Have You Ever

Have you ever bought tickets to a show in advance and then as the day of the show approached you just were not excited about the concert and wished you had not bought the tickets...

Every time I've gone to a show in the last 5 years or so. It's called getting old and it sucks.

Yeah, there's always that brief period of "it's too much damn trouble, I'm tired and have to be at work tomorrow" thing...but once you make it to the gig, that crap generally vanishes.

brokentulsa wrote:

Have you ever bought tickets to a show in advance and then as the day of the show approached you just were not excited about the concert and wished you had not bought the tickets...

Yes, a lot lately. I like to watch a band perform and listen to the music, but all the concerts I have been to there is just a bunch of hipsters who are the to beat the crap out of each other and get in the way of those of us who actually like THE MUSIC and want to see the band perform.

I'm old!

Not really but I did buy tickets to a show I was estatic about seeing and then had gallbladder surgery and by the day of the show i was in no condition to go

S.D. wrote:

Yeah, there's always that brief period of "it's too much damn trouble, I'm tired and have to be at work tomorrow" thing...but once you make it to the gig, that crap generally vanishes.  

I thought it was just me who felt this way.

hahaha

Yep - Every time that Schenker has toured. I had tix for a Milwaukee show and his band quit the night before. Show cancelled. Had tix for his last tour with McAuley - Robin had issues, brought in another singer. I have officially quit on one of my fav guitarists.

ultmetal wrote:

brokentulsa wrote:

Have you ever bought tickets to a show in advance and then as the day of the show approached you just were not excited about the concert and wished you had not bought the tickets...

Yes, a lot lately. I like to watch a band perform and listen to the music, but all the concerts I have been to there is just a bunch of hipsters who are the to beat the crap out of each other and get in the way of those of us who actually like THE MUSIC and want to see the band perform.

I'm old!

I don't see people beating each other up makes them "hipsters", I think they're just jackasses.

Most hipsters I've met are too sleepy/stoned to be violent. They aren't stirring up shit at metal shows, they're sitting at a coffee shop using a manual typewriter and listening to their Crosley portable record player between trips to the vintage clothing store.

It's happened quite a few times. But there have been plenty of times that even though I was dreading it I ended up being glad I went.

A lot lately. But after I get there all is well & I'm glad I went. We have had a run of great shows here lately, a lot on weekdays.

Yeah, Iron Maiden on the Somewhere in Time tour, it was during the time that I was really into thrash and getting into punk and our lodger who ran the student union at the local college said that he had a ticket and was taking some students to the show.

I went but to be honest, my interest in Maiden at that point was zero so I spent the whole gig wondering why the hell I was there.

Of the last 6 or 7 concerts I have seen I only paid for Priest last October. All the others have been free tickets from my parents for Casinos since Hard Rock /Heavy Metal bands don't come to the clubs or the Providence Civic Center like in the 80's/90's. The only time I felt this way was a Tateryche show about 2003 or so. An ex and I had tickets and it was a Sunday night show. It was pouring and I really just wanted to stay in and watch Football. We went and had a good time. The show was good enough. Tate wasn't hitting the high notes then either.

S.D. wrote:

Most hipsters I've met are too sleepy/stoned to be violent.  They aren't stirring up shit at metal shows, they're sitting at a coffee shop using a manual typewriter and listening to their Crosley portable record player between trips to the vintage clothing store.  

Ok, you get a gold star for that reply.

Probably the most hipster goddamn thing I ever saw was at the Mike Doughty show I caught a year or two back. This guy in the front just LOOKED like "that guy." You know the one, the glasses, the "ironic" t-shirt, goofy haircut, etc. Anyway, between sets, I literally watch this guy snap a picture of his empty beer cup with his phone.

I'm going to repeat that, because it bears repeating: He. Took. A. Picture. Of. An. Empty. Cup.

Metal wasn't the downfall of western civilization. Trifling #$#% like that is.

Anyway, I can relate to what a lot of folks are saying, but like S.D., whatever misgivings I have about a show during the planning phase usually chill out once I'm in the door and just have a good time. Having good company helps too. Nothing sucks worse than dragging someone along who doesn't want to be there and who refuses to enjoy it.

Ok, well, perhaps hipsters was the wrong word to use. Doesn't change the point. It's a bunch of morons beating the crap out of each other.

Story of my adult life. A buddy of mine is pissed off because I keep bailing on gigs with him.

