"This is acceptable at Amon Amarth shows only!" An audience did some viking rowing at a Deafheaven concert, and metalheads aren't too happy about it

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

Takes about metal concert etiquette have been fired off after fans opened an Amon Amarth-style “rowing pit” at a shoegaze gig

Deafheaven performing onstage, with a shot of a live crowd
(Image credit: Aldara Zarraoa/Redferns | Dave J Hogan/Getty Images for Invictus Games)

It seems metalheads on X (formerly Twitter) have been irritated by footage of an audience doing viking rowing to shoegaze/metal band Deafheaven.

The video, uploaded by user chris_roarty, depicts a crowd at the American group’s Glasgow concert last night (March 5) performing a move commonly associated with melodeath troupe Amon Amarth and has been deemed inappropriate for the more pensive style of music that Deafheaven play.

“This is acceptable at Amon Amarth shows and Amon Amarth shows ONLY!” one user responds.

Another adds: “look im a big fan of letting people have fun but listen to the music and then look at what they're doing. it doesnt make sense. stop it.”

“This is the single worst moment of the entire tour so far,” says another.

The discourse takes place at a time where some observers are arguing that concert etiquette has taken a nosedive post-pandemic.

In August 2023, Nadia Khomami of The Guardian published an article entitled “Bad behaviour at concerts is becoming normalised, experts say”. The piece was published in response to recent actions of unruly fans at shows, including Harry Styles being hit in the eye with a sweet and a fan of Pink throwing their mother’s ashes onstage at a gig.

“This kind of disrespectful behaviour has become the new norm at live performances, but it must stop for the sake of an artist’s and crowd’s safety,” Sam Allison, head of events at music store chain Rough Trade, was quoted as saying.

Deafheaven are currently touring the UK to promote their 2021 album Infinite Granite, which marked a stylistic shift from the band black metal-inspired roots into more wholly shoegaze material.

Christina Wenig of Metal Hammer gave Infinite Granite a three-star review, writing, “There’s a burden in setting an almost impossible standard with nearly perfect albums like [2013’s] Sunbather: it makes every merely good album after that – and Infinite Granite is a good album in terms of songwriting and production – seem like a letdown.”

Matt Mills
Matt Mills
Online Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.