Is it true turning 31 is worse than turning 30?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I've heard this from people before, and I can kind of see it. It makes sense. I guess the idea is at 30 it's just "you're 30", but then at 31 you're "in your 30s" and an actual 30something. A 30-year old technically isn't a 30something.

I was at a show a few weeks ago chatting with a girl outside in a grindcore band shirt who talked about how she turned 30 a month earlier but it wasn't a big deal and she didn't mind it. Now I'm wondering how she'd feel in 11 months.

So people who have passed it, what's the case?

[Joe Biden 2020]

I am 30 years old and in my thirty's and 30 something.  I am definitely not in my twenties.  I'm looking forward to 31 in 8 months.  the way I see it I am on my way to 40.  Either way I feel old

[Brittain33]

There's nothing wrong with either. Early 30s are a great time.

[opebo]

Of course, each successive birthday is worse, as one draws ever closer to the pain, despair, and ignominy of death.

[dead0man]

The days themselves mean nothing and people that get upset over them are just, I suspect, looking for attention.

But getting old SUCKS!  Make no mistake about it.  Enjoy your twenties while you are in them.  Phuque, fight and party the entire time.  Even if you really want kids, wait until you are older....

....on the other hand, I'm going to be young enough to party with my kids in a few years.  I'm young enough to go throw the ball around with the boys, young enough to scare the girl's boyfriends.  There is certainly some value in that.

[Torie]

I don't remember.   Turning 50 is the ultimate suck moment. Turning 60 was not so bad, because by then I was in a full court press to defy and thwart the ravages of nature. I like challenges!

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

I am 30 years old and in my thirty's and 30 something.  I am definitely not in my twenties.  I'm not looking forward to 31 in 8 12 months.  The way I see it I am on my way to 40.  Either way I feel old.

[anvi]

I remember the entire decade of the 30's as being pretty uniformly awesome.  No year-turning mark during that ten years should be lamented.  So, enjoy! 

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

There's nothing wrong with either. Early 30s are a great time.

So I take it you don't hold that still going to shows after you're 30 is "pathetic"? (like I was once told by a certain Scotsman.)

[Brittain33]

There's nothing wrong with either. Early 30s are a great time.

So I take it you don't hold that still going to shows after you're 30 is "pathetic"? (like I was once told by a certain Scotsman.)

Don't the acts age with their audience?

I don't go to shows like you do, but I went to see the Scissor Sisters in Boston 5 years after the last time I went and the crowd had a healthy contingent of middle aged gays so I fit right in.

[Holmes]

It's passed gay death, so any subsequent birthday after 30 will be horrible.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I found out today that my supervisor is 30. This is the same guy who wore a Marilyn Manson shirt to work yesterday. That might be all I need to know.

There's nothing wrong with either. Early 30s are a great time.

So I take it you don't hold that still going to shows after you're 30 is "pathetic"? (like I was once told by a certain Scotsman.)

Don't the acts age with their audience?

I don't go to shows like you do, but I went to see the Scissor Sisters in Boston 5 years after the last time I went and the crowd had a healthy contingent of middle aged gays so I fit right in.

I've been to plenty of shows with a large contingent of older people, and at least one with a non-negligible number of people who were old enough to theoretically have children who would also be old enough to attend the show (Buffalo Tom), but all were basically for reunion tours of bands that were big 10-20 years ago. However in Minneapolis it is not uncommon for people around 30-35 to still go to the type of shows that are very low or no cover charge because the venue makes all the money off drinks and the whole point is dance around while wasted. That's the type of thing that certain folks clearly consider to be socially unacceptable at that age (as well as ever wearing band shirts for that matter.)

[LastVoter]

I found out today that my supervisor is 30. This is the same guy who wore a Marilyn Manson shirt to work yesterday. That might be all I need to know.

There's nothing wrong with either. Early 30s are a great time.

So I take it you don't hold that still going to shows after you're 30 is "pathetic"? (like I was once told by a certain Scotsman.)

Don't the acts age with their audience?

I don't go to shows like you do, but I went to see the Scissor Sisters in Boston 5 years after the last time I went and the crowd had a healthy contingent of middle aged gays so I fit right in.

I've been to plenty of shows with a large contingent of older people, and at least one with a non-negligible number of people who were old enough to theoretically have children who would also be old enough to attend the show (Buffalo Tom), but all were basically for reunion tours of bands that were big 10-20 years ago. However in Minneapolis it is not uncommon for people around 30-35 to still go to the type of shows that are very low or no cover charge because the venue makes all the money off drinks and the whole point is dance around while wasted. That's the type of thing that certain folks clearly consider to be socially unacceptable at that age (as well as ever wearing band shirts for that matter.)

