I find certain Blink fans annoying, obnoxious, and sometimes just borderline creepy. I think it’s gotten worse with new fans and social media. I love the music but don’t give a shit about their personal lives and at times I feel some of the sick, obsessive fans cross the line. Obviously the media doesn’t help especially since Travis is essentially a Kardashian now
At When We Were Young ‘23, Green Day headlined with Blink right before them. 80% of fans left after Blink was done
I was like WTF, Green Day are legends
How can someone be a Blink fan and not at least appreciate Green Day enough to stay for their set? I feel like a lot of Blink fans don’t even like pop punk, they strictly like Blink and call it a day.
I enjoy Green Day, actually way more than Blink, but at that point I had been in the sun for like 13 hours and Green Days set was 2 hours long. I stayed for the whole thing but I don’t blame people for leaving.
I didn't realize that that many people left after blink. I hung out at the pink stage for most of the day, so I was super close to the front, about five people back. I've been a big fan of Green Day since middle school, and a bucket list item of mine was to crowdsurf at a GD show. As American Idiot (second song iirc) started playing, I could feel myself starting to pass out from heat exhaustion, so I had a bigger dude pick me up, and people started yelling at me (I get it, everyone was tired, but it's a punk festival, there's gonna be crowdsurfing). I sadly ended up watching them from the vert ramp with a chili dog and an overpriced Liquid Death.
I feel like blink, despite being as big as they are, maintained a somewhat cult fanbase appeal and never lost their "cool" factor. Green Day, on the other hand, had such broad appeal that they're not as "cool" anymore. Like...if you ever watch a sitcom that features an older person trying to be relevant, they namedrop Green Day...but I don't see that with blink-182.
Also Green Day hadn't yet released Saviors (which I feel did a great job making them feel relevant again) while blink had just released One More Time literally the day before.
THIS. I saw a guy the other day wearing a wwwy hoodie that I have not seen before. I asked him if that was from year one. He says, this is from year 2 with Blink on it. I asked him. Are you doing year 3? He goes, naw I don't know any of those bands? I'm like you don't know who Chiodos is, Cobra Starship, State champs, like none of those guys? He just said, I have no idea who those are.
His response to me was. We just went to it because it was a music festival. We were only there for Blink. After Blink finished their set. My friends and I left wwwy.
Edit: Added more to the story.
When I went to Warped like seven years ago, Simple Plan was the last band to play, and I was amazed at how many people left right before their set. I mean, yeah, they’re no Blink or Green Day but come on they’re classic! I think most people who stayed for them were aged 25+ lol
I did the same thing at the Sum 41 and simple plan show😂 I left to the bar after Simple plan played shut up and then I came back when they played what’s new scooby doo. They then played some cover songs and then i’m just a kid. It was fun but I just don’t like them enough to sit through a set of theirs if it’s going to be long
This exact scenario happened at a Sum 41 / Simple Plan co- [alternating] headliner tour. Went for Sum 41 at the NYC date but Simple Plan headlined
I didn’t care for Simple Plans music much but figured fuck it, it’s my night out w/ my buddy in NYC, & stayed til the end
Bro, Simple Plans live show was impressive and jumpin- totally won me over as a live music fan
It sucks that they have REALLY GOOD songs that they don't play because people know them for Scooby Doo and I'm Just A Kid. Those two are fine to play 100% but if they could branch out from playing Jump and Shut Up every single concert I'd love the F out of that.
Green Day is one of my favorite bands of all time. People whining about “when did they get so political” are exactly who they’re singing about in American Idiot lmfao.
Totally.
I got reasonably close for Blink only cuz I had VIP and can weave thru a crowd like a snake, otherwise Blinks crowd was packed like sardines
Once the crowd thinned out, it was super easy to get close for Green Day
I remember years ago, probably around the first reunion- neighborhoods ish era, I had joined a blink 182 news page on Facebook, thinking I would get updates on tour announcements, music releases, etc., but the group turned out to be blink fans just constantly arguing with each other. It was one of the most toxic pages I have ever seen.
That’s why I left the sub, it’s legitimately one of the most toxic fandom subreddits. The other one being Mac Millers. This is just from my own experience. Same type of cringe and toxic behavior coming from both fanbases
thank god i dont follow any pop punk sites besides this subreddit, cause I can imagine what hardcore blink fans were saying about Matt Skiba when he joined blink. Alk trio and blink are my fav bands ever and i would have gotten really mad, even though i really didn't like all the songs.
Side note: Just saw blink live for the first time (I'm from Argentina) last week and holy shit it was awesome, didn't even care about my stolen phone lmao
Oh hey fellow Trio/Blink fan!
>I can imagine what hardcore blink fans were saying about Matt Skiba when he joined blink
I muted r/Blink182 and unfollowed them on socials for a long time because of the relentless negativity during the Matt days. As someone who actually liked Matt in blink, the toxic behavior from a certain portion of the fanbase really soured my enjoyment of that era.
Now that Tom's back it seems opinions on Matt have turned around a bit, but it was rough for a while.
So jealous you got see blink at Lolla Argentina, I streamed the show from home and it was a great show!
Oh my God I'm so happy for you That's so great You got to see them aren't they absolutely insane live? I hope they come to Argentina more often for you. Sorry your phone got stolen that blows but yeah a lot of these people just need to chill out and pay attention to the band only and go hey I'm seeing blink I don't care what all these other people think about the band or how long they've been a fan etc. just go and have fun!
Blink 182 has such a weird fanbase. Almost all of my female friends who are into pop punk have been assaulted or harassed at blink shows and the hardcore blink fans remind me of Insane Clown Posse fans as weird as that sounds.
I was about to post that my wife has had a similar experience with being around Blink fans. The last time we went, a dude started recording himself singing a song and pulled her by the shoulder into him. Didn't ask or anything.
The thing that I remember most is the walk back to the car after the show. It was at an outdoor venue not far from a national park, so we have lots of trees. This meant people were pissing literally everywhere. Male or female, it didn't matter. But the one that stands out most was a woman pissing from the back seat of a Honda Civic with her ass facing the outbound venue foot traffic. Not a sense of shame in the world.
Second part just sounds like every stadium event ever, not really exclusive to Blink fans. But I agree Blink fans can be super weird and cringe. I commented a separate comment about it
As a female I've never been assaulted or harassed in a blink show thank God that freaks me out. I never got that vibe from blink fans and I've seen them four or five times and was always in the pit. It's been nothing but cool people who want to sing a bunch of swear words at each other
Blink has hit a higher celebrity status with Travis being a Kardashian now, Tom doing Tom things. The demographic for their shows isn’t what it was 15 years ago before the higher status and arena tours. I wouldn’t pay arena prices to see them. The vibes that once were are dead and you’re just gonna get a ton of influencer types with a handful of OG blink fans sprinkled in.
I agree, I hate to seem like I'm gatekeeping Blink-182 of all bands, but I felt this so hard when I went to their show last year, the crowd & vibes were all off. Too many people only there for social media clout or just for the nostalgia of All the Small Things. Hopefully it'll get better in a few years once the hype of their reunion dwindles a bit.
I saw them at BMO stadium in LA in 2023 and it was nothing but dope punk kids. At first it was a bunch of people who probably came cuz they knew them from you know their hits and Kardashians and Tom and whatnot, It was the one they announced Travis and Kourtney were having a baby, which I really have zero problem with I'm happy for him like whatever dude, but after a few songs in the circle pit the dumb ones left and the real ones stayed. And it wasn't even violent or crazy I'm a 5'3 female and the most you're going to get is maybe an elbow to the side. I wore shitty shoes and wiped out a couple of times and before I could register that I was down people had me picked up. I love blink fans so much
I think blink is probably the only band where I know all the members names. There are bands that have changed my life or saved me after a breakup and stuff, but I could maybe name the lead singers. I just don't care enough about them personally. It's so foreign to me to be obsessed with things like that.
100% agree, at least with the online portion of fans. I've never had an issue in person, but online it's always quotes from MTTS or related to that. We all get it, they make inappropriate jokes, but they're beyond beat dead at this point.
I feel like almost all fanbases are annoying because they're typically composed heavily of teenagers, who are inherently annoying. I think bands like FOB and MCR have extra-annoying fanbases because the bands have been around for so long and have so much lore for kids to dissect, and because their popularity has been so heavily based on people obsessing over specific band members. I do think a lot of this is an age thing - at least for me, I think fandom is primarily for teens and that I've just aged out of it. I can attend shows and enjoy music without posting about a band on Tumblr or whatever.
I once had a teenager tell me "OMG I love Gerard Way! after seeing the MCR pins on my bag, so I tried to strike up a conversation about their music, what's your favorite album, etc., but she only knew Gerard and nothing else about the band...?
Yeah but they're trying to connect with you They didn't think they were going to get quizzed. And they shouldn't be quizzed. I was bullied in middle school in the peak emo eras of 2000s because I would literally get quizzed on bands that I didn't know enough about but had heard a couple songs and liked. Most of them I didn't have internet access to learn about or just hadn't bothered. To this day I'm incredibly self-conscious about the bands I say I like because if I don't know enough of their music I feel like a "poser" this is not something to be worried about in the grand scheme of things.
Once I realized she didn't know much about the band besides him, we just had a brief conversation about his stage costumes and comics and stuff, I was just more surprised that people know about him outside of MCR I guess?
Admittedly, we need those teenagers to keep the bands going, so again, I don’t care to gatekeep. It was really cool to see so many young people at an MCR show a couple years ago, many of whom probably weren’t born when Black Parade and Three Cheers first came out. Nothing against that.
But it likely is an age thing, and I’ve never cared for the obsession over a particular band member. Though I’d say people’s Pete Wentz obsession is what fueled FOB for a while.
To be honest adults most of the time can be a lot more rude than teenagers, I mean at least teenagers you know why they act like that and it's something (most of the time) they will feel embarrassed about later.
When I was a teenager I tried to find out more about metal and rock (I didn't know what pop punk was, it can be really confusing if you don't have the right source) and the older guys were so rude about "that's not real metal/rock" true" just because it was a newer band, I think you can guess their opinion on metlacore and emo.
*Rude,* sure. I'm thinking more about cringy, teenager-y fandom behavior like what OP was describing. I totally think teens need a space to engage in that behavior - it's normal and important for development - and I think that's why I don't feel connected to fandom as a whole in my 30s. I know some older folks do, and that's cool, but it's just not for me. I'm fine ceding it to younger people.
Yeah, I remember being on Buzznet during MCR, FOB and Panic!'s heyday and thinking all these fandom things were soooo cool. All the insider info and lore. And now I find the way people go about it to be really annoying. But it must be an age thing. Firstly because I am probably too old for it, but also because the new fans look through a different lens and they way they appreciate it is different and I think my oldie brain is telling me that they weren't there when it went down, so they can't understand it. Which is actually kinda biased and shitty of me, so I'm trying to move away from that mindset.
The only time the fanbase gets annoying is actually the same reason I get annoyed with other fanbases.
Other fanbases moan and complain because the new stuff doesn't sound like the old stuff. The Wonder Years comes to mind in that regard. Trophy Eyes was another one.
In the same regard, people mention they don't like the new TSSF sound and there's a section of the fanbase that gets pretty pissy about it as a result. It's sacrilege if you don't like Proper Dose or Letterman.
I prefer new TWY/Trophy Eyes, but old TSSF (mainly S/T and WYDS). Makes me weird I guess.
