I go to at least one concert per year.
I don’t pay for the seats at the bottom by the stage. Those can go for hundreds of dollars. We sit up in the rafters, where the seats are cheaper. Although sometimes even the rafter seats are over $100.
The thing about going to the concert is the ambiance. You are there with thousands of other people who like the same music you do. You are clapping and cheering along with all of the other fans and there is a real party atmosphere. Many concerts are not just the performance of the music, but an entire show complete with light displays and videos. Most performers engage the audience, as well, by having them sing lines or “do the wave” or something.
We went to Elton John’s farewell tour twice. We most recently saw Guns N Roses. Our next concert will feature Billy Joel and Sting. I did not go to a John Denver concert—I figured he would tour again—and I have regretted that decision ever since.
When I was a teen, my family could not afford concerts. I’ve been making up for that ever since.
Of course, if you do not absolutely adore music, a concert probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal to you. And you have to go to a concert that features music you like. We went to a country music concert—Reba, Brooks, and Dunn—because we had free tickets. The experience was interesting in that we were unfamiliar with all but one or two songs, but we saw people who were really into it, dancing in their seats and singing along.
But for devoted music lovers, the difference between going to a concert and hearing the song on a radio or CD is like the difference between having prime rib and having a plain hamburger.
It’s definitely an individualistic thing. As part of my job, I’ve done small concerts and whatnot, but nothing big, and sports events, and my experience has never been enhanced by seeing it live.
It’s probably because I tend to take in sensory information at a more cerebral level than emotional, because I am somewhat on the spectrum.
I tend to be attracted more to information type seminars than I am to concerts. When they did a psychological experiment in my psch class, the professor split us into two groups. The group I was in watched a Bill Cosby comedy routine from one of his tours. I was bored, so I kept attending the snack table while the show was one. The other group had a debate from Parliament to watch and they did not have snacks, but I would have preferred the Parliament debate to the comedy show.