Back when I first started working at the Automatic Training Network there was a group of us who would go out almost weekly to catch a live band or a big music event, and during that time we see saw of the best groups and artists on the planet. My buddy Mark Gilbert ATN founder would often grab the tickets and they were never overpriced. In recent years however things have changed and because music artists make more money from touring than they do from actually selling music, the prices of the tickets have gone up. Despite this, Mark and I still regularly go to concerts and here is why I believe that despite the inflated costs, it is well worth doing.
The Experience
For me heading to a concert is not just about watching a band or an artist play through their set, it is about the experience on the whole. Mark and I will generally head out for something to eat in our favorite restaurant before taking a drink in a bar close to the arena, and then we will mull around for a while and drink in the atmosphere before the show starts. At the end of the night we’ll head back to one of our places for a nightcap and discuss the gig, and that completes the night. The gig itself is one thing but there is much more to the concert experience than just the music.
As It Should Be
When we hear music through digital, CD or vinyl, we are hearing these songs which have been heavily produced, cleaned up and packaged in a way that sounds the best. This is all well and could but sometimes you just want to hear the rawness of a band or an artist as they sing and play their songs live. When you see a band live there is no filter, it is just you, the singer and the instruments and beyond that you are hearing the music as it should be played.
Connection
I am not a superstitious person by any means but there is something incredibly powerful which you feel when you go to a concert. There is a palpable connection between all of the crowd and the artist and there is something which you just can’t put your finger on. When a band or artist plays a song that everyone knows, and everyone begins to sing in unison, it creates an energy which feels as though it could lift you up in the sky, and this for me is why I believe that the ticket cost is absolutely worthwhile.
Discovery
I have discovered some of my favorite bands by going to concerts of bands I didn’t know, and through seeing bands who have been support acts. When you see these groups and singers live, you get a better sense of what they are all about and it will help you to be introduced to new groups and acts.
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