I think the big issue is that everyone feels like they have to have an opinion on everything and they have to voice it if they have the opportunity. I’m a pop punk fall out boy fan, didn’t mind save rock and roll but after that is where I fell off because their new stuff after that just wasn’t for me. It not being for me, me not liking those songs, dit not make those songs bad songs. If a band traditionally known for metal music and then they release a reggae album because that’s where they’re at, and the fanbase that’s there isn’t into reggae, it’s not necessarily a bad album, it’s just an album for a different audience
how dare you have such a logical, rationale, adult approach to music!
i really wish more people realized and thought this way. fighting over what songs or albums are "good" or "bad" is so weird.
Social media has given everyone a platform for their voice to be heard, and many people don’t realize when they should or shouldn’t express their thoughts.
It’s also created a situation where people don’t think before they type because they’re not sitting face-to-face with someone. They don’t have to see their reaction, they don’t have to listen to their response, they don’t have to remain civil. You can just say whatever nonsense you want and then pretend no one else exists.
Back in the day you’d have a crazy person on the street corner screaming about whatever conspiracy they believe while holding a sign. Now those same people have a platform where they can reach thousands, hundreds of thousands and even millions of people. Because of this, some are going to fall in line with that person’s beliefs instead of just ignoring it like they used to while walking down the street. And don’t even get me started on all the misinformation that goes around on social media (Reddit included).
I went to (Tour) Dust last year and when it came up in convo one girl was "Dont Diss Mania Or We Can't Be Friends" but it was a very chill way and no one gave a shit. Plus I was also like "Oh please the first time I saw them and met Patrick was before the hiatus when you were in primary school!"
Not sure on the bracelet thing. The selfmade ones are a more recent thing I've been offered at FOB, Waterparks and Against The Current. They're not full on 'friendship' ones, but usually got song titles or lyrics on them. I guess it's some Gen Z aesthetic thing. I don't take one but idgaf about them, and no one gaf if I don't. Nice to be offered though.
I think the trading is really cool, I hear a lot of stories how thankful people are when they were offered some, as a trade or just giveaway. Most of them look really nice and took a lot of work, some of them even have little memes on them. It's great to see when people share their pics of their self-made bracelets, and especially hearing how much fun most people have with that.
I am seeing more bracelets at festivals and thing. I made a bunch of bracelets for wwwy last year. It was so fun to make! I wish I was a little more outgoing cuz I ended up bringing several back home with me. I did swap a few though
Yeah I feel you with the be-outgoing-part. I was at a Fall Out Boy concert, was handing out pink paper sea shells to hold up at your phone flashlight during one song and had to tell the people to take some and then pass them to the other people. It was pretty awkward cause not many people knew the Stardust Project, but in the end it worked out and we lit up the arena in pink during the song Fake Out :)
Was one of the most social things I've done but in the end I was proud to be able to help with that project and I'm even more happy it still worked out so well!
That sounds cool! When I saw Panic! in 2019 they handed out different coloured hearts for Girls/Girls/Boys and turned it kinda rainbow, I kept my pink heart lol. Didn't get any of that at FOB though in the UK
Honestly I like the whole bracelet thing too, I'm pretty socially awkward so it makes it a lot easier for me to meet other fans at shows. Some people at my FOB stop traded me some really nice stickers they made too, which I put in the back of my phone.
Yeah tbf one of the girls in the que in front of me had lots of the the same wallet sized picture of Joe printed out and I took one of them lol. Also socially awkward but usually turn up hours early and boredom forces me to talk if no one else is. Pro-tip, band T's or asking if youve seen them before is usually a good opener I find.
>They're not full on 'friendship' ones, but usually got song titles or lyrics on them. I guess it's some Gen Z aesthetic thing
I think it actually started as a Taylor Swift thing, cause I've seen people way older than Gen Z doing it, I've seen it mentioned on an Alkaline Trio Facebook group a few times.
Huh, I'd never heard of it but just looked into it and yeah, sounds exactly the same.
It's definitely a Swifty trend over the last couple of years which I think is why it's so big now, apparently she has a song that mentions swapping friendship bracelets?
I wonder if whoever started it knew about the rave trend or if it's sheer coincidence.
It isn't a coincidence. Her last album was called Midnights, which has a song called You're On Your Own Kid, Kid. One of the last lines of the bridge is
> So make the friendship bracelets
> Take the moment and taste it
> You've got no reason to be afraid
Swifties took this and ran with it, reviving the rave trend of making and trading friendship bracelets. It's just one of many examples of how powerful Taylor Swift is. I think that line alone caused bead sales to increase like 250% during the initial run of the Eras Tour.
Source: I am a Swiftie.
> reviving the rave trend of making and trading friendship bracelets.
I wouldn't say they revived it, it never died. It was just only at raves. Swifties brought it into the mainstream and put their own spin on it-- a lot of the swifty friendship bracelets aren't what i'd trade at a rave, and I think that's really neat.
I’ve seen it too. Idk if this counts but Senses Fail had an “arts and crafts w/ the band” perk as part of their VIP package for their LINAWR 15th Anniversary Tour last year, and tons of friendship bracelets were being made and traded at the shows.
I think a lot of fans still find Mania endearing for nostalgic reasons, my gf made a lot of close friends by going to multiple shows during the European tour and she still likes Mania because it's tied to those memories. For a lot of people, the music they really love isn't just about how "good" it is, but also at when they heard it and what it means to them.
Green Day and MCR have some freaking weird fans, I would be so uncomfortable being Billie or Gerard with a lot of the comments about their looks, especially people hating on Adrienne and saying they wish they would divorce/she would die, as if there's any chance Billie would go for them if either of those things did happen
FOB is my favorite band and I’ve been a fan for almost 20 years. FOB fans have always been weird I’d say haha.
But I love that new generations are into them and it’s kind of refreshing to hear their takes on albums. Because I’m honestly sick of hearing everyone my age say “I only like the first two albums” or “only pre hiatus stuff is good”. And I’ll admit I’m blinded by nostalgia for my favorite albums because of where I was in life when they came out. Some of these kids got into them and listened to 4 albums all at the same time and had to make their opinions right away.
My other favorite band is The Clash and they were long broken up before I was even born. I never got a chance to experience them releasing a new album. So it’s great that FOB are still rolling 20+ years later and new fans can go see them and be excited. I wish I had more people to nerd out with for The Clash.
I guess just remember that all new fans gotta start somewhere? Give them a chance and actually have conversations with them. All the newer fans I’ve talked to have been very sweet and love hearing my “old FOB stories” and then give me a bracelet. I love it!
Yep, as someone who has both been a huge FOB fan since 2005 and was very online during that era I can safely say their fanbase has always had a prominent weird contingent. I was not an exception to this back in my Livejournal/Myspace days, mind you, haha.
I do also think it's cool that youngsters didn't have the context we had for some of their later albums so they can appreciate them without that nostalgia blindness, or the "post hiatus is sellout trash!!!" baggage.
Waterparks’ fan base is quite something. Unfortunately they make other people not take the band seriously. While that isn’t necessarily the band’s fault, they do play in to that demographic (ie. using caps lock for their tweets). I still like them as musicians and people but it kinda sucks it’s clear they cater to their audience.
The Wonder Years is my favorite band. I've been with them since the captain crunch/kool aid man days, but the fans are extremely pretentious and annoying.
This was mine too! I'm older now but I still feel like the same 'Get Stoked on It!' kid I used to be, whereas it feels like the fanbase (and sometimes the band) forgot how to have fun.
TWY fans on the internet just suffer from being eternally online and need to be right about everything, and it's on both sides. Say you don't like the new music, people get mad. Say you don't like the old music, people get mad.
Who cares, music is music.
TWY is mine too but I’ve always felt the opposite. Their shows always feel refreshing to me compared to other bands, like there’s more solidarity among us all. I always figured it was some sort of shared understanding that we’ve all connected with them for a reason.
Then again maybe that’s just me being pretentious and making your point.
I've seen them a bunch of times. The fans at shows aren't assholes like some of the other bands that I've read about on this sub, probably too introverted for that. They are the type to correct your grammar or something like that when they don't agree w/ you on the internet. Different level of annoying.
Yeah the TWY mosh pit has to be about the most joyous place on earth in all of my experiences.
We're all just *really* smart because we're graduates from the Dan Campbell Lyrical School of Life.
Not my favourite band ever (and arguably not pop punk), but I despise the Waterparks fanbase. An argumentative, selfish and frankly annoying group of mainly teenagers. Had an awful time with the crowd at their show recently - what they say about teenagers having no sense of, or respect for, crowd etiquette is true. Must have been shoved out of the way 30 times by kids pushing as far forward as they could. Plus their subspace of Twitter is a hellhole where they condemn everyone that makes any mistake, ever. Love the music, can't be around the fans.
I love MCR dearly but a lot of their fans are just the worst. On the last tour those fans have taken to creating their own queueing system for GA pit separate from what the venue is doing and they're openly hostile to those that don't follow their rules.
I had to leave the MCR subreddit because it was overrun with Gerard Way fanfiction and hate for each other. Surprisingly there was very little conversation about the actual music.
I was going to knock the MCR fan base earlier but I don’t know them enough. From the outside looking in, it seems like MCR fans are usually the same kind of person. The stereotype former high school band / theatre geek or anime nerd who gets way too into fandoms to the point where it’s annoying. Take that and then add a bit of edginess and alt style.
Not pop punk but the Twenty One Pilots fandom had similar stuff going on, with it going so far as some fans claiming that the band told them to do it. Its absolutely wild the entitlement some fans feel.
This is interesting, I had a different experience of everyone being super friendly and chill in the MCR sub. However, I only ever looked at the posts that came up on my feed, I must not have been seeing the creepy fan fiction and hate. The PATD! Sub is a whole other story though. Extremely cringe, angry and if you didn’t like the most recent album, you were a “hater” who didn’t actually support the band.
I love Blink but the fan base can be kinda cringe. I used to be in the subreddit and they’re the type of people to downvote spam and attack you for simple critiques on the band. Just mentioning “I wasn’t really feeling this one” to a song they act like is the absolute best (it’s mid) you’ll get wrecked. They were also very fucking annoying before Tom came back, it was YEARS of Tom conspiracies and arguing about if he is or isn’t coming back. Now that he’s back, people are like “oh well matt was awesome I miss him!” And they’ll say that after ragging on this guy since 2016. These people are never satisfied lol, it almost makes me not want to like Blink but I always will
Thank you for this. They fucking found every reason to hate Matt and now they’re like “woo go Matt! Thanks for the great work in blink!” And I’m like brother you guys are just so frustrating. I think social media has also bred a generation of fans who can be “closer” to bands more then ever and see a lot more behind the scenes and the day to day of life and they almost feel entitled to their bands business and that’s not cool.
Yeah I hated that part of the fanbase. Tbh I think California is better than a lot of the albums they made with Tom, especially the new one and neighborhoods. Also I’m an alk3>blink any day type of guy so I’m probably biased.
Hi, fellow FOB fan here. I think the bracelet trading thing is super cool, as well as the Stardust Project - people hand out pink seashells or 8- balls cut out of paper, then you hold them in front of your phone flashlight during Fake Out. Also I love the idea to not criticise the albums per se - you can absolutely say what you don't like, but everyone knows that there's always someone who loves this certain song or album and everyone's cool with that. Also I think you wouldn't get bashed for saying xyz is a weak song/album as long as you make clear that this is your subjective opinion.
The other things you mentioned (asking basic questions and talking about thinks you're not too familiar with) is something I haven't really seen. Even if that happens I still think there's no problem as you can tell them that they could easily look it up or tell them that a similar post has been made before, find it by typing words xyz.
