So You Want to Go to a Concert

One of the most important aspects of my life is music. Everything I do revolves around music. I love to play it, listen to it, write about it, read about it, and I especially love to watch it played live by some of my favorite bands.

For the next few blog posts, I will be describing the experience that is going to a concert. I will talk about the environments, the attitudes, and the ways to survive a concert while still enjoying the music playing in front of you.

Some concerts have pits, some have balconies, some have screaming teenagers screaming "Bieber!" over and over. Every concert is different and I will tell you how.

Led Zeppelin live

So You Want to Go to a Concert: Tickets

My father has told me stories about concerts he's been to in the 70s and 80s. While his list of performances he's attended are impressive, the most interesting aspect of these tales are how inexpensive the events were.

He tells me that he saw the Rolling Stones for six dollars. He tells me how he saw Aerosmith for no more than ten. He even tells me how his friend paid for his Boston ticket so he could break a fifty.

Then, I look at my track record of concerts. I saw Aerosmith for $150. I saw Radiohead for around $90. I saw Foo Fighters for about $70. In fact, I've only been to a few concerts that were under $50.

Tickets have gotten more expensive. And not just a little more expensive. Going from ten dollar Aerosmith tickets to $150 tickets is quite a leap.

As my father had told me, "concerts were just something that everybody did back in the 70s and 80s. It was fun and it was cheap."

Now, though, concerts have gotten so expensive that you pretty much have to save up for seeing your favorite band.

"I saved up for a long time to see Coldplay," says James Morgan, "The tickets were over a hundred dollars. But, they're my favorite band, you know? People will do crazy things for their favorite band."

There are explanations for the increase, though.

From the year 1963 to 1970, the Beatles recorded thirteen albums, plus singles that never made it to albums. That's almost double the amount of albums as years the band was actually together. Throughout the 60s, Bob Dylan put out two albums a year every other year. The Rolling Stones put out fifteen albums in the 60s and 70s alone, not to mention they're still rocking to this day.

Contrary to popular belief, recording one hit album does not make you rich. It may make you famous, but not rich. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones put out an album or two a year because they weren't doing much touring. The albums were what they were relying on to make money.

Even Nirvana didn't get rich from their album Nevermind as Kurt, Krist, and Dave were still living in their parents' basements when the record hit it big.

Compare that to a more modern band now. In twelve years, the Killers have released three albums. Black Sabbath had released ten albums in this same amount of time. Bands today tour much more than they did back then, with the Killers spending most of their time on the road as opposed to the studio.

Not only do bands make money from ticket sales, they earn it from merchandise as well. As time has gone on, everything has become more expensive, even for the rock bands. Which, in turn, means that they must charge more money for their shows to be able to pay for the studio and equipment to make another album that they'll have to once again fund from another expensive tour.

In fact, 80% of a band's income comes from touring. They only make a small profit off of album sales after managers, producers, agents, record labels, and taxes take their cut.

Going to a concert is an experience and one that everybody should take part in first hand. There is no greater feeling than being front row for your favorite band as they sing your favorite song. Forking over the money sometimes feels hard, and I've done it many, many times. But in the end, it's always worth it and I've never regretted a single one of them (besides maybe Taylor Swift).

So You Want to Go to a Concert: The Crowd

Everybody loves music. Everybody has a favorite band. Everybody wants to see their favorite band live in concert. It goes without saying that each band, while they could be admired by anybody, has a particular fan base that is unique to that band.

A gaggle of fine gentlemen at a Marilyn Manson show

Nirvana fans wear flannel, Led Zeppelin fans partake in illegal substances, Marilyn Manson fans are goth and misunderstood, and Phil Collins fans get beat up by Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, and Marilyn Manson fans. All of these are stereotypes, it's true, and not all fans of these bands can be described that way. But, one cannot deny that these attributes apply to the respective fan bases on some level, even if only a little.

Know the concert you're attending. People will act differently depending on the concert.

