Taylor Swift fan sparks debate about concert etiquette: 'It ruins it for literally everyone'

There's no better feeling than being at a live music event. The excitement of seeing an artist you love - maybe for the first time, maybe for the tenth - and the sense of camaraderie you feel with your fellow fans as you share the experience of hearing the songs that you each relate to in your own unique way performed by your favourite band or singer.

Of course, you're going to sing along. After all, turning the gig into a giant karaoke sesh is the highest compliment you can give the artist. You throw your arms around your newfound friends, perhaps wave your phone in the air instead of a lighter (crazy to think we used to do this!) and belt out the notes at the top of your lungs. This is what memories are made of, right?

Well, maybe not as one aggrieved TikToker shared after a Taylor Swift show (you may have heard that she was in Sydney).

"PSA," the concert-goer captioned their video, "There's a difference between singing and screeching."

The clip in question features the dulcet tones of one very enthusiastic fan who may have missed the mark - as well as several keys of 'All Too Well'.

"PSA: pls don't be like the girl in front of us at concerts," reads the text on the video. "It ruins it for literally everyone around you."

And, lest anyone watching think that this sonic infraction was only for a song or two, the TikToker preemptively clarified that it was not a one-off and that the offending Swiftie had done it all night.

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So, who is in the right here, keeping in mind both people probably paid a small fortune to be at the show? The fan who wants to share her appreciation for Tay Tay at the top of her lungs and who, bless her, might not realise that she is bothering the people around her? Or the fan who just wants to hear her favourite artist belt out the tunes that likely have made up the soundtrack to her life thus far?

The comments were, as you might expect, a mixed bag and therefore no help to me as I tried to decide whose side I was on.

"She's literally me," said one person (although I am fairly certain she meant to say 'figuratively') while another showed solidarity saying, "If I waited a whole year to see my favourite artist, I am screaming."

A few people seemed to think that context was important and that the screeching could be excused because it was during 'All Too Well.'

"NGL, if ur not screaming during All Too Well then what are u doing?" one person asked. Another said "It's All Too Well, you can't expect me not to scream it"

Then there were the people who agreed with the TikToker that the girl in question should've taken heed of Taylor's advice when she said 'you need to calm down...'

"Absolutely," one said. "This happened at my concert. The girl next to me did this the entire night. Not ok, could barely hear Taylor."

One brave person even recounted that they'd had a polite word with a group of girls who had been doing the same thing and that they had zero regrets about doing so.

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Ultimately, what I, personally, love about live music (and music in general), is how freeing and primal it is and I think everyone should be able to enjoy it in a way that feels authentic to them (as long as they are not causing harm to others.) Yes, I think that we should also be courteous of other music lovers but as soon as we start dictating how people should sing along at concerts, I think we've missed the point of what music is all about. Music, after all, is the ultimate equaliser in a world that is anything but fair.

Perhaps my favourite responses to the TikToker's Taylor dilemma were the ones suggesting loop earplugs - designed specifically for concerts - that can drown out sounds other than the artist you've paid to see.

As someone who is partially deaf in one ear from standing too close to a speaker during a Smashing Pumpkins gig when I was 15, I reckon this is solid advice and could just be the key to everyone enjoying live music however they damn well please.

Rock on, dear friends!

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