Audience Contradictions

Although there is a fairly widespread awareness and appreciation of the band's stance on issues among the audience, I have found two fairly extreme examples to show that this is not the case across the board.

Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization co-founded by Serj Tankian and Tom Morello. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice together.
In a 2007 interview, Tom Morello remarked that he formed Axis of Justice with Serj Tankian after witnessing some members of the audience at Ozzfest 2002 promoting racist symbols and imagery. In an effort to promote a staunchly anti-racist and anti-fascist message, Axis of Justice allied with Anti-Racist Action shortly after its formation.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_Justice

The fact that racists/white supremacists would be present at concerts where a lot of the bands sing denouncing racial descrimination (and where a lot of the artists are of non-white ethnicity themselves) shows a fairly significant level of divergance among the audience.

U.S. military interrogators have often blasted music at detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. According to the British law group Reprieve, these are among the songs they have used most frequently:

• “Enter Sandman,” Metallica.
• “Bodies,” Drowning Pool.
• “Shoot to Thrill,” AC/DC.
• “Hell’s Bells,” AC/DC.
• “I Love You,” from the “Barney and Friends” children’s TV show.
• “Born in the USA,” Bruce Springsteen.
• “Babylon,” David Gray.
• “White America,” Eminem.
• “Sesame Street,” theme song from the children’s TV show.
Other bands and artists whose music has been frequently played at U.S. detention sites: Aerosmith, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Don McLean, Lil’ Kim, Limp Bizkit, Meat Loaf, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tupac Shakur.

Reprieve, the human rights charity that provides legal representation for inmates at Guatanamo bay, is behind the campaign. "In the long-term, we hope raising awareness of this issue will pressurise the United Nations and the British government to uphold the treaties that ban the use of torture," said Reprieve's press officer Alex Grace. "But we also hope that the campaign will attract the attention of high-profile musicians who are willing to speak out against this incredibly horrible form of no-touch psychological torture."

One such band who have already registered their disgust are agit-prop US rockers Rage Against the Machine."I suggest they level Guantanamo Bay," began RATM's guitarist Tom Morello during a concert in San Francisco earlier this year, "but they keep one small cell and they put Bush in there ... and they blast some Rage Against the Machine." It's not the first time Morello and his group have acknowledged their distaste for the Bush administration and the war on terror. Since Rage Against the Machine's reunion in 2007, the band have taken to the stage dressed in the infamous bright orange jumpsuits and black hoods associated with Guantanamo bay prisoners.

http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107000

This use of music that criticises the establishment, particularly the US military-industrial complex, as a means of torture by the military shows another distinct variation of opinion among the audience, although in this case the music is most probably used due to its loud agressive sound in order to torture prisoners.