told all the guys in the front (myself included) to put our arms out against the bar on the barricade and push our bodies back to keep the girls in front of us safe, which I had to do multiple times throughout the show, and every time I did it all of the girls behind me screamed and acted like I was abusing them. Several of them tried to tell the security to kick us out for pushing back against them, but there was literally no other option— these girls did not seem to understand that our bodies were up against steel and that we were NOT going to move any further. One girl gave me a lot of trouble (the one who was pinching my rib cage) and she kept wedging her arm in-between mine and the guy's next to me on the barricade, and I told her repeatedly to get her arm out because when a pushing wave came she was going to end up with a broken arm, but she refused to listen to me. 

 

Luckily, I had a really nice Australian guy to my right who was protecting his girlfriend against the barricade, and to the right of us was a French female college student from Paris who was super friendly and had seen Lana before in Paris last year. I felt bad for her because she was against the barricade as well and people were pushing on her the entire time and she was fighting back. 

 

Honestly though, the crowds— mainly teenage girls in flower crowns— need to CHILL out. I waited in line for 14 hours and we EARNED our spot against that barricade. Honestly I felt like 80% of the crowd were a bunch of spoiled high school girls who had gotten tickets through their parents, and they had absolutely no respect for anybody and were horribly entitled. One girl who was attacking me informed me she "knew more of Lana's songs than I did," and that I shouldn't even have been there— goes to show the maturity level/age group of these girls. I'm glad I was able to give them a wake-up call that they can't always get their way, especially when they are going to try to cheat their way to the front and threaten and hurt people to do so. As I said, I had the benefit of being a big guy who could easily handle their attempts at destabilizing me, but it was disturbing how aggressive and pissed off they were. When the show ended, the security guard near us came up to the barricade and gave me a thumbs up and told me I did the right thing by pushing back and holding my ground to protect my friend in front of me, and all of the girls who had spent three and a half hours mauling me scoffed and were appalled. It was a nice affirmation.

 

As far as Lana's show goes, it was of course incredible. She came down to the barricade and took pictures with fans midway through the set, but stopped and turned around literally FEET before us unfortunately. I got some great photos though and did my best to enjoy the music. 

 

But, yeah, the show was as insane as I was warned it would be. Worse than punk shows. I've seen Hole live before and the crowd was tamer than this. What it comes down to is that the majority of the crowd was immature, selfish, and incredibly mean-spirited. Beware of that. Unless of course you ARE one of these people, in which case all I have to say to you is: GROW UP.

 

Also: make sure you are hydrated and have eaten something, even if it's light. A lot of these girls were passing out as I said and many of them were pulled over the barricade because they couldn't handle it. One of my friends from college was there on the opposite side with three of her friends, and she told me that two of her friends collapsed one had a panic attack and had to be taken out. I guess my point is, yes, these shows ARE as crazy as people are saying they are, and this is coming from a 23 year old male who has gone to multiple punk and rock shows before and been in moshpits. BE PREPARED PLEASE.

[TRENCH 15,450]

I hate people in crowds like that...I would've been arrested for punching that girl in the face ..... Guess I'll never see lana.  

[drownsoda 57]

I hate people in crowds like that...I would've been arrested for punching that girl in the face ..... Guess I'll never see lana.

 

It was extremely frustrating. I got really angry with them and I scared a few of them because I was NOT being nice at all. If you have a chance to see her, I'd opt for a seated venue to be honest. The view from the barricade was amazing, but the crowd is beyond violent.

[plush 656]

I swear, if anyone tried to fuck with my at my Lana show, id yell my fucking brains out at them, that way I don't get arrested or removed lol, id fucking knock the flower crown off their dumb heads.

[Dazed 95]

Oh god I was at the show too and got right near the front. A complete mess, so much drama with girls when I was trying to enjoy the show. I definitely won't bother with front row if I decide to attend another Lana concert...

[tiffanydale 193]

It sounds like you remember more about the crowd than Lana's live singing! hahaha

[dirkdabo 17]

Sounds kind of like the crazy crowd in San Francisco. I had someone try to climb over me the whole time. There were even actual fistfights at that show.

 

Glad you got to see Lana though!

[drownsoda 57]

It sounds like you remember more about the crowd than Lana's live singing! hahaha

 

That's unfortunately the sad truth. The fact that I was fighting for my dear life seriously hindered being able to enjoy her performance. She was great, but the crowd was overwhelming and SO abusive. After that experience I don't think I'll bother seeing her live again unless it's a seated venue.

[drownsoda 57]

All that said, I got some really good pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

[evilentity 13,343]

After that experience I don't think I'll bother seeing her live again unless it's a seated venue.

Unfortunately, that's the sad conclusion I've come to after the two concert experiences I had.

[Poison Ivy 1,588]

I wonder what attracts these stupid kids to Lana, it's bizarre to me. 

[TRENCH 15,450]

I wonder what attracts these stupid kids to Lana, it's bizarre to me. 

Anything that is popular in tumblr, they need to get on it fast

[Greaser Prince 200]

Now I'm too scared to go see lana  

[Mileena 2,691]

I'm so sorry to hear that! I had a similar experience when I saw her in the UK last may. I had my dress torn, beer spilled on me and I had bruised ribs. I'm only a petite girl and I don't think I'll go to see Lana again, or if I do it'll be seated. Her crowds are insane! 

