So I have read through 43 responses to my original seating dilemma now.
Here's what I have learned:
1. If you are truly metttttaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllll, then you don't sit down at a metal show, thus making the seating problem a moot point.
2. Although I drive halfway across a continent to see a 2-day 10-band metal show with my significant other and my 2 closest friends, we don't deserve (nor should we expect) to sit together because our tastes vary.
3. Sitting down during some bands and standing up during others but still wanting to sit later is just plain crazy and asinine.
3. A bag is a completely fine, tried and true method, of claiming a seat for the entire show.
4. A single individual saving multiple or even rows of seats for others who will return "at some point" is considered by many to be perfectly legitimate.
5. The time of someone returning still seems vague at best. To some it means five minutes and then it's fair game...to others, it means that seat is saved for the duration of the show but you MIGHT be able to sit there for a little while until that person returns if you ask nicely.
6. Apparently people believe I have run out of things to bitch about although I have never bitched about an aspect of the show except that Enchant hasn't played yet.
7. That even though this metal show supposedly has the vibe of "one big happy metal family", don't expect the same family vibe courtesy in responses when posting about a personal problem occuring at the show that the promoter and crew may or may not be aware of.
My post was quite legitimate to me and I feel that it is an issue I have experienced every year I have attended. I brought it up so that Glenn and his crew knew that this problem has existed for me and maybe others. Is there a solution? I don't know. That's why I brought it up here. I felt like I had no disdain or indignation in my post. I was merely stating a problem with varied circumstances and was hoping to hear some solutions other than "pounding sand." But thanks for that one. I know what was really thought of my post at least.
Dustin mirrored experiences similar to mine when he and his pregnant wife were not able to find a seat and no one wanted to give up their saved seats. Apparently the family vibe exists out there as long as you aren't asking for someone to give up a saved seat. I am by nature a pretty passive guy and certainly don't look very foreboding. In turn, I have never been rude or obnoxious to anyone at the show until about the 10th time in a night I try to sit down in a LARGE section of empty seats and was told to get up. Even then, I have tried to reason with people and tell them my plight only to be harassed and cussed at and in one instance even mildly threatened if me and my group didn't get up after we had been sitting there for 45 minutes. Yes, I do feel the love of the metal family...
Basically, as far as I can tell, the "solution" is for me to bring my own bags/items/clothes/pizza crust/beer or whatever to place in the 4 seats I want at the beginning of each day and tie them to the chairs. Therefore, I am guaranteed a spot for the entire show whether I am there or not since that seems like a typical belief. I don't believe that is fair to others who shared my same plight before, but hey...."when in Rome..." right?
I just have to say I am kind of shocked at a lot of the responses I got. I really did believe I was trying to be the courteous one in my mind by NOT trying to save my own seats whether I am there or not. But so be it. I know where I stand (and sit) with the responses I got.
Thanks everyone. Cheers and rock on! Seeya at the show....center section, 3rd row up, 4 center seats right behind the sound board. Gold Badge does have it's privileges! If you don't see me, just ask my hot dog bun politely to sit there while I am gone, perhaps he will allow it....but only for a little while.
Anakin
