Industry Insights: Let’s Cancel Camping Culture
To combat the rising exclusivity around the concert experience, fans turn to sidewalk camping in hopes of door tickets, but even the best-intentioned risk ruining it for everyone else.
Industry Insights explores the inner workings of the greater music industry, and what they mean for artists and fans alike.
Written by Deborah Hill
Illustrated by Joy Boykin
Connection-starved music lovers buzzed at the news of post-lockdown tour dates and rescheduled stadium experiences like a beacon of light at the end of the otherwise miserable pandemic tunnel. At the urging of their favorite artists, many flocked to vaccination sites and bought masks in bulk to minimize the overall health risk of entering untested COVID waters. Others saved up money, already thinking about the perfect mosh pit outfit and the merch that would be thrown over it. For all, the anticipation had been set – but it very quickly made for a rude awakening as attempts to get tickets proved faulty.
To accommodate the expected number of fans vying to attend shows, many performers like Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, and Adele aimed to level the chance of purchasing a ticket by turning to lottery-style apps like Ticketmaster. Though fair in concept, the random online queue failed to account for the manipulative potential of resellers, or those who buy tickets in bulk to later sell for profit. It became clear that this abuse was going to make the future of purchasing tickets and attending a show much harder for everyday fans, especially those who couldn’t afford to spend time waiting on a loading screen while the algorithm cycled through the line. When these tickets sell out almost instantly, it leaves no choice but to try to purchase at the door.
The problem then became getting there early enough.
Camping outside of a sold-out show poses an issue for many reasons. For one, campers create a threatening visual to those already arriving early in hopes of hugging the barricade. Apart from asking each person if they’ve already purchased a ticket, there’s no way for floor fans to gauge their chances at a good stage view, so many begin to take to the same method earlier and earlier in hopes of beating the line.
Having one person parked on the sidewalk might pose a slight annoyance, but when there are up to hundreds of fans, all with their own trash, it becomes a nightmare. Water bottles, food wrappers, pizza boxes, and the tents themselves all have to be left out of the venue, meaning it’s either up to the camper to have someone pick it all up or to leave it there for others to gather. In most instances, fans choose the latter, adding to the work of venue workers and ultimately defacing the setting for others behind them.
Beyond that, there also lies a tremendous safety issue when fans who, after spending all or multiple days in the sun with little to no water or food, go into a tight-knit pit section with little to no room, high temperatures, and nowhere to sit down. Even with the added lookout from artists and venue workers, many are at risk of collapsing from exhaustion and dehydration. This brings another layer of concern to the forefront of all of those involved and adds extra stress to workers already stretched too thin.
In response, some venues, like the newly built Moody Center in downtown Austin, have begun to implement rules that prohibit sidewalk camping ahead of a show by instead setting separate times for pit ticket holders to arrive and offering last-minute door sales. Some might say this is enough, but it’s hard not to wonder if the responsibility also lies with the artists, whose devoted fans could be discouraged from the practice altogether, and the management and distribution teams, who have the power to add extra shows and rethink an improvised ticketing system.
As the effects of camping culture only begin to make themselves visible, the responsibility lies on all involved in the production of these shows to rethink the approach as a preventative measure before it has to become a reactive one. Otherwise, when attending a concert becomes a risk to health, safety, and the overall experience, it comes time to ask: Is it worth it?
This article was added to Industry Insights after its publication, upon the creation of the Industry Insights series.