Being a fan?

[wasted]

What's the best/worst thing about being a fan?

What do you get out of being a fan?

I know some are just into music, others are more loyal and into the behind the scenes stuff.

what's your take or thoughts on being a fan?

[Chris1989]

Being a fan of something is great, passions enhance life.

The superfans are a bit scary though, as are the bieber/1d fans on Twitter that seem insane in their obsession.

They're not much worse than some of the GNR fans though...

[wkuk04]

Can't understand fans not wanting CD:2, that thing they have been whining over for the past eight years, a reunion is mentioned and they say scrap it. Let's hope we don't end up with TSI:2.

[wasted]

I want it like Artie Lange wants smack but I like to see what they holding too.

[annablue]

Haven't had to defend my 'fandom' recently but I do put it out there in the world that I still love this band. My own boyfriend who is the same age as me was never really into them and gets annoyed when I play their music loud. What's up with that? He's a musician himself. When ever the topic comes up about new music, people always say "don't hold your breath". Guess what I'm doing?

[Rdeyahlxp]

I notice that the older I get, the less I care about fandom. Life's too short to learn all the nitbits about bands or follow their every move on Twitter/Facebook etc. I stopped "waiting" for new albums too. I try to spend my time doing more important stuff, but I'm happy when something new and of note comes along from something that interests me.

[Len Cnut]

I think there's a lot to be said for being a rabid anti-fan too. You've got to have a healthy amount of hatred in you, you are as much served by liking something with a passion as you are for hating, i miss the days when rockstars'd go on TV and slag each other off. Lets face it, they all bitch behind each others back anyway sooo..

[Jakey Styley]

Sometimes I'll have a friend who thinks my fandom of GNR or Kanye or whatever is weird, not that it's GNR or Kanye but just the fact that I can be that interested in something. Like there's something wrong in having a passion for something. It bothers me a tiny bit. When it comes to music or movies or video games, I've always found much more enjoyment with them if I knew all the history and background behind it. In the case of an artist, it's a lot more enjoyable listening to the music when I know every little thing behind it.

I don't expect everyone to start going on forums for their favorite artists and scrambling around speculating on when the new song will release like I do, but I would encourage anyone who seriously likes an artist to read up and learn about the person.

[darknightfan]

If you like something you are a fan. When it comes to expecting things and demanding things then you're an asshole.

[Bono]

Can't understand fans not wanting CD:2, that thing they have been whining over for the past eight years, a reunion is mentioned and they say scrap it. Let's hope we don't end up with TSI:2.

I guess you wouldn't be able to understand someone wanting pizza pops but if steak and lobster were offered they'd take it in a heart beat over the pizza pops.

[wkuk04]

Can't understand fans not wanting CD:2, that thing they have been whining over for the past eight years, a reunion is mentioned and they say scrap it. Let's hope we don't end up with TSI:2.

I guess you wouldn't be able to understand someone wanting pizza pops but if steak and lobster were offered they'd take it in a heart beat over the pizza pops.

[Bono]

Someday wkuk04 you will post a meme or gif or youtube video that has any relevance whatsoever. I hope I'm alive when that day comes.

[Len Cnut]

Sometimes I'll have a friend who thinks my fandom of GNR or Kanye or whatever is weird, not that it's GNR or Kanye but just the fact that I can be that interested in something. Like there's something wrong in having a passion for something. It bothers me a tiny bit. When it comes to music or movies or video games, I've always found much more enjoyment with them if I knew all the history and background behind it. In the case of an artist, it's a lot more enjoyable listening to the music when I know every little thing behind it.

I don't expect everyone to start going on forums for their favorite artists and scrambling around speculating on when the new song will release like I do, but I would encourage anyone who seriously likes an artist to read up and learn about the person.