The fandom is pretty supportive to everyone, to their opinions and helpful for questions. That's really great in my opinion.
I think supportive is good, but I believe a lack of criticism is inauthentic and too overly positive. It gives off a weird vibe. Criticism doesn’t mean “no one can like this song or album” - it just means you don’t like it.
Yeah sure, I just thought you meant criticism in the way of collectively deciding what's good and what's bad.
But I definitely think that being able to talk openly about things you personally dislike is essential to a fandoms authenticity. I'm on a subreddit where those people who can't take any criticism on their favourite bands/streamers/youtubers... are negatively referred to as Elite fans - I think that's fitting, cause it's often not the majority (imo) that behaves like this.
Old ass FOB fan here. Been going to show since 2004.
I think what we’re talking about Here is more the kids that are chronically online. I think it’s just how young people are and people who are just getting into the band. We have to remember that this band is 20 years old at this point and there’s a lot of material and lore to get into.
Bracelets are whatever not my style but glad the kids are having fun. I 100% would’ve done that 15 years ago.
The Stardust project or whatever you call, it does not make sense to me at all. I’m constantly giving this little pink piece of paper which seems so incredibly wasteful. And then they say, and it’s written on the paper, that the point of this is to “show the boys some love”. I’m sorry I’m already at the show? I paid like $200 for this ticket? I’m screaming and cheering and singing along? We’re in a giant arena? how are they not “feeling the love”? No one has been able to explain the little pink seashells in a way that makes sense to me.
I loved the Stardust project things! Is that specific to fall out boy? I saw panic! About 5 years ago and people were giving out paper hearts to put in front of your phone flashlight during Girls/Girls/Boys. I figured it was the same people handing them out, but maybe not.
Haha I don't think so (about same people), maybe the fandoms stole the ideas from whoever did it first. So Stardust Project is FOB specific, I guess the Girls/Girls/Boys one was as well. But like I said, you see an idea, you like it, you can bring it to another fandom and make it specific to them.
I love how creative people can get with ideas like this and also how beautiful it looks in the end - and such things always serve as a great keepsake of the concert :)
Yeah I don’t think the one at the Panic show was called Girls/Girls/Boys but it was cool. They had different colored hearts in everyone section of the arena so that it made a rainbow.
Elder emo here, pushing 40. Pop punk fans now are much more inclusive and much less snobby and gate keepey than they were in the early 2000s. I loved absolute punk.net, met my wife on it but at times the comments were just a huge circle jerk of, “that bands not punk, if you want to be punk listen to these bans you poser.” So good job new generation of pop punk fans
This is so true! You had to be listening to the exact bands, or else you were a “poser” I got made fun of all the time because MCR was my favorite band, now any time I tell people I saw them live a few years ago people are so excited for me… I feel like just based on stats, some of y’all HAD to be vocally opposed to them back in the day 😆
That’s the thing, I’m not looking to gatekeep, but I do feel like there was a sense of humour in fans back in the day. They were more self aware and willing to critique a band. Not so much now.
Again, the more the merrier, but can’t help but say there’s a weird vibe.
lmao i read the title and IMMEDIATELY thought FOB. and i lovelovelove fob. have been a fan since before FUTCT, will never not be a fan, ive seen them numerous times (i even really like mania..!!). but some of their fans now... oh boy.
im also a bigbig age so maybe that's also it, but when i saw them in the summer for the stardust tour it was wild. i was barricade (i will forever try to be as close to pete as possible lol sue me) and the 18 yr olds around me were something else. and then allllll the discourse and frankly weirdness of the fans on twitter and shit.. a lot of the time i feel like the blinking meme lol.
fans (and anti-fans alike) of the 1975 are also big friggen weirdos who seem to have a tenuous grip on reality (both at shows and online).
the internet is a curse, haha.
So FOB is also my favorite band, since TTTYG, I've seen them now (and this will likely happen when I see them next week) a few times where I've been listening to them longer than some people at the show have been alive.
No, I don't get annoyed, by any of it. I am stoked that a band that has made 2 of my 10 favorite albums of all time, that means a ton to me, made it. That they have new fans, and huge singles, and music videos with Jimmy Butler. Shits awesome. Have I vibed with everything they've ever done? Of course not. But they don't owe me shit. And they can't ever not sound like themselves because they are themselves...bands grow and change, just like all of us.
Nah I’m with you. I was a huge fan in 2004-8 then fell off, I still don’t like save rock and roll, and I super am not into Mania. But you can’t say that or you get shunned. Lolol. Most of the fanbase is cool though, maybe just not the louder ones we hear from on reddit.
MCR’s fanbase on the other hand honestly scares me with how specifically obsessed a large chunk of them are with Gerard in general…. I stopped seeing them in 2008 because of the crowd. Saw them the other year and the masses have only gotten more feral… its not them. Its their fans…
Fall Out Boy is a truly unique situation. They're also my favorite band. There is genuinely a subset of their fanbase that believes Mania is their best work and have been vocal about them not playing any of it's songs live. Generally speaking, the old head fans of theirs think that is their pop fusion rock bottom, so there is a massive polarization to their new music.
It's not that you can't criticize them, it's that perspective changes generation to generation and you just need to understand that not everyone will agree with your criticism.
I don’t know about that last bit - I think many younger fans are really averse to criticism. Point blank. If you’re a fan of something, you have to appreciate and like everything. That’s the vibe I get.
As for Mania… even Joe walked away from that album. I have a hard time appreciating an album when your lead guitarist shuns it. Mind you, I think there are some decent songs on there if they just took away vocoding and the electronic feel of that album. Mania songs sound much better live when they add back in some guitar.
Could be some of that as well. Idk. Everything is a microcosm. Basically everything on Mania, even the stuff that's fine, is as big of a departure from a bands original sound that pop punk has ever seen. People want to make grand proclamations to how devoted they are to something, and if they aren't sensitive to to any period of it's whole, I can totally see why a new FOB fan wouldn't criticize it at all because they lack the context of nostalgia.
When I was in HS in 2006, I always thought it was weird how many of my friends listened to Led Zeppelin, a band that hadn't made any new music for over 25 years. It would have been the same thing criticizing LZ then as it is now criticizing FOB.
When I saw mom jeans the vibe was so different to what I'm used to and not in a good way. The crowd skewed so young and there were a lot of obnoxious main characters and kids who had clearly not been to a show before that had zero awareness or care for show ettiquite.
I absolutely relate to this! I recently went to their show outside of DC, and it was filled with teenagers who had zero awareness of the people around them. I enjoy dancing as much as the next person, but when a 17-year-old kid kept jumping on me and my friend, it killed the vibe.
I don't dislike kids at shows overall; everyone needs to start somewhere. But you are right that they have little care for show etiquette and the people around them.
I feel like the fall out boy sub isn't that bad. However on the green day or blink sub you'll sometimes get attacked for saying you like bands like fall out boy, like why?
I can’t stand The Front Bottoms new young fan base. Most of them have never been to a show before and they’re genuinely nasty and very territorial. You don’t really get 2’ x 2’ standing space at a packed show 😂
And they all want to be smack dab in the front at barricade, then come online to express that they got kicked in the head and shoved around the whole show. I’ve told kids time and time again, you absolutely do not need to be at barricade to enjoy the show.
I’m 40 so am certified old and, I mean this kindly, I think you’re a being curmudgeon. I can’t figure out why you would be even mildly irritated with people partaking in a community by doing harmless and fun things like trading bracelets at concerts? If that’s not your thing, no one is forcing you to trade.
While there is a lot of harmful fandom behavior out there, what you’re complaining about is giving “old man yells at clouds”. The primary fanbase is filled with younger folks in their teens and twenties now, so of course the culture is going to shift and feel different to us older folks (I’m assuming by your post that you’re in your 30s at least) and they engage with fandom a little differently.
Now, having said all that, I spend a lot of time in my chem fan spaces and I do think there’s a lot of harmful and disrespectful behavior in that, so while I love a lot of that fanbase and the friends I’ve made there, I have major concerns that some of the extreme parasocial relationships and lack of boundaries by some portions of the fanbase will lead them to quit again.
It's not pop punk, but as a fan of sad girl music, holy fuck, Phoebe Bridgers fanbase has absorbed all of boygenius and Julien Baker's live shows and they just scream during these somber heartfelt songs and it ruins it for everyone, and I like Phoebe a lot, it's not her fault, it's just something the tik tok fanbase has latched onto.
Amen to that, i love The Maine but holy fuck the 8123 fanbase is filled with some of the most rotten & unwell people. There's constant drama in their online space & it's beyond exhausting to deal with
I'll tell you the worst fan base I've come across and possibly the most deluded but palaye royale. Such a below mid band with rampant obsessive fans and when allegations came.out they went into such detail to defend them. I knew a girl who was so obsessed over them and she went straight from an ardent feminist as in always choosing the women's side to no female could possibly be telling the truth about palaye royale
Waterparks has probably one of the most annoying fanbases I've ever experienced IRL and online. A lot of the fans lack respect + are such...pick mes (I hate that term so you know how serious it is!) at concerts. They're all so desperately crying out for Awsten's attention and it's pathetic. I don't see that behavior for almost any other show I'm at.
Admittedly, I saw some of this behaviour at FOB shows back in the day. Barricade riders who had no sense of personal space and were pushing even during set breaks. All to get noticed by Pete, I guess.
i hate young my chemical romance fans, a lot of them are teens who have a superiority complex because of their “different” music taste which ive noticed with pierce the veil fans too, the image they present tells me that they like the band’s image rather than music
Friend invited me to see PTV last year, and as a casual fan who only knew a few songs... holy fuck. Met some dope people but a lot of the people there were terrifyingly invested.
Bro the Fall Out Boy subreddit kills me. One time someone posted a photo of Patrick literally just sitting there and the caption was like “OMG IM SCREAMING” and I just don’t understand?? I’ve never been the kind of fan who collects candid photos of band members and makes weird fake scenarios of their lives??! Idk it’s a very tumblr-esque fan base in the worst way possible lol
I think that younger fanbases in general are kind of annoying, but I don’t blame them. I think if we were in their shoes we would probably act the same way. This actually reminds me of the time I saw FOB at hella mega with a coworker and their friends (strange situation, I know). I have loved FOB since TTTYG but the others in our group didn’t know any of the songs from that album, not even grand theft autumn. I wasn’t annoyed at all. Just really confused. This is how they got to where they are now, but not everyone was there from the beginning.
I actually really love the trend of friendship bracelet trading at shows. I think it’s a cool way to have a connection with other fans. I’m wondering why it bothers you?
I’m glad that you made this post and I don’t understand why others can’t acknowledge that bands are still flawed, even though we may love their music.
Hey, fellow old-school FOB-head here. I agree with all of your takes here, those things doesn’t make you an old grump. Using your precious time to write an essay about it on Reddit however, does.
Fortunately Nevk Deep fans are very chill. Green Day seems to be too despite how big they are. With FOB you gotta stop and think just how big they are. Multiple Pop hits generate larger fan bases and with numbers you're gonna get more weirdness and that is amplified when you go online. Stan culture has gotten huge in the last decade.
I’m a 33 year old man and I find The Front Bottoms’ younger fan base quite odd. They don’t seem to like live music much, they just stand around guarding their space and looking miserable.
