1000 Concerts! Whereby Oatsdad Praises Himself

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My brother posted on FB: "333 Springsteen, 333 Gaga, 333 Spice Girls and 1 Aerosmith". He was slightly off!

 

In many ways, I love online or "ticketless" ticketing. I no longer need to worry about losing tickets, as they're right there on my phone.

But I do miss the days of real ticket stubs. Print at home tickets tend to be ugly, and they're bulky - I still save them, but I don't value them like I did real ticket stubs!

Still, it's nice to be able to go to a show and not have to worry whether you remembered the tickets!

 

Congrats! As a fellow denizen of the Swamp, I have to ask -- if you have the metrics -- what venue have you frequented most out of your list?

 

My list only counts artists I specifically went to see, not those who just happened to play somewhere.

So if Bobby Joe and the Lugnuts played my local club and I specifically paid because I wanted to see them... they go on the list.

If I went to the club with friends and didn't care who played... they don't go on the list.

That's just the way I chose to do it. YMMV!

 

Ha - I was gonna get to that!

Perhaps surprisingly, I'm pretty sure I've seen more shows at Madison Square Garden than anywhere else. 67 of my 1000 shows were at MSG.

If DC had had only one main arena my whole life, that venue would almost certainly be #1 - I'm sure that I've seen more than 67 shows at Cap Centre and Cap One combined.

But since Cap Centre went kaput 22 years ago, that means a lot of shows are split between the 2 venues...

 

In a similar vein, obviously the DC area is the place where I've seen more concerts than anywhere else. I've not added it up to see, but it's a sure thing that my home base is the place where I've attended the plurality of my concerts, if not an outright majority.

2nd place? NYC area - which I mark as inclusive of Meadowlands and northern NJ and Long Island, but not anything farther south than the Garden State Arts Center. (And some would say that shouldn't count!) I've been to 158 shows in that area.

3rd place? Philly area - including Camden - with 103 shows.

Was surprised by that split - really thought Philly would be #2 and NYC #3!

 

Some where around 2500 (have lost track over the years) but going to concerts was part of my job. I have probably walked out of close to 100, so I did not damage my hearing...some wonderful memories though.

Cool little thread you started!

 

Thanks! It'd interesting to know how many shows you would've seen by choice, not by work!

 

I added it up and figured I've seen 136 actual headliners across my 1000 shows.

That includes co-headliners, but on multi-artist bills, only the top-billed act would count.

So I don't count Simon and Garfunkel, as I only saw them play a handful of songs at the 2009 Rock Hall Anniversary concert.

But I do count Blondie from the Blondie/Garbage tour 2 years ago.

I could never add up the total number of artists I've seen period - far too many long-forgotten opening acts!

 

That's tough to answer properly because out of the many that were with the labels, a ton of those were shows I liked. Plus I sponsored some cool venues and had quite the access. I want to add that I was very fortunate to do what I did for living and never took it for granted...plus I was able to do some pretty cool things with the extra tickets I got by making people happy.

 

Where were you when I needed you?

 

Lotta money.

 

No doubt, but I can easily afford it and it makes me happy.

Is that okay with you?

 

Good work. Wouldnt have a clue about my own total. Nowhere near 100o though.

 

Wow...merely an observation.

 

Colour me impressed. I would never have had that kind of dedication in my teens. Or twenties. Or Thirties. Or forties. Or fifties. Please consider posting your word document for all to see your journey. It's kind of like that guy who goes to the beach and takes a picture every summer for his entire life.

 

Any Ringo, Lennon or Harrison in the 1,000 concerts?

 

no wonder Oats had to raise himself...

 

Awesome. Im nowhere close to 1K. I never kept count but has to be close to 400. Pittsburgh was great for concerts in the 80s and 90s.

Bob

 

Congrats.! What would you rather have, the money or the memories?
I'm behind you with a paltry 524 shows . . . got me some catching up to do

 

Tin Machine included?

 

That's seriously impressive. I don't know if I've been to 100 concerts since my first one in 1993 but I've seen a good number of my favorites (way past their primes). Unfortunately, the closest city that gets a lot of good shows is at least a 6 hour drive away. If I lived somewhere bigger I'd probably have a way smaller record collection but have seen way more concerts. I do envy folks who get to see their favorite artists on every tour.

 

I've seen more than that and I'm not praising myself.
However, you got me beat with Madonna, Lady Gaga and The Spice Girls. I wouldn't have gone to see those acts if you paid me.

 

I wouldn't call them concerts, but I used to go to a gig almost every week at one point.

 

I haven't seen Dylan 51 times but awfully close. I never missed him in Toronto since 1981 and saw him in Buffalo (with Petty & the Dead in '86) and saw him in Hamilton in '88. If he was ever playing near Toronto, I'd go. He often did "multiple nights" here and I'd go to every show (because every one was a different set list)
Bob Dylan has been a very interesting to guy to follow "live" for the last 40 years or so.