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TThe front row of the gig is a sanctuary. When you like an artist, you want to be as close to them as possible, without the appearance being hidden by someone else’s hair. You want the possibility that the artist will take you out of the crowd, create a deep and lasting connection and marry you. Or notice you.
last month, Olivia Rodrigo revealed how he quickly saw some of the fans blocking the barriers at his shows. “People wear diapers so they can be in the front row,” he said, adding, to everyone’s horror: “That’s been the experience as an actor that I’ve smelled.”
This is not confusing, and although the real medical needs must be taken into account, the situation at the front is blurred. Also last month, a video of a stoic stadium worker cleaning up human feces on Noah Kahan gig went viral and prompted Kahan to post on X: “If you have to go to the show please dear god just go to the bathroom lmao.” This week, US pop star Morgan Wallen complained that he, his brother and sister were urinated on by a concertgoer, and the police are investigating. We should have titles like “Someone Also Set Their Pants On Fire at the 5 Seconds of Summer Concert“? And in 2024, someone urinated under the stage at a Sabrina Carpenter concert, which caused a huge backlash. a very dangerous thing called a “pit diaper”whose very existence speaks of a serious problem.
Ever since the pandemic, when music fans missed out on two years of shows and young fans were forced to wait for their first experience, the front-row seats of the greats have been coveted. The price of VIP tickets has skyrocketed, the culture of stans has grown, and the cost of television for sound effects is very expensive, perhaps because of the surprising celeb cameos – like in Rosalía’s courtroom, Charli xcx’s. Apple dance or the “arrest” of Sabrina Carpenter – is now being arrested in many popular shows.
So are nappies for adults, today’s barrier culture is a world of fan queues, destination rushes and special hydration systems.
In order to find someone who would agree to even think about wearing a towel, I went to Wembley Stadium on the 11th night of Harry Styles’ recent 12th night. Together Together to be. The pretty girls I talked to braving the heat to climb the last section of the stand were quite intimidated by the question. “I think it’s ridiculous,” said Eloise, 23, after queuing for 10 hours to get a ticket for Harry’s final game at Wembley. What do you do when you need the toilet? I asked Shannon, who was waiting to block it when the doors opened: “I hope for the best!”
Nineteen-year-old Keeley, who started queuing at 11am, said that, “personally”, she doesn’t wear a hat. “That’s not for me, especially because of the heat. I don’t think it’s normal to cry in front of anyone.”
But if you’re paying hundreds of pounds to see a show and you’re queuing for hours to be just meters from Rodrigo or Styles, it’s hard to take the nappy route instead of missing the music or losing your seat in the front row. On TikTok, many Swifties claimed to have worn one during the Eras tour (and I’m showing it for over three hours, you’d think Taylor Swift took a break). But it’s hard to track down anyone who would admit to a Guardian reporter that they wore a diaper with a hole to preserve their coveted front view.
As Katie, a professional Swiftie, made her way to the Eras bar, she was recognized by the crowd. Instead, he developed a hydration system that kept him fit but dry as a bone. “I drank a lot of water the day before and as soon as I got up at 4am to be in the closing line, I had two pints. The energy gels, glucose tablets and water between the shows provided by security at the barrier rooms prevented him from passing out – a sure way to lose your spot. “There’s no need to block if you pass out the first time!” he added brightly.
There’s a long tradition of people (mainly cis men, let’s be real) wearing glasses in public — and at one particularly terrifying Primavera event, right at my friend’s leg. Concerts by the US psychedelic band Phish have been well known for fans saying pooping and quit gay since and a bad event in 2015. You can see how it can be done in an alcoholic party or somewhere drugs are freely consumed. And maybe Phish’s experience is more than just lifting listeners out of their stomach routines. Most interestingly, fans may argue that they reject toilet rituals, although this behavior is very common: urination was as common as Frank Sinatra and Beatles concerts.