Nah I’m with you. At the last Front Bottoms show I went to I went to the bathroom. On my way back i made my way through the crowd until I reached a wall of like 6-7 friends who had their arms interlocked to not let anyone by…
I just don’t get it. Are you enjoying yourself? Why even come to the show?
Yeah probably early 20s. And same thing happened to me. One of the guys interlocking arms started losing it because I “touched his girlfriend”.
Like dude YOU’RE BOTH DELIBERATELY STANDING IN THE WAY.
TFB crowds are not it. We had an awesome spot by the sound guy at our last show, the girls next to us complained and talked the entire time, i looked over in the middle of TFB set to see the girl next to me reading on her kindle app. Why take up that spot just to mope and be miserable when we had legit fans trying to have a good time directly behind us? Also if you’re above 21 at a TFB show, you’re gonna feel old af. Love the band but i don’t think I’ll be going to anymore of their shows solely because of the crowd.
Yup, huge set it off fan, the community used to be amazing! Everyone was super friendly, helpful, and just happy that there were fans of the band. Then it all fall apart when the new 13/14 year olds joined the community and decided that if the band did absolutely anything even remotely wrong they should be crucified and defamed. They literally sent threats to the band for stupid stuff like voting Republican once in 2008 & cheating on a girlfriend (which I know isn’t stupid but keep in mind that had happened years ago at this point.) it’s come to a point where the band refuse to interact with their fans on Twitter/X, and they only very rarely reply to someone in Instagram. Meanwhile these kids are still fucking complaining about every little thing. Just be happy!
My favorite bands are always changing. If we’re talking Jeff Rosenstock and Menzingers I love that fanbase and get stoked to meet people at shows
When I’m at a Front Bottoms show or something similar… I feel ashamed to associate with some of the people there lol
I'm late to this but i think the definitive answer to this question is Panic! At The Disco. Their fanbase is OBSESSIVE. And I mean to the point where they rival most kpop stans. There was literally an incident where a fan pretended to be Brendon Urie to get in contact with Ryan Ross and emotionally manipulate him for months, leading him to basically go MIA to the public eye. They also love nothing more than to pit the former band members against each other. I think it's because a large majority of their fanbase consists of really emotional teens. There is a reason why Brendon and Ryan are basically in semi-retirement right now (other than the obvious Brendon cancelation stuff) and I think it is pretty obvious that the obssesiveness of the fanbase played somewhat of a part in them vanishing from the public eye.
Massive fall out boy fan and i agree. I think it’s less of an age thing (considering the fact that I’m 20, closer in age to the people you’re talking about than you) and more of them breaking into the “pop” mainstream in recent times.
I have the opposite thing with the same band (among others) - I liked Save Rock and Roll, I've liked other unpopular albums, and been perfectly content enjoying them, then spoken to people like OP and end up feeling the need to justify my appreciation of certain songs. I'd much rather just listen to the music and have everyone shut up about it lmao
That said, refusal to criticise any kind of celebrity because you've formed a cult of personality around them is a whole issue - I have friends who are Swifties (to various extents) and it's honestly torturous to see the way a couple of them, but also posts I see through them, idolise her
I don’t think Mayday Parade has too many annoying fans. Their discography is pretty wide so they have a small number of fans of different styles and groups. Their shows are usually fun without too many annoying fans.
Bayside has a bit of crossover with the radio rock scene. I’ve seen way too many dude bros over the years at their shows. Guys who get into the pit for the sole purpose of hurting others, not picking people up when they fall, and just being general assholes. They suck.
last time i talked about this on here i got downvoted but I don't care... heart attack man fans are some of the most annoying pop punk fans ever. i know their fanbase is really young but i find so many of them creepy and weird... there was one fan i'm pretty sure that kissed eric on stage, that's sexual assault. i'm just so over the "smol bean" type of people and that's their entire fanbase
I would say this is more of an age/generation thing than related to any one specific band. There's a lot of newer fans coming in that don't know a lot of things, and I think people prefer the social aspect of discussing questions with others over just Google searching. For Fall Out Boy specifically, considering how they first hit the stratosphere with Cork Tree and brought in tons of new fans with their Save Rock n Roll and AB/AP era, it makes sense that people aren't as familiar with the older stuff.
Also, now that FOB feel to me like they've gotten "back on track," I've warmed up to the pop era a bit. Has that happened to you at all?
Since I first heard them, I've always had an appreciation for The Wonder Years (never really was able to get into The Upsides though). However, their fan base can be rough, especially during the Greatest Generation era. This subreddit would have like 3 different TWY posts/songs on the front page like every day.
I remember at one point, one of the guys from the band organized a charity 5k and he had to put on the Facebook event that it was not a way for fans to come ask questions and hover around "Lord Soup" (I think is what he called Soupy). I always took that to mean that even they were aware that their fans could be a little too obsessive.
There’s a slight irony here of you complaining people say you can’t criticize any albums but then complain the young people aren’t appreciating TTTYG enough.
Yeah dude I can’t touch any of their new shit. I’ve tried. Their first 4 albums are the best in their lane. But they just lost the heart it feels like. And fans act like it’s all just as good. Apparently they aren’t even playing much of their old shit at shows which is laughable.
I used to be that super involved fan who was on Tumblr And this and that it would post about it all the time. It led me to be a hypocritical fan because I was so ridiculously intimately familiar with all of their music I had a problem with almost everything they put out. (These are my Fueled By Ramen days)
My favorite bands are still blink-182 The academy is all time low and Fall Out Boy but I don't know what the fandom is doing and that's okay! I can love their music so much by just listening to it and loving it and going to their shows. Nobody annoys me cuz I'm not involved with anyone who could potentially be annoying! It's also phenomenal for you or mental health to not overly indulge in a fandom trust me
In middle school during the email days in like 06 to '09 I used to get bullied for the bands I liked because it wasn't hardcore enough cuz I like stuff like Cobra starship and all time low And it wasn't hardcore enough and didn't have any screamo like a day to remember did.
To this day I get incredibly self-conscious playing my playlists in public and when no one says anything about it I assume that means they hate it.
If you go to a show and encounter people who try to challenge you or feel like you have to stay for a set that you kind of don't want to stay for? That's their problem dude. Come to a show have fun and go home or come to a show stay for 30 minutes and leave who cares dude who actually cares anyone who seems like they care doesn't care at the end of the day
I don’t think I’m active on social media enough to even know what any band’s fanbases are like, let alone interacting with them enough to be bothered by it
I remember I saw Brand New when I was like 19 (I’m 37 now). Like, half of the audience was crying. Like blubbering tears. I liked them and a lot of the songs connected with me at an emotional level, but I apparently had more control over my emotions than the vast majority of their fans.
fob's also my #1 by a mile, seen them several times got a tattoo etc etc, something i've come to realize is subreddits r a pretty bad benchmark to judge any community off of, they just all suck. fob's in particular you're correct about it's a whole lot of dickriding nearly everything they've ever released calling it underrated excluding ironically their most commercially successful in ABAP (and the remix album that followed, which is valid but it's also weird a lot of them treat it like a real album and not some bullshit they let some rappers have some fun on) and that's particularly odd bc of how much they tend to fall over themselves declaring everything else underrated but give the cold shoulder to extremely well written songs like uma that happened to get overplayed. folie has definitely grown to be the fan fave throughout the years and it's deemed 'underrated' so much there's a "daily folie is underrated" post tag. that's just the tip of the iceberg, you seem to get the big picture. also the mods are jackasses, someone had a daily concert update thing they were doing, extremely intricate and well put together but the mods made a daily stickied thread and tried to force them to start putting them there but obviously they didn't wanna do that and they took to twitter respectively explaining why the posts would stop, then a mod or 2 made twitter accounts and replied calling her a baby and berating her and shit over it; real douches.
That’s funny, I find Fall Out Boy fans annoying for the exact opposite reason. Everything I see online at least seems to indicate fans don’t want to even give anything post-hiatus a chance.
Waterparks fans are absolutely insufferable. I’m not a huge fan of the band, but I like a decent amount and I used to keep up with them and I swear every comment on every new single was “THIS IS THE BEST WATERPARKS SONG EVER!!” And the absolute worship of Awsten is very…problematic.
Not pop punk, but the band I’m probably the biggest fan of with a fan base I find annoying is Twenty One Pilots.
Not my favorite band but a band i used to genuinely love- Mom Jeans. I started listening to them sometime in 2018, i saw them 3 times before covid and each time it was wonderful. It was such a great community. Sometime during covid, some of their stuff blew up on tiktok. I was super excited for this bc i wanted to see them become successful obviously. I’ve seen them twice post covid and both times the crowd consisted of frat boys who have never been to shows before and drunk girls that don’t stop screaming their names. I was a kid going to shows once, i totally get it, but i got tired of being kicked in the head and having drunk women that are far taller than me leaning on me for support. I’m wondering if that change in the crowd is just where i used to live or if it’s an overall change.
Lol this is a YOU problem, some people just have bands that can do no wrong musically. If you wanna find a place to complain about that band start a reddit page.
Yeah, I loved FOB in high school and decided to treat my wife and I to a show this year. I hadn't ever associated with the FOB fan base, and I was pretty surprised at just how many actual fan-girls were there. But I was always in it for the music, I didn't ever look into band members or who followed them. More power to them!
Im going to put on my hater hat for a second and say that the Heart Attack Man fandom has gotten \*significantly\* more obnoxious after touring with Waterparks.
I find certain Blink fans annoying, obnoxious, and sometimes just borderline creepy. I think it’s gotten worse with new fans and social media. I love the music but don’t give a shit about their personal lives and at times I feel some of the sick, obsessive fans cross the line. Obviously the media doesn’t help especially since Travis is essentially a Kardashian now
At When We Were Young ‘23, Green Day headlined with Blink right before them. 80% of fans left after Blink was done I was like WTF, Green Day are legends
How can someone be a Blink fan and not at least appreciate Green Day enough to stay for their set? I feel like a lot of Blink fans don’t even like pop punk, they strictly like Blink and call it a day.
I enjoy Green Day, actually way more than Blink, but at that point I had been in the sun for like 13 hours and Green Days set was 2 hours long. I stayed for the whole thing but I don’t blame people for leaving.
I didn't realize that that many people left after blink. I hung out at the pink stage for most of the day, so I was super close to the front, about five people back. I've been a big fan of Green Day since middle school, and a bucket list item of mine was to crowdsurf at a GD show. As American Idiot (second song iirc) started playing, I could feel myself starting to pass out from heat exhaustion, so I had a bigger dude pick me up, and people started yelling at me (I get it, everyone was tired, but it's a punk festival, there's gonna be crowdsurfing). I sadly ended up watching them from the vert ramp with a chili dog and an overpriced Liquid Death.
I feel like blink, despite being as big as they are, maintained a somewhat cult fanbase appeal and never lost their "cool" factor. Green Day, on the other hand, had such broad appeal that they're not as "cool" anymore. Like...if you ever watch a sitcom that features an older person trying to be relevant, they namedrop Green Day...but I don't see that with blink-182. Also Green Day hadn't yet released Saviors (which I feel did a great job making them feel relevant again) while blink had just released One More Time literally the day before.
THIS. I saw a guy the other day wearing a wwwy hoodie that I have not seen before. I asked him if that was from year one. He says, this is from year 2 with Blink on it. I asked him. Are you doing year 3? He goes, naw I don't know any of those bands? I'm like you don't know who Chiodos is, Cobra Starship, State champs, like none of those guys? He just said, I have no idea who those are. His response to me was. We just went to it because it was a music festival. We were only there for Blink. After Blink finished their set. My friends and I left wwwy. Edit: Added more to the story.
