Youngsters at concerts

the only thing I told my son (15) when I took him to his first PJ concert (this year in Hartford)was that other bands he sees after will pale in comparison. Before taking him, he thought Pearl Jam was "ok"....now he wants all my cd's and wants to know more about them........shame on me;)

Just thought I'd add this as a talking point. This is from yesterday's Sun newspaper:

GIG KILLING
A man of 38 was stabbed to death after a performance in the park by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. He is thought to have been walking to his car with his family when a row broke out with a group of men after the Rotary Club event in Southend, Essex on Saturday night. Police were yesterday quizzing two men aged 18 and 19.

I think that this is a tragedy, but it does show that you cannot put restrictions on certain kinds of performances. Who would have thought that the Royal Philharmonic would be the show that this kind of a thing would happen after. I know that this is not the OP point in anyway, but feel that it is relevant to the idea of not allowing types of people to go to gigs on the off chance of bad things happening. We could all be run over tomorrow and that would not be changed by having youngsters being chaperoned correctly at a rock show. We need to help educate the younger people in our society on how to behave. My neices and nephew were all very impressed on Friday about the fact we were no where near front, but when Ed asked everyone to take three steps back they did at by us as well. This is important to see at a young age because they will learn to respect people around them. Our youngsters that were with us have all said that the experiance was one of the best in their life so far and they cannot wait for PJ to come back.

I think that this has been a great thread and am very impressed with the lack of flaming. Hats of to all contributers!!!!!1

Black Diamond wrote:

I have taken each of my boys to 3 shows each. I would not take them to a GA show (they wanted to go to Europe). EVERYONE around us was terrific to them and I made sure not to spoil someone else's good time either. I got questions on what is that smell, was even offered to take a hit or two (thanks kindly but I stopped that with fatherhood). I know my kids and they are appropriate to go to shows (as a matter of fact my 7 year old knows more about the band than I do, he did his first grade full year report on the band). If I did not think they could handle it I would not take them. A tremendous bonding experience as we have traveled all over together to see the band.

But this is a parental decision and also as a parent you should know that others don't behave like you do and you have to accept it. I do at PJ shows but there are some bands and arenas that I would not take them to.

So I shouldn't be telling them that our venues have seats too ... you know you want to bring them to Europe

I don't agree with taking your kid for your own sake... meaning if you don't take them, you can't go so you drag them along even though they clearly do not want to be there/can't handle the noise/etc. That's just selfish.

BUT... if I had an 8-year-old or something who was a Pearl Jam fan or fan of any other band I liked and I knew they could handle that environment and enjoy it, heck yes I would take them! I've seen little kids rockin' out at shows (most recently MSG II) and was thinking I couldn't wait to have my own kids and get to expose them to awesome music. Hopefully PJ will still be around by that time ha!

Oh plus my about to be 10 year old wants a guitar for his birthday and the 7 year old wants to play bass like Jeff... They both have tried their hand at writing their own lyrics too...

Claireack wrote:

My son (13) has been to festivals, concerts big and small. He now hates any music I like (especially PJ) and wants me to take him to see Owl City - will have to look them up, not sure who they are :? .

As long as you keep your kids safe it's fine.

He'll come around... My first concert was Nickelback when I was thirteen, and by fifteen I was seeing artists like Pearl Jam, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy.

matabele wrote:

Like I said I knew I would get flack over this but the point is being missed entirely. Read the recent reviews of the PJ concerts, bottles being thrown, people jumping from balconies and all the rest of the ignorant behaviour. While some of you might have been taken to concerts when you were young and have turned out to be productive members of society the fact of the matter is that a 2, 6 or 10 year old should be in bed getting a good nights sleep. It always amazes me when it comes to parents and the my kid is fine attitude, if everybody's kids are being brought up well where are all these little scumbags coming from, just yesterday two 15 year olds were arrested for beating a homeless man to death and the direction society is heading backs my argument up. But forget all that because my main point is about life coming at us in stages, I am so glad my parents did not take me to see bands when I was that young, it was a brand new world opening up at what I feel was the right age. The first music show I saw was the Last Waltz with my buddies in a movie theater at the age of 15, my first live concert was at the age of 17 and I cherished it because I could almost understand what was going on, talent of the Pearl Jam scale is a lot to take in. I know a great many fans are in agreement with me over this but will not post because God help you if you criticize peoples parenting skills.

these are kids that cant find any sort of outlet usually. music was my biggest most helpful outlet. music kept me out of trouble and kept me sane. and concerts just helped expand my love for music

You're saying kids shouldn't be exposed to all kinds of things that go on at concerts (eg. drugs, booze, violence, etc) as it could turn them into little scumbags and thugs. Will you stop smoking dope and drinking when you have kids? Will they not watch TV, movies, news where violence is rife? Will you not let them go to school before a certain age so they are not exposed to all kinds of bad things?

You mention a good night's sleep. It's not like people take their kids to gigs every night. A late night every once in a while doesn't hurt. As a kid, haven't your parents had parties at home that went on late? Maybe you should have been in bed, but as a kid, you're not really sleeping, are you? Have you never had a late night?

If a kid enjoys a gig (and not just saying yes to the parents), fair enough - at whatever age, as long as they are safe.

Though you tried to 'rephrase' things, I believe that your main problem is that it annoys you and you 'can't let your hair down' (smoke dope?). Not sure whether you worry about them - that's the parents' responsibility. They're just in your way.