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I'm getting too old for rock concerts

#101
Bob_Ross said:
I recall coming to that exact same conclusion...in 1985! (Tears For Fears at the Wooster Centrum...24-year-old me was probably the oldest person in the audience. And the most respectful, for whatever that's worth.)

I've been to maybe a dozen Big Venue Concerts® since then, but every time I go I wind up thinking "this is the absolute crappiest way to experience live music!" Give me a club with <500 capacity any day.

I have tix to see King Crimson at the Beacon Theater in November, and tbh I'm dreading that...although I suspect getting backhanded by a drunk smoker will be the least of my worries there. More likely will get into an intellectual argument with a nerd who lives in his parents' basement :)
Click to expand...

I saw KC last month.
Amazing show.
I was fortunate to be sitting around mature fans.
Actually had some great conversation before the show.
There was absolutely no rowdiness.
Very enjoyable night.
Glen
 
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#104
The last stadium show we saw was the Rolling Stones in Charlottesvile. We had nosebleed seats and the show was delayed for an hour by a bomb threat but all in all, it was a superb show and the sound was fantastic considering where our seats were. No problems with rude concertgoers as you described. That was over a decade ago.
The last time I had a problem of that sort was probably about that same time at one of our outdoor corporate park pavilion. Bela Fleck was playing. It was back to college night at this venue. You couldn't hear over the chit chat but I had never seen Victor live. I tried to see it through but was so disappointed that we eventually left about 1/3 of the way through. Here was Victor playing his heart out and these pukes couldn't care less.
 
#107
I dont go and see just anyone anymore, I never did like the idiots you have to deal with. First concert I went to was a Rush concert in the mid 80s in Philly. Drug dealers knocking on the car window while we were waiting for the show to start, then the gang war out in the parking lot all while using my mothers Chrysler Cordoba as a home base/fortress. Then the thick pot smoke everywhere inside. R40 was alot more tame! The ACDC concert I went to in the 80s was the worst...music was great but the guy in front of me was out of his mind and asking me if I had a razor because he wanted to bleed. I remember spending alot of time inspecting which part of his neck I could hit hard enough to both incapacitate him AND launch him into the seats below. Oh and the people tying off their arms in the bathrooms....but yeah, I wouldve had the drunk idiot in the OP thrown out too!
 
#108
Spectrum said:
Yeah, maybe you should stay home if a Rush concert is too rowdy.
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I didn't say anything about rowdy. I love Rush, but the last two times I saw them were a disaster. The sound was terrible, and the crowd wasn't "rowdy", but the last time there was a husband & wife (or boyfriend/girlfriend) that practically ended in a domestic in the seats next to me. Fortunately, they left towards the end of the show.

The time before that, there were 4 guys discreetly trying to light their meth pipe in the row behind me.
 
#109
I saw U2 a few months ago. I paid the ridiculously overpriced tickets for my wife and I and our two teens. It was worth it for the "memories", and they did put on a great show.

But it was yet another huge expensive reminder that live rock and roll is in its death knell.

It was a clear reminder to why I haven't done a big arena reunion whatever show in ~20 years or so. I will likely never go to a huge show like that ever again. My kids could take it or leave it, anyway. They don't care about live music - their generation is WAAAAAAY different than mine is/was.

Fortunately, the people were not too bad. But what disappointed me the most was the gawdawful sound - way too loud and muddy as hell. You'd think that for the most expensive and anticipated concert tour of the summer the sound team could mix the sound adequately for the venue. It was outside, and had mains every 75 or so yards, so it wasn't like people in the back weren't gonna hear anything. And so muddy. Couldn't hear the vocals at all. Despite all the typical crap a big show carries, this is the biggest issue for me. I will put up with a lot if I can hear a favorite band clearly and comfortably.

Why. Does. FOH for large shows. Still. Have. To. Be. So. Loud? It's freaking 2017, not 1968. We don't have to do that anymore.
 
#111
Regardless of how people behave, to me there is no excuse for poor sound in any venue with today's technology. I've talked to people who were actually at Woodstock (they had pictures) and they have said the sound was pretty decent. So if the technology existed back then, with all of the improvements there have been since then, concert sound today should be incredible. As many here have said, the sound for the last few shows I have been to has been horrible. I recently went to a Tedeschi trucks show where the loudest thing in the band was the drummers and they apparently couldn't hear each other because they were out of sync. At many of the shows I've been to recently there is so much bass it pretty much drowns out everything else. I don't really understand it.
 
