Bands and concerts in retirement

I went to a Jimmy Buffet concert 2 years ago-- it was on my sister's bucket list. I knew just a few songs. Did the tailgate thing--brought a small pitcher of frozen Margarita's in a cooler on a 4 hour drive. Endured downpours under a pop-up cover and in line to get in to the amphitheater on a hot day, and watched many people get drunk and sick...no thanks. I ended that day feeling pretty gross.

In the 70s I saw Yes, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Chicago. I was 15-30 years old. No alcohol and minimal illicit substances observed and participated in mind of that. Many jazz concerts--Louis Belson, Buddy Rich, Don Ellis, and others.

In recent years I saw Trans Siberian Orchestra and Blue Man Group, which is not just one group but a corporate thing. OK I guess.

I'll stick to theater and small venue singer-songwriter performances from now on. We have made donations to our local theater companies and are season ticket holders. We have seen a couple of shows on Broadway. That beats the overly loud concerts every day, in my book.


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We saw Tommy Emmanuel earlier this year and just saw Bette Midler last night---both good shows and both very different. On the way home we were talking about seeing when Train, Bruno Mars, Hugo, Hozier or Ed Sheeran might be playing Seattle as we like those musicians. We like the older bands but there are also of plenty of younger musicians we like too. Locally we are good friends with several musicians who are in blues and rock tribute bands but play in fun small venues and we enjoy listening to them too. Music is music and if you enjoy it you can find something out there that fits your life.
 
hakuna matata said:
.... On the way home we were talking about seeing when Train, Bruno Mars, Hugo, Hozier or Ed Sheeran might be playing Seattle as we like those musicians. ...
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Hozier was a different live experience. He was on our "must see" list at JazzFest this year. DW and I very much enjoyed the show, but had no idea that he is "Heart-throb level 11" to many gals in their late teens and early 20s. After the initial shock, it was fun to see and hear their reactions--and at least no panties were thrown!
 
2017ish said:
Hozier was a different live experience. He was on our "must see" list at JazzFest this year. DW and I very much enjoyed the show, but had no idea that he is "Heart-throb level 11" to many gals in their late teens and early 20s. After the initial shock, it was fun to see and hear their reactions--and at least no panties were thrown!
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One Zappa tour, probably 1977 or so with the band from "Sheik Your Booty" line-up, featured a clothesline, whereupon all unmentionables thrown onto the stage were displayed.
 
Hard to fathom a rock concert in the 70s that didn't include alcohol and drugs. I certainly never attended one! :p
 
I hate crowds, but I love music. For some reason I don't mind going to concerts and fighting the traffic/crowds. I saw Eric Church, Maroon5, U2 and Toby Keith so far this year. I am going to about 10 more concerts throughout the summer/early fall. Mostly country, but also Dave Matthews, O.A.R. and Taylor Swift (with the kids). My wife and I use them as our date nights. :)
 
One of my DW's friends & our neighbor can occasionally get freebee box seats at a nearby amphitheater. Last month we all went to see Jeff Beck and ZZ Top. It was AWESOME!:)! FREE incl VIP parking!

My DW's BFF already has the same box for us again for an up-coming Tedeschi-Trucks show! Alabama Shakes is coming later this summer & I've asked her to keep an eye open if that show is also available for her to scoop up.

There is a nearby town that has Friday Nite Food Truck nites with live local bands /free concerts on the green type thing all summer & through the fall.

I've been previewing a few of those bands we have already picked a few to try and see.

Life is Good! (and for us !!:):)FREE:):)!! Live Music wise right now:cool::cool:)! I'm so frigging lucky!
 
Tailgate said:
ha! I've never seen that movie, but I gotta, gotta rent it....
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It is a very enjoyable movie. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julian Moore and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are awesome in this movie.

Not something you would watch with your bible study group tho:).

It was on Netflix recently and still may be. If your local library has hoopla service it is a downloadable movie on it. With hoopla I've only been able to see movies on my laptop and have not figured out how to get them on my TV yet.
 
ZZ Top will literally be performing "La Grange"in La Grange, Tx Sept. 5th Labor Day weekend at the Fayette County Fair. 1st time ever, should be a blast! The fairgrounds are only a mile or so from the Chicken Ranch property.
 
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I've seen the stones 6 times dating back to 1972 and as recently in 2005. Through the years, they sound better now than they did back in the day (probably due to technology).

In 2005, went with my son (12 yrs old at the time). He wasn't that excited about going but sure enough he was singing along with the Stones during the concert.

In years past, went with friends who weren't exactly Stones fan and the concert turned them into fans.

If you like rock and roll, it's almost guaranteed you'll love them in concert.

The only concession to old age I see them making is the concerts are now approx. 2 hrs vs. 21/2 or 3 hours.
 
I steadily saw bands since high school - The Who, Rolling Stones, Springsteen, many, many more but as I hit my 40's I just didn't want to go through the hassle of general admission anymore. My last concert was a U2 concert many years ago and I told my friend, we are sitting in a chair "up there." Was great! (I am a product of Bill Graham Presents and all the wonderful Days on the Green)

Ticket prices are so awful these days that it would take someone huge for me to venture out. At the mo, I would rather spend it on SF Giants baseball tickets and a beer and enjoy the sun.
 
Most posts here seem to be about big groups/venues. When younger I splurged and took my wife to an Eagles concert--out of town, big venue, big $$$ (for us at that time). Along the way we picked up one of those papers that listed all the local nightclubs and who was playing. We went to a smaller place and got to see Martina McBride about 50' from the stage with a small crowd of about 200. Much less expensive and more relaxed. The Eagles were a disappointment by comparison. Since then we have sought out smaller shows. For years the local Presbyterian church had a monthly show that brought in regional and local singers to a room that seated maybe 50 people and you could buy cake/pie/cookies and coffee/tea/cider. Had a room for the little ones which was great for that stage in our lives. At least one person came thru and now has some songs getting national airtime. I miss it now. I keep looking for similar programs.
 
