Tate McRae and Jack Harlow are two artists who have blown up over the past two years and shepherd a new generation of incredibly passionate fans. Both have played shows here recently and anecdotally played to intense fans, several of whom wanted to get as close to the front as possible.
Harlow, who played a sold-out show in Auckland on Monday, had to stop mid-show and plead for fans to take a step back. On TikTok, some attendees shared how they managed to achieve front row, although admitting conditions in the crowd were less than ideal for actually enjoying the show.
Overseas, singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers allegedly had to stop her Toronto concert five times for the welfare of her fans. Fans camped out overnight to get the best spots to see Harry Styles and Olivia Rodrigo.
The pent-up demand for live music means concerts feel scarce for fans - the memory of lockdown is all too fresh in the minds of a new generation of concertgoers.
An article in Paste Magazine calls the current northern hemisphere peak concert season a "chaotic introduction to live music". It's hard to argue with that if you catch videos of a crowd as fans are pulled out of walls of people for their own safety, or see fans rehash their hectic nights out after the show.
"The problem is that these young fans want the most intense versions of a concert experience, without having any familiarity with the realities of what that entails," Leila Jordan writes.
Venue staff and volunteers in my experience have always done a great job at keeping fans safe in New Zealand, but there is a level of responsibility for ticketholders to be smart about their actions too.
If the millennial music obsession was record players and vinyl collecting, Gen Z is determined post-pandemic restrictions to experience their favourite artists live. And for some, that means being front row at all costs.
There is a nostalgic element to this new trend of fan devotion too. Being physically walled in by people at concerts for fun is of course nothing new.
Without the dedicated Tumblr blogs and Twitter profiles in the 2010s, Harry Styles wouldn't have been able to sell out stadium tours. In 2022, the platform of choice for being a big music fan is TikTok, where having the coolest concert experience translates into virality and followers.
Fan projects are also having a big comeback too - Lorde was visibly emotional when she noticed fans holding signs at her London show when she was singing with Marlon Williams. Her delighted lines in her email newsletters show how appreciative she is of the level of care her fans are giving her right now.
So what does this heightened level of fan devotion mean? For committed ticketholders, it's giving everything they have to a live show for fear of them disappearing again. For promoters and artists alike, it could mean putting on more shows, more often, to meet fan demand.
When it becomes about going viral on TikTok instead of enjoying the moment, that's when I start to take issue with it. What I love to see beyond the algorithms is a new generation of fans banding together and finding community. I just hope young fans know you don't have to be front row and experience a crowd crush to have fun.
• Lydia Burgham is a former entertainment reporter for the NZ Herald.