When I went to Warped like seven years ago, Simple Plan was the last band to play, and I was amazed at how many people left right before their set. I mean, yeah, they’re no Blink or Green Day but come on they’re classic! I think most people who stayed for them were aged 25+ lol
Lol I can 100% see people not wanting to stay for Simple Plan of all bands
I saw them at Warped one year and they were solid, but it was weird hearing a 40-year-old man sing “I’m just a kid and life is a nightmare”
lol I went with my Simple Plan's show to see the opening bands and use this exact excuse as a reason to leave early.
If it’s a choice between Simple Plan and beating traffic, I’m picking beating traffic every time
If I wanted to listen to John Feldman I’d just listen to Goldfinger not one of the bands he basically created.
I did the same thing at the Sum 41 and simple plan show😂 I left to the bar after Simple plan played shut up and then I came back when they played what’s new scooby doo. They then played some cover songs and then i’m just a kid. It was fun but I just don’t like them enough to sit through a set of theirs if it’s going to be long
This exact scenario happened at a Sum 41 / Simple Plan co- [alternating] headliner tour. Went for Sum 41 at the NYC date but Simple Plan headlined I didn’t care for Simple Plans music much but figured fuck it, it’s my night out w/ my buddy in NYC, & stayed til the end Bro, Simple Plans live show was impressive and jumpin- totally won me over as a live music fan
It sucks that they have REALLY GOOD songs that they don't play because people know them for Scooby Doo and I'm Just A Kid. Those two are fine to play 100% but if they could branch out from playing Jump and Shut Up every single concert I'd love the F out of that.
Green Day is one of my favorite bands of all time. People whining about “when did they get so political” are exactly who they’re singing about in American Idiot lmfao.
Was actually crazy lol I mean at least I got to go up front lmao
I wouldn’t have minded. Would have used the opportunity to get closer to the stage for Green Day!
Totally. I got reasonably close for Blink only cuz I had VIP and can weave thru a crowd like a snake, otherwise Blinks crowd was packed like sardines Once the crowd thinned out, it was super easy to get close for Green Day
In a way, that was karma for Green Day fans leaving before blink played during the Pop Disaster Tour
I remember years ago, probably around the first reunion- neighborhoods ish era, I had joined a blink 182 news page on Facebook, thinking I would get updates on tour announcements, music releases, etc., but the group turned out to be blink fans just constantly arguing with each other. It was one of the most toxic pages I have ever seen.
Judging by the blink sub, most blink fans actually hate the band. That sub is full of complaining. It’s gotten better since the new album though
That’s why I left the sub, it’s legitimately one of the most toxic fandom subreddits. The other one being Mac Millers. This is just from my own experience. Same type of cringe and toxic behavior coming from both fanbases
thank god i dont follow any pop punk sites besides this subreddit, cause I can imagine what hardcore blink fans were saying about Matt Skiba when he joined blink. Alk trio and blink are my fav bands ever and i would have gotten really mad, even though i really didn't like all the songs. Side note: Just saw blink live for the first time (I'm from Argentina) last week and holy shit it was awesome, didn't even care about my stolen phone lmao
Oh hey fellow Trio/Blink fan! >I can imagine what hardcore blink fans were saying about Matt Skiba when he joined blink I muted r/Blink182 and unfollowed them on socials for a long time because of the relentless negativity during the Matt days. As someone who actually liked Matt in blink, the toxic behavior from a certain portion of the fanbase really soured my enjoyment of that era. Now that Tom's back it seems opinions on Matt have turned around a bit, but it was rough for a while. So jealous you got see blink at Lolla Argentina, I streamed the show from home and it was a great show!
Oh my God I'm so happy for you That's so great You got to see them aren't they absolutely insane live? I hope they come to Argentina more often for you. Sorry your phone got stolen that blows but yeah a lot of these people just need to chill out and pay attention to the band only and go hey I'm seeing blink I don't care what all these other people think about the band or how long they've been a fan etc. just go and have fun!
Blink 182 has such a weird fanbase. Almost all of my female friends who are into pop punk have been assaulted or harassed at blink shows and the hardcore blink fans remind me of Insane Clown Posse fans as weird as that sounds.
I was about to post that my wife has had a similar experience with being around Blink fans. The last time we went, a dude started recording himself singing a song and pulled her by the shoulder into him. Didn't ask or anything. The thing that I remember most is the walk back to the car after the show. It was at an outdoor venue not far from a national park, so we have lots of trees. This meant people were pissing literally everywhere. Male or female, it didn't matter. But the one that stands out most was a woman pissing from the back seat of a Honda Civic with her ass facing the outbound venue foot traffic. Not a sense of shame in the world.
Second part just sounds like every stadium event ever, not really exclusive to Blink fans. But I agree Blink fans can be super weird and cringe. I commented a separate comment about it
As a female I've never been assaulted or harassed in a blink show thank God that freaks me out. I never got that vibe from blink fans and I've seen them four or five times and was always in the pit. It's been nothing but cool people who want to sing a bunch of swear words at each other
Blink has hit a higher celebrity status with Travis being a Kardashian now, Tom doing Tom things. The demographic for their shows isn’t what it was 15 years ago before the higher status and arena tours. I wouldn’t pay arena prices to see them. The vibes that once were are dead and you’re just gonna get a ton of influencer types with a handful of OG blink fans sprinkled in.
I agree, I hate to seem like I'm gatekeeping Blink-182 of all bands, but I felt this so hard when I went to their show last year, the crowd & vibes were all off. Too many people only there for social media clout or just for the nostalgia of All the Small Things. Hopefully it'll get better in a few years once the hype of their reunion dwindles a bit.
I saw them at BMO stadium in LA in 2023 and it was nothing but dope punk kids. At first it was a bunch of people who probably came cuz they knew them from you know their hits and Kardashians and Tom and whatnot, It was the one they announced Travis and Kourtney were having a baby, which I really have zero problem with I'm happy for him like whatever dude, but after a few songs in the circle pit the dumb ones left and the real ones stayed. And it wasn't even violent or crazy I'm a 5'3 female and the most you're going to get is maybe an elbow to the side. I wore shitty shoes and wiped out a couple of times and before I could register that I was down people had me picked up. I love blink fans so much
I think blink is probably the only band where I know all the members names. There are bands that have changed my life or saved me after a breakup and stuff, but I could maybe name the lead singers. I just don't care enough about them personally. It's so foreign to me to be obsessed with things like that.
100%. The blink sub on here is so damn weird
100% agree, at least with the online portion of fans. I've never had an issue in person, but online it's always quotes from MTTS or related to that. We all get it, they make inappropriate jokes, but they're beyond beat dead at this point.
I feel like almost all fanbases are annoying because they're typically composed heavily of teenagers, who are inherently annoying. I think bands like FOB and MCR have extra-annoying fanbases because the bands have been around for so long and have so much lore for kids to dissect, and because their popularity has been so heavily based on people obsessing over specific band members. I do think a lot of this is an age thing - at least for me, I think fandom is primarily for teens and that I've just aged out of it. I can attend shows and enjoy music without posting about a band on Tumblr or whatever.
I once had a teenager tell me "OMG I love Gerard Way! after seeing the MCR pins on my bag, so I tried to strike up a conversation about their music, what's your favorite album, etc., but she only knew Gerard and nothing else about the band...?
Yeah but they're trying to connect with you They didn't think they were going to get quizzed. And they shouldn't be quizzed. I was bullied in middle school in the peak emo eras of 2000s because I would literally get quizzed on bands that I didn't know enough about but had heard a couple songs and liked. Most of them I didn't have internet access to learn about or just hadn't bothered. To this day I'm incredibly self-conscious about the bands I say I like because if I don't know enough of their music I feel like a "poser" this is not something to be worried about in the grand scheme of things.
Once I realized she didn't know much about the band besides him, we just had a brief conversation about his stage costumes and comics and stuff, I was just more surprised that people know about him outside of MCR I guess?
Admittedly, we need those teenagers to keep the bands going, so again, I don’t care to gatekeep. It was really cool to see so many young people at an MCR show a couple years ago, many of whom probably weren’t born when Black Parade and Three Cheers first came out. Nothing against that. But it likely is an age thing, and I’ve never cared for the obsession over a particular band member. Though I’d say people’s Pete Wentz obsession is what fueled FOB for a while.
To be honest adults most of the time can be a lot more rude than teenagers, I mean at least teenagers you know why they act like that and it's something (most of the time) they will feel embarrassed about later. When I was a teenager I tried to find out more about metal and rock (I didn't know what pop punk was, it can be really confusing if you don't have the right source) and the older guys were so rude about "that's not real metal/rock" true" just because it was a newer band, I think you can guess their opinion on metlacore and emo.
*Rude,* sure. I'm thinking more about cringy, teenager-y fandom behavior like what OP was describing. I totally think teens need a space to engage in that behavior - it's normal and important for development - and I think that's why I don't feel connected to fandom as a whole in my 30s. I know some older folks do, and that's cool, but it's just not for me. I'm fine ceding it to younger people.
Yeah, I remember being on Buzznet during MCR, FOB and Panic!'s heyday and thinking all these fandom things were soooo cool. All the insider info and lore. And now I find the way people go about it to be really annoying. But it must be an age thing. Firstly because I am probably too old for it, but also because the new fans look through a different lens and they way they appreciate it is different and I think my oldie brain is telling me that they weren't there when it went down, so they can't understand it. Which is actually kinda biased and shitty of me, so I'm trying to move away from that mindset.
Honestly not really i never really found the tssf fan base annoying maybe cringy at worst but never really annoying imo
The only time the fanbase gets annoying is actually the same reason I get annoyed with other fanbases. Other fanbases moan and complain because the new stuff doesn't sound like the old stuff. The Wonder Years comes to mind in that regard. Trophy Eyes was another one. In the same regard, people mention they don't like the new TSSF sound and there's a section of the fanbase that gets pretty pissy about it as a result. It's sacrilege if you don't like Proper Dose or Letterman. I prefer new TWY/Trophy Eyes, but old TSSF (mainly S/T and WYDS). Makes me weird I guess.
I think the big issue is that everyone feels like they have to have an opinion on everything and they have to voice it if they have the opportunity. I’m a pop punk fall out boy fan, didn’t mind save rock and roll but after that is where I fell off because their new stuff after that just wasn’t for me. It not being for me, me not liking those songs, dit not make those songs bad songs. If a band traditionally known for metal music and then they release a reggae album because that’s where they’re at, and the fanbase that’s there isn’t into reggae, it’s not necessarily a bad album, it’s just an album for a different audience
how dare you have such a logical, rationale, adult approach to music! i really wish more people realized and thought this way. fighting over what songs or albums are "good" or "bad" is so weird.
Social media has given everyone a platform for their voice to be heard, and many people don’t realize when they should or shouldn’t express their thoughts. It’s also created a situation where people don’t think before they type because they’re not sitting face-to-face with someone. They don’t have to see their reaction, they don’t have to listen to their response, they don’t have to remain civil. You can just say whatever nonsense you want and then pretend no one else exists. Back in the day you’d have a crazy person on the street corner screaming about whatever conspiracy they believe while holding a sign. Now those same people have a platform where they can reach thousands, hundreds of thousands and even millions of people. Because of this, some are going to fall in line with that person’s beliefs instead of just ignoring it like they used to while walking down the street. And don’t even get me started on all the misinformation that goes around on social media (Reddit included).
