[Albion] How to improve NS and Amex atmosphere?

[Justice]

The games that the stewards aren’t so precious about sitting at the front of the North have always been the best atmospheres. Palace, Wednesday x 2, Arsenal, Newcastle in the championship are a few that spring to mind. Singing sitting in your seat is naff just relax the North and let everyone stand.

 

[darkwolf666]

If you buy into the section, is there a minimum volume to keep you 'in the club'?

If you like a hum or a good mumble, will that keep your spot?

Also, if you can't keep tempo and do SbtS at a rate of a seal on 'E' do you lose points?

I love your tongue in cheek irony, which really does show up this preposterous idea for what it is...

Maybe this will be Simon Cowell’s next venture, BFGT - Brighton Fans Got Talent - to find the best singers in the club, who can all join this exclusive bunch of numpties... and we called Palace tinpot!

 

[darkwolf666]

The games that the stewards aren’t so precious about sitting at the front of the North have always been the best atmospheres. Palace, Wednesday x 2, Arsenal, Newcastle in the championship are a few that spring to mind. Singing sitting in your seat is naff just relax the North and let everyone stand.

And wait for the club to be prosecuted and the north stand shut, that should do wonders for your precious singing section!

 

[darkwolf666]

North stand should have been limited to 16-25 age group from the start.

And they should all be given free beer pre-match to make it proper rowdy and vocal...!

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

North stand should have been limited to 16-25 age group from the start.

If 16-25 is a mental age we might struggle as most are in single digits.

 

[brightonbaz]

North stand should have been limited to 16-25 age group from the start.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

So, having considered this debate so far, the best answer is simply safe standing.

1. People are more likely to sing when standing
2. People who want to sit all game (and probably don't sing much) will move
3. The stewards won't interfere as much
4. The NS crowd is likely to get younger

Please do it Brighton

 

[father_and_son]

Nobody seems to have mentioned the elephant in the room yet. That's the two congregations of singers, with the ones on the North West side unwilling to join in with the fellows over in the middle, often starting new chants while the others are already singing. Not always, but often.

As someone under the Police Box I can tell you it is so rare that we can hear anyone in other parts of the North that we couldn't join in anyway.

If the club set mic and speakers between the two existing singing sections (not pumping noise out but allowing us to actually hear each other clearly) then it would be possible to coordinate.

Then it is down to everyone stood between the key groups and to the east and west to actually make an effort otherwise it will still go nowhere.

I've said in other threads on this topic (so yeah, we did need another!) that the Police Box typically sing around 20 different songs, most get 2 or 3 renditions per game, with the more popular ones sung more regularly. It is close to continuous for the entire game (whatever the quality on the pitch). None of these songs are obscure... Every single one is a well known Albion chant and only very rarely will someone try to get a new one introduced (typically when a new player joins and warms up for the first time).

If the club linked the two sides and NSC had a section for all the lyrics to be (agreed and) posted then we don't need to emulate that rabble up the road and turf pensioners out of their seats for the sake of "atmosphere".

 

[sparkie]

I guess that being under the police box means that the sound is blocked from travelling up to WSU.

Maybe the actual Police Box needs to be moved and then the sound can be heard elsewhere ?

Won't happen, but the real solution is to rebuild the internal structure of the North Stand, giving it a steeper bank.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

I wasn’t going to bite on this preposterous idea, until you used the phrase “proper fans”... so you’re only a proper fan if you can sing loud.

Forget the fact you may have followed the club for 50 years +, you’re not a proper fan as you don’t know all the words to the latest terrace (seats) chant! W@nker...!

I think you’ve slightly missed the point. My reference to “proper Albion fans” was precisely designed to respect those of longstanding (and by implication denigrate Palace style newcomers that alienate the majority).

There is no need for anyone to get too excited, and certainly not abusive, about this.

