Why Are So Many People Passing Out at Concerts?

As actor-musician Djo began to strum Chateau at College Street Music Hall, someone passed out. Security helped the person out of the New Haven venue, while people in the sardined general admission section and balcony looked on. For attendees like Lily Fennell, this did not surprise her – it had become part of the concert-going experience.

During Clairo’s Charm tour in Boston, Fennel witnessed at least three people scattered throughout the crowd simultaneously pass out, one of whom collapsed right behind her. Kristen Schick, also at the show, was accustomed to seeing this. When she saw Alice Phoebe Lou’s recent Brooklyn performance, so many people were passing out that the singer asked the audience to raise their hands only if they needed medical help, not if they were enjoying the music.

Even as someone who used to dive into violent mosh pits, I never witnessed someone faint at a show. I’ve attended packed concerts as a tween, like Lorde and One Direction, but an artist never paused a concert to call for medical attention.

From singers like Maggie Rogers noting antisocial behavior as a potential factor in the uptick of fainting, to Shakira refusing to perform in dangerously hot conditions, artists themselves are calling attention to this trend. Let’s parse this out, outside of Reddit.

The Medical Issue

I spoke with Dr. Mark G. Wipfler, an emergency medicine physician in Southbury, Connecticut, to see if he observes this trend in his medical practice. While he hasn’t directly seen an uptick, he does note that concerts are often a recipe for vasovagal syncope, a common type of fainting when the body's nervous system overreacts to specific triggers.

The vagus nerve carries signals from the brain to the rest of your body. When it becomes overstimulated, your heart rate slows and blood vessels dilate, which can lead to a loss of consciousness.

Concert venues create a perfect storm of conditions that affect the vagus nerve. "You take standing still, add heat, and then singing," Dr. Wipfler explained. "Those three things" work together to cause fainting.

Standing for prolonged periods causes "blood pooling in your legs, and that'll also cause your blood pressure to drift down," said Dr. Wipfler. This alone won't necessarily make you faint, as your body typically compensates by increasing your heart rate. But when the vagus nerve gets triggered, it takes away your body's ability to increase the heart rate.

Heat compounds the problem. "When you're warm, blood vessels in the surface of the body start to dilate to try to dissipate the heat, and that will further drop your blood pressure," Dr. Wipfler explained. The blood vessels expand to release heat through the skin, "because now you've increased the capacity of the circulatory system," without increasing the amount of blood to fill that extra space.

Singing along to the band is often the final straw. "When there's increased pressure in your chest" from singing, "that triggers the vagus nerve," said Dr. Wipfler. Plus, “dehydration, alcohol and substance abuse” doesn’t help staying conscious at events.

Dr. Wipfler is still an avid concertgoer and attributes this trend to the increasing popularity of standing-room-only concerts rather than seated shows. “When I would go to concerts as a kid, there would be seats, since it’d be important that people could see in front of each other,” he said. Now, it is the norm to be in a standing room area where it’s ripe for people to pass out.

The Corporate Issue

Josh Bibbey, a videographer and video director who works in New Haven, sees this issue firsthand. “People passing out has become a common experience at a concert,” but notes that this may go beyond purely general admission, but instead how venues are packing standing room. 

Bibbey attributes much of the issue to how venues operate. "There's such a push on the industry to make money from a concert and so frequently I think you see examples of tickets being either oversold or trying to profit from beverages, where water is kind of a second hand thing," he said. "Some venues will have it out, but at some venues, you have to seek water."

The layout of packed venues also discourages concertgoers from staying hydrated. When it's crowded, "you often try to prioritize the amazing position in front of the stage, and you won't prioritize going and getting that water. It feels inaccessible."

The Social Issue

When venues don't prioritize attendee safety and comfort, it creates conditions for aggressive crowds. Mahogany Rich attended both nights of LCD Soundsystem at College Street Music Hall this year and noticed that "peeps got too drunk and went hard at the unction." But alcohol wasn't the only problem. "It was just so hot in there. And it was a problem for both nights too," Rich said.

The Djo concert at the same venue was similarly sweltering. Although Fennell was seated in the balcony, she found herself fanning and drenched in sweat. Security had to open doors one at a time to let cool air flow in. The venue ran out of water, and the musicians started tossing water bottles into the crowd.

At LCD Soundsystem, the heat combined with an unruly audience nearly caused Rich to pass out. She was "lowkey microaggressed by this older lady. Like was purposely in my space when she had so much in front of her after cutting in front of me.” As people kept pushing toward the front, Rich almost lost consciousness and had to be led out by her partner.

Rich's experience challenges the theory that this problem is attributable to only young people because they weren’t socialized going to concerts in their teens. Instead, it suggests a broader problem: we've all become less accustomed to sharing communal spaces respectfully. Even concertgoers with decades of experience seem to have forgotten basic venue etiquette. And when people are drinking heavily, barricading access to water, and pushing hard against one another, the situation only gets worse.

The Issues Are Many.

The body does not like corporate greed and antisocial behavior – combine those two, and we lose consciousness on the concert and the greater world.

People are nervous to be in crowds again, and often are compensating by drinking alcohol, aka dehydrating themselves. Add that to concert venues packing in people in standing room, without additional considerations for water, and fainting begins.

If venues are unwilling to make audience-friendly spaces (accessible water stations, less packed crowds, more seating options, adequate cooling systems), then only you can prevent faints.

Often, the feeling of fainting can be addressed by simply sitting down, but that’s not often available to someone sardined in a crowd. If you notice someone passing out at a concert, try to get them to sit down somewhere. If they faint, do not force them to get up, but instead bring them to an area where they can lie down safely, as they should regain consciousness fairly soon. Don’t also force them to drink water, but allow them to drink as they regain consciousness.  

Although we may be annoyed that artists are pausing songs to bring attention to people fainting, Dr. Wipfler notes “it’s the most safe decision.”  If someone passes out for reasons other than screaming along to a song, it’s good people have access to get to a safe area. “I strongly encourage concert goers to make way and be very considerate to emergency personnel in these situations,” said Dr. Wipfler. 

If we want this trend to just be passing and not the norm, venues must make adequate adjustments to their spaces to allow for faint-free concert going.