Psychedelics and Live Music: How to Trip Comfortably at Gigs

Taking psychedelics when seeing certain bands or electronic artists live seems natural – I’m thinking here of artists like Phish, Tool, and Shpongle. Yet there are all kinds of bands and artists, not typically considered ‘psychedelic’, that people see live while tripping. Psychedelics at concerts and festivals can greatly enhance the music, as well as lead to states of collective ecstasy. For this reason, the writer Julian Vayne has defended psychedelic use in the festival setting.

However, alongside these potential benefits are potential risks. The psychedelic experience is massively influenced by the setting in which it occurs. While seeing one’s favourite band live with close friends on a psychedelic can be euphoric, the physical environment and amount of people present can also lead to an uncomfortable experience. This is why it’s important to take the setting into account when deciding on various factors related to the trip, including type of music, type of substance, dose, personal history of psychedelic use, and who is joining you for the event.

Some psychonauts may strongly recommend tripping at (certain) concerts, whereas others may recommend against it, based on the setting being public and more chaotic than an indoor setting. In this post, I won’t be defending either view. Some people are comfortable tripping at concerts, whereas others aren’t.

If you do decide to take a psychedelic at a concert, it’s important to keep some harm reduction considerations in mind; this will help you avoid an overwhelming and distressing experience, and make it more likely that you’ll have the positive experience you’re hoping for.

The first consideration for tripping comfortably at concerts is the type of music/gig. Bands considered psychedelic will be playing music and (likely) visuals that mesh well with the psychedelic experience. Plus, many concert-goers will also be in an altered state, so one doesn’t have to worry so much about ‘standing out’ or ‘acting weird’. Many people there will also be on your level.

Yet many psychedelic users decide to trip when seeing bands that aren’t traditionally considered ‘psychedelic’. For instance, the metal band Meshuggah aren’t typically referred to as a psychedelic band (although here I argue they should be), but many fans are into psychedelics and enjoy listening to them while tripping. However, this doesn’t mean seeing them live while tripping will be enjoyable. Many Meshuggah fans and psychonauts have enjoyed the experience, but others say they would only mix in psychedelics with a live Meshuggah show if they were seated. They’re a metal band, and their music is heavy and intense, so there can be a lot of moshing and chaotic energy that might not sit well with one in an altered state. Also, while Meshuggah puts on a hypnotic, visually engaging light show (as it’s synced up with the music), this could feel jarring.

There are all kinds of bands that one may enjoy listening to but which one may not want to see live in a psychedelic state. It’s therefore worth considering if the band’s live shows are ‘psychedelic friendly’. Would psychedelics enhance the live show, based on the nature of the music, visuals, light show, and type of crowd? The band you choose to see in an altered state makes a big difference as to whether you’ll have a good trip or not. Seeing your favourite band live, or even seeing a band you normally enjoy listening to while tripping, doesn’t guarantee you a good time.

The type of psychedelic substance one takes matters too. The psychedelics people normally take at concerts include LSD, shrooms, and 2C-B. Less commonly, psychonauts use DMT, mescaline, another 2C chemical, 4-AcO-DMT, or a psychedelic analogue.

First, it’s worth noting that these different psychedelics vary in the duration of their effects. If you don’t want to be tripping for long after the concert finishes, or you want to make sure you can sleep, then LSD or mescaline may not be the right choice (as these trips can last 12+ hours). A way around this would be to dose earlier in the day, so that one is already tripping when one arrives to the gig (although this would also mean having to be in an altered state in public on the way to the gig).

The main effects of shrooms and 2C-B only last around 4 hours. So this can make them more ‘gig friendly’. One doesn’t have to be tripping for a significant amount of time before or after the concert. While DMT is even shorter lasting (a low dose can last a few minutes), the fact that it’s so short-lasting means it’s not the most practical option for a gig (one would have to smoke it around others and feel comfortable doing so).

A second factor to take into account is subjective effects. Shrooms are shorter lasting than LSD, but you may feel more comfortable in the acid headspace than the shroom headspace. For other psychonauts, the opposite holds true. Many who have tried mescaline find the headspace easier to handle than both shrooms and LSD, so despite its longer-lasting effects, it may be more appealing. On the other hand, mescaline (in plant, extracted, and synthetic form) is known to produce more nausea – and a greater likelihood of vomiting – than shrooms and LSD, so this can be off-putting. No one wants to deal with intense nausea or vomiting in a public setting like a gig.

For many psychonauts, 2C-B is very gig friendly. It’s short acting (ideal for the length of a gig); it’s easy to redose; it usually doesn’t create nausea as noticeable as that produced by shrooms or mescaline; it’s stimulating (unlike shrooms, which can be quite sedating); the headspace is not as ‘psychedelic’ as LSD, shrooms, or mescaline (on its own, it doesn’t tend to produce a high degree of introspection); and it can produce impressive visual effects and enhancement of music. In short, 2C-B is often felt to be a more reliable and easy-to-handle psychedelic. It’s described as a mix of MDMA and LSD or MDMA and shrooms. This doesn’t mean taking shrooms guarantees you an MDMA-like euphoric experience, but it seems a euphoric experience is more likely than getting stuck in challenging emotional states and thought loops when compared to other psychedelics (assuming the set and setting are the same). 

