American Crowds at Bon Jovi shows

Yeah, you will. Trust me.
And I agree with you that disinterested/casual fan are everywhere. But American crowds are generally more sedate, even when "going crazy."

That happened to me at Sambora's gig in London (only because I was coming back from knee surgery and didn't want to risk anything so I went for a seat).

Obviously, the look I gave that woman was speaking a 1000 words. She shut up, and left after 2-3 more songs. Are you kiddin' me! Being at a rock concert and asking people to sit down?!? What the hell!

But yes, obviously, no idea abut American crowds. The only gigs I've seen in the US were small/intimate club gigs and the crowds were the same as in Europe. Couldn't tell any difference. I am guessing really it's more to do with the target audience of Bon Jovi who are a little more 'middle-aged' in the US than they are in Europe. I bet if there were stats, you could correlate age with the level of engagement that a crowd displays and I assume (assume is the keyword) that the crowds in the US are on average significantly older.

I think that has a lot to do with the origins of Bon Jovi's popularity. While it the US it was the last 80s, in Europe it was the early to mid 90s. Keep The Faith is still one of the best selling 10 albums of all time in Germany and These Days was album of the year really in the UK. I think that's the root of it.

Not sure what shows you've been to, but you WILL NOT be told to sit down. I've been to over 10, and it's never happened once.

You don't have to be worried about being told to sit down when your on the floor at Soldier Field. The crowds aren't that bad lol.

I've been to plenty of shows where the energy was through the roof, and others where I was standing next to a housewife who was literally sitting down licking an ice cream cone like she was watching her kids play at the park. The people in the floor/lower level rarely sit, and it tends to be the people in the cheap seats that do nothing.

I will say though that looking at South American crowds, I'm not sure I would want to be more like them. The videos from the KTF tour actually make the crowd look pretty dangerous, and even at the past show in Argentina I read people saying how there was a lot of pushing near the stage. Wilder doesn't necessarily equal better, and just because you aren't going crazy during a song obviously doesn't mean you aren't enjoying it.

Also as I read in a different thread some time ago, look at the difference in crowds between a football game in the US and a soccer game in Europe/South America. Americans tend to be more chill in general, not just at Bon Jovi shows.

List of shows I've been to is in my sig. I would say I've been told to sit down at Jovi shows 6 or 7 times. Nothing too bad, but shot several dirty looks towards the people that have said it.

I was also going to say I think it has to do with the aging audience. There are young people at Bon Jovi shows, but I think the majority of the audience is probably in their 40's or older. The old hips and knees don't want to stand and jump up an down for 2 1/2 hours. I've never been told to sit down at a Bon Jovi show before, but I have sat down because I knew that by standing, I was annoying people behind me who were sitting. Generally, everyone on the floor is standing, but the people in the stands often sit. Standing vs. sitting doesn't bother me. What bothers me are the idiots who make 47 trips in and out of the row to get beer and the ones who yell at each other through the whole show.

Definitely to do with the fact that they play indoor crappy little arenas across the States. It doesn't feel like big stadium rock Bon Jovi. Im sure the New Meadowlands concerts are different with 60-70,000 people in. But I remember at the O2 concerts the crowds weren't that into it. Seating on the floor has a massive thing to do with it. People know they have their seats so dont get there early. They eat, drink at the surrounding restaurants and then pop theirselves in about 7ish and catch the last bit of the support act.

Stadiums across Europe have standing, so people are there all day experiencing the big gig Joviness. Lots of beer is consumed, people are sun burnt in the sunshine and there is a general more positive feeling. Look at what a great atmosphere that Central Park gig was a few years ago. Big outdoor festival. People were well into that vibe. Its about the arena/stadium setup.

It's not dangerous. I've been to lots of Oasis and Iron Maiden shows here in Brazil, where the crowds are like 10 x wilder than Bon Jovi crowds here, and I've never seen or knew about incidents and people getting hurt.

So people don't sing or jump around because of the venue?

Seems highly unlikely.

Never got drunk on a concert, honestly, I don't see the point of doing that. The last Jovi concert en Argentina they kicked out a dude because he was super-drunk. If I'm going to get drunk, I'm going to get drunk at a party with some girls.

The most wild gig I've ever been was Sebastian Bach at a 3000 people indoor venue. I almost die there. I don't think it got nothing to do with the venue.

In Argentina we got seats on the 2010 concert, when Bon Jovi came out everyone stand up and we runned to the scenario. The guards were pushing and even hitting us to put the fence (honestly they thought we were going to stay sitted? lol), I don't see that happenning in a USA concert. Also, I've been told to sit down once on that gig, I shouted "NO ****ING WAY" and stayed there. There was no way I was sitting down, I even had my leg all hurted because it was prying with the seats (that were turned around) as the retarded guards were pushing 'till the song 24.
tl;dr: they asked me to sit down once.

I've only been at a daylight gig once, IMO the night is the best moment for a concert.