Pay to Stand

If you told me I had to come to work today and stand for 10 or 12 hours straight I will tell you to piss off. Not only that, but then you charge me anywhere from $50 to $100 to do it, plus if I get hungry I have to walk half a mile and pay $6.00 for a sausage. Sounds like what would happen if Kerry King took over the world to me: when in fact I did just that three times this summer. WILLINGLY!!

Heavy Metal Bloggers have to do one major thing to learn their trade, go to concerts. Well in this genre most of the concerts turn out being festivals with general admission. Even with media accreditation you end up standing most of the time waiting for your turn to get in and get your pics. So why do we do it?

If we wouldn’t do it everyday for pay, why is it when someone with great music gets on stage your willing to do it and pay them? I thought I had an answer, but I really don’t. Its fun to a certain extent, but we were seated at Disturbed and I had just as much fun as I did getting elbowed in the face at AC/DC. Country festivals allow you to bring chairs, jazz festivals have seating, pop concerts have little kids you could stand on, but Heavy Metal is an all out war at the front of the stage. You can sit down, but your going to lose you spot and get trampled.

Now that I talk it out I may have just answered my own question. It becomes a competition. A competition to see your musical hero on stage as close as possible so you can brag to your friends. People tell me all the time how jealous they are of the pics we get and the experiences we have by the stage, I must admit it feels good when people say that, but is that all there is to it?

I look back to the days of Micheal Jackson and the women screaming and crying and just trying to get close to him. (little did they know at 17 they were already to old and female), you don’t see that at a Heavy Metal Concert. The thought of some girl crying over Job for a Cowboy is funny, but unrealistic.

I guess that brings up the final question that I will leave with you. Does each group of fans from each different genre “pay to stand” for different reasons or is there on common reason I’m missing?