Most people grow up attending concerts located in arenas with reserved seating and a snack vendor that caters to their needs every ten minutes. Then there are others who prefer going to music festivals, such as Summerfest and Country Thunder, where their motives lie in catching up with friends rather than enjoying to the live music itself. Before attending Lollapalooza in the summer of 2016, I had envisioned my experience to resemble that of the latter, relaxing amongst my best friends while listening to my favorite bands. Growing up, I had always dreamt of attending Lollapalooza, a hip music festival located in the center of downtown Chicago with hundreds of musicians playing throughout the three day event. It is an outdoor festival where …show more content…
We grew anxious in anticipation for the day that lay ahead, as neither one of us knew what to expect. We were sporting the classic Lollapalooza outfit, a low-cut, tight-fitting shirt with short shorts and new white converse shoes. We sprinkled sparkles on our chest and in our hair to give us that final look, so we would fit in with the other teens there. Moreover, the sun was scorching, and one could cut the humidity with a knife as we waited in the queue to enter the park. Underage teens had nervous looks on their faces as they frantically tried to find a place on their bodies to hide their alcohol, besides Jenna and me, of course. Once I reached the front of the line, I was vigorously patted down on my chest and around my hips by the security guards. I am still curious to this day how those teens were able to hide their beverages from the officers. Since our childhood, Jenna and I’s favorite activity has been to watch people from afar, otherwise known as “people-watching.” We saw crowds of underage teenagers walking up and down the streets, drinking beer, and smoking cigarettes with their cliques of friends. We shrugged off the debauchery of others and focused on the concerts that lied ahead. The anticipation increased throughout the day as me and Jenna became more and more excited to see our favorite artist, G-Eazy, later that
After the long wait to get in you found your seat and waited for the group who was first. You would figure that know one would be doing any drugs due to the search before you got in there, but I was wrong not even ten minutes before the show you could smell the pot in the air. That was one of the few things wrong with this wild and crazy concert. After it was over that was all you smelled like and you were feeling the contact buzz as it felt like things were moving in slow motion.
Residents of the town of Longmeadow are very aware that “Longmeadow teens are outperforming teens nationwide” in their consumption of alcohol. Committees have been formed within the community to eliminate the under-aged drinking problem. Many students interviewed at Longmeadow high school say that once they have adapted to a “party lifestyle”, or a lifestyle when one drinks every weekend or more, a breathalyzer is not going to end that habit. A school dance could be a fun place to meet with friends to socialize, hang out and dace, but many people feel that they cannot enjoy themselves as much with out drinking. One LHS student says “ I’d have more fun at a house party drinking that I would at an alcohol-free school function.” This idea may not be morally or legally correct, but it keeps many students from attending school dances. This is where the problem with the breathalyzer begins. Kids who want to drink will go to unsupervised environments rather than to a place where there are adults who could handle a serious situation should one ever occur. It is not legal for kids to drink because they are not capable of dealing with serious situations. The problem of stopping kids from drinking in Longmeadow is much too large for anyone to deal with, but drunken kids should have a safe place to go where they can be watched over.
But that is at Edison Mall only. They’re very expensive, too. When you go to Warped Tour you get music also. You also get to meet random people with the same music taste as you. At Warped there is a stage called the “Main Stage”.
On Monday March 25, some members of the baseball team, my girlfriend, and I traveled to Murray State University to watch a concert performed by Nelly and the St. Lunatics. It was a terrible night to go anywhere because it was raining and storming the whole way, but there was nothing that was going to stop us from going to the concert. We where all so hyped up about it and couldn’t wait to head out. My brother, who attends Murray State, had gotten us excellent seats about seventy-five feet away from the stage.
An article in Newsweek from 1965 included in the anthology Takin' it to the Streets provides a useful indicator of mainstream society's distrust of youth culture in general and drug culture in particular. Citing federal and FCC regulations banning the broadcast of "obscene, indecent, or profane material," the writer of this article appears to be absolutely scandalized by the increasing presence of double entendres in popular music. Here, amid mutterin...
My second weekend here at James Madison University, I was at a party with my friends off campus. Hundreds of kids flocked to the sidewalks near the apartment complexes. All of the upper classmen had given us one vital safety provision, which was to not step onto the street with a cup or beer in hand. I quickly noticed why they had told us this because the streets were swarming with police officers and two feet away on the sidewalks were hundreds of kids drinking right in front of them. During the party, I decided to take a stroll outside for some fresh air and there I saw something that I couldn’t believe. A freshman, perfectly fine, and by this I mean he was not drunk at all, began walking home on the street without a cup or beverage in hand. As soon as his toes touched the pavement two police officers on bikes jumped on him and began interrogating this poor young man. They began questioning him as they looked for any suspicious movements or actions made by the student. After about ten minutes of secret service-like interrogation, they whipped out a breathalyzer test. Clearly, the student failed because he was quickly taken away in hand cuffs in front of hundreds of James Madison students.
