2024-07-27 09:58:01
Night and day in the cold or under the burning sun to be in the front line. On the back of their hand they sport a number written in black, the appropriate sign, the ‘brand’ that establishes the importance in the queue. Born at the doctor, born at the post office. These are the people who ‘camp’ at concerts, who braves the weather with the sole goal of being the first to cross the gates to secure the coveted barrier. Concertgoers can be divided into two categories: those who show up right before the headliner arrives, and those who sleep all night, often for days, outside the venue to get the best view. . The wonder that has come from the times of Beatlemania but which for some years, especially after the Covid pandemic, has been angry.
“It has its roots in Western society since the explosion of big concerts and rock music in the 1960s or sea gatherings with many musicians like Woodstock – he told AdnKronos Mauro Ferraresesociologist and peer at Iulm University, Milan -. There is a desire on the part of young people, whose age is 16 to 35, to feel connected and physically close to an event. If we ask them why they do it, they answer that the wait is beautiful like a concert“. If at one time you can arrive a few hours before the start of the show and still have the best view, now the camping rule prevails. Camping has become important not only for Taylor Swift fans (the famous ‘Swifties’ in Milan are in tents in front of San Siro for days with strict rules to respect and many friendship bracelets’ as a symbol of sister sister ) but even for the most hardcore metalheads. For devotees of the camping culture, the camping experience is an important part of going to a concert. A ritual to ‘obey’ and submit to.
Camper fandom can generate levels of hierarchy for the one who camped for a night, securing a place in the barrier, making a story on Instagram from under the level of risks of creating competitive powers. Also the fact that extreme temperatures can cause health problems during exposure. Many people often feel sick or faint after spending hours in the sun without drinking water or eating. There is no shortage of local and herd behaviors. “I think everything is there, including bullying, harassment and indifference – explained Ferraresi -. Efforts that are right but perhaps easy in self-control are then protected by the strongest law or the most dominant.” Traditions that, according to the expert, are children of the time. “In the 60s there is another spirit and another ‘Society, not this terrorism. There is a desire for community among younger children now. If in the 60s the watchwords were peace, love and music, today they don’t exist and there is more and more room for wrong behaviors.”
Campers describe the environment as “friendly and warm”, even “supportive” but once you get through the gates it may happen that moments of tension arise with those who allow themselves to arrive just before the start of the show. Anyone who dares to make space between the empty spaces created in the crowd is in danger of being destroyed. “At the Opa concert in Florence a person in the seventh row claimed his right to see the show from where he wanted. He made his way, he went to the other way and he was in danger of being attacked – Marco R., 47 old year said. , veteran of live events – The girl complained that she had spent 12 hours in line and replied that she had been driving for 5 hours, that she had paid for the same ticket and wanted to stop wherever she was. want.” Who is right? But above all, is this really how you show your loyalty to your favorite artist?
“Always when the gates open the most powerful successes and there is frustration, a little anger and this is how conflicts arise – underlines Ferraresi -. When the numbers are divided, competition but business transactions can arise, of exchange numbers in the case that you want to make money and those that happen due to spontaneity and nothing to pay.” One of the reasons for the great nature of the camping event is also the ‘TikTokification’ of concerts. “The media can produce effective techniques and the power of new media, especially in the young audience, increases the desire to imitate and experience those facts – points out Ferraresi -. Also because on TikTok only the positive aspects of this phenomenon not the bad ones.”
According to 27-year-old Marzia C., a dedicated Metallica fan, there are no toxic forces in the camps. “It’s not a joke to sleep outside, you spend time together, you make new acquaintances, you sing and dance while you stay, it’s like camping or traveling.
a – he points -. If you want to be in the front line you know that you have to endure heat, cold, rain or wind: sometimes we bring warm blankets, ponchos or inflatable mattresses but the beauty is that there is a small world of knowledge and solidarity we created”. The traditional order acts as the lowest common denominator in this case. “Without saying a bad word, we are faced with a ritual here, as if it were a service but for music. – said Ferraresi -. Religion is not only what the churches give, but it is also of the world, the religion of the consumer society and the values that our society brings with it. Processes that also have ethnic elements within them.”
There are exceptions. In Dublin last May, organizers of a Rammstein concert at the Rds Arena banned fans from camping overnight and queuing in the early hours of the morning. Should there be laws in Italy too or should this event be prevented? “Il
the point is that since everything is spontaneous and self-controlled, these gatherings can cause problems of forced coexistence, pollution and pollution. – noted Ferraresi and is also linked to aspects of petty crime. In my opinion it is a phenomenon that can find two solutions: the most basic is to prevent it. Another, however, is to control it and manage it, perhaps through real cooperation between local companies and rock stars.” If everything goes smoothly “it will be a nice way of building relationships and having moments of social sharing”.
(by Federica Mochi)
#ready #front #row #concerts