I went to (Tour) Dust last year and when it came up in convo one girl was "Dont Diss Mania Or We Can't Be Friends" but it was a very chill way and no one gave a shit. Plus I was also like "Oh please the first time I saw them and met Patrick was before the hiatus when you were in primary school!" Not sure on the bracelet thing. The selfmade ones are a more recent thing I've been offered at FOB, Waterparks and Against The Current. They're not full on 'friendship' ones, but usually got song titles or lyrics on them. I guess it's some Gen Z aesthetic thing. I don't take one but idgaf about them, and no one gaf if I don't. Nice to be offered though.
I think the trading is really cool, I hear a lot of stories how thankful people are when they were offered some, as a trade or just giveaway. Most of them look really nice and took a lot of work, some of them even have little memes on them. It's great to see when people share their pics of their self-made bracelets, and especially hearing how much fun most people have with that.
I am seeing more bracelets at festivals and thing. I made a bunch of bracelets for wwwy last year. It was so fun to make! I wish I was a little more outgoing cuz I ended up bringing several back home with me. I did swap a few though
Yeah I feel you with the be-outgoing-part. I was at a Fall Out Boy concert, was handing out pink paper sea shells to hold up at your phone flashlight during one song and had to tell the people to take some and then pass them to the other people. It was pretty awkward cause not many people knew the Stardust Project, but in the end it worked out and we lit up the arena in pink during the song Fake Out :) Was one of the most social things I've done but in the end I was proud to be able to help with that project and I'm even more happy it still worked out so well!
That sounds cool! When I saw Panic! in 2019 they handed out different coloured hearts for Girls/Girls/Boys and turned it kinda rainbow, I kept my pink heart lol. Didn't get any of that at FOB though in the UK
Honestly I like the whole bracelet thing too, I'm pretty socially awkward so it makes it a lot easier for me to meet other fans at shows. Some people at my FOB stop traded me some really nice stickers they made too, which I put in the back of my phone.
Yeah tbf one of the girls in the que in front of me had lots of the the same wallet sized picture of Joe printed out and I took one of them lol. Also socially awkward but usually turn up hours early and boredom forces me to talk if no one else is. Pro-tip, band T's or asking if youve seen them before is usually a good opener I find.
>They're not full on 'friendship' ones, but usually got song titles or lyrics on them. I guess it's some Gen Z aesthetic thing I think it actually started as a Taylor Swift thing, cause I've seen people way older than Gen Z doing it, I've seen it mentioned on an Alkaline Trio Facebook group a few times.
I thought it was originally a rave thing? Or are these a different type of bracelet (not bead)?
Huh, I'd never heard of it but just looked into it and yeah, sounds exactly the same. It's definitely a Swifty trend over the last couple of years which I think is why it's so big now, apparently she has a song that mentions swapping friendship bracelets? I wonder if whoever started it knew about the rave trend or if it's sheer coincidence.
It isn't a coincidence. Her last album was called Midnights, which has a song called You're On Your Own Kid, Kid. One of the last lines of the bridge is > So make the friendship bracelets > Take the moment and taste it > You've got no reason to be afraid Swifties took this and ran with it, reviving the rave trend of making and trading friendship bracelets. It's just one of many examples of how powerful Taylor Swift is. I think that line alone caused bead sales to increase like 250% during the initial run of the Eras Tour. Source: I am a Swiftie.
> reviving the rave trend of making and trading friendship bracelets. I wouldn't say they revived it, it never died. It was just only at raves. Swifties brought it into the mainstream and put their own spin on it-- a lot of the swifty friendship bracelets aren't what i'd trade at a rave, and I think that's really neat.
it was definitely a rave thing before it was a swifty thing.
I’ve seen it too. Idk if this counts but Senses Fail had an “arts and crafts w/ the band” perk as part of their VIP package for their LINAWR 15th Anniversary Tour last year, and tons of friendship bracelets were being made and traded at the shows.
That's possibly the best VIP package perk I've ever heard of tbh.
I think a lot of fans still find Mania endearing for nostalgic reasons, my gf made a lot of close friends by going to multiple shows during the European tour and she still likes Mania because it's tied to those memories. For a lot of people, the music they really love isn't just about how "good" it is, but also at when they heard it and what it means to them.
Mania so bad I skipped that tour
You’re allowed to have an opinion without being down voted. People need to stop.
I love the midwest pop punk style but i was always annoyed by the fanbase. Everyone just felt so whiney and apathetic
that’s why I love them
Green Day and MCR have some freaking weird fans, I would be so uncomfortable being Billie or Gerard with a lot of the comments about their looks, especially people hating on Adrienne and saying they wish they would divorce/she would die, as if there's any chance Billie would go for them if either of those things did happen
Yeah, the Billie Joe simps are psychotic at times. It’s no wonder Billie deactivates his IG every now and then lol
Yeah, like we all know he is hot, but so is his wife, and their relationship is adorable
FOB is my favorite band and I’ve been a fan for almost 20 years. FOB fans have always been weird I’d say haha. But I love that new generations are into them and it’s kind of refreshing to hear their takes on albums. Because I’m honestly sick of hearing everyone my age say “I only like the first two albums” or “only pre hiatus stuff is good”. And I’ll admit I’m blinded by nostalgia for my favorite albums because of where I was in life when they came out. Some of these kids got into them and listened to 4 albums all at the same time and had to make their opinions right away. My other favorite band is The Clash and they were long broken up before I was even born. I never got a chance to experience them releasing a new album. So it’s great that FOB are still rolling 20+ years later and new fans can go see them and be excited. I wish I had more people to nerd out with for The Clash. I guess just remember that all new fans gotta start somewhere? Give them a chance and actually have conversations with them. All the newer fans I’ve talked to have been very sweet and love hearing my “old FOB stories” and then give me a bracelet. I love it!
Yep, as someone who has both been a huge FOB fan since 2005 and was very online during that era I can safely say their fanbase has always had a prominent weird contingent. I was not an exception to this back in my Livejournal/Myspace days, mind you, haha. I do also think it's cool that youngsters didn't have the context we had for some of their later albums so they can appreciate them without that nostalgia blindness, or the "post hiatus is sellout trash!!!" baggage.
Oh totally. I don’t even want to think about the content of my old LJ posts haha
Good take. Thank you!
Waterparks’ fan base is quite something. Unfortunately they make other people not take the band seriously. While that isn’t necessarily the band’s fault, they do play in to that demographic (ie. using caps lock for their tweets). I still like them as musicians and people but it kinda sucks it’s clear they cater to their audience.
The Wonder Years is my favorite band. I've been with them since the captain crunch/kool aid man days, but the fans are extremely pretentious and annoying.
This was mine too! I'm older now but I still feel like the same 'Get Stoked on It!' kid I used to be, whereas it feels like the fanbase (and sometimes the band) forgot how to have fun.
TWY fans on the internet just suffer from being eternally online and need to be right about everything, and it's on both sides. Say you don't like the new music, people get mad. Say you don't like the old music, people get mad. Who cares, music is music.
TWY is mine too but I’ve always felt the opposite. Their shows always feel refreshing to me compared to other bands, like there’s more solidarity among us all. I always figured it was some sort of shared understanding that we’ve all connected with them for a reason. Then again maybe that’s just me being pretentious and making your point.
I've seen them a bunch of times. The fans at shows aren't assholes like some of the other bands that I've read about on this sub, probably too introverted for that. They are the type to correct your grammar or something like that when they don't agree w/ you on the internet. Different level of annoying.
Yeah the TWY mosh pit has to be about the most joyous place on earth in all of my experiences. We're all just *really* smart because we're graduates from the Dan Campbell Lyrical School of Life.
Not my favourite band ever (and arguably not pop punk), but I despise the Waterparks fanbase. An argumentative, selfish and frankly annoying group of mainly teenagers. Had an awful time with the crowd at their show recently - what they say about teenagers having no sense of, or respect for, crowd etiquette is true. Must have been shoved out of the way 30 times by kids pushing as far forward as they could. Plus their subspace of Twitter is a hellhole where they condemn everyone that makes any mistake, ever. Love the music, can't be around the fans.
I love MCR dearly but a lot of their fans are just the worst. On the last tour those fans have taken to creating their own queueing system for GA pit separate from what the venue is doing and they're openly hostile to those that don't follow their rules. I had to leave the MCR subreddit because it was overrun with Gerard Way fanfiction and hate for each other. Surprisingly there was very little conversation about the actual music.
I was going to knock the MCR fan base earlier but I don’t know them enough. From the outside looking in, it seems like MCR fans are usually the same kind of person. The stereotype former high school band / theatre geek or anime nerd who gets way too into fandoms to the point where it’s annoying. Take that and then add a bit of edginess and alt style.
Not pop punk but the Twenty One Pilots fandom had similar stuff going on, with it going so far as some fans claiming that the band told them to do it. Its absolutely wild the entitlement some fans feel.
I like MCR but the fanbase feels like they're trying their damndest to get me not to.
This is interesting, I had a different experience of everyone being super friendly and chill in the MCR sub. However, I only ever looked at the posts that came up on my feed, I must not have been seeing the creepy fan fiction and hate. The PATD! Sub is a whole other story though. Extremely cringe, angry and if you didn’t like the most recent album, you were a “hater” who didn’t actually support the band.
I think it’s safe to assume every fanbase has a vocal minority that’s a % of their fanbase that could be described as obnoxious
I love Blink but the fan base can be kinda cringe. I used to be in the subreddit and they’re the type of people to downvote spam and attack you for simple critiques on the band. Just mentioning “I wasn’t really feeling this one” to a song they act like is the absolute best (it’s mid) you’ll get wrecked. They were also very fucking annoying before Tom came back, it was YEARS of Tom conspiracies and arguing about if he is or isn’t coming back. Now that he’s back, people are like “oh well matt was awesome I miss him!” And they’ll say that after ragging on this guy since 2016. These people are never satisfied lol, it almost makes me not want to like Blink but I always will
Thank you for this. They fucking found every reason to hate Matt and now they’re like “woo go Matt! Thanks for the great work in blink!” And I’m like brother you guys are just so frustrating. I think social media has also bred a generation of fans who can be “closer” to bands more then ever and see a lot more behind the scenes and the day to day of life and they almost feel entitled to their bands business and that’s not cool.
It's a weird mix of them never being satisfied but also strongly "blink can do no wrong"
Yeah I hated that part of the fanbase. Tbh I think California is better than a lot of the albums they made with Tom, especially the new one and neighborhoods. Also I’m an alk3>blink any day type of guy so I’m probably biased.
Hi, fellow FOB fan here. I think the bracelet trading thing is super cool, as well as the Stardust Project - people hand out pink seashells or 8- balls cut out of paper, then you hold them in front of your phone flashlight during Fake Out. Also I love the idea to not criticise the albums per se - you can absolutely say what you don't like, but everyone knows that there's always someone who loves this certain song or album and everyone's cool with that. Also I think you wouldn't get bashed for saying xyz is a weak song/album as long as you make clear that this is your subjective opinion. The other things you mentioned (asking basic questions and talking about thinks you're not too familiar with) is something I haven't really seen. Even if that happens I still think there's no problem as you can tell them that they could easily look it up or tell them that a similar post has been made before, find it by typing words xyz. The fandom is pretty supportive to everyone, to their opinions and helpful for questions. That's really great in my opinion.
I think supportive is good, but I believe a lack of criticism is inauthentic and too overly positive. It gives off a weird vibe. Criticism doesn’t mean “no one can like this song or album” - it just means you don’t like it.
