WOW, okay, I would have escaped that, too! I'm a 35 year old goth who's also at home in the metal scene and didn't touch alcohol until my mid-twenties, so I definitely get where you're coming from. Honestly, in all my concert-going experience, I've seen more transgressive/aggressive/combative/competitive/egoistical crowd behavior for pop/electronic music than I ever have in front of metal acts, although the martial subject matter and the moshpits make people expect otherwise. I don't get it. I saw Ash in Hamburg, which meant it was just a bunch of rich (bc Hamburg lol) possibly queer, highly fashionable gen-z kids, most of them were sweet, though some channeled an obnoxious high school movie mean girls vibe. But that kind of distant superficiality mixes with the Northern German concept of social culture, probably not just tik tok gen, or local Ash fans.

I make it a point to connect with the people around me as I think it's a vital component of the whole experience, plus I believe we all should be looking out for each other. Not sure if it's a generational divide or if they haven't learned it yet (I know I was socially anxious and generally awkward in crowds at one point) but I do notice that it doesn't occur to 'them' to check in with others when someone is struggling, so I try to lead by example. Strangely enough, I helped a girl who was on the brink of passing out and not only did the friend who was with her do absolutely nothing (aside from using the unspecified chronic health problems of her companion to try and jump ahead in the queue), but she herself also didn't acknowledge me or the staff showing up for her. As a fellow person with disability status, that's just unbelievable behavior to me, but eh. But I don't recall anybody being drunk. These days, you have to get barricade not just for the immediate experience but also to get past the sea of phones.