A picture captured at the popular Mangaung cultural festival (Macufe) 2018’s main concert in Bloemfontein.

Attending concerts is often a great way to have fun, experience outdoors and the thrill of live performances and culture with close friends and family but if the experience is not treated with extreme caution, care and vigilance, it can easily turn into a big nightmare. A great of people enjoy going for concerts and with a large gathering of people at once, safety is often in the spotlight as not everyone attending these is out for some clean and safe fun.

Lifehack.org, through an article written by Lauren Hill, lists 5 benefits of attending concerts which include, amongst others, raising of one’s spirits, prolonging life and burning calories.

As someone who frequently attends concerts, I have grown to observe a couple of items that people should be cautious about regarding attending concerts for their own safety and that of those they attend them with.

1. Scrutinize the type of concert wisely and carefully. Luckily, I have devised 5 sub questions to this effect to help you scrutinize and choose a concert accordingly.

– Is the concert you plan on attending an indoor or an outdoor one? Is there an organized seating plan or no reserved seating?

Indoor concerts have the benefit of not being weather dependent as opposed to outdoor concerts. Outdoor concerts have the benefit of exposing you to the natural environment with elements such as fresh wind, clean air and sunlight – You may need a raincoat or umbrella unfortunately. Organized seating plans are often structured and will require some order to maintain while a ‘no reserved’ seating plan means, you should not expect someone to, out of the blue, ask you to vacate ‘their seat or spot’. Watch out for those moments as they can easily get out of hand if not monitored carefully. You choose what you are in the mood for, each of these have their pros and cons.

– Does the concert allow alcohol or bottles or any other potential hazardous items inside the venue? Most concerts do not allow people to come inside the venue with their alcohol or with bottles for reasons including the need to make profit and safety respectively. Bottles and any other items such as knives and corkscrews can be weapons which may result in serious injuries when things get heated so be careful and observe if these items are permitted.

Worried about not being allowed with your refreshments inside? Then check if the concert venue sells refreshments onto plastics cups instead of bottles. There is a safety element to the serving of refreshments from bottles to plastic cups. Also, have some light cash on you handy for some refreshments, light food or snack and as a form of an emergency.

– What is the time of concert?

Is it an early morning concert or an afternoon one? Is it one which will start late in the evening until the wee hours of the morning?

Make sure you know this information clearly so that you can plan your travelling and time to spend there and depart. Most concerts start late in the afternoon until the wee hours of the morning so make sure you grab a meal before going to the concert, this will ensure that you don’t get hungry too quickly while at the concert which will save you money and get you to enjoy more of the concert moments.

I would say the more during the day a concert is held, the more safer it is relatively speaking. Also check for the security personnel, their presence if it’s visible or not and where to contact them should the need arise.

Is security in general tight? Are people easily allowed into the venue without being thoroughly checked nor their contents scrutinized? Answers to these kind of questions tell you a lot about the possible safety aspect of the concert. And if you happen to observe that the security is not that tight, then you need to be extra cautious.

Most concerts take place late at night, so be vigilant, aware of your surroundings and personal belongings at all times. Know where you parked, plan the outing accordingly to avoid having to travel long distances to and from the venue late at night or in the early hours of the morning to limit your exposure to possible road accident hazards. And remember, there will be booze at the venue, so drinking and having to get back on the driving seat thereafter easily exposes you to possible danger. Consider using Uber or a cab or have a designated driver as part of your group.

– Are passouts allowed or not?

Passouts allow people to go in and outside the concert venue. Check for access control and how it’s managed when Passouts are allowed because if access control is not in place, it may place you, the person attending the concert in danger as strangers can potentially come inside and outside of the concert area with ease. Popular concerts such as the Macufe do not allow passouts so what this means is that, once you’re inside the venue, you are in until you decide it’s time to leave and won’t be allowed back. The main concert usually starts in the early morning, round about 11am and ends in the early hours of the next day.

– What is the target audience of the concert? Is it a concert where you expect mostly young people or older people? Are you expecting roudy and typically loud crowds or a mature, chilled kind of vibe? Usually the type of artists performing at a concert set a good precedence for the establishment of the target audience. Do not assume that because it’s a gospel concert you may be at a far safer place than for an instance a hip hop concert as preys can be almost everywhere lurking around to compromise on your safety if you’re not alert. I am not in a position to comment on the safety aspects of younger versus older crowds but what I can say is I attend concerts with a predominantly adult crowd which I view to be mostly safe. Then again, the type of concert and genre also plays a role and this is by no means a rule. Maturity of the audience is the key ingredient and it does not always correlate with age.

2. Avoid attending concerts alone.

Concerts are best enjoyed with a group of friends or family. Time out together does everyone’s health a benefit and it’s the memories that will be carved that will make it worthy of being experienced. So when the opportunity arise, try to go with as many close people as possible, for your safety as well. Being alone at a concert can make you vulnerable and easily targetted as opposed to when you’re with a group. Always be alert, know each other’s whereabouts, make sure that there is someone close and familiar wherever you are.

3. If attending as a group, always have a designated driver, a responsible person in the group. Alternatively, make use of Uber or maxi cab services to and from the venue if needs be. If you are attending a concert alone, the onus is thus on you to be safe at all times, even after you leave the concert, if you will be driving back – just let at least someone close to you know about your whereabouts all the time.

The designated driver in the group must ensure that he/she does not overindulge on any beverages that could make them a hazard behind the wheel before and after the concert.

4. Let everyone know your whereabouts.

When at a concert with friends, make sure that the people you came with know your whereabouts all the time, whether you are going to the toilet, going to get some food or going out for a while and with whom, for your safety. You never know who may be lurking around to see you disappear from a crowd even if it’s for a brief second. Tag someone along if you have to, try to not be seen roaming around the venue alone.

5. Ensure your cellphone is fully charged – have a power bank handy.

These portable gadgets of ours do so many fancy tricks nowadays other that to simply take beautiful pictures with multiple and high quality cameras. They can be used to check in and help locate your last physical location – owing that your location icon is on. Make sure that it’s fully powered as you head to a concert as you may need it to make an emergency call if trouble approaches or make a call to check where your friend is, if you happen to lose eachother. You may need to make a call for someone else to come pick you up if there is a need afterwards. So all these elements will require you to use a cellphone. As mentioned earlier, concerts have the potential of bringing a large gathering of people in one place at once and the chances of people going missing, losing sight of each other or getting lost are there and are quite high so please make sure your cellphone is fully charged.

Cut down on taking lots of videos and pictures during the concert to save on the battery. Take one video, a decent picture and then check in. Switch off your mobile data or wifi to save on your battery. Besides, enjoy the moment and although it’s fair enough you’d want others who could not make it to experience it as well from the videos and pictures you take, don’t limit yourself of the actual concert experience while you’re there by being mostly on your phone. Lastly, invest in a good, quality power bank, to help you charge up when your cellphone power goes down.

Concerts are fun and great places to be to meet people and experience artists in a unique manner as they perform for you live but they can be places where, if unaware of the surroundings, your safety can be compromised.

Look out, be alert and be safe as you have fun at your next concert.