Yeah sure, I just thought you meant criticism in the way of collectively deciding what's good and what's bad. But I definitely think that being able to talk openly about things you personally dislike is essential to a fandoms authenticity. I'm on a subreddit where those people who can't take any criticism on their favourite bands/streamers/youtubers... are negatively referred to as Elite fans - I think that's fitting, cause it's often not the majority (imo) that behaves like this.
Old ass FOB fan here. Been going to show since 2004. I think what we’re talking about Here is more the kids that are chronically online. I think it’s just how young people are and people who are just getting into the band. We have to remember that this band is 20 years old at this point and there’s a lot of material and lore to get into. Bracelets are whatever not my style but glad the kids are having fun. I 100% would’ve done that 15 years ago. The Stardust project or whatever you call, it does not make sense to me at all. I’m constantly giving this little pink piece of paper which seems so incredibly wasteful. And then they say, and it’s written on the paper, that the point of this is to “show the boys some love”. I’m sorry I’m already at the show? I paid like $200 for this ticket? I’m screaming and cheering and singing along? We’re in a giant arena? how are they not “feeling the love”? No one has been able to explain the little pink seashells in a way that makes sense to me.
I loved the Stardust project things! Is that specific to fall out boy? I saw panic! About 5 years ago and people were giving out paper hearts to put in front of your phone flashlight during Girls/Girls/Boys. I figured it was the same people handing them out, but maybe not.
Haha I don't think so (about same people), maybe the fandoms stole the ideas from whoever did it first. So Stardust Project is FOB specific, I guess the Girls/Girls/Boys one was as well. But like I said, you see an idea, you like it, you can bring it to another fandom and make it specific to them. I love how creative people can get with ideas like this and also how beautiful it looks in the end - and such things always serve as a great keepsake of the concert :)
Yeah I don’t think the one at the Panic show was called Girls/Girls/Boys but it was cool. They had different colored hearts in everyone section of the arena so that it made a rainbow.
Elder emo here, pushing 40. Pop punk fans now are much more inclusive and much less snobby and gate keepey than they were in the early 2000s. I loved absolute punk.net, met my wife on it but at times the comments were just a huge circle jerk of, “that bands not punk, if you want to be punk listen to these bans you poser.” So good job new generation of pop punk fans
haha, i thought back in the day the nofx/bad religion people were the "blink isn't REAL punk" crowd and they were annoying as hell.
i’d say you were correct
This is so true! You had to be listening to the exact bands, or else you were a “poser” I got made fun of all the time because MCR was my favorite band, now any time I tell people I saw them live a few years ago people are so excited for me… I feel like just based on stats, some of y’all HAD to be vocally opposed to them back in the day 😆
lol right!
That’s the thing, I’m not looking to gatekeep, but I do feel like there was a sense of humour in fans back in the day. They were more self aware and willing to critique a band. Not so much now. Again, the more the merrier, but can’t help but say there’s a weird vibe.
Almost every thing across all medium I like has some of the worst fans. Except The Sopranos. That reddit is gold
lmao i read the title and IMMEDIATELY thought FOB. and i lovelovelove fob. have been a fan since before FUTCT, will never not be a fan, ive seen them numerous times (i even really like mania..!!). but some of their fans now... oh boy. im also a bigbig age so maybe that's also it, but when i saw them in the summer for the stardust tour it was wild. i was barricade (i will forever try to be as close to pete as possible lol sue me) and the 18 yr olds around me were something else. and then allllll the discourse and frankly weirdness of the fans on twitter and shit.. a lot of the time i feel like the blinking meme lol. fans (and anti-fans alike) of the 1975 are also big friggen weirdos who seem to have a tenuous grip on reality (both at shows and online). the internet is a curse, haha.
So FOB is also my favorite band, since TTTYG, I've seen them now (and this will likely happen when I see them next week) a few times where I've been listening to them longer than some people at the show have been alive. No, I don't get annoyed, by any of it. I am stoked that a band that has made 2 of my 10 favorite albums of all time, that means a ton to me, made it. That they have new fans, and huge singles, and music videos with Jimmy Butler. Shits awesome. Have I vibed with everything they've ever done? Of course not. But they don't owe me shit. And they can't ever not sound like themselves because they are themselves...bands grow and change, just like all of us.
Yeah, I’m not annoyed by the band itself. Very happy they made it.
Nah I’m with you. I was a huge fan in 2004-8 then fell off, I still don’t like save rock and roll, and I super am not into Mania. But you can’t say that or you get shunned. Lolol. Most of the fanbase is cool though, maybe just not the louder ones we hear from on reddit. MCR’s fanbase on the other hand honestly scares me with how specifically obsessed a large chunk of them are with Gerard in general…. I stopped seeing them in 2008 because of the crowd. Saw them the other year and the masses have only gotten more feral… its not them. Its their fans…
Fall Out Boy is a truly unique situation. They're also my favorite band. There is genuinely a subset of their fanbase that believes Mania is their best work and have been vocal about them not playing any of it's songs live. Generally speaking, the old head fans of theirs think that is their pop fusion rock bottom, so there is a massive polarization to their new music. It's not that you can't criticize them, it's that perspective changes generation to generation and you just need to understand that not everyone will agree with your criticism.
I don’t know about that last bit - I think many younger fans are really averse to criticism. Point blank. If you’re a fan of something, you have to appreciate and like everything. That’s the vibe I get. As for Mania… even Joe walked away from that album. I have a hard time appreciating an album when your lead guitarist shuns it. Mind you, I think there are some decent songs on there if they just took away vocoding and the electronic feel of that album. Mania songs sound much better live when they add back in some guitar.
Could be some of that as well. Idk. Everything is a microcosm. Basically everything on Mania, even the stuff that's fine, is as big of a departure from a bands original sound that pop punk has ever seen. People want to make grand proclamations to how devoted they are to something, and if they aren't sensitive to to any period of it's whole, I can totally see why a new FOB fan wouldn't criticize it at all because they lack the context of nostalgia. When I was in HS in 2006, I always thought it was weird how many of my friends listened to Led Zeppelin, a band that hadn't made any new music for over 25 years. It would have been the same thing criticizing LZ then as it is now criticizing FOB.
Great points all around. Thanks for your insight!
Not my fave band but I find myself annoyed with fans of mom jeans for some reason
When I saw mom jeans the vibe was so different to what I'm used to and not in a good way. The crowd skewed so young and there were a lot of obnoxious main characters and kids who had clearly not been to a show before that had zero awareness or care for show ettiquite.
I absolutely relate to this! I recently went to their show outside of DC, and it was filled with teenagers who had zero awareness of the people around them. I enjoy dancing as much as the next person, but when a 17-year-old kid kept jumping on me and my friend, it killed the vibe. I don't dislike kids at shows overall; everyone needs to start somewhere. But you are right that they have little care for show etiquette and the people around them.
That's fair. I'm annoyed with myself a good bit of the time.
I feel like the fall out boy sub isn't that bad. However on the green day or blink sub you'll sometimes get attacked for saying you like bands like fall out boy, like why?
I can’t stand The Front Bottoms new young fan base. Most of them have never been to a show before and they’re genuinely nasty and very territorial. You don’t really get 2’ x 2’ standing space at a packed show 😂
And they all want to be smack dab in the front at barricade, then come online to express that they got kicked in the head and shoved around the whole show. I’ve told kids time and time again, you absolutely do not need to be at barricade to enjoy the show.
I’m 40 so am certified old and, I mean this kindly, I think you’re a being curmudgeon. I can’t figure out why you would be even mildly irritated with people partaking in a community by doing harmless and fun things like trading bracelets at concerts? If that’s not your thing, no one is forcing you to trade. While there is a lot of harmful fandom behavior out there, what you’re complaining about is giving “old man yells at clouds”. The primary fanbase is filled with younger folks in their teens and twenties now, so of course the culture is going to shift and feel different to us older folks (I’m assuming by your post that you’re in your 30s at least) and they engage with fandom a little differently. Now, having said all that, I spend a lot of time in my chem fan spaces and I do think there’s a lot of harmful and disrespectful behavior in that, so while I love a lot of that fanbase and the friends I’ve made there, I have major concerns that some of the extreme parasocial relationships and lack of boundaries by some portions of the fanbase will lead them to quit again.
Waterparks fan base is literally awful. People have stopped going to the shows due to it
It's not pop punk, but as a fan of sad girl music, holy fuck, Phoebe Bridgers fanbase has absorbed all of boygenius and Julien Baker's live shows and they just scream during these somber heartfelt songs and it ruins it for everyone, and I like Phoebe a lot, it's not her fault, it's just something the tik tok fanbase has latched onto.
I’ll forever stand by the fact that The Maine has some of the worst fucking fans I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting.
Amen to that, i love The Maine but holy fuck the 8123 fanbase is filled with some of the most rotten & unwell people. There's constant drama in their online space & it's beyond exhausting to deal with
Love FOB but can’t stand this new wave of fans. I just listen to the music and stay away from the fandom
I'll tell you the worst fan base I've come across and possibly the most deluded but palaye royale. Such a below mid band with rampant obsessive fans and when allegations came.out they went into such detail to defend them. I knew a girl who was so obsessed over them and she went straight from an ardent feminist as in always choosing the women's side to no female could possibly be telling the truth about palaye royale
Love some of their music….but yeah the community & the lengths they’ll go to defend the band are crazy
I'm annoyed by the fanbase of anything I like
Waterparks has probably one of the most annoying fanbases I've ever experienced IRL and online. A lot of the fans lack respect + are such...pick mes (I hate that term so you know how serious it is!) at concerts. They're all so desperately crying out for Awsten's attention and it's pathetic. I don't see that behavior for almost any other show I'm at.
Admittedly, I saw some of this behaviour at FOB shows back in the day. Barricade riders who had no sense of personal space and were pushing even during set breaks. All to get noticed by Pete, I guess.
I hate all of you. All. Of. You. ^^^^^^^jk
I think a certain percentage of every fanbase for any band can be a little annoying.
Weird fanbases, eh? They're not poppunk, but AFI has been my favorite band for 24 years. I bet they've got ANY band beat.
i hate young my chemical romance fans, a lot of them are teens who have a superiority complex because of their “different” music taste which ive noticed with pierce the veil fans too, the image they present tells me that they like the band’s image rather than music
Friend invited me to see PTV last year, and as a casual fan who only knew a few songs... holy fuck. Met some dope people but a lot of the people there were terrifyingly invested.
Bro the Fall Out Boy subreddit kills me. One time someone posted a photo of Patrick literally just sitting there and the caption was like “OMG IM SCREAMING” and I just don’t understand?? I’ve never been the kind of fan who collects candid photos of band members and makes weird fake scenarios of their lives??! Idk it’s a very tumblr-esque fan base in the worst way possible lol
I think that younger fanbases in general are kind of annoying, but I don’t blame them. I think if we were in their shoes we would probably act the same way. This actually reminds me of the time I saw FOB at hella mega with a coworker and their friends (strange situation, I know). I have loved FOB since TTTYG but the others in our group didn’t know any of the songs from that album, not even grand theft autumn. I wasn’t annoyed at all. Just really confused. This is how they got to where they are now, but not everyone was there from the beginning. I actually really love the trend of friendship bracelet trading at shows. I think it’s a cool way to have a connection with other fans. I’m wondering why it bothers you? I’m glad that you made this post and I don’t understand why others can’t acknowledge that bands are still flawed, even though we may love their music.
