Why isn’t the album enough? (My thoughts on “retiring” from concert going…)

do you really want your last concert to be john mayer??

 

God, so true, dude! I have got to remedy this.

 

Wouldn't it be nice if Ticketmaster/LiveNation went out of business? It'd almost be worth a year without going to a live show..........

 

That's an outstanding thought!

 

Concerts are great if you enjoy high blood pressure from fighting traffic in and out, finding a parking space, the inevitable fist fight with a drunk, getting trampled to death, destroying your hearing, not being able to see the stage, and throwing money away for the privilege of being tortured in a crowd full of strung out idiots on drugs.
EDIT: Forgot to mention getting screwed over from deadbeats if you bought tickets for others, and the divorce that will soon happen if you dragged your spouse along.

 

Pros for attending live concerts:

-artist merch table may sell exclusive items which are either unavailable online or cheaper than available options
-you get to hear how the artist actually plays the songs as opposed to how the producer made them sound on the recordings
-sometimes you get to meet the artist and obtain an autograph or possibly ask questions
-sometimes you make new friends by meeting fellow concertgoers

 

The last pre pandemic show I was at was Metallica. Had to travel 50 miles to get there, sat half a mile from the stage, and the sound was probably the worst I have heard in a large venue. Had to wait over an hour to get out of the parking lot. All for the low, low price of £100. Can say I've been missing the experience.

 

But are there downsides?

 

I think I've seen my last gig. I hate crowds. Prices were high before. If venues will have to keep every other seat empty because COVID, the paying customers will have to make that up, which will jack up prices that much more. I hate wearing a mask when I go everywhere.

Yeah, just not worth it anymore.

 

The cost of concert tix has been mentioned as a big negative. The positive aspect is it made purchase of NYA Vol. ll seem reasonable for me. That’s how I got over.

 

No doubt. For all the whining on that thread about the price, it’s still cheaper than what I paid for ONE TICKET to see Neil last year (in the second row).

 

In the past I have had some of my best times watching (no, experiencing) live music. I used to go to a lot of concerts, then a little less often but still regularly, but now I don't go at all. Why?
- ticket prices have gone up out of all proportion. They are a luxury item for me now.
- if I did go, having spent a lot of my hard earned money, the evening could well be spoilt by one or more of the following: poor venue, poor seats, bad sound, bad night for the band, people filming on their phones, people talking through the performance etc. When the tickets are cheaper you can roll with that to an extent, but not at the level they are now - it's not worth it.

So it's easier just to stay at home. I've seen most of the people I really wanted to see and the ones I haven't are now past their prime, and I'd rather not see them at all than see a faded shadow of what they once were. Sad but true!

 

Reading all of these comments, I would say that, as in so many other areas of life, the coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated a trend that was already happening to begin with.

Arena rock concerts had already largely become awful, unpleasant, overpriced experiences, for all of the reasons outlined above. Coronavirus is just the final nail in the coffin.

 

My last concert in December 2019 was fairly cheap although I did have to travel to London by train to see The Comet Is Coming. I certainly wouldn't pay ludicrously high prices to see old rockers strutting around on stage.

 

Clubs and small theaters are where it’s at anyway. Arenas were always a last choice/forced hand for me.

 

I agree sadly, and how many service charges can you take? T shirts being sold at £30 each really did it for me, just total greed.

 

Personally I think "Why isn't the album enough" and "retiring from concert going", are two different subjects, but, when in Rome...

My last show was in a little dive here in town. We're Couchsurfer hosts, and our guest and band were playing. He's from South America, and plays one of those bizarro guitars with custom dual fretboard design. I think before that, my (let's not say "last", just "most recent") bigger show was in Baltimore, seeing the Norwegian pop(?) singer Aurora in a large club, 4 years ago. Out of the radio business, I have no need to see any mainstream (or TicketWeasel-booked) acts ever again, but will always try to support my niche favorites if they get near the area. I'm 64.

 

Sadly, it;'s looking more likely that they'll swallow everything else. But we'll still have the choice iof spending the same money on ten shows in smaller venues, and that's what I'll be doing.

 

Much of what you say is true but luckily for me,at least before lockdown, there were still plenty of venues putting on great shows featuring artists on either side of the bell curve, for a reasonable price. We've had some great evenings with bands we'd hitherto never heard of.

 

I'm 66 and live music is one of the things I miss most about the current situation. I don't just mean name acts although we really miss going to The Coach House. We go to bars that have "bar bands" playing. We really enjoy it. Regular guys/gals with day jobs who play at night because they love to play (also for the $$). We have made friends with a number of members of the various groups. Very nice group of people. I just wish I didn't have trouble staying awake until they start to play. I agree that we will only go to small venues anymore.

 

To be fair, every single one of those things was true of arena rock shows in the 70s too. They've ALWAYS sucked. Y'all were just too young and/or wasted to notice back then.

Club gigs forever.

 

Exactly - I haven't even thought about a megashow since my last twenty year pilgrimage to see the Stones in 2003. Before that, actually after, U2, and was done. Have always preferred small venues, indoors, sounds way better.

This big kabosh on huge Mecca style events is going to be a jookjoint revival.

Just heard a local group playing outside a few nights ago - they were getting a way better response than they would have before the freeze - people aren't so spoiled now, small musicians are becoming important and valued as they were before the 70s.

 

If you find fist fighting drunk people at concerts to be an “inevitable,” part of the experience, I think you may be part of the problem.

 

Yeah, the actual production quality (sound, visuals, etc.) of arena/amphitheater shows today is way better than it was in the early 80s when I started going to shows, but TBF the parking still sucks.

Preferably theater shows forever for me, unless the clubs have seating.

 

Seeing the Dynamic Powerhouse that is King Crimson Live last fall- 50th Anniversary of debut ITCOTCK tour- would be a fitting, final live show, but I love Live music, in small doses, and smaller crowds, so I'm hoping in a year or two, when the dust settles Post-2020, I'll feel comfortable seeing live shows again? Mos Def A Grave New World!!!