If you want to just quit, the likelihood of relapse is high. “I tried this with a sanitary towel and it didn’t work,” reveals a sportsperson, insisting on anonymity for reasons that will become apparent. Let’s call her Fiona. She and her friend went to see the Arctic Monkeys in Finsbury Park in 2014. Fiona was a 15-year-old boy who had his hands on a bottle of rosé and came to a barrier in front of which Alex Turner and co were soon asking Do I Want to Know? The answer here is for sure: no you don’t.
He said: “I was determined to stay there. I had sanitary towels in my bag so I thought I’d go in smartly. With big wet patches under his skinny black jeans, he had to go out in the crowd to find a toilet to carry everything. “The worst part was, when I tried to go back to my place, no one believed that my friend was waiting for me on the block.” It’s hard to believe that was the worst part of the incident.
TOil problems are one thing; but “just getting the hang of it” in the first place is another story. Harry Styles fans standing in the hot line had numbers written in Sharpie on the backs of their hands as part of a routine that was supposed to ensure that everyone in the longest line got the best seats. It goes far down the line, into the hundreds. The idea is that no one will push in – or it’s obvious if they do – although no one knows what anyone can or will do about it.
There are some flaws in this system. I could write a number on the back of my hand and walk forward, and who would say no? It’s a sign of respect that some people don’t follow, even in England, the spiritual home of queuing. Videos of walking in the stadiums of sports styles are often popular in sports: the ones from the night I checked were afraid of arguing and screaming as it would be without numbers.
Fans of all stripes are always jumping on the bandwagon to find a place at the front – Metallica’s upcoming album Saved My Life shows a way to connect with everyone and get them in – but this self-contained, calculated, self-contained approach seems to have come from teenage girls. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these “sounds”, as fans call them, began to spread in the mid-2010s. “Fans queuing to get into the arena has become a phenomenon,” says Hannah Ewens, author of the book. Fan girlshow do they write how a teen fangirl group has small groups small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small small we are small. The spirit of the community, filled with deep love for the artist and the importance of good looks – young girls tend to be in the smallest group in any sports group – all this is part of the obstacles.
But while it’s always been getting to the front, getting a place in the front row has also become more common. “TikTok has made it very profitable,” adds Ewens. “It has increased the competition.” Getting to the curb could be the difference between your show videos going viral or disappearing into the digital ether, and that makes the numbers look their weight. “Fandom is about being in your community and being a part of something, and it’s also very complex,” Ewens says. “Line-up scratches all those fans.”
Some artists have made it clear that fan-driven online shows will not be happy. For Bring Me the Horizon’s Manchester gig earlier this month – which had no barrier at all, with the musicians walking freely up to the stage – the FAQs included a note: “Queues will start from 10am on the day of the show… Fan counts are not accepted. First-come, first-served order will be chosen at random.” Singers and promoters could not comment on the decision, and whether it did not affect the toilet conditions of the group is unknown.
Fandoms are starting to push back against linear programming, too. Search Reddit or TikTok for the topic and you’ll find plenty of people denying they’re participating. Louis Tomlinson introduced wristbands to remove the incentive to stand in line for hours at his shows earlier this year. Each time fans entered, they were assigned a number to determine how to enter the pit. Venues including Wembley Stadium have also banned camping, making the event ideal for people who can’t spare a few days for the action.
But despite the horrors of dirty nappies and the coercive regimes that equate them, the barrier is often a place of bonhomie. Friendships are made, great memories are made. Every time a member of BTS passes a rotten T-shirt to a certain fan at the barricade, no one tries to catch it (as you know they want to). If fans need help or water, those around them will signal to security to get it. And some photos and videos from front-line fans at this summer’s games are professional. Everything they did to catch them is between them, God and the noses of their favorite pop star. Even Fiona has no regrets: “It was worth it,” she says, 10 years removed from wet jeans. “And I’m glad that I have this story too.”