Going to concerts in my 30's has been a fairly existential experience. The most rewarding experience was the Steven Wilson gig with S.D. in L.A. I think I was looking forward to that more than past concerts because it wasn't metal. Hell, we (the entire audience) sat in our seats the entire set, entranced by what was happening onstage. I'll take that without hesitation.

However, the 'metal' gigs I have been to have worn me thin. Even with an exceptional performance like Death Angel, you get the kind of idiots ult is talking about. Getting clipped by the expanding mosh pit isn't so much fun at 34. Also, the sound is so overpowering and muddled depending on the venue. Considering how well the Wilson mix was in a theater like the Wiltern, hearing Exodus gallop through their set with OTT bass like a cluster of noise does nothing for me.

The worst part? "RAISE YOUR HORNS IN THE f*cking AIR, f*cking [city]." I'm sick to death of all the boilerplate rhetoric at these shows. It's the same macho bullshit over and over. At the Wilson show we heard funny anecdotes, witty philosophies, and charming monologues that kept the set rolling fluidly. The whole metal concert script needs to be rewritten (or expanded, I guess).

All this to say it's tough as hell to get me to a concert, let alone dish out the money I need for gas just to get a fleeting glimpse of something possibly underwhelming. And time is so short these days with a wife and kids (not to mention the noise) that I'd rather have something truly relaxing instead of a wall of noise.

I just found out that Priest is coming to Fresno--I doubt I'll be able to shell out that sort of money but I can't lie, part of me wants to go. But let's say I buy tickets. No doubt in my mind that day of the show will come up, I'll get the kids to bed, and then fight every bone in my body not to just sit out by my Koi pond with a cigar and a martini, skipping out on the concert.

With all the hipster talk, hoping that last line doesn't make me sound like one.

corplhicks wrote:

With all the hipster talk, hoping that last line doesn't make me sound like one.

It depends. Were you actually enjoying your Martini & Cigar or were they just props that you were using 'ironically'?

Aha, well said. Zero irony and full, invested enjoyment. In fact I feel like such habits help me to age well.

Let's face it, we're getting old! Haha! But anyway I don't care for the metal crowd anymore either. Corplhicks, the night you just described at the Wilson show sounds much more enjoyable than trying to dodge elbows and assholes just to hear a band play. No thanks, I'll just stay home.

I'm not really sure that it's a byproduct of "getting old" as much as it is a sea change in the types of audiences shows bring out as well as the type of sound most venues put out.

I caught Peter Murphy from Bauhaus twice. And, for those in the know, the guy ain't exactly Pantera. In spite of that, the sound guy in BOTH venues decided the audio threshhold of pain needed to be reached and exceeded with a mix that obscured the vocals in the audio mids (audio muds).

Now, that part was forgivable the first time I caught him, in Baltimore. The audience was small/medium and mostly made up of older goths who were teenagers or 20-somethings when Bauhaus was a going concern. Awesome folks and a good vibe for the show.

The SECOND time I saw him, in Lancaster, PA, it was a toss up between what can only be described as druken, obese jocks and scowling teenage gothlings. Aside from being constantly run into by drunken "dancers," the sound was crap and the vibe in the room was awful.

And, if we're being honest, some genres and bands just court a worse audience in the live arena than others.

It's not just about getting older, it's about not wanting to waste time trying to force ourselves to enjoy things we're "supposed" to like even after they've long since stopped being enjoyable. There are still good shows that come around (I'm jealous of the Wilson show, for example), but you have to be selective about that stuff.

The last show I saw that really stuck out in my mind as a once in a lifetime EVENT was Buckethead, That1Guy and Wolff & Tuba in Philly. That was some mindblowing music. I was MENTALLY exhausted by the end and it was totally worth it.

Rarely....

I haven't been to a show in a loooooong time. I don't think I would regret buying the ticket just because it's been so long.

The Steven Wilson show mentioned above also benefitted from being inside a gorgeous art-deco theater from the 1930s with amazing acoustics. The venue has a lot to do with whether I'm going to buy tickets or not these days.

I got tickets for the 25th anniversary Opeth concert in October and that show will be at another famous art-deco theater built in 1926, the Orpheum in downtown Los Angeles, I'm expecting a great show.

Metal - in the early 80's - it was fresh and new -
It was faster and crazier than Sabbath and Zep and BOC -
the musicians were younger - excited as the crowd -
the sound was new - the playing - the exhibiting -
I haven't heard anyone bragging about modern bands -
just a couple splashes of talk - scattered here and there -
even on this site -
It's all been youtubed to death ha ha ha examined -
the mystery of metal is long gone now -