Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Another Letter from the UM Mailbag

Dear Mr. Urban,

Just recently I was visiting your website and seen a topic posted in the monkeyville forum titled "Behavior at Concerts - Getting Scarier."  Just in case you do not get informed of what is said on your fan site, try going to the search and finding the thread.  You might find it to be some interesting reading...permitting you care about your fans the way you say you do.  I realize, as I'm sure many others do, that you want your fans to have a good time.  However, there needs to be a limit to the freedom you are allowing them to have at your concerts. 

First and foremost, people are getting hurt, and not just young people, but your elderly fans as well.  It's nice that you allow fans to come up to the stage, but you have got to limit this to the first couple of rows.  Your fans come running down from everywhere in an arena from the 14th row to the nosebleed sections because YOU tell security to let them come up.  Many, and I do repeat, MANY of your fans come charging in like a herd trying to get up to the stage and don't care who they knock over in the process.  People are getting hurt!!! 

Secondly, while I have lucked out and usually have gotten very good seats, there are fans that go through ticket brokers and pay extremely high prices for seats in the first couple of rows.  Do you really feel it's fair for those fans to have a ton of people standing in front of them?  Would you like it?  If they pay for 1st row, they should not have anyone in front of them except you and your band.  I had 2nd row seats at a fair one year to one of your concerts one time but it was actually about 4th row by the time people came up there.  I've seen it much worse than that in arenas.  At another concert several years ago my husband and I had front row seats.  We went to use the restroom after the opening act, and by the time we came back, we couldn't even get to our front row seats.  When we started working our way through the crowd, YOUR fans were yelling at us.  When I told them we had front row seats and asked them where their seats were, their reply was "Keith don't care.  He says we can come down to the stage."  That's wrong!!  There's no debating how wrong that is.  Your fans will only listen to you, and you tell them to come down without giving one thought to the people who have seats in the first couple of rows.  It doesn't matter if they lucked out and got good seats through Ticketmaster or if they paid a high price through a broker.  They are entitled to not have your fans, most of which are irresponsible teenagers who think if you see them that they are going to get lucky with you, come shoving and pushing their way to the front.  They didn't pay for 4th row or 5th row.  They paid for 1st row, 2nd row, etc.  Most of your fans are immature, irresponsible, and have no regard for anyone they run over or who they are standing in front of.  Your target audience shouldn't be hormonal teenage girls.  Leave that to Bieber!!!  However, since you do attract a younger crowd, please, for the love of God, start telling them to act like adults and put a stipulation on which fans you let come up to the stage.  Someone is going to get seriously hurt, and if you encourage fans to come up to the stage, you are equally to blame as the fans who come charging in and hurt someone.  In fact, I can't just blame it on the young teenagers and 20-year-olds.  There are older fans that do it too because you say it's okay.  Most of your fans who appreciate your music and not JUST your looks, are getting fed up. 

Also, fans are standing on their seats because you tell them it's okay to do so.  Hello!!!  Not only is someone going to get hurt, but the people behind them cannot see.  Fans will not keep paying to go to your concerts if they are going to get trampled on or cannot see because of someone standing on their seat.  Is it going to take someone going to the hospital, or even worse, someone breaking their neck because someone standing on a chair falls on them before something is done?  Please, stop with the free-for-all.  I realize some country artists are going to general admission, and that is a horrible idea.  People are getting hurt at those too, and fights are occuring more and more.  Country music has evolved, but it doesn't mean the artists have to be irresponsible and do things that allow others to get hurt.  Save that for the rockers with mosh pits.  If your a teenage fan then I suppose they think it's cool, and if that's the kind of following you want (nothing but teens and 20s), then by all means go with the flow.  However, if you want a good fan base and good ticket sales without people getting hurt or cops breaking up fights, then speak up.  The ones who don't like it aren't worth having as fans anyway.  Your loyal fans will always be your fans unless you continue with this.  More and more of your loyal fans are starting to avoid your concerts because of everything I have just said.  This isn't the first time I have read this either on YOUR fan club website.  There are just more who are speaking up.  Your fans will continue to try and get as close as they can unless YOU set limits and let those limits be known to security so that they can stop this.  By the way, it isn't just senior citizens complaining of this on your website.  Many of your fans including ones in their 30s, 40s, 50s, etc., are complaining.  The ones who aren't complaing and like the fact that you allow this will be all for what you do until they themselves or someone they are with gets hurt.  Lets not forget, their are elderly people, as well as kids at your concerts.  Do you really want a child to be harmed because your immature, hormonal crazed fans don't care who they run over?  Do you really want anyone to get hurt?  No?  Well, it's too late.  There have already been several hurt in the last few years at your concerts.  All you can do is start setting boundaries, i.e., only the first 2 rows are allowed at the stage.  Everyone else is to remain where their seats are.  If you don't, then that speaks volumes!!

Sincerely,

A Fan

P.S.  I wanted to mention before you or your fans blame the behavior at your concerts on alcohol, that is not the problem here.  While alcohol may add fuel to the fire for some of your fans' behavior, it is not to blame for the majority of fans trying to get up front.  When reading through that thread, some acknowledge that the problem is because you tell fans they can do whatever they want, i.e., come up front by the stage, stand on their seats, and also tell security to not stop them from doing this.  However, there are also fans of yours that posted in that thread that they believe it's the alcohol that is the problem.  That is a bunch of crap.  For anyone who wants to dispute that, let them read the threads for your latest concerts.  You will see in many of the posts a statement that says something like "I managed to get up front."  What does that say?  It says that your fans worked their way in front of people so they could get as close as possible.  I've seen this in MANY reviews of your concerts on your Monkeyville forum.  Were those fans drunk?  Fans cannot blame this on alcohol and then turn around and do the exact same thing that they blamed on drinking.  That's a double standard if I ever did here one.  When other fans see a fan of yours post that they managed to get close or managed to get up by the stage, then other fans on your website need to call them out on it.  How many of your fans who manage to get good seats, i.e, first or second row, would tolerate others coming down and standing in front of them.  It's just wrong, and I hope that you read this, or at least someone you know reads this, and that you understand what is being done at your concerts.  I also forgot to mention that your ticket prices vary through Ticketmaster based on where the seats are at.  Do you think it's fair that someone who paid, for example, $25.00 for a seat is allowed to come down by the stage where those people paid $75.00 for a seat?  

2 comments:

Tara said...

Its not fair but on his last major tour the one with Swifty a lot of the audience left after her show and that led to a lot of people going on the floor. The arenas let it happen too its just not Keith. They can stop people and don't. I try to not get tickets on the floor- I get tired of the too tall people the drunk college age girls and the people who really don't know Keith or his music standing around having conversations while he is singing.

Hatti said...

Well I don't think we will have to worry about that soon. This won't even really be a concert season...and another terrible album like the last he won't be doing concerts!! He'll be sitting on what ever TV show will take him!! ((giggles)) He can always become a guitar instructor!! ((giggles)))