Do we still go to concerts? What concerts have to attended in the last few years?

Just bought tickets for Garth brooks in Nashville in April. Excited to cross another bucket list concert off the list.
 
I rarely went to concerts before retirement bacause my job required travel with little notice and most of the big acts play in my city on weekdays when I might be away. After retirement I bought a country music subscription to our local amphitheater and saw Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Chris Lane, and Florida Georgia Line. Also saw The Infamous Stringdusters in Santa Fe and went to several Bluegrass Festivals (Del McCoury, Earls of Leicester, Molly Tuttle, etc) in southern Colorado. When our 2020 amphitheater shows were cancelled and our tickets refunded, my biggest disappointment was that I would not be able to see Kenny Chesney.

In 2021, I saw Jason Aldean, Asleep at the Wheel, and Justin Lynch but have tickets to three Bluegrass and Country Music Festivals this summer to include Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, and Tim McGraw.
 
Mr._Graybeard said:
DW loves opera, so we'll be attending a performance of "Orpheus in the Underworld" in May.
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Well, if music on the stage counts, then I can say that DW & I attended the Broadway production, "Hamilton," about six weeks ago. It was quite good - it actually spurred me to check out the events surrounding the 1800 election, as a check for accuracy.
 
We are going to see Billy Strings at Ryman with my son & DIL next weekend (they live in Nashville). I am giddy beyond words. Billy Strings AND Ryman = double-bucket list stuff for me. :)
 
Interesting thread. I have seen OMD twice-last Nov in Brighton, UK, and March at Royal Albert Hall in London (amazing venue and phenomenal show). For the first gig, the tix were about 40 pounds. For the second gig I went all out and got VIP seats 6 rows from front and dead center-was about $250 and included a swag bag. I intended to move back to USA and follow them for a bit of their USA tour. I am still in Germany, but I did look at the US concert ticket prices. Scalping indeed-for San Diego the cheapest ticket I could find that wasn't nose bleed was $400, Greek Theater was the same....disgusting.

I did not go to a lot of concerts when young, but I remember thinking they were very expensive. That's the difference here in Europe and the UK. I have tix to another OMD concert this July in Regensburg and also have tix to see Kraftwerk in Bonn in Aug- those both cost about $70 a ticket and the service charge was $5 (part of $70).

I will be seeing more concerts while living here as it is just cheaper. Interestingly, when I went to Royal Albert Hall show in London, people flew over from USA to see it. It's just a different vibe over here and for the most part you don't get raked over the coals to see a live show.....sad about the USA.

The only shows I saw when I last lived in USA was Chris Isaak in Tucson. I had nosebleed and it was about $50 a ticket. He was great in concert. Before that I lived in Germany before and got free tix to Pink in Nurnberg-that was the concert she fell at. We were walking out as we had a long drive back and all of the sudden the concert stopped. We heard later in the radio she had fallen - she did lots of acrobatics along with her singing.

Just forgot-I do see Handel's Messiah every Christmas if I can. I 've had some front row seats for that show in Tucson. Beautiful.
 
Not concert related, but I DW and I saw our first comedy show since the pandemic. FWIW not too many folks masked. The comedians were all very funny and I lost my voice laughing so hard lol. That might be a first for me. Even the comedian mentioned it was great to be in front of a live audience again after 2 years doing virtual shows.
 
LRDave said:
We are going to see Billy Strings at Ryman with my son & DIL next weekend (they live in Nashville). I am giddy beyond words. Billy Strings AND Ryman = double-bucket list stuff for me. :)
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That would be great. I was in Nashville last weekend for the Half Marathon and had a blast and definitely want to go back. Was traveling with a group so the itinerary was not under my control but I did get to the Opry and will get to the Ryman sometime. Billy Strings is amazing and I hope to catch him sometime too.
 
LRDave said:
We are going to see Billy Strings at Ryman with my son & DIL next weekend (they live in Nashville). I am giddy beyond words. Billy Strings AND Ryman = double-bucket list stuff for me. :)
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We just saw Billy Strings a couple of weeks ago in Santa Barbara. One of the best shows I have ever been to!!

