As A Live Music Enthusiast There Is Nothing Better Than Seeing Your Favourite Band Live At A Gig, But Why Do A Lot Of People Get Condemned For Going To See Their Favourite Band On A Regular Basis?
As an obsessive music fan, I can think of nothing better than going to experience my favourite bands playing live. In recent times I’ve gone all over the UK to follow the bands that I are my favourites, and have even made the trip over to Ireland and mainland Europe once in a while. On several occasions, I’ve actually reserved tickets for a whole tour of about ten or twelve dates and had a really fun road trip with a friend to go to them all.
There are many people who think that doing something like this is a bit odd, but I always ask them if they assume it strange that someone would travel and watch a football team at every match they play, and as we are well aware, there are countless people all around the world who do that. And not many people question why they do it! In any case, I don’t really care what other people think about it. Countless people have hobbies that are of no interest to me, so why do I deserve to be rebuked for doing something that I love so much?
In any case, when my favourite artist releases some dates, the first thing my friend and I do is to look at our diaries and hope for the best with our bank balances. Money is always the most difficult obstacle, as a really good road trip isn’t just about the cost of tickets, but transport and accommodation costs too. If the tour looks affordable, then time off work needs to be booked. And we do consider that for the purposes of going to a gig straight after work and then drive back home afterwards, anything up to about two hours driving each way is quite reasonable.
Then it’s a question of identifying hotels wherever we have to use them, making reservations, checking out maps of any venues that we haven’t been to before, and then we’re all set to to rock and roll – for real! As the dates get nearer, the anticipation grows.
I never cease to have butterflies in my stomach before they take to the stage, and that sensation never lessens regardless of how many times I see them. And without getting on my soapbox about manufactured pop music, it’s great going to see a decent band, people who write all their own songs, are all very accomplished musicians and sound great live. They don’t need to depend on choreographed dance steps, lots of lighting, Laser eye beam effects and fireworks – their music and their personalities are quite enough to keep the fans happy.
For this band though, budgets are not huge, so on occasions when we step in and help them out by doing things like running their merchandise stand or arriving at the venue with things we know they’ve forgotten, it’s good to feel like we’re contributing to their crusade. It’s good to feel useful!
We’d totally love for this band to be massive and for all music fans to have heard of them, although unfortunately they have a lot of fans who would rather they remained a well kept secret so that they continue to play in local venues and can chat to fans after every show. But as I have pointed out to so many people, small venue shows don’t pay the bills, fund reliable transport, finance the Laser eye surgery and knee operation that two of the guitarists need or most vitally, leave them with any money to devote to promoting their music.
To go back to something I commented on earlier, the music industry these days is much more obsessed with making a quick return and has virtually no interest in encouraging musicians with potential because they take years rather than days to become well known. It’s criminal to think that countless talented musicians get out of the industry because they cannot survive financially, whilst the music business throws vast amounts of money at the participants in television reality shows, spending millions on their ‘image’ – which probably means cosmetic surgery, Laser eye treatment, hours with stylists, expensive choreographers and almost certainly the infamous autotune. But, naturally, it’s all about the music!
I’m visiting Wembley Arena on Friday. But I’m going to watch the support act. I’ve paid almost £30 just to watch three quarters of an hour of amazing music. I certainly won’t bother to stay and listen to the headline act, because I’ve endured them at a festival and they did not impress me at all. Taking into account the vastness of Wembley, I think I’ll probably wish I’d already had my Laser eye surgery performed as unfortunately my eyesight has got quite bad, so probably the money I’ve spent will allow me a blurred view of half a dozen moving dots on stage, but it’s still vital to me that I show my support for the musicians I love.
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