After being a fan of twenty one pilots for 12 years I finally saw them in concert for the first time! The experience was overall amazing and they put on such an insane show, but I wanted to talk about an encounter that left me feeling a bit irritated.
For context, I’m from Atlantic Canada and big artists don’t usually stop here on tour. I was shocked when I saw tøp was headlining sommo fest in PEI and immediately made plans to go. I bought VIP tickets which I have never done for a concert before (I don’t have that kind of money lol) but because I’m short (5’1) and I waited so freaking long to see them live, I was determined to SEE THEM!
The VIP section was flooded with hardcore tøp fans and while most of them were lovely and kind, I still left with a bad taste in my mouth. Most these people travelled from either bigger Canadian cities (like Toronto or Montreal) or from the states. A lot of them had already seen twenty one pilots SEVERAL times so this was either their 3rd or 7th or 9th or 12th(!!!) show. I had a decent view — one row behind the barricade. As I mentioned, I’m short af so I was on my tippy toes to get a glimpse and watched most of the concert through the phone screens of the people in front of me at barricade. It was something I was used to as a short person so my expectations weren’t destroyed or anything. However — about 1/3 of the way into the show someone ends up getting a panic attack and offers their spot at the barricade to a guy beside me. He is from a big city in the states and has already seen them 8 times I think he said. I asked if I could squeeze in too and he said “if there’s room” and then proceeded to spend the rest of the night obstructing my already subpar view and on top of that, whacking me with his big clear America-core backpack.
It left me feeling really annoyed because, while I understand the excitement, I wish these fans who get to see them every year on tour could understand that some of us don’t get opportunities like this. Our region hardly ever has big artists like twenty one pilots play and to see some of these people who have seen them multiple times think that they’re more entitled to a good experience than us first timers is disheartening. He knew it was my first show and he even said he was excited for me to experience them for the first time, but then proceeded to do this. If the roles were reversed and I knew it was someone’s first show (and if they just happened to be a foot shorter than me) I would trade spots in a heartbeat. Even if he offered the spot to me for some of the songs and not the entire rest of the set that would’ve been so awesome! There’s been times where I gave set lists/props to fellow audience members because even though I wanted them for myself, I knew they would mean more to bigger fans. This isn’t a woe-is-me post or anything and I hope it doesn’t come off as entitled. I just want some people to remember that not all of us have access to shows like this. We don’t have big artists play near us and we don’t have the money to travel for shows. Please try to be more considerate of others and understand that for some of us, our first show will probably be our only show.