To see him at the Ryman is going to be out of sight, he has so much respect for the music and his talent seems to be increasing as we speak!


We have some shows lined up for the summer, Mariachi USA, Boney James and George Benson then, Jackson Browne.

first two shows are at the Hollywood Bowl and JB is at The Greek
Looking forward to all of them!!!
 
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Just went to the Coldplay concert in Dallas last night. Outdoor in the Cotton Bowl, I think they said about 60000 in attendance.

It was a great concert. I had never seen them perform before.
 
I would love to see Coldplay live. I don't understand why everyone disses them online.

thod said:
Just went to the Coldplay concert in Dallas last night. Outdoor in the Cotton Bowl, I think they said about 60000 in attendance.

It was a great concert. I had never seen them perform before.
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DW and I attended an Iris DeMent concert Thursday night. She said it was her first public performance in two years due to COVID, and unfortunately it showed. I hope she gets back into the swing -- Merle Haggard called her the greatest vocalist he'd ever heard.

Edit: I need to revise that. Haggard said: "I think she is one of the greatest singers I have ever heard in my life."
 
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Mr._Graybeard said:
DW and I attended an Iris DeMent concert Thursday night. She said it was her first public performance in two years due to COVID, and unfortunately it showed. I hope she gets back into the swing -- Merle Haggard called her the greatest vocalist he'd ever heard.

Edit: I need to revise that. Haggard said: "I think she is one of the greatest singers I have ever heard in my life."
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We've been Iris Dement fans for many, many years and have seen her live a number of times, but not for a decade or so. I guess you saw her in Stoughton, Wis., on the 5th. We were thinking about seeing her in Evanston on the 24th but tickets are $69 plus taxes and fees. With other expenses involved, it would be a $200+ night. Since she'll have a guest performer with her, she might do a shorter set and, as you say, if she's not really on her game, it could be a disappointment.

OTOH, we saw John Prine 3 times in his last few years. Post cancer and decades older, he obviously wasn't the same guy we saw many times playing Chicago clubs like the Earl of Old Town and Holstein's in the 60's and 70's. But he did OK, the audience was fantastic and we definitely were not disappointed despite the hard to get (almost instant sell outs) and expensive tickets.

When you mentioned "hoping she gets back into the swing," remember she's in her 60's now and her voice has definitely changed. She's never going to sound like she did 30 years ago when her album "Infamous Angel" came out with favorites such as "Our Town" and "Let the Mystery Be." Still, I think I"m convincing myself to go to the web site and see if we can get tickets. She's at "SPACE" a 250 seat venue.
 
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None.

Frank gets free admission and unlimited diet Cokes (his preferred drink) at many/most/all? New Orleans area bars that have live shows. This is because he is pretty well known around here for his expertise doing sound and lights for music, comedy, or other similar shows in the past. (He doesn't do that retirement "fun job" any more). So, he sometimes goes to say hi to the staff and performers at these bars, and sees a show in the process.

I haven't really gone with him for several years since I don't know these people very well and I am a little bit shy in person.
 
youbet said:
We've been Iris Dement fans for many, many years and have seen her live a number of times, but not for a decade or so. I guess you saw her in Stoughton, Wis., on the 5th. We were thinking about seeing her in Evanston on the 24th but tickets are $69 plus taxes and fees. With other expenses involved, it would be a $200+ night. Since she'll have a guest performer with her, she might do a shorter set and, as you say, if she's not really on her game, it could be a disappointment.

When you mentioned "hoping she gets back into the swing," remember she's in her 60's now and her voice has definitely changed. She's never going to sound like she did 30 years ago when her album "Infamous Angle" came out with favorites such as "Our Town" and "Let the Mystery Be."
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Yes, I agree, her delivery has suffered with age. She has a vocal style that reminds me of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, very stressed and old-timey. We saw her maybe 10 years ago and she didn't sound as good Thursday night. She was better when she got away from the piano and stood up with a guitar.

Part of the issue, though, was that she seemed to have lost her microphone sense. She would turn away from the mic while singing and speaking (mostly). She also showed some nervous mannerisms like rubbing her eyes while she spoke. That placed her hand or arm in front of her mouth. Not good.

