Fan Commitment and its Transformation into Communitas Through the Process of Proxemic Exchange

Live performances are comprised of various elements that scholars have utilized to understand the artist-fan relationship as well as the relationship among the fans themselves. In this study, I look at fandom in independent, or “indie” music and utilize my findings to creation a foundation for the understanding of fan commitment. I then argue that when a fan of a particular artist attends a live performance by that artist, they inherently engage in a proxemic exchange with the artist as well as the fans around them. This proxemic exchange is driven by fan commitment and facilitates the creation of communitas. In order to explain this process, I utilize an autoethnographic approach through the observation of two live performances--one by Four Year Strong and the other by Chicago. The innate differences between these two artists highlight the similarities found at both performances. This autoethnographic study, by illustrating the similar behavioral pattern of fans, provides a foundation for the understanding of the creation of one entity or event through the participation of many