#114
It is a trade off of price for a large enough venue that has seating, or a smaller venue where I have to stand for hours.

Not many bands I'm into anymore play anything larger than clubs or festivals. I'm not down with standing for hours at a time anymore, and I've never seen the attraction for day long outdoor festivals. My "too old" scenario is that for whatever stupid reason many of them come through town on a freaking weekday, and with my work schedule, that is a tough choice to make. I'd have to lose a few hours of sick or vacation time to go in later the next day.
The price of large shows at stadiums is out of control. Maybe it is just adjusting for inflation, but $80-$100 for whatever seats is just too much. At the shows I go to, everyone stands during the bands and tend to smoke a variety of things, so that doesn't bother me too much.
The hardest thing for me is just "getting into it." When I was younger it was much easier to just be in the experience and enjoy the rush of the performance. I'm only 42, but I've been through the wringer in those years, so I don't get emotional excited by much of anything anymore. I've also developed a real disdain for my fellow man, so being surrounded by a bunch of people in a crowded space isn't a lot of fun for me. I don't feel connected to the crowd or the bands anymore. I'd rather listen with headphones, or better yet, be playing my own music.
 
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#115
Just saw Slayer. $80 floor seats, $20 parking, Two or three drinks for $12 each. It was impressive to hear that much kick drum rumble and watch flame throwers through the phones of every person in front of me. For $125 bucks, there are better entertainment options out there for an evening.

That said, I recently dropped a few bucks to get my hands on some GWAR tickets. I have high hopes.
 
#117
Geez, it looks like I touched a nerve. I agree with the posters who said these big events are more about the spectacle than the performance. Unfortunately, I seem to attract the people who decide they are the spectacle. Concerts can be a great experience, especially when the crowd is respectful and the sound is decent. A DVD and the best home A/V system in the world just doesn't capture the vibe of being among 20,000 people grooving to the same thing. It's too bad that the acts I like to see seem to attract a lot of middle aged suburbanites hell bent on getting wild 'n crazy before returning to the cubicle farm on Monday. The irony of getting whacked in the face at a U2 show is that their entire performance is built on the concepts of love, unity and respect.

So...Kid Rock is playing 5 shows at the new arena in Detroit. Maybe I should get tickets? :***:
 
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#118
Earplugs for sure. Even then, it's a crapshoot.

I saw Lady Gaga a few weeks ago in Vegas. Brutally loud, questionable how much of the music was being performed (vs. recorded), two drinks were $34. Terrible.

I saw Green Day at Fiddler's Green in Denver. It was astoundingly good; I have been mildly interested in them for 25 years but had never seen them live. They were total pros, not what I expected.

I saw Maroon 5 at the Aspen Snowmass festival last Sunday. Everyone was playing but it sounded like there were lots of backing tracks as well. But - it sounded very good and I was surprised how much I enjoyed the evening. The key was that we set up way, way back and relied on the jumbotron for the visual. Volume was good - no earplugs and we could have a conversation.
 
#119
I've had everything in this thread and more happen at concerts. I love em. Best thing in the world to waste money on, and I plan on going to tons more. Ps, I've also been punched in the face by a drunk chick at U2, shortly after her buddy barfed on my shoes! I agree mid sized venues are better.
 
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#120
It's been many a year since I've even considered going to an arena or big venue concert. I'm turned off by the high costs and especially by the idiotic behavior of the crowds. When I was younger and attended these kinds of events, I never acted a fool or did anything to disrupt the experience of anyone around me. I guess it's too much to expect the same in return.

I actually gave up on live music altogether for a few years, but a couple of years ago I got back into going to small clubs and quaint venues where the sheeple seem to be better behaved. I have also greatly upped the support I give in attending local band shows, and although there isn't the production or high quality of sound, when you find a band that has apparently put in the hard work to make sure they do the best show they can with the limited resources they may have, it's kind of refreshing and fun to see. I'd much rather support that than a mega band these days.
 

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