Ana Egge was the opener for Iris in Stoughton. She was OK, although DW remarked that her songs all sounded alike. She brought a talented guitarist to accompany her, and they both came out to perform with Iris during the last set.

I certainly liked Egge better than Pieta Brown, who opened for Iris the last time we saw her. Pieta, who is Iris' stepdaughter, would not get off the stage. Her set went on and on and on.

I don't think Iris cut her set short for the opening act. She was on stage for a solid two hours. So 45 minutes for Egge, a 15 minute intermission, followed by Iris added up to a 3-hour night.

You should come up to Stoughton sometime. It's a classic little venue. The seats are hard, though, so bring cushions.
 
W2R said:
None.

Frank gets free admission and unlimited diet Cokes (his preferred drink) at many/most/all? New Orleans area bars that have live shows. This is because he is pretty well known around here for his expertise doing sound and lights for music, comedy, or other similar shows in the past. (He doesn't do that retirement "fun job" any more). So, he sometimes goes to say hi to the staff and performers at these bars, and sees a show in the process.

I haven't really gone with him for several years since I don't know these people very well and I am a little bit shy in person.
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We made a point of visiting Preservation Hall when we were in New Orleans years ago. The venue is basic, but the music is great.
 
Mr._Graybeard said:
You should come up to Stoughton sometime. It's a classic little venue. The seats are hard, though, so bring cushions.
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We've heard and read about the Stoughton Opera House and, yes, we should get up there. Our go-to place for many years has been the Woodstock Opera House. Unfortunately, the producer who brought it most of the performers we enjoy (folk/singer-song writer, bluegrass and Celtic) stopped doing so as it was becoming hard to break even financially. That and Covid has kept us away for several years.
 
Went to see Sting last night. It was a great concert and a nice mini trip. The venue was a couple hours away, so we stayed the night. Ate dinner before the concert at a brewery. Food, drink and music were all great. Slept pretty good and drove home this morning. I’d do it again in a minute.
 
Jerry1 said:
Went to see Sting last night. It was a great concert and a nice mini trip. The venue was a couple hours away, so we stayed the night. Ate dinner before the concert at a brewery. Food, drink and music were all great. Slept pretty good and drove home this morning. I’d do it again in a minute.
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We looked into seeing Sting this year, but the tickets available at the venues we looked at were mobile-tickets only so that wasn't happening. When we went to Elton John, the person scanning tickets in our entrance row didn't know what to do with our paper tickets. (she was young and everybody else was just showing her their phones) The older lady next to her had to show her how to scan the bar code on the actual tickets. The young one seemed surprised when it worked. :D

Our tickets for Billy Joel In Detroit in July are paper tickets as well. That's the last show we have planned so far this year...
 
I enjoy a lot of concerts at mostly small venues in the Seattle area. We saw the Temptations last night (still great!), and the Seattle Rock Orchestra performing Beatles music today. On tap for this summer are some outdoor concerts: John Fogerty, Steve Miller Band, Chicago. Maybe Chris Isaac if I can get a good price on resale tickets (LOVE him! but missed out on the ticket sale day). I'm over concerts at mega venues - don't enjoy the crowds or the jacked up prices for decent seats.
 
For those of you who may not have seen the ads, Livenation has $25 flat fee tickets for many of the big concert venues right now, on sale through May 10th.
 
Went to Alan Parsons Project last week.
 
like2 said:
We just saw Billy Strings a couple of weeks ago in Santa Barbara. One of the best shows I have ever been to!!

To see him at the Ryman is going to be out of sight, he has so much respect for the music and his talent seems to be increasing as we speak!
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Billy Strings at Ryman Saturday night was the best concert experience I can recall. So wonderful. Bob Weir sat in the whole 2nd set. All GD songs the 2nd set and many of my personal faves.

We had such a good time with the youngest son and his wife in Nashville that I booked a trip out to Denver Friday (the 13th!) to see Billy Strings with my oldest son at Red Rocks. Blow that dough!:dance:
 
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