It's socially acceptable in Portland until at least 45.

[patrick1]

So people who have passed it, what's the case?

It beats the alternative.

[Torie]

I found out today that my supervisor is 30. This is the same guy who wore a Marilyn Manson shirt to work yesterday. That might be all I need to know.

There's nothing wrong with either. Early 30s are a great time.

So I take it you don't hold that still going to shows after you're 30 is "pathetic"? (like I was once told by a certain Scotsman.)

Don't the acts age with their audience?

I don't go to shows like you do, but I went to see the Scissor Sisters in Boston 5 years after the last time I went and the crowd had a healthy contingent of middle aged gays so I fit right in.

I've been to plenty of shows with a large contingent of older people, and at least one with a non-negligible number of people who were old enough to theoretically have children who would also be old enough to attend the show (Buffalo Tom), but all were basically for reunion tours of bands that were big 10-20 years ago. However in Minneapolis it is not uncommon for people around 30-35 to still go to the type of shows that are very low or no cover charge because the venue makes all the money off drinks and the whole point is dance around while wasted. That's the type of thing that certain folks clearly consider to be socially unacceptable at that age (as well as ever wearing band shirts for that matter.)

I'd go with you to a raunchy EMO band concert in a heartbeat, and be just as raucous as you. So I am 30 years older than the rest? So what?  I go with my heart.  I can handle the noise. There is just too much fear out there about far too much. I have learned better before being simply unable to learn anymore - thank God!

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I found out today that my supervisor is 30. This is the same guy who wore a Marilyn Manson shirt to work yesterday. That might be all I need to know.

There's nothing wrong with either. Early 30s are a great time.

So I take it you don't hold that still going to shows after you're 30 is "pathetic"? (like I was once told by a certain Scotsman.)

Don't the acts age with their audience?

I don't go to shows like you do, but I went to see the Scissor Sisters in Boston 5 years after the last time I went and the crowd had a healthy contingent of middle aged gays so I fit right in.

I've been to plenty of shows with a large contingent of older people, and at least one with a non-negligible number of people who were old enough to theoretically have children who would also be old enough to attend the show (Buffalo Tom), but all were basically for reunion tours of bands that were big 10-20 years ago. However in Minneapolis it is not uncommon for people around 30-35 to still go to the type of shows that are very low or no cover charge because the venue makes all the money off drinks and the whole point is dance around while wasted. That's the type of thing that certain folks clearly consider to be socially unacceptable at that age (as well as ever wearing band shirts for that matter.)

I'd go with you to a raunchy EMO band concert in a heartbeat, and be just as raucous as you. So I am 30 years older than the rest? So what?  I go with my heart.  I can handle the noise. There is just too much fear out there about far too much. I have learned better before being simply unable to learn anymore - thank God!

You already committed one of the worst possible faux pas one can make in the first sentence already. Word of advice, if you ever do to go to one of those shows, don't ever call it a concert. That's actually a bit of a shibboleth in the scene, if someone ever talks about playing or attending "concerts", then you know they're not really part of it and that into it. Think of this forum's red/blue color scheme, talking about booking "concerts" on any music forum for my scene would be seen as equivalent to making maps with the typical media color scheme is here.

As for emo shows, those usually tend to be in basements or rented out spaces like gymnasiums and VFW halls, or at best some dive bar. Bars that make money primarily on drinks don't like the crowds they attract, they often tend to be actual fans of the bands in question especially if on tour, meaning that they're willing to drive far to see the show and hence be driving, want to spend the money they bring on colored vinyl and zines, and are more likely to be straightedge than the average show-goer. Shows that bring in people who just want an excuse to drink tend to be either pop punk, grind/crust or really sloppy hardcore. If any bar hosts a show that's mostly more psuedo-intellectual genres like emo or post-rock or whatever, there's going to be a decent cover charge to make up for the lack of drinking. The only real exception for this is if the band is local and can attract a big enough following of people who'll drink themselves to the ground, which just about any popular local band can unless they are big on promoting straightedge (and that's been out of vogue for at least 10 years now so not really a factor.)

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

32 is the real kicker.  30-31, you're in your 30s, but just barely. 

[Beet]

Turning 26 is the worst. Before then, I barely even noticed birthdays. But soon after, I realized-- oh sh**t, I'm old.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Turning 26 is the worst. Before then, I barely even noticed birthdays. But soon after, I realized-- oh sh**t, I'm old.

I was dreading turning 25 and actually got a sick sinking feeling in my stomach at midnight when my birthday hit, but I didn't mind 26 at all or even dread it during the leadup. Well except for the fact the night before my birthday I had a rather horrifying experience, but that had nothing to do with the age I was turning.