However, one should always test any 2C-B one obtains (this applies to any psychedelic but 2C-B more so than something like shrooms, since it comes in pill/powder form). Accurately dosed 2C-B is also crucial, as the doses are relatively low, and small differences in dose can translate into noticeable differences in subjective effects.

It’s not recommended to take high doses of psychedelics at concerts. While many psychonauts have done so and had positive experiences, others have found themselves in trouble. The higher the dose of a psychedelic you take, the more sensitive and vulnerable you become to sensory and social input. This could mean that the amount of people, chatter, staff, lights, and other noises become overwhelming. When taking high doses, it’s generally best to avoid chaotic environments like gigs. At concerts, there won’t be welfare tents like there are at psychedelic or transformative festivals. So if you find yourself overwhelmed or on a downward spiral, there won’t be dedicated people to offer support (besides your friends or partner, who may also be in an altered state or otherwise unable to properly help you).

For concerts, it’s best to stick with low to moderate doses. You may want to trip hard, but it could be a waste of a potentially once-in-a-lifetime gig if you trip so hard that the experience becomes all focused on psychedelic effects rather than the music. With a low or moderate dose, you can enjoy a visually and aesthetically enhanced experience, and still be able to comfortably walk around and talk to others. This becomes more difficult, and the chance of a challenging experience is higher, if you take a high dose.

Following on from the last two sections, one should also consider one’s personal experience with psychedelics. If you’re considering taking a psychedelic at a concert, have you used this particular psychedelic before? Have you tried it at this dose before? It’s generally best to have already tried the substance (so that you already know what the effects are like, and that they resonate with you), and to be familiar with the dose you want to take at the concert. This doesn’t mean, of course, that trying a new psychedelic at a concert will be a profoundly surprising experience (you may be experienced with other psychedelics, for example). But if you want to feel more comfortable and assured going into the experience, previous experience with the substance and dose you want to take is ideal.

To feel comfortable tripping at a concert, you want to be with other people you know. Ideally, someone in the group would be sober and could act as a sitter, but this isn’t always necessary. Even if everyone in the group is in an altered state, this can still feel like a ‘safe bubble’: an anchor in the night that can help you feel protected and contained amidst the crowd.

It’s generally recommended not to trip at concerts alone. You may be comfortable going to gigs alone; you may enjoy listening to a particular band while tripping alone; and you may have also been tripping alone while out in public. But these can be situations that you have some degree of control over (e.g. you’ve chosen to trip in a calm, quiet space at home, or you’ve been in a relatively peaceful setting outside). A concert could be markedly different from the settings in which you’ve had positive experiences tripping alone. It’s important to have someone to share your mental state with, or who can relate to you, to ensure that you don’t feel isolated, overwhelmed, or anxious. Again, some psychonauts may have had positive experiences tripping alone at gigs, perhaps even finding others on their level or who they felt comfortable interacting with, but not every psychonaut feels this socially at ease while tripping.

If you plan to trip at a gig, and you’re going with other people, it’s important to consider who else is attending and the mental state they’ll be in. How well do you know them? Do you feel comfortable around them? Will they also be tripping? Will they be taking the same substance or a similar dose to you? Do you mind tripping around others if they’re sober? Have you tripped around these people before? If they’re not tripping or interested in psychedelics in general, how do they view psychedelics? All of these factors can influence the group dynamics and whether you’ll feel comfortable tripping at the gig, that is, whether you trust that others could relate to you or offer support. If one or more people are complete strangers, you don’t know them well, you don’t feel at ease around them, or you dislike them for whatever reason, then this social reality could become heightened in a psychedelic state. It could become a distracting or negative aspect of the experience.

When you trip at a concert, it’s inevitable that there will be more factors outside of your control than if you trip at home or in an outdoor setting close to your home. You can’t control the number of people you’re around or how other concert goers behave. For this reason, it’s wise to consider your level of sensitivity in general (e.g. towards crowds, noise, and lights), and if you do decide to trip, it’s best to use a psychedelic and dose that feels manageable. You should also bear in mind that if you don’t dose before the gig, because you don’t want to travel there while already tripping, you should be prepared to possibly be in an altered state when the gig finishes. Do you feel comfortable with the idea of still tripping in public and travelling home after?

Tripping at concerts is not inherently reckless, nor is it an ‘inferior’, ‘wasteful’, or ‘disrespectful’ way of using psychedelics. The distinction between ‘recreational’ and ‘therapeutic/spiritual’ trips is not very clear-cut, and in any case, even if tripping at live shows is sometimes purely recreational, this doesn’t mean it should be looked down upon. Recreation is part of being human; it’s an aspect of a fulfilling, contented life. If some people (mindfully) incorporate psychedelics into this aspect of life, there’s no reason to judge the decision. Often, the motivation to judge this behaviour comes from a kind of psychedelic gatekeeping: the wish to treat only some forms of psychedelic use as valid, namely, the ones perceived as being more ‘serious’, ‘healing’, or ‘spiritual’. In reality, this kind of judgement helps no one. If people are going to trip at concerts either way, what matters most is that people will be prepared so that they can have safe and comfortable experiences.