We knocked on the door of the off-campus apartment, as it opened we were confronted with the heavy stench of alcohol. A young girl was passed out on the living room floor, a pile of empty beer cans filled the kitchen sink, and the deafening music rattled the window panes. A group of girls managed to stumble past us. They waved goodbye to the host, who was handing drinks to me and my sister. It was not my first time drinking. In fact, everyone there was quite experienced – after all, it’s college. Half of the guests were completely drunk, and I had no problem with it. That is, until later that night when my sister locked herself in a room with a guy she had met only a week before. This prompted me to seriously consider the effects of alcohol. Would my sister have been able to see the danger of the situation had she been sober? Would the absence of alcohol have prevented the events of that night from occurring? These questions, along with the vivid memory of that night, fueled my examination of the complex social problem of underage drinking.
We’ve all seen them before. Maybe at a bus stop, in our schools, or at the coffee shop. “They” look odd enough to frighten a circus clown, but for some reason, they always smile when you look their way. Perhaps it’s that their hair is the color of the sunset or that their pants look like they could house a small family. It could be that their headphones seem permanently glued to their ears and that they’re never afraid to groove on the sidewalk. Whatever the reason, you know that “they” are not quite normal. You may call them “freaks,” or “punks,” or simply “those crazy kids.” But if you did, you’d be misled for “they” are not you’re average young people, no, “they” are ravers.
We often wonder why we act a certain way in certain places and there must be a reason why? Why is that we act a certain way when we go to concerts or when we go to the library? Through a showcase of articles, we will discover the reason why we act a particular way. This is because we are entering a liminal space that has its own set of rules and boundaries where people can act out differently than the social norms because it is acceptable. We will specifically be looking at how the punks and ravers of the ‘70s entered the liminal space and what they experienced while they were in that space, along with a ritual clown from a Native American tribe.
In his research Jay Macleod, compares two groups of teenage boys, the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. Both groups of teenagers live in a low income neighborhood in Clarendon Heights, but they are complete opposites of each other. The Hallway Hangers, composed of eight teenagers spend most of their time in the late afternoon or early evening hanging out in doorway number 13 until very late at night. The Brothers are a group of seven teenagers that have no aspirations to just hang out and cause problems, the Brothers enjoy active pastimes such as playing basketball. The Hallway Hangers all smoke, drink, and use drugs. Stereotyped as “hoodlums,” “punks,” or “burnouts” by outsiders, the Hallway Hangers are actually a varied group, and much can be learned from considering each member (Macleod p. 162). The Brothers attend high school on a regular basis and none of them participate in high-risk behaviors, such as smoke, drink, or do drugs.
We play music loudly with our friends and families at social gatherings and ultimately it creates a friendly and open atmosphere. Now the last thing we would think about would be that at one of these social events one of us may die. In recent years there have been more and more deaths and injuries at musical festivals all throughout the United States. Although the number is much lower than deaths and injuries from automotive accidents they should not be over looked. Music festivals are becoming more and more popular and people are flocking to festivals all around the United States. These music festivals in today’s society have turned into drug infested parties in which people’s live are endangered and people themselves are exposed to drugs and unsafe festival conditions.
Rawlinson, J. (2013). Music Festival Tourism Worldwide - International - June 2013. Retrieved 02 28, 2014, from Mintel Report: http://academic.mintel.com/display/643783/
Heavy metal music grabs a hold of rock’s most rudimentary elements; youth, rebellion, sex, fantasy, and a good time at all costs. It is directed towards the alienation and trauma that plagues adolescent life, particularly among the lives if teenage boys. They tend to see their lives as controlled by parents and teachers. For many others, it is a way to release frustration and anger. For instance, a heavy metal concert to those who like heavy metal, is not just a musical performance, full of elaborate costumes and settings. It is a community of teenagers who participate in a shared celebration of youth. (Ragland 1-2).
If someone were to ask people ever wanted to see almost every artist from any genre of music in one place? Of course, anyone would say yes, because most people haven't been to an event like the huge one that happens in California each year. This is an event many people save up all year to attend just maybe once in their life time. The Coachella Music and Arts Festival, it is one of the most talked about festivals that this generation knows about. It is like a whole new world for most people each time they attend.
There is an event that I just can describe as one of the most unique and memorable in my life: attending my first concert. After years of listening to Ron Pope’s music, watching his YouTube channel, and following all of his social media accounts, the satisfaction of seeing someone whose music has been the soundtrack to my life for so long was unreal. There were moments that I had to internally remind myself that this is, in fact, happening in real life. Being a dedicated (some may say eccentrically so) fan is tough work – and I was rewarded with two hours of pure magic for one night. Attending my first concert was a unique event that I will always remember fondly because of the atmosphere, the amazing performance and the sense of connection