Not long ago, I attended a Jane's Addiction concert in Louisville, Kentucky. Jane's Addiction is an alternative rock band who hit it big with their 1988 debut Nothing's Shocking and their 1990 sophomore Ritual de lo habitual. After these two incredibly successful albums, Jane's Addiction broke up. Sure, the band reform in 2003 to record a mediocre album called Strays, but it wasn't until 2011 when the band return to the alt-scene with their newest album The Great Escape Artist. This was a massive event for Jane's Addiction fans because not only did the album not suck like Strays, they announced a nation-wide tour.

Of course, I got on board with this idea.

I'll admit, I didn't have the best seats at the Jane's Addiction concert. I sat a little more than halfway back, ready to see one of rock's biggest legends in action.

As the concert began, I noticed the ladies in front of me. There were four of them, with a combined weight of 650 pounds and not one of them under 40 years in age. They were probably more attractive in the early 90s.

Jane's Addiction, 1990

Once the first note of the first song was hit, these women let it all loose. They screamed, they hollered, they cried. Jane's Addiction was undoubtedly their favorite band. All of this was fine. You should cheer for your favorite band. But, things get out of hand when the women are yelling guitarist Dave Navarro's name. They drunkenly scream the song lyrics to each other. They are trying to remind the band when they saw them live in 1988 in a bar and how they were fans since the beginning. One woman has all the live albums. Another has a tattoo. A third has their first album on cassette. The final woman screams "Dave!" over and over, waving to him, hoping to get even a glance, way back in the 18th row. I may be overplaying it slightly. Only slightly.

"People get pretty invested in their favorite bands and when they're in their presence, they don't even care who sees, they'll let it all loose, loud and wild," says Nicole McGinnis, another attendee of the Jane's Addiction concert.

Don't let the antics of the crowd discourage you from seeing a band you like. No matter where you go, no matter what band it is, there will be people who rub you the wrong way or get on your nerves. It's all part of the experience.

And remember, you may be that person one day, screaming out your favorite rock star's name, asking him if he remembers you from twenty years ago.

Or eighty.

So You Want to Go to a Concert: The Ever-Changing Environment

           Everybody has a different kind of taste in music and could perhaps have a different taste in concerts. A person who loves heavy metal music may not particularly enjoy himself or herself at a Coldplay concert. Your typical Coldplay concert is mellow, calm, and quiet. While this is by no means bad, it’s not exactly the experience that, say, an Avenged Sevenfold fan is looking for.

A mosh pit

            As I explained in a previous post, the behavior of the crowd will change depending on the band, but often, the environment will change as a whole. People will form one entity that is constantly moving up and down, back and forth, and in any and all directions, moving in beat with the music. You’ll think to yourself, “surely the crowd will tire out soon and calm down.” While it’s possible, if you’re at a Rise Against concert, for instance, it’s not slowing down.

            Crowds can be scary. The roughest concert I’ve ever attended was an Arctic Monkeys show in a bar. It was a lot of people in a very tight space acting very energetic for the full two-hour concert. People would slam into each other, practically fighting, and the band went on like it was nothing.

They never noticed the violent activity. This would have been a shock, but a couple years before, when I was in mid-high school, I saw the punk band the Offspring in a House of Blues. It was the first concert I had experienced where the crowd acted in such a wild manner. It was honestly scary experiencing that the first time because I didn’t know how to take it.
Kaitlin Smith, an avid fan of metal band Avenged Sevenfold, said, "I was at their [Avenged Sevenfold] concert, up high, and it was just wild, seeing the crowd act the way they did. I knew that if I had been in the middle of it, I would have been scared."
Smith also allowed me to use a video she took of the crowd at the concert.

Then, I notice that not only do genres apply to the behavior of the crowd as a whole, but so does the maturity of the band itself. Back in the 90s, Green Day was probably a wild crowd. I saw them in 2009 and the crowd was as calm as could be. They were jumping and dancing, sure, but they weren’t acting like they were at a punk concert.

Even the Foo Fighters concert I attended blew my mind. When people would get too out of hand, Foo Fighters singer Dave Grohl would actually ask the crowd to calm down as to not make the people around them uncomfortable.