ArkTinkerer said:
... Along the way we picked up one of those papers that listed all the local nightclubs and who was playing. We went to a smaller place and got to see Martina McBride about 50' from the stage with a small crowd of about 200. Much less expensive and more relaxed. The Eagles were a disappointment by comparison. Since then we have sought out smaller shows. ....
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This came up on the last thread of this nature. I think a lot of people posting here agree with you--it's just that they know others will recognize the names from the big shows, and not so much the small ones! (We love living near Nashville for this reason; lots of small venues that range far beyond the stereotyped country genre. One of the things that we look forward to, in 2017 or so, is having free nights to enjoy more than 3-5 of them a year.)
 
OP here..Since some are posting about seeing lesser know musicians and acts, this is OT, but is an interesting article from Texas Monthly magazine about being a musician in Austin.

Eight things we've learned about the Austin music scene

here's the opening paragraphs:
Being an Austin musician carries cachet well outside of the city’s borders. In years past, kids with a guitar and a dream have come to the capital from all over—from West Texas, or the Valley, or Fayetteville, Arkansas. Maybe they saw the abundant venues and enthusiastic audiences during a spring-break trip to SXSW and wanted that to be their life. Or perhaps a musically inclined buddy beckoned them to the big city. But the reality of the much romanticized lifestyle—and whether its economically feasible for most folks—has been difficult to assess since there’s so little hard data.

To that end, the City of Austin Music Office commissioned the Titan Music Group to conduct a survey of the stakeholders in the Austin music industry. They spoke to nearly 4,000 musicians, venue owners and managers, sound engineers, and more to learn what the current reality is like for those in the music industry. The numbers are often depressing—the money in Austin music is garbage, y’all—but also illuminating. Here are eight things we learned after poring through the 228-page document.
 
Tailgate said:
OP here..Since some are posting about seeing lesser know musicians and acts, this is OT, but is an interesting article from Texas Monthly magazine about being a musician in Austin.

Eight things we've learned about the Austin music scene

...
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Interesting. Most of that would apply to Nashville as well. I'm guessing more balance of M/F musicians here, and obviously more C/W influence, but the rest seems much the same. (We've actually had musicians from bands that we've purchased music from as our waiter/waitress a couple of times....)

Sort of like the stories about every waiter/waitress in LA or NY is an actor...
 
My DW and I thoroughly enjoy concerts. We go to a pretty big music venue that is an outdoor pavilion outside of Houston. In the past year or so we have seen Joe Cocker, The Doobie Brothers, Huey Lewis and the news, Steve Miller Band, Journey, Tower of Power, and Lionel Ritchie. We have a weekend planned in July to stay at a resort by the pavilion to see Earth Wind & Fire and Chicago. They share the stage. It's one of the best concerts I have seen in the past.
 
2017ish said:
This came up on the last thread of this nature. I think a lot of people posting here agree with you--it's just that they know others will recognize the names from the big shows, and not so much the small ones! (We love living near Nashville for this reason; lots of small venues that range far beyond the stereotyped country genre. One of the things that we look forward to, in 2017 or so, is having free nights to enjoy more than 3-5 of them a year.)
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Nashville is a great city for small venue shows. I saw a wonderful performance of Joan Baez in a coffeehouse there, much more enjoyable than seeing her perform in a theater in NY.
 
would like to see Roger and Pete one more time..
 

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2017ish said:
Interesting. Most of that would apply to Nashville as well. I'm guessing more balance of M/F musicians here, and obviously more C/W influence, but the rest seems much the same. (We've actually had musicians from bands that we've purchased music from as our waiter/waitress a couple of times....)

Sort of like the stories about every waiter/waitress in LA or NY is an actor...
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Supply and demand. Lots of people want to be musicians! Think how many people do it for free. Similar to small theatre groups. We often enjoy going to university stage performances.
 
Near the top of my bucket list is spending an entire summer going to music festivals and camping. There are thousands of small bluegrass, folks and acoustic music festivals across the US and canada each year that are held in lovely locations - parks, farms, etc, and camping either in a tent or RV is the norm. Festivals are usually three days (long weekend) but campers often arrive a day or two early and leave the day after using mid week to travel to the next event.

I've played at a lot of these events (am a musician) over the years but would love to spend April - October exploring the country with these events as the weekend destination.
 
DW and I saw Charlie Daniels in a concert in a Pittsburgh suburban theatre back in the early '80's after hearing an advertisement on radio as we passed through the city on the interstate. Sat 4 rows back, and enjoyed seeing him then for the 4th time.
 
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Off to see Mick and the boys tonight in Big D. Based on previous shows (Dallas is their 4th of the tour), the set list will most likely be
1 Jumpin' Jack Flash 

2 It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) 

3 All Down the Line 

4 Tumbling Dice 

5 Doom and Gloom 

6 Bitch 
(with Gary Clark, Jr.)
7 Moonlight Mile 

8 Can't You Hear Me Knocking 

9 Street Fighting Man 
(by request)
10 Honky Tonk Women 
(followed by band introductions)
11 Slipping Away 
(Keith Richards on lead vocals)
12 Before They Make Me Run 
(Keith Richards on lead vocals)
13 Midnight Rambler 

14 Miss You 

15 Gimme Shelter 

16 Start Me Up 

17 Sympathy for the Devil 

18 Brown Sugar 

19 Encore:
20 You Can't Always Get What You Want 
(with the Members of the Bob Cole Conservatory Choir)
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

gonna be great... esp since my ticket was a freebie from a friend...
 

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