Is anyone here still into live concerts these days?

@moonwatcher "To show the disconnect at large shows, some YouTubers recorded some of the songs as presented in commercials or videos from Taylor Swift’s recent live tour. They found that on most of the songs, she wasn’t even singing live. They were canned "prerecorded" vocals.To show the disconnect at large shows, some YouTubers recorded some of the songs as presented in commercials or videos from Taylor Swift’s recent live tour. They found that on most of the songs, she wasn’t even singing live. They were canned "prerecorded" vocals".

That is not accurate. David Grohl joked that she doesn't perform live (probably because he does not) and, yes, background vocals are pre-recorded when they all must move in unison on stage for prolonged periods, but Taylor is not mailing it in. Choreography requiring high intensity dancing is just what it always has been. Her concerts last 3 and a half hours and she is not lip-synching.

And just for the sake of fair play, the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen also use some pre-recorded music in some of their performances, so let's just say that to put on a show for 3 hours plus it's gonna take a village.

2024: at small venue = few hundred people at the Majestic Theater San Antonio; caught Joe Bonamassa and few months later Kenny Wayne Shepherd; both great shows. In Austin, Moody Theater caught Bonnie Raitt...73 yrs olde and rocked 3+ hrs non-stop...really great show. At the indoor baseball stadium in Dallas caught Chris Stapleton with 90,000 other people; great show but just too many people in one place...getting in & out & parking was a nightmare. In Nov went to the Sphere in Vegas for the Eagles & Vince Gill...the Sphere was an event in itself...everyone must see a concert there once in their life. Santana is coming to Aztec Theater this year - would like to that show. Also, usually catch Tommy Emmanuel when he is in town but for 2025 he is doing an all overseas world tour. Would really like to do one of the "The Blues Alive at Sea" tours...one week cruise hosted by Joe Bonamassa...he does 1-3 of these per year at different locations/ports; usually great line up of musician's/shows.https://cruises.soulatsea.com/keeping-the-blues-alive-at-sea-ix/

@2psyop - there's going to be a deluxe anniversary edition of 'For Earth Below' coming out later this year. One of my photos I took in Oakland in 1975 will be in the included booklet.... 

But to respond to OP’s original post, yes I still love to go to concerts and go whenever I can. In the past year I’ve seen Matthew Sweet, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, the Psychedelic Furs, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Superchunk.

I can sympathize with a lot of posters though. I have two bad knees so standing for the entire show is a non-starter. My wife and I got COVID (again) at the Superchunk show in October, so that’s given us some pause too. I too am not willing to pay a huge ticket price for an act that’s in many cases long past its sell-by date, so I choose carefully.

These days, I’m an avid concert video collector. I have two rigs: a 2 channel one upstairs and a 7.2.4 Atmos setup that is all Focal and Anthem in the basement. So I do a lot of my concert watching reclined with a glass of wine and a cool buzz. It’s not quite the same, but waaay easier.

We are members of a small theater in central Ohio. Midland Theater. In the last year we have seen 38 Special, Toto, Kansas, Kenny G, Mike Cambell and the Dirty Knobs (Tom Pettys lead guitar along with Toms hall of fame drummers band) and a KILLER Led Zepplin Tribue band GTLO (Get the Led Out). Since we are members, we get tickets before they go on sale to the public and I usually choose about 4 or 5 rows back. It’s a perfect spot for Sue and me. We take another couple with us. I’m 68 and my wife is 71.