If you’re the type of person who would rather smile and take in the music instead of throwing yourself against a wall and other people, research your concert, so you don’t end up like some shmuck retreating to a Fray concert. 

So You Want to Go to a Concert: Festival

            Sometimes, it’s fun to see a band inside. If it’s a band you love and they have some devoted fans, it’s fun to be able to get close and dance and jump. But, seeing a band outside is a different experience.

            Take the Bonnaroo Music Festival, for instance. Bonnaroo is a four-day music festival that takes place in Manchester, Tennessee.
            People will roll their eyes and complain, saying things like, “I don’t want to be a football field away from the band,” or “I don’t want to have to deal with the hippies.”

            As a Roo’er myself, I can tell you that getting close is not difficult. And the rule for the hippies is similar to one that my mother told me about bumblebees, “If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you.”

The crowd at Bonnaroo

            Festivals, like Bonnaroo, are quite the experience. Being as the concerts are outside, you have more room to move around and you are free to move about the different concerts.

            The distance isn’t even that bad. When I saw Mumford & Sons last year at Bonnaroo, I was very far back. I could barely see the band. However, I could hear them just fine. And while you could argue that since I couldn’t see the band, I had might as well just stayed home and listened to the album, to that I say “incorrect.” Seeing a band live, especially one as hauntingly spectacular as Mumford & Sons, is much better than listening to them on the album. And even if I couldn’t literally see them live, I could hear them live, and that was just as good.
            A regular Bonnaroo attendee Cody Gay said about the festival, "It was the greatest experience of my life. It was other-worldly. I would advise anyone and everyone to go at least once."

            The music surrounds you at Bonnaroo. You have sound coming from every direction, but not in a way that makes it conflict. If you like good people, good music, good food, and a good time, Bonnaroo is an ideal vacation for your early summer. If you don't like all these things, go anyway. You'll still probably have fun.

The Flaming Lips, live at Bonnaroo

So You Want to Go to a Concert: A Field Guide to the Fools Around You

             Going to a concert can be scary business. You’re likely to have a drink spilled on you, get separated from your friends, and be pulverized by fanatic fans. Here are some tips to avoid the annoying people who attend the concert along with you.

MuteMath concert that I attended

            Keith Parrott, a regular concert goer, said, "You get used to the kinds of people you see. Whether it's the people trying to push you out the way, or the guys who think that just because they left the crowd to go back to the bar and get a beer, they still deserve their spot in the front; it's all part of the experience, and it usually makes for a good story."
          If it’s a band you enjoy, get there early, because chances are, someone else loves the band just as much as you do. Standing in line for hours is sometimes a small price to pay to get to the front, holding the rail as you watch your favorite band. Otherwise, you’ll have to fight through a large wall of people to get to the front.

            Be assertive. There are going to be people who annoy you at concerts. Don’t let them get to you. If there is some annoying fool who keeps bumping into you, push back. A truly satisfying moment is when that same ignorant person decides to crowd surf right over your head, leaving himself open to your vengeful attacks.

            Try to avoid the drunken middle-aged women who think they love the Killers more than you do, shouting out their favorite songs, unaware that bands have the setlist prepared early in advance.

            When you get past the people who seem to want to ruin your time at the concert, it will be the most fun you’ll ever have, especially at your favorite band’s show. Plus, it’s always fun to go back and find videos of the concerts you were at; the one where the fellow next to you kept mean-mugging you for clapping and cheering for the band while he was trying to record the entire show on his cellphone.

Sometimes the performer itself is nuisance enough.

            

Nevermind - Nirvana review

Still Relevant? Of course

             It’s hard to believe that twenty-one years ago, Nevermind, Nirvana’s 1991 sophomore album, was released. It was full of angry, angst-filled anthems like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and rebellious ballads like “In Bloom.” It showcased the musicianship of legendary Kurt Cobain and led to the rise of the world’s nicest rock star Dave Grohl. It opened the doors for a whole new brand of music that aligned itself somewhere in the middle of rock, pop, punk, metal, and really any other genre you can think of. There is a reason that when you think of music from the 1990s, you immediately think of Nirvana. And that reason was, and still is, Nevermind.