It's not that you're interested in something, it's more that that interest is centred around the people that make it rather than the thing itself. In terms of the typical masculine experience it's considered kinda ho-ish. The idea is thats a female thing, to kinda fall in love with the person there instead of the music or whatever the thing is. Or rather for the person to be the central focus and not more the thing itself, it's not a man thing really, to be a 'fan'. It's a women and children thing.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Len B'stard

[luciusfunk]

Can't understand fans not wanting CD:2, that thing they have been whining over for the past eight years, a reunion is mentioned and they say scrap it. Let's hope we don't end up with TSI:2.

I guess you wouldn't be able to understand someone wanting pizza pops but if steak and lobster were offered they'd take it in a heart beat over the pizza pops.

I'd take pizza over steak and lobster.

[Snake-Pit]

Steak & Lobster Pizza!

Now that's one thing Thornton Heath hasn't got; yet.

[wasted]

Sometimes I'll have a friend who thinks my fandom of GNR or Kanye or whatever is weird, not that it's GNR or Kanye but just the fact that I can be that interested in something. Like there's something wrong in having a passion for something. It bothers me a tiny bit. When it comes to music or movies or video games, I've always found much more enjoyment with them if I knew all the history and background behind it. In the case of an artist, it's a lot more enjoyable listening to the music when I know every little thing behind it.

I don't expect everyone to start going on forums for their favorite artists and scrambling around speculating on when the new song will release like I do, but I would encourage anyone who seriously likes an artist to read up and learn about the person.

I definitely experience that with GNR at an early age. The early books and magazine articles were like following a sports team. I don't think it's uncommon in rock and sports fans, I mean the history of the band. There's an escapism element as well as the slightly dodgy stalker elements.

Thats why I bring it up, because the merch and bios and everything kind of encourages a certain level of interest and joining a club type thing.

What does an encyclopedic knowledge of a band have to do with enjoying the music? I guess it helps to get into the song if you know the back story, what the lyrics mean. Theres something intrinsically enjoyable about collecting info about things. Like mini historians.

[wasted]

In say modern art often it is what you bring to it. Like a Jackson Pollack, you can have your take on it but dome background might help you appreciate it. You could look at a ready made and just say thats just a toilet nailed to the wall. It becomes a game.

But maybe it should just be the art. A Monet or Bold as Love. It would be very hard to develop aethestic tastes without really labeling everything.

But it does get to the point where you can say something is interesting about Bieber as Mozart. It can mean as much to someone.

I know people who don't follow the back story but relate the songs to their lives. Like my friend who listened to Janie's got a Gun by Aerosmith for months after his girlfriend Jenny died in a car crash. I didn't have the heart to tell him it's not Jenny's got a Gun. He didnt know anything about the band or the song but...another guy is into his mood music and just uses songs to get his girl in the mood.

[Len Cnut]

'Class', theres another thing Thorton Heath aint got! Oh oh, respect, something else Thornton Heath dont have!

No no, i got it, more than one family of white people, wow, so many gaps in this Thornton Heath market eh?

[wasted]

Not sure about the hate thing. When I hate something I generay realise it's just me or my perception I hate. Someone else likes it from their pov so I get nowhere? How do I hate productively?

I guess cod use coffee or some non descript product. If someone gets really into coffee, like back story of each blend, generally i think what the fuck are they doing. Or if I see an anorak standing in rain waiting to note down number of B1338 train. That completes the set. Loser.

Not sure why I think cds in alphabetical order is better. But I do.

Musicians i know also dont see to have any worship in them for pop songs much. They just say such and such about the music, not oh Roddy Rock Star sucks fuck him. True fans care.

[Shooting Star]

I like to be a fan of lots of musicians, bands and artists. It's kinda like to have a reference and an inpiration source at same time. Also, it's cool to meet and talk to people who have the same interests and share facts and experiences before some concert and stuff.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Shooting Star

[wasted]

True the social aspect.

Ehat about emulating your heroes, i think I pretty much started drinking and smoking bcos of Slash. Well binge drinking and chaining marlboros anyway.