I am not much of a “big venue” concert goer. There are exceptions for phenomenal performers like U2 or when a free ticket makes it’s way to me. Generally I believe sound quality is better on my iPod or cd and unless you drop top dollar for front row - you wind up watching the show from the television screens anyway. A bud light draft costs $9.00. Enough said. I’d rather hit up a coffee house or a watch a local musicians freestyling it at a bar.
Recently my mother called to tell me she found a ticket stub from a NKOTB concert (if you don’t know that acronym you are clearly not a member Generation X). It got me thinking about life before you could buy tickets on Ebay. My first live concert was Jon Bon Jovi. Madison square garden smelled of stale beer and my mothers fingers pressed into my wrist so I wouldn’t get lost. My brother was sporting a blonde rat tail at the time and wore a sleeveless black t-shirt to accentuate his barely there 13 year old physique.
I don’t remember the show, but I do remember the endless rows of kiosks. Everything was for sale. There were foam fingers and shot glass souvenirs behind rainbows of t-shirt momentos that may someday be vintage but probably become dustrags. Concerts look different when you are a couple inches taller and a few years older. You can now see the stage and ignore the sideshow vendors. The world is full of people trying to sell things you don’t need, lies included.
Leave a Reply