BY MIKEY MIGO
This past Saturday I attended what was the best concert I've ever been to. For a huge music fan, that's quite a high. One thing that I took in was the crowd. Maybe because the crowd has so much energy to it that I couldn't help but value the experience even that much more. Everyone shared the experience and seemed pretty cool with each other. I started to make me think about a normal concert crowd. Not so much the crowd that night, but just all the concerts I've been to of any band or of any professional wrestling event I've been to, local and big.
I don't know why my mind works that way, but it was as if I had this odd realization that pretty much all wrestling crowds and concert crowds are the same way no matter what you're there to see. They tour, sell merch, put on live productions, and provide entertainment. Some concert tours have the same songs every night just as wrestling has the same matches. There are tons of parallels between the two genres of entertainment and that doesn't stop with the crowd. Really, the same kinds of fans are at just about every professional wrestling and rock show. It's not like the movie "The Warriors" where there are separate gangs or anything like that. It's just a few key specific and harmless character traits that I've noticed of the masses.
People do go to concerts to enjoy their favorite bands and wrestling products/performers. With that there are normally a few typical breeds of mentality. A lot of people do and say these things without even realizing it. I think it's probably just human nature to try to "mark your turf" or provide awareness of themselves. The thing here is that it all depends on the show for a lot of people. I don't like say a "Black Eye Peas" more than "The Roots" so at their show I'd be less excited and probably not be as into musically as someone who's a fan. Same would go if I was forced to go to a TNA show. I'd care more about the show if it were a WWE one. So I'm thinking all live show fans, including myself, are guilty of a few of these traits at some point or another. From my experience of going to my fair share of concerts and wrestling events, this is who we are and what we have to deal with.
"Nerdy Fan" (The Smark/IWC)
There's always the casual intellectual/"bigger fan than you" dominance procedure. These people could be the nicest in the world, but they'll still ask the same common questions. "How many times have YOU seen them on this tour?" or "Were you at (place random event from back when the band was first learning their instruments/the wrestlers were still learning arm drags)" or "I heard at the last stop on tour they played (place obscure B-side here)"! It's as if they're testing your knowledge and love for the band. Wrestling is the same. You hear people in line say "I've been to (place large sum here) shows" or "I saw this shoot tape with (place mid card wrestler from 10 years ago here) and blah blah blah". It's almost as if they're asking for the secret "we're the real fans" handshake.
"Alpha Male Fan"(The Obnoxious Smark/Asshole)
Of course there's the physical dominance. That's not even just in the pit anymore. Pits can be brutal, but for the most part the guys in the pit are all in their own little "Fight Club Heaven". The "pushers" are the real danger. The ones who show up five minutes before the show and eventually push, shove and basically maim the tired and worn out obsessive fans from the front of the rail. It's always seems to be some normal typical drunk alpha male type. They get up there and have the time of their lives and go on to tell the story of their strenuous feat. That's just the concert people. With wrestling, the obnoxious asshole will shout at the wrestler using their REAL NAME (oooh, bad assssss) or they'll be vulgar douche bags despite the innocent children around them who don't know a Carly Colon from their long division. They paid for their ticket and they don't give two shits about the rest of the crowd.
Obsessive
This is simple. The stalker type goes here. It's the people who show up at dawn with coffee, a sleeping bag, and board games. It's cool you're excited, but you could show up later and still have a perfectly fine vantage point from the stage. You don't HAVE to be in front. Sweat and water bottles can fly pretty far. I see this with wrestling shows too. This, I don't understand AT ALL. Professional wrestling shows, at least on a respectable level, has assigned seating. No matter how early you are, you're not going to experience anything different than the guy in before bell time. There are also those who just go a little too far with their appearance. Writing a wrestler or band's name on your face with glitter isn't cool, cute, or fun. It's lame. Nothing looks cool in glitter.
Clueless
There's always the person who's there, but doesn't care at all about the show in front of them. Maybe they were dragged along or just there because it's something to do, but these people are oblivious. These people just flat out ruin the experience of anyone who is within listening distance. Some of the more curious on-lookers will always ask a lot of questions about the wrestlers, the band, and pretty much every little thing. The little things that are so obvious that you cringe more and more with each question. "Of course THAT is the good guy and THAT is the bad guy." "Of course you've heard this song before, I've been playing it around you for months." Then there are those who are completely aloof. They're not paying attention and are texting the whole time. Despite the event in front of them, they still take it upon themselves to talk loudly, gotta make sure they're heard, about personal affairs. I can deal with people asking questions and being interested in the show, but to flat out disregard it? Criminal, I say! Criminal!
The Enhancer
Speaking of deviant activity, is the experience just not quite cutting it? This is where "the enhancer" comes in. At wrestling shows it's more common for "the enhancer" to drink a lot of cheap beer. They'll just keep drinking them down, with each one getting more and more into it. This is common at concerts as well, but you find a lot more recreational fun. There are those who smoke weed before and often AT the shows. Your nose wasn't born yesterday. You know it's there. Pretty much any drug that's used at recreation can be found at most concerts. I'm not anti-experimentation, but some of the group gives the rest a bad name. Those who keep shouting a little too loudly to their friends about "I think it's kicking in" or "This is going to be so bad ass on these SHROOMS!"… Yeah, way to be awkward.
"That Guy"
When I think of this person my brain automatically goes back to "Waynes World". The rule of "don't be the guy wearing the shirt of the band you're there to see" came into my young life. Wrestling fans are obviously a lot different on this rule, but not out of the blue. There's those who show up with replica championship belts to hold onto and show off all night or even worse, those who come wearing luchadore masks. Those guys are the creepiest and should be monitored by someone. Then, in both cases, are those who want the world to know where their headed by blasting the band's music or wrestling theme songs as loud as possible from their radios. That's a bit much. You're going to see it LIVE in a little while, why take away from the impact? These people aren't doing any harm to anyone and are just having fun. It's just I'm a mid-level snob about some things and I know for a fact that I'm not alone.
"The A-Typical Casual Fan"
This is who we all think we are for the most part. If we're a fan, we have entitlement. If we're not and still there, we're aloof and sometimes kindly/sometimes not at all impressed or at least respectful. The casual fan might own the CDs and watch the TV show as much as they can, but they don't have all the imports and random reissues or shoot tapes. They'll have maybe a shirt or two, but not a wardrobe dedicated to the cause. The wrestling mark, like a concert mark doesn't follow the backstage gossip of the show and are just there to have a good time and enjoy themselves. While that's perfectly true in most cases, we're kidding ourselves if we deny that we don't normally fit into at least one of these categories. It's really ALL the same.
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