Crowded concerts can cause concern

Sexual harassment at concerts is all too common, and the loudness and chaos of live music have allowed a lot of instances of assault to fly under the radar, until now.

The #MeToo movement is bringing past experiences to the forefront and putting artists and concert goers on high alert to keep everyone safe and comfortable.

Women getting groped in the crowd is one of the most common forms of sexual assault at concerts. At one show, a friend of mine was wearing a crop top, and a stranger grabbed her side before quickly disappearing into the sea of people.

Others have experienced this in tightly packed general admission crowds where it’s easy to get trapped, and where men suddenly think it’s okay to press themselves up against women’s backs in a sexual manner. There are also a lot of cases of women being inappropriately touched while crowd surfing.

Artists on stage have a better view of what’s happening in the crowd, so many bands keep an eye out for people who may be unsafe.

One example of this came from Sam Carter, vocalist of the UK metal band Architects. He saw a man grab at a crowd surfer’s breast, and when the song finished Carter furiously ranted about how that behavior is completely unacceptable, as seen in a viral video of the incident.

Carter concluded with, “It is not your fucking body, and you do not fucking grab at someone. Not at my fucking show.”

Similarly, at another concert, Brendan Ekstrom, guitarist for the rock band Circa Survive, saw a man trying to flirt with and forcibly kiss a woman in the crowd, and asked security to check on the situation. When security didn’t understand what Ekstrom was trying to point out, he left the stage during the band’s set to try to resolve it, but then couldn’t find the people he had seen.

While sexual harassment and assault most commonly happen between crowd members at shows, another element to this discussion includes fans making artists uncomfortable.

Last year, a man jumped on stage and assaulted indie-rock band Alvvays’ vocalist/guitarist Molly Rankin by attempting to kiss her while she was performing.

Even more common than instances like that are the actions of fans in the front row at general admission concerts, where the crowd is pressed up against the stage. In 2017, there were a lot of times where I saw young female fans trying to grab the legs, arms, and even genitals of band members until it got so excessive and uncomfortable that they had to be called out and humiliated by the band so they would stop.

In other cases, people of the same demographics were yelling inappropriate things at band members who were at least ten years older than them. Sometimes fans directly yell sexual advances, call men “daddy,” or shout the always uncomfortable, “I want to have your babies.” Other times this harassment comes in the form of the crowd chanting for band members to strip when they mention that it’s warm on stage.

All of these things make most performers visibly uncomfortable, yet so many people forget that it’s wrong because of the mental separation between fans and their idols. The reality is that artists are just people too, and should be treated as such.

The other angle on sexual harassment and assault at concerts is the most controversial – musicians making fans uncomfortable. When these instances of sexual assault, coercion, and much more come to light, victims are often immediately shut down by fans of the musician who are in denial that their “fave” would ever do such a thing, because they had a normal interaction with them in the past.

These situations usually happen as a result of artists abusing their positions of power, and manipulating adoring fans (often those who are underage) into performing sexual acts, and sending nude photographs or videos.

When it comes down to it, sexual assault and harassment are constantly happening at concerts. Along with not allowing abusive, manipulative artists to have a platform, bystander intervention is one of the key ways to keeping concerts a safe place. It’s up to each and every one of us to speak up if we see someone in an unsafe or uncomfortable situation.