Hey, fellow old-school FOB-head here. I agree with all of your takes here, those things doesn’t make you an old grump. Using your precious time to write an essay about it on Reddit however, does.
Fair take. Couldn’t sleep, so I tried to exert some energy to tire myself out. Thanks though!
Fortunately Nevk Deep fans are very chill. Green Day seems to be too despite how big they are. With FOB you gotta stop and think just how big they are. Multiple Pop hits generate larger fan bases and with numbers you're gonna get more weirdness and that is amplified when you go online. Stan culture has gotten huge in the last decade.
I’m a 33 year old man and I find The Front Bottoms’ younger fan base quite odd. They don’t seem to like live music much, they just stand around guarding their space and looking miserable.
Nah I’m with you. At the last Front Bottoms show I went to I went to the bathroom. On my way back i made my way through the crowd until I reached a wall of like 6-7 friends who had their arms interlocked to not let anyone by… I just don’t get it. Are you enjoying yourself? Why even come to the show?
Were they younger out of interest? I had one girl of about 20 nearly in tears because I vaguely brushed her shoulder near the bar
Yeah probably early 20s. And same thing happened to me. One of the guys interlocking arms started losing it because I “touched his girlfriend”. Like dude YOU’RE BOTH DELIBERATELY STANDING IN THE WAY.
TFB crowds are not it. We had an awesome spot by the sound guy at our last show, the girls next to us complained and talked the entire time, i looked over in the middle of TFB set to see the girl next to me reading on her kindle app. Why take up that spot just to mope and be miserable when we had legit fans trying to have a good time directly behind us? Also if you’re above 21 at a TFB show, you’re gonna feel old af. Love the band but i don’t think I’ll be going to anymore of their shows solely because of the crowd.
Very very similar to my experience. One of my favourite bands and they’re superb live but it all felt a bit too tense for my tastes
I know a true TFB fan when I see one
Yup, huge set it off fan, the community used to be amazing! Everyone was super friendly, helpful, and just happy that there were fans of the band. Then it all fall apart when the new 13/14 year olds joined the community and decided that if the band did absolutely anything even remotely wrong they should be crucified and defamed. They literally sent threats to the band for stupid stuff like voting Republican once in 2008 & cheating on a girlfriend (which I know isn’t stupid but keep in mind that had happened years ago at this point.) it’s come to a point where the band refuse to interact with their fans on Twitter/X, and they only very rarely reply to someone in Instagram. Meanwhile these kids are still fucking complaining about every little thing. Just be happy!
I'm annoyed that YF's isn't bigger
Most valid answer
My favorite bands are always changing. If we’re talking Jeff Rosenstock and Menzingers I love that fanbase and get stoked to meet people at shows When I’m at a Front Bottoms show or something similar… I feel ashamed to associate with some of the people there lol
I'm late to this but i think the definitive answer to this question is Panic! At The Disco. Their fanbase is OBSESSIVE. And I mean to the point where they rival most kpop stans. There was literally an incident where a fan pretended to be Brendon Urie to get in contact with Ryan Ross and emotionally manipulate him for months, leading him to basically go MIA to the public eye. They also love nothing more than to pit the former band members against each other. I think it's because a large majority of their fanbase consists of really emotional teens. There is a reason why Brendon and Ryan are basically in semi-retirement right now (other than the obvious Brendon cancelation stuff) and I think it is pretty obvious that the obssesiveness of the fanbase played somewhat of a part in them vanishing from the public eye.
I feel the exact same way about FOB, I think they’re just young
Massive fall out boy fan and i agree. I think it’s less of an age thing (considering the fact that I’m 20, closer in age to the people you’re talking about than you) and more of them breaking into the “pop” mainstream in recent times.
I think you’re really speaking to the difference between fans and fandom. Fandom is for the young. Fans can be lifelong.
It’s 2024. Gatekeeping is stupid.
My god yes! I didn’t join the Sum 41 sub until about a couple months ago and so many people in there are insufferable.
I have the opposite thing with the same band (among others) - I liked Save Rock and Roll, I've liked other unpopular albums, and been perfectly content enjoying them, then spoken to people like OP and end up feeling the need to justify my appreciation of certain songs. I'd much rather just listen to the music and have everyone shut up about it lmao That said, refusal to criticise any kind of celebrity because you've formed a cult of personality around them is a whole issue - I have friends who are Swifties (to various extents) and it's honestly torturous to see the way a couple of them, but also posts I see through them, idolise her
I don’t think Mayday Parade has too many annoying fans. Their discography is pretty wide so they have a small number of fans of different styles and groups. Their shows are usually fun without too many annoying fans.
Bayside has a bit of crossover with the radio rock scene. I’ve seen way too many dude bros over the years at their shows. Guys who get into the pit for the sole purpose of hurting others, not picking people up when they fall, and just being general assholes. They suck.
honestly, Jeff Rosenstock has a seemingly great fanbase.
last time i talked about this on here i got downvoted but I don't care... heart attack man fans are some of the most annoying pop punk fans ever. i know their fanbase is really young but i find so many of them creepy and weird... there was one fan i'm pretty sure that kissed eric on stage, that's sexual assault. i'm just so over the "smol bean" type of people and that's their entire fanbase
I would say this is more of an age/generation thing than related to any one specific band. There's a lot of newer fans coming in that don't know a lot of things, and I think people prefer the social aspect of discussing questions with others over just Google searching. For Fall Out Boy specifically, considering how they first hit the stratosphere with Cork Tree and brought in tons of new fans with their Save Rock n Roll and AB/AP era, it makes sense that people aren't as familiar with the older stuff. Also, now that FOB feel to me like they've gotten "back on track," I've warmed up to the pop era a bit. Has that happened to you at all?
Since I first heard them, I've always had an appreciation for The Wonder Years (never really was able to get into The Upsides though). However, their fan base can be rough, especially during the Greatest Generation era. This subreddit would have like 3 different TWY posts/songs on the front page like every day. I remember at one point, one of the guys from the band organized a charity 5k and he had to put on the Facebook event that it was not a way for fans to come ask questions and hover around "Lord Soup" (I think is what he called Soupy). I always took that to mean that even they were aware that their fans could be a little too obsessive.
There’s a slight irony here of you complaining people say you can’t criticize any albums but then complain the young people aren’t appreciating TTTYG enough.
I'm annoyed by several of my favorite bands fanbases unfortunately
No but I’m annoyed by my parents
I hate every fanbase
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Yeah dude I can’t touch any of their new shit. I’ve tried. Their first 4 albums are the best in their lane. But they just lost the heart it feels like. And fans act like it’s all just as good. Apparently they aren’t even playing much of their old shit at shows which is laughable.
I’m annoyed by all these super fans that never leave their house
I used to be that super involved fan who was on Tumblr And this and that it would post about it all the time. It led me to be a hypocritical fan because I was so ridiculously intimately familiar with all of their music I had a problem with almost everything they put out. (These are my Fueled By Ramen days) My favorite bands are still blink-182 The academy is all time low and Fall Out Boy but I don't know what the fandom is doing and that's okay! I can love their music so much by just listening to it and loving it and going to their shows. Nobody annoys me cuz I'm not involved with anyone who could potentially be annoying! It's also phenomenal for you or mental health to not overly indulge in a fandom trust me
In middle school during the email days in like 06 to '09 I used to get bullied for the bands I liked because it wasn't hardcore enough cuz I like stuff like Cobra starship and all time low And it wasn't hardcore enough and didn't have any screamo like a day to remember did. To this day I get incredibly self-conscious playing my playlists in public and when no one says anything about it I assume that means they hate it. If you go to a show and encounter people who try to challenge you or feel like you have to stay for a set that you kind of don't want to stay for? That's their problem dude. Come to a show have fun and go home or come to a show stay for 30 minutes and leave who cares dude who actually cares anyone who seems like they care doesn't care at the end of the day
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Most of TSSF’s fanbase is great but it’s the 10% that just want a part 2 for What You Don’t See instead of seeing the band try new things
I don’t think I’m active on social media enough to even know what any band’s fanbases are like, let alone interacting with them enough to be bothered by it
Yeah, this is the way to be
Posers are the worst... Panic At The Disco and Paramore "popular singles" fans suck
I remember I saw Brand New when I was like 19 (I’m 37 now). Like, half of the audience was crying. Like blubbering tears. I liked them and a lot of the songs connected with me at an emotional level, but I apparently had more control over my emotions than the vast majority of their fans.
fob's also my #1 by a mile, seen them several times got a tattoo etc etc, something i've come to realize is subreddits r a pretty bad benchmark to judge any community off of, they just all suck. fob's in particular you're correct about it's a whole lot of dickriding nearly everything they've ever released calling it underrated excluding ironically their most commercially successful in ABAP (and the remix album that followed, which is valid but it's also weird a lot of them treat it like a real album and not some bullshit they let some rappers have some fun on) and that's particularly odd bc of how much they tend to fall over themselves declaring everything else underrated but give the cold shoulder to extremely well written songs like uma that happened to get overplayed. folie has definitely grown to be the fan fave throughout the years and it's deemed 'underrated' so much there's a "daily folie is underrated" post tag. that's just the tip of the iceberg, you seem to get the big picture. also the mods are jackasses, someone had a daily concert update thing they were doing, extremely intricate and well put together but the mods made a daily stickied thread and tried to force them to start putting them there but obviously they didn't wanna do that and they took to twitter respectively explaining why the posts would stop, then a mod or 2 made twitter accounts and replied calling her a baby and berating her and shit over it; real douches.
just listen to the music
Nah, id think the sum 41 fan base is one of the more healthier and better band fanbases
Not pop punk but I can completely relate I’ve had to tap out of bring me the horizon. The fans are insufferable
That’s funny, I find Fall Out Boy fans annoying for the exact opposite reason. Everything I see online at least seems to indicate fans don’t want to even give anything post-hiatus a chance. Waterparks fans are absolutely insufferable. I’m not a huge fan of the band, but I like a decent amount and I used to keep up with them and I swear every comment on every new single was “THIS IS THE BEST WATERPARKS SONG EVER!!” And the absolute worship of Awsten is very…problematic. Not pop punk, but the band I’m probably the biggest fan of with a fan base I find annoying is Twenty One Pilots.
Not my favorite band but a band i used to genuinely love- Mom Jeans. I started listening to them sometime in 2018, i saw them 3 times before covid and each time it was wonderful. It was such a great community. Sometime during covid, some of their stuff blew up on tiktok. I was super excited for this bc i wanted to see them become successful obviously. I’ve seen them twice post covid and both times the crowd consisted of frat boys who have never been to shows before and drunk girls that don’t stop screaming their names. I was a kid going to shows once, i totally get it, but i got tired of being kicked in the head and having drunk women that are far taller than me leaning on me for support. I’m wondering if that change in the crowd is just where i used to live or if it’s an overall change.
Lol this is a YOU problem, some people just have bands that can do no wrong musically. If you wanna find a place to complain about that band start a reddit page.
I stopped liking waterparks after going to their show a few weeks ago
blink fans. I am my own source
Not my favorite bands but a lot of bands fanbases are extremely cringe and annoying.
Yeah, I loved FOB in high school and decided to treat my wife and I to a show this year. I hadn't ever associated with the FOB fan base, and I was pretty surprised at just how many actual fan-girls were there. But I was always in it for the music, I didn't ever look into band members or who followed them. More power to them!
yes
Im going to put on my hater hat for a second and say that the Heart Attack Man fandom has gotten \*significantly\* more obnoxious after touring with Waterparks.
Not pop punk but bad omens fan base is awful