There are 3 of 4 separated groups that all start chants, with the main bunch unhelpfully stuck under the police box. This has killed the NS atmosphere and with it WSU. Seems perfectly sensible to talk about possible ways to improve the situation.

 

[Weststander]

As someone under the Police Box I can tell you it is so rare that we can hear anyone in other parts of the North that we couldn't join in anyway.

If the club set mic and speakers between the two existing singing sections (not pumping noise out but allowing us to actually hear each other clearly) then it would be possible to coordinate.

Then it is down to everyone stood between the key groups and to the east and west to actually make an effort otherwise it will still go nowhere.

I've said in other threads on this topic (so yeah, we did need another!) that the Police Box typically sing around 20 different songs, most get 2 or 3 renditions per game, with the more popular ones sung more regularly. It is close to continuous for the entire game (whatever the quality on the pitch). None of these songs are obscure... Every single one is a well known Albion chant and only very rarely will someone try to get a new one introduced (typically when a new player joins and warms up for the first time).

If the club linked the two sides and NSC had a section for all the lyrics to be (agreed and) posted then we don't need to emulate that rabble up the road and turf pensioners out of their seats for the sake of "atmosphere".

I sit near there, all of that is true.

"Dunk is one of our own" on repeat much of the time.

 

[Justice]

And wait for the club to be prosecuted and the north stand shut, that should do wonders for your precious singing section!

West Ham Saturday most of the home crowd stood, never seen anyone in the Kop sit, hell even the Scum up the road don’t sit in the euro stand so unlikely to happen.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

So, having considered this debate so far, the best answer is simply safe standing.

1. People are more likely to sing when standing
2. People who want to sit all game (and probably don't sing much) will move
3. The stewards won't interfere as much
4. The NS crowd is likely to get younger

Please do it Brighton

Agree the club need to so something to help improve the atmosphere and those efforts should be focused in the north stand. But we're unlikely to see safe standing at the Amex for the foreseeable future as the club consulted on that what, two years ago? and the majority who responded said they wanted to stay in their seats.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

As someone under the Police Box I can tell you it is so rare that we can hear anyone in other parts of the North that we couldn't join in anyway.

If the club set mic and speakers between the two existing singing sections (not pumping noise out but allowing us to actually hear each other clearly) then it would be possible to coordinate.

Then it is down to everyone stood between the key groups and to the east and west to actually make an effort otherwise it will still go nowhere.

I've said in other threads on this topic (so yeah, we did need another!) that the Police Box typically sing around 20 different songs, most get 2 or 3 renditions per game, with the more popular ones sung more regularly. It is close to continuous for the entire game (whatever the quality on the pitch). None of these songs are obscure... Every single one is a well known Albion chant and only very rarely will someone try to get a new one introduced (typically when a new player joins and warms up for the first time).

If the club linked the two sides and NSC had a section for all the lyrics to be (agreed and) posted then we don't need to emulate that rabble up the road and turf pensioners out of their seats for the sake of "atmosphere".

Indeed. I like your suggestion of microphones, worth a beta test maybe. Best solution would be the folk between the two groups joining in. The fact they don't is a bit sad, which is why, overall, the north stand noise, to my ears (west upper, to the north end - close to you) is underwhelming.

Anyway it is what it is and, on reflection, inviting (or forcing) folk to move would be wrong.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Agree the club need to so something to help improve the atmosphere and those efforts should be focused in the north stand. But we're unlikely to see safe standing at the Amex for the foreseeable future as the club consulted on that what, two years ago? and the majority who responded said they wanted to stay in their seats.

There's the rub. How many of the young folks who want to jump around and make a noise responded to that? How many of the older guys who want to sit in their seats responded? Proportions similar to any general election I imagine.

The beauty of a safe standing scheme is it encourages certain people to move without forcing anyone to move. I'm sold

 

[rippleman]

Indeed. I like your suggestion of microphones, worth a beta test maybe. Best solution would be the folk between the two groups joining in. The fact they don't is a bit sad, which is why, overall, the north stand noise, to my ears (west upper, to the north end - close to you) is underwhelming.

