As clips from Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet tour flood Tiktok users’ feeds, the comments below the videos raise the question if Gen Z is ruining concerts? Whether it is fans holding their phone and screaming the song “Espresso” or a group of girls dancing in front of their phone for Tiktok, it is quite clear that members of Gen Z are easy to spot, especially in a concert setting.
As a group, Gen Z have already shown a strong commitment to concert attendance. In fact, they are willing to go into debt in order to score concert tickets. According to a survey of 1000 Gen Zers conducted last year by Merge, 86% were willing to overspend on events to avoid fear of missing out (FOMO).
Not only are they willing to spend excessively, but Gen Zers are willing to travel for a concert experience. A recent AAA-Bread Financial survey found that 65% of Gen Z respondents had traveled more than 50 miles to see a concert in the past year, and 37% had spent between $500 and $5000 on tickets for destination events.
Along with attending more concerts, Gen Z is changing the concert going experience. Sombr, a Grammy nominated singer songwriter, has recently faced backlash on social media platforms regarding his performances, with many saying his concerts are “immature” or “disappointing.” 25-year-old TikToker @meganator_ went viral when she posted a video declaring, “if you are over the age of 16, you should not spend your money on a Sombr concert” and referred to the entire experience as “a middle school dance.”
As much as I think the disappointment some are experiencing at his concerts is valid, Sombr’s music is for any age group, and his songs are becoming more known by the day. Because of this, Sombr fans may be younger and, like any concert, there are most likely all different age groups.
Not only is Sombr currently getting publicly slammed, but artists such as Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift have faced backlash. As a result, Carpenter has become sympathetic towards some of her older audience and is even thinking about banning phones at her concert so her fans get a real, authentic, performance without the distractions that come along with having a phone. Some fans of Taylor Swift think that bracelet trading at her concerts is juvenile and is doing too much.
However, I believe having people trade art for other art is a wonderful way to interact with other fans and it is harmless. Some older generations really need to get a grip and realize maybe it is more of a reflection on their music taste and not so much the fifteen-year-olds.
The thing the other generations need to understand is that Gen Z loves viewing themselves as the main character. They are known to be phone obsessed and fixate on documenting everything because they were raised in a time of social media being a normalized form of communication. Gen Z just wants to post the highlights of their lives on social media, which often is at concerts.
Yes, all of this is rooted in TikTok and social media But is it really fair to blame them?
Every generation has created rituals surrounding concerts. The Boomers held lighters, Gen X had mosh pits, Millennials had internet fan forums, and Gen Z has TikTok. It’s important to realize that understanding generational differences can make concerts much more appealing and less filled with judgement. So no, Gen Z is not ruining concerts: they are adding their own contribution to concerts, which should be celebrated instead of being frowned upon.
