Is anyone here still into live concerts these days?

I’m 62, and I’ve been attending shows since I was 10 years old (had a sibling 11 years older than me). Throughout the 1970’s and 1990’s, most shows were in venues under 10,000 seats, with an occasional large stadium show. Starting in the 2000’s, I started throwing in a few Multi-Day Festival shows where crowds of 80,000 fans a day were common. I quickly learned those events were not for me -- from the ticket prices to hotel costs to concessions cost, they just became ridiculously expensive.

Also in that early 2000’s time frame, I began attending shows at independent clubs -- venues that held a maximum of 500 to 1,000 fans, and quickly fell in love with these shows. The sound was much better, the prices were very low, you had the ability to see a vast variety of niche genre bands, and get to see them up close and personal. I began befriending the club managers and sticking around after shows in the loading area or in the clubs (with permission from the management), and I got to meet and party with numerous now famous musicians who enjoyed having a dinner or drinks bought for them. My primary music is Progressive Rock and Prog Metal, and I have been fortunate to hang out with the members of Haken, Porcupine Tree, Sons of Apollo, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, The Pineapple Thief, Leprous, Riverside, along with Mott The Hoople, Opeth, King Buffalo, Warren Zevon, Killing Joke, Dixie Dregs, Zakk Wylde, Black Label Society, Pantera, GodspeedYou! Black Emperor...just to name a few.

Give me the under 1,000 seat venues all day long. I’ll keep rocking out live as long as I can!

@allenf1963 ,

What was Warren Zevon like??

@moonwatcher -- When I saw the venues you named, I realized we must live near each other. I’m in Winston-Salem. I am at The RamKat, Cat’s Cradle, Motorco, Filmore, Neighborhood Theater, Hanger 1819, The Underground, Orange Peel, and Monstercade VERY OFTEN. I also fly to NYC to catch shows at Radio City, Irving Plaza, St. Vitus, Brooklyn Steel, and others.

Before I retired, I handled Jay’s insurance at Ziggy’s for 20 years. My office was on Deacon Boulevard, right in front of Ziggy’s. I saw hundreds of shows there before he had to close. I had free reign to sit in on sound checks. I’d walk in around 2:00 p.m. wearing a suit and tie, grab a PBR beer, and sit dead center answering questions from the bands on how it sounded. Great memories!

The last concert I went to was back in 2019.  My son took me to the 50 years of Jethro Tull  concert.  I believe we were at Mohegan Sun Casino in Conn.  I got my son into Tull back in the 90’s, I had been to well over 30 Tull concerts before this last one. The concert hadn’t changed a bit, same concept.  Big difference is Ian Anderson’s voice, he can’t hit the notes any more and all the songs were slowed way down to accommodate his aged voice.  No more concerts for me, too much hassle, too loud and the crowds are inconsiderate.   I would rather take a stroll down Beale St. in Memphis in the evening and listen to the locals play.  

@allenf1963 I live north of Charlotte, near Statesville. We are indeed blessed with several good sounding venues for live music in this area within 2- or 3-hours driving distance. Not bad. MSG in NYC was always special. Would love to see Radio City. Have fun and keep supporting these local venues. I’m glad they survived the Covid-19 years. Many just barely did.

Ah, Ziggy's will always be a special venue. I really miss it in its old location. Saw a ton of shows there and recorded some. They had a killer sound system. Saw Medeski, Martin, and Wood there for the first time. Wow.