A noble attempt to explain some of rock’s weirder traditions and behaviours

Why do we hold lighters in the air at a concert? Who thought that headbanging was a good idea? And why is there always that guy inappropriately yelling 'Freebird!' at a concert?

On the last Wednesday in August, the good citizens of Buñol, Spain, gather in the main square to throw tomatoes at each other. No one is entirely sure why, either. All most people care about is that it’s fun to pelt friends and strangers with tomatoes, so the La Tomatina Festival became an annual thing. (For the record, it seems to date back to about 1945, when there was some kind of brawl that devolved into the throwing of fruits and vegetables.)

Speaking of throwing things: In Denmark, single people aged 25 are doused with cinnamon by friends and family on Valentine’s Day. No one knows why other than it’s always been a thing. Same thing with tossing newborn babies off the 50-foot Sri Saneswar Temple in India. The tykes are caught by people holding a big cloth below. It’s just tradition, the origins and purposes of which have disappeared into history.

Rock music has been around long enough to have its own inexplicable traditions and behaviours. Let’s look at a few.

We’ve all been to a show where at some point people hold lighters (and now cellphones) in the air during the gig. Where did that come from?

The answer goes back to the Toronto Rock’n’Roll Revival, a one-day concert held at Varsity Stadium in Toronto on Sept. 13, 1969. John Lennon was a last-minute addition to the lineup, impetuously deciding to play his first-ever show outside The Beatles. Lennon was nervous to the point of being sick, so MC Kim Fowley urged the crowd to create a cool and peaceful vibe by bringing out their matches and lighters to turn the stadium into a blissful candlelit landscape.

It worked. Lennon came out, played his set with Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band, and went back to the U.K. to announce he was done with The Beatles. We’ve been bringing forth fire (or at least light) at shows ever since.

Chances are you’ve been to some show where someone insists on yelling “Freebird!” as a highly inappropriate request at a non-Lynyrd Skynyrd show. Why?

Blame Kevin Matthews, a Chicago radio DJ who had a running bit where he’d encourage his listeners — known as Kevheads — to yell “Freebird” at any concert, no matter who was onstage. And so it began. The Chicago Symphony, Florence Henderson (the mom from The Brady Bunch) and Jim Nabors all had to endure the demands thanks to Kevheads. You can still hear these calls today virtually anywhere, be it at a performance of Mamma Mia or even at a hockey game.