re: Going to concerts is overrated

Was considering going to Bourbon and Beyond here this year but a friend who did the VIP tent said it's even to the point it's shoulder to shoulder packed. No desire to do that at this point in my life.

That said, I'm fully convinced that some of these bigger festivals are missing out on doing a PPV streaming service of the festival. The last couple of years I've watched the Bonnaroo and SXSW streams on Hulu and they've been great to watch. I'd love to watch those shows from the comfort of my living room and big screen TV.

I'm getting there. If it's not the people talking the entire time, it's that one tone deaf waif behind me screaming the lyrics out of tune.

I'm all for people having a good time and singing but the audiences have devolved.

I only go to smaller venues.. Tickets are cheaper, but still costs $25 for a gin and tonic.

Last two shows I've been to:

Blues Travelers
Big Head Todd and the Monsters

Tickets were probably around $60 for those shows.

I was part of a group that chartered a bus to New Orleans to see The Rolling Stones at the Superdome in 1981. I was 16. My parents were pretty much lax on monitoring me. Gen X kid and all that. Memories to last a lifetime.

I went to London just a few months later on a high school cultural exchange trip over Christmas break, 1981. We had some free time where we could go off on our own (it was a different time). My buddy and I saw Black Sabbath at what was then called the Hammersmith Odeon on New Years Day 1982. Mob Rules tour.

Drove my parents’ conversion van with 6 friends from Florence AL to Memphis see Robert Plant on his first solo tour in 1983. Phil Collins was his tour drummer.

I’m not into country or most modern pop bands. In the last 5-6 years I’ve seen Aerosmith, The Cult, America, Steely Dan and a bunch of smaller acts.

It is getting outrageously expensive. Bands don’t make much money off streaming so they have to tour and charge a lot to make money. Look at Taylor Swift. She made a billion dollars from her last world tour. The online ticket sellers are a huge scam.

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I’ve never regretted spending money on a concert. Sporting events on the other hand…

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Football, especially, is SO much better just sitting on a couch or at a bar. Basketball is close to being the same. Baseball is great live.

I gave up festivals a few years back. Standing 1/4 mile from the stage to watch the big screens. The lines for the pissers are always ridiculous. I get into the rhythm of buying a beer, drink it while standing in line to piss, go wait in line to get another beer and move back over to the line for the pisser again. It's ridiculous.

Ampitheater shows are still very enjoyable, especially chilling out on the lawn on a nice evening.

Theater shows are far and away the best...great acoustics, oftentimes in historical buildings, great views, smaller crowds, just a much better overall experience. I'm biased living here but the Tabernacle in Atlanta is a really great place to catch a show. Also enjoy the Ryman up in Nashville for all the history tied to the theater. Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa is another great room with a TON of history.

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experiencing Red Rocks

That seems like an awesome venue.

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Experiencing Red Rocks was absolutely unreal. It’s such an incredible venue, it kind of ruins every other concert spot for me — I don’t want to see anyone live anywhere else now.

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Experiencing Red Rocks was absolutely unreal. It’s such an incredible venue, it kind of ruins every other concert spot for me — I don’t want to see anyone live anywhere else now.

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I hope to visit it someday.

Won't you tell me, " Where have all the good times gone"

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$75 ticket plus $75 fees plus parking plus inflated concessions, for music that’s too loud and to sit behind people that choose to stand all night. Then get jammed in traffic just to leave. frick that.

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Found the Boomer! You are 70+, right? Probably over 75. It’s OK. Old people have opinions, too.

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Change my mind

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Going to concerts is pretty fun in your teens and 20s.

Once I hit 30, there has not been a single concert that I’ve attended that I wasn’t ready to be over 15 minutes into the opening act.

To be fair, I feel the same for sporting events as well.