            In 1989, Nirvana released their debut album Bleach. It was a dirty, disorganized album of metal slosh, almost like an early Soundgarden record. It had little originality, and had it not been for the sole pop song on the album “About a Girl,” it may have marked an early end to Nirvana.  But, the band pushed through, thankfully, into the 90s.

            The band went through a slew of drummers until 1990 when the band hired Dave Grohl to join the trio, comprised also of guitarist and singer Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic. Adding Dave Grohl was probably the best decision the band ever made.

            Listening to Bleach and going straight into Nevermind, you hear a drastic change, and Dave Grohl’s influence becomes evident with his harmonizing backing vocals and a drum intro to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that is probably more hummable than “Smoke on the Water.” With Nevermind, Kurt and Krist had a whole new setting: they had Dave Grohl, they had producer Butch Vig, and they had an army of fans behind them.

When Nirvana exited the studio, they had recorded a masterpiece. It was a new sound, and a sound that had never been made before. It wasn’t metal, but it wasn’t pop, nor was it rock. This new genre was deemed grunge.

From left: Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl

The birth of grunge has been an argued topic for, well, around twenty-one years. For instance, Soundgarden and Mudhoney, two of the forerunners of 90s alternative rock, had been truckin’ since the late 80s. Nirvana re-invented the sound that Soundgarden and Mudhoney had failed to commercially extort, though the two would soon follow in Nirvana’s path, as well as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Bush, Stone Temple Pilots, and countless others inspired by Nirvana’s efforts. Kurt Cobain’s lyrics on Nevermind were self-loathing, depressing, and often disturbing. He was a vehicle of faith for depressed teenagers. People could connect to him. It made Kurt Cobain a spokesperson for Generation X, and that made Nirvana the flagship band of the 1990s.

            All of the songs on the album still hold up after over twenty years. “Lithium” is as wild and disgustingly catchy as ever and “Polly” is just as bone chilling as it was when Kurt was still singing it live. Listening to “Drain You” provokes the thought that Dave Grohl had more to do with the songwriting than the media let on, given that the Foo Fighters song “This is a Call” sounds strangely similar to it, which of course wouldn’t come out until around four or five years later. Other songs like “Stay Away” and “Lounge Act” seemed so graphic and offensive, but now, one drop of the F bomb and a derogatory comment about God are child’s play compared to massive amount of red-bannered ‘explicit’ icons on iTunes playlists today. Nirvana was not the first band to go against the pop radio hits and curse in their songs, but they did it with such hate, with such rebellion, that it opened up a door that can’t be closed. That door fueled the angst and rebellion of contemporary bands like Cage the Elephant and the Vines.

            Nevermind perfected a system invented by the Pixies. Kurt Cobain was a large fan of the quiet-loud-quiet song structure, in which there would be a quiet verse with softly sang words, followed by a heavily distorted, very loud chorus with screaming vocals.

            Nirvana’s third and final album In Utero would soon follow. Though it would not be as commercially successful as Nevermind, it still ignited a simple flame that would soon burst into an inferno known as the Foo Fighters, with the connections there being obvious upon first listen.

Foo Fighters - What Nirvana might've become

            After Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994, he became a visionary artist and Nevermind was his finest piece. The suicide showed us all that Kurt was a truly troubled individual, whose drug abuse and emotional self-inflictions led to his downfall. But, did he ever really fall? Some argue that the death of Kurt Cobain was an inevitable turning point in pop culture history, making the few works of art he created all that more inspirational. Had Kurt survived his battle with heroin addiction, would the Foo Fighters exist today? Would Nirvana still be the leading alternative rock band, or would they have burnt out faster than a hippie’s dad at a Dave Matthews’ concert?

            We’ll never know if Nevermind would have been Nirvana’s finest work, or if “Smells Like Teen Spirit” would have been outdone by an even stronger anthem by Kurt Cobain. However, Nirvana’s contributions to music, while few, are bested only by a handful, such as John Lennon or Bob Dylan.

            Nevermind didn’t eliminate the underground; it only exposed it, and after all these years, it still inspires music and people today.