Anyway it is what it is and, on reflection, inviting (or forcing) folk to move would be wrong.

I'm in the middle of the two groups and we do try to join in. As I'm closer to the NSK I join in when they start a song. Then the rival group starts up with a different song. We often just end up shrugging and give up. I think there are egos at play here.

The NSK tend to be more innovative with their songs and it could be that not everybody knows the words so maybe NSC could facilitate the publishing of the words here somewhere so there is one less excuse!

But I totally agree that we shouldn't start moving fans about to facilitate a singing group. That would make us no better than the black hoodie thugs up the road.

The time for this to be sorted was in the first season or two at the Amex. An unallocated, safe standing area where the singers could all congregate. But we will remember, of course, that Barber said that the club would never associate itself with the safe standing campaign. So there you go!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I'm in the middle of the two groups and we do try to join in. As I'm closer to the NSK I join in when they start a song. Then the rival group starts up with a different song. We often just end up shrugging and give up. I think there are egos at play here.

The NSK tend to be more innovative with their songs and it could be that not everybody knows the words so maybe NSC could facilitate the publishing of the words here somewhere so there is one less excuse!

But I totally agree that we shouldn't start moving fans about to facilitate a singing group. That would make us no better than the black hoodie thugs up the road.

The time for this to be sorted was in the first season or two at the Amex. An unallocated, safe standing area where the singers could all congregate. But we will remember, of course, that Barber said that the club would never associate itself with the safe standing campaign. So there you go!

I suspected egos, but there you go.

To be fair to Barber, associating himself with a safe standing campaign would be like associating himself with into the wind-pissers, and the working group for the invention of the perpetual motion machine

 

[drew]

There's the rub. How many of the young folks who want to jump around and make a noise responded to that? How many of the older guys who want to sit in their seats responded? Proportions similar to any general election I imagine.

The beauty of a safe standing scheme is it encourages certain people to move without forcing anyone to move. I'm sold

Isn't part of safe standing the fact you still have an allocated space?

 

[Frankie]

There's not many grounds iv'e been to where the atmosphere by the home fans is actually intimidating anymore , without wishing to be churlish i can't honestly say i even heard the Palace Ultra's last season , iv'e not been to Norwich Sheff Utd Man City or Spurs grounds yet but i can't imagine they're much different , if i had to pick one for the best it would be Anfield and the worst definitely The Emirates , now that's a library .

Atmosphere is best created spontaneously , there have been a few times at The Amex when it has been electric , all down to events happening on the pitch in the main , adversity is a fantastic ingredient for atmosphere more so than success , i think the first time i visited old trafford i was expecting a wall of noise , there was , but from the Brighton fans .

I naively thought that if you purchased a season ticket in the Northstand , you intended to be loud and proud on matchday , it seems there are several factions in different parts of the North with little or no connection singing different songs sometimes at the same time , then you have the shhhhhhhhhhhhh brigade , which i find hard to deal with and even harder to understand why they would choose the North stand to watch the game .

Good luck , i think it will be hard going to get everyone on the same page but it's worth a try .

 

[darkwolf666]

I think you’ve slightly missed the point. My reference to “proper Albion fans” was precisely designed to respect those of longstanding (and by implication denigrate Palace style newcomers that alienate the majority).

There is no need for anyone to get too excited, and certainly not abusive, about this.

There are 3 of 4 separated groups that all start chants, with the main bunch unhelpfully stuck under the police box. This has killed the NS atmosphere and with it WSU. Seems perfectly sensible to talk about possible ways to improve the situation.

So you didn't suggest putting all the "proper fans" together then?

And yes I got abusive as I couldn't believe the inference that I'm not a proper fan because I wouldn't be a member of your club!

Understand you can't manufacture an atmosphere. If that was the case and if it was of tangible benefit to a club, I am sure one would have brought in rent a crowd by now!