[AkaLizzy 85]

Why they even came is beyond me. Do they enjoy ruining everyone's experience?

[drewby 9,246]

Now I'm too scared to go see lana  

 

You should be, it was singlehandedly the most violent concert experience ever and I go to about 30-50 shows a year

 

Iggy was almost as bad and Marina was almost as bad, idk what's wrong with people

[Poor Stacy 11,996]

I was at the same show, but I arrived after the doors opened (I had to work before the concert). As soon as I walked into the theater, the security guy was on stage talking about how concerned he was re: people passing out & not moving in the crowd.

While I would normally do my best to get as close as possible (while respecting the other attendees around me), I glanced around at the audience & decided to just stand back by the sound area instead. The crowd was pretty nauseating -- there were a few teenage girls taking selfies in the middle of Lana's set, a few other teenage girls were basically twerking & dancing on each other when 'Ride' was being performed, etc.

 

I had a nice time because Lana was much better live than I expected her to be, the band was wonderful, & Lana seemed sweet as usual, with plenty of kind words for Seattle. That said, I don't think I'll be going to see her live again if her concert demographic remains the same.

 

I'm a 23 y/o guy, too, just for context, but I was sad to find out that the horror stories regarding Lana's audiences at her concerts were true. A bunch of really obnoxious, mean, & self-absorbed Tumblr-lite teenagers who seem to suck any meaning or depth out of Lana's music & performance. I secretly hope Lana loses them with 'Ultraviolence'... 

[drownsoda 57]

I was at the same show, but I arrived after the doors opened (I had to work before the concert). As soon as I walked into the theater, the security guy was on stage talking about how concerned he was re: people passing out & not moving in the crowd.

 

While I would normally do my best to get as close as possible (while respecting the other attendees around me), I glanced around at the audience & decided to just stand back by the sound area instead. The crowd was pretty nauseating -- there were a few teenage girls taking selfies in the middle of Lana's set, a few other teenage girls were basically twerking & dancing on each other when 'Ride' was being performed, etc.

 

I had a nice time because Lana was much better live than I expected her to be, the band was wonderful, & Lana seemed sweet as usual, with plenty of kind words for Seattle. That said, I don't think I'll be going to see her live again if her concert demographic remains the same.

 

I'm a 23 y/o guy, too, just for context, but I was sad to find out that the horror stories regarding Lana's audiences at her concerts were true. A bunch of really obnoxious, mean, & self-absorbed Tumblr-lite teenagers who seem to suck any meaning or depth out of Lana's music & performance. I secretly hope Lana loses them with 'Ultraviolence'... 

 

Well said, my friend. 

 

It sounds like you showed up right after the opening act finished his set— the reason that the security guy was giving his speech about safety then was because at least 5-10 girls had been dragged out of the crowd at that point, some of them passed out, and Lana hadn't even come on yet. The crowd was actually more pushy during the opening act, and in-between his set and Lana's. When Lana came onstage things calmed down a little bit in terms of crowd movement (i.e. not as many huge waves of shoving), but the aggression of the girls there got worse.

 

I was disappointed that the stories were true too. My friend in Chicago who saw her warned me, and I didn't want to believe her, but everything she told me about her experience was just about exactly what I experienced. Somehow Lana has gotten a huge draw on the 18-and-under crowd, and these shows have turned out horrifying as a result— gaggles of mindless 10th grade Tumblr drones who, as you said, are hell-bent on sucking everything out of Lana and her image. I didn't realize she had stepped up into Katy Perry/Lady Gaga status— she never struck me as someone who pandered to a young tween crowd, but for reasons beyond me, it happened.  I didn't even realize she was on the radio until last year when someone told me she was— I never listen to the radio so I had no way of knowing. That seems to me to be when she started amassing the psychotic fans I saw at the show.

 

There was a pretty clear division of age at the concert, with a fraction being college-aged kids and older, and a disproportionately large number of tween girls with a cult mentality in flower crowns. The older kids were mature and respectful (i.e. the French girl next to my group and the guy with his girlfriend to my left), but the younger ones were absolutely rabid. I honestly wish her shows could be 21+. Since I was front row, I got to see every single person who was pulled out of the crowd by security, and ALL of them were girls and ALL of them looked like they were 16 and under. It felt to me like those girls should not have been there just for mere safety reasons.

[EvaDelRey 2]

The only thing I can think of after reading all these terrible experiences is just I hope I survive.

 

I saw Lana last year in Düsseldorf and it wasn't THAT crazy. I got pushed around (that's normal I guess) but it was fine and we were all singing along and having fun. Some girls fainted and there were some rude people but the majority was ok.

 

I hope German fans haven't changed into furious flower-crown wesring monsters as I will be attending her show in Berlin.

 

I'm really fucking scared now

[RonnieDRocks 146]

Some of the fans are totally immature and have no sense of respect for others. I love Lana's music and want to see her live, but I don't want to have to deal with all that bullshit lol. Plus, there always seems to be the big mouths that can't keep quiet so we can hear her sing. God job for protecting your friends.