Anakinnnn said:
There is a certain logic to that. You're not at an easy-listening show, it's a metal show... unless there's some physical impediment barring it, you should want to get up and be a active. I'm not saying this from the perspective that everyone has to agree with me, but this particular difference in perspective is a big part of the reason why this problem occurs.
Anakinnnn said:
To be blunt, no you shouldn't expect to sit together... nor should anyone else. When you get right down to the core of the issue, people wanting to sit together is the fundamental basis of the problem you're having. If everyone was content to sit anywhere, there would be no need for saving seats at all. But no, people want to sit near their friends, and so the problem arises.
Anakinnnn said:
I don't know whether it's crazy or asinine, but it does put you in a difficult situation. When you come down to it, you have to figure out whether you're a "sitter" or a "stander". If you stand all the time, you don't care about seats anyway, and if you sit all the time, once you've planted your ass in a seat, you're there for the duraton, and no one is going to displace you. But if you're 50/50, and want to go back and forth many times, you're in the most difficult situation. Crazy or not, that is the reality of it.
Anakinnnn said:3. A bag is a completely fine, tried and true method, of claiming a seat for the entire show.
4. A single individual saving multiple or even rows of seats for others who will return "at some point" is considered by many to be perfectly legitimate.
5. The time of someone returning still seems vague at best. To some it means five minutes and then it's fair game...to others, it means that seat is saved for the duration of the show but you MIGHT be able to sit there for a little while until that person returns if you ask nicely.
6. Apparently people believe I have run out of things to bitch about although I have never bitched about an aspect of the show except that Enchant hasn't played yet.
7. That even though this metal show supposedly has the vibe of "one big happy metal family", don't expect the same family vibe courtesy in responses when posting about a personal problem occuring at the show that the promoter and crew may or may not be aware of.
My post was quite legitimate to me and I feel that it is an issue I have experienced every year I have attended. I brought it up so that Glenn and his crew knew that this problem has existed for me and maybe others. Is there a solution? I don't know. That's why I brought it up here. I felt like I had no disdain or indignation in my post. I was merely stating a problem with varied circumstances and was hoping to hear some solutions other than "pounding sand." But thanks for that one. I know what was really thought of my post at least.
Dustin mirrored experiences similar to mine when he and his pregnant wife were not able to find a seat and no one wanted to give up their saved seats. Apparently the family vibe exists out there as long as you aren't asking for someone to give up a saved seat. I am by nature a pretty passive guy and certainly don't look very foreboding. In turn, I have never been rude or obnoxious to anyone at the show until about the 10th time in a night I try to sit down in a LARGE section of empty seats and was told to get up. Even then, I have tried to reason with people and tell them my plight only to be harassed and cussed at and in one instance even mildly threatened if me and my group didn't get up after we had been sitting there for 45 minutes. Yes, I do feel the love of the metal family...
Basically, as far as I can tell, the "solution" is for me to bring my own bags/items/clothes/pizza crust/beer or whatever to place in the 4 seats I want at the beginning of each day and tie them to the chairs. Therefore, I am guaranteed a spot for the entire show whether I am there or not since that seems like a typical belief. I don't believe that is fair to others who shared my same plight before, but hey...."when in Rome..." right?
I just have to say I am kind of shocked at a lot of the responses I got. I really did believe I was trying to be the courteous one in my mind by NOT trying to save my own seats whether I am there or not. But so be it. I know where I stand (and sit) with the responses I got.
Thanks everyone. Cheers and rock on! Seeya at the show....center section, 3rd row up, 4 center seats right behind the sound board. Gold Badge does have it's privileges! If you don't see me, just ask my hot dog bun politely to sit there while I am gone, perhaps he will allow it....but only for a little while.
Really man, at some point, you just have to stop being so worried about everything. This is what I do... I don't have any kind of party with me, so I don't have anyone to save me a seat anyway. The one friend who usually comes with me to ProgPower is a huge pussy and mostly just sits through the whole show, so basically I just meet up with him after the show. But that's OK... I 'm not looking for anyone to save me a seat... I'm mostly a "stander". When I'm at a metal show, I want to be up front, headbang, etc. But hey, it's an 8 hour a night show. During the course of it, I might need a little rest every now and then. Sometimes between bands, I don't need to go outside, and I just want to sit down until the next band comes on. Even sometimes during a band I'm not that familiar with, I might want to sit for 5 to 6 minutes. I used to be concerned with what seats were potentially being saved, but as you pointed out, that's a ridiculous proposition. Why? Not because there is a lack of unoccupied seats. At any given time, there are a large number of unoccupied seats, but the majority of them are "claimed" in some manner. So what I decided about 2 years ago is that when I need to sit, I simply sit in any empty seat. And by empty, I mean it does not currently have a person in it. A bag, a coat, or a pizza crust is utterly meaningless to me... it gets moved, and I sit.
By all rights, I have now claimed the seat. There's no rule I'm violating by continuing to sit there as long as I feel like it, regardless of who else thinks the seat is "theirs". But, surprise, not once has the claimant ever returned while I've been sitting there. Now, there have, however, been times when I would sit down, and someone would lean over from several seats away and tell me that the seat was being saved. Now, as far as I'm concerned, I'm well within my rights to tell this person to fuck off. There was no one sitting in the seat when I got there, and now I'm sitting there, tough shit. However, is it really worth it to get into a big argument / fight? I, for one, don't want to spend my time arguing with some nimrod over a small, uncomfortable, red chair. Not when there are so many other small, uncomfortable, red chairs available (though likely "claimed" as well). That one particular chair may be of extreme importance to that person, and I might really be pissing in his cheerios if I denied him access to it, but to me, it's just a random chair.
So, I just tell (not ask) the multiple-seat-saver guy that I need to use the chair right now, and I'll move if the prospective occupant returns while I'm still there. From my perspective, I don't care if I have to move 3 - 4 times during one set break, from "saved" seat to "saved" seat... I'll move every time the "occupant" returns and sit in yet another one, until that "occupant" returns.
In reality though, not once has a seat "occupant" ever returned in the time I've been sitting in a seat. And sometimes I've been there for almost half an hour during set breaks (like, when the headlining band is taking forever to set up, and my feet need a little bit of a rest after standing through 4 bands already).
So, there's no reason for you to be worried that you're the asshole for taking a seat that was saved by a bag or a pizza crust or some guy 6 seats away. As far as I'm concerned, if someone does return, they should be appreciative that I am willing to move somewhere else and let them have the seat they think belongs to them. I'm being generous in doing so... I don't really have to.
and no one else here holds rank, well except for Glenn
