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

ArmchairMillionaire said:
I always go to setlist.fm to check out playlists before I go to concerts.

A few artists say they do not like it when fans do this, as they want their shows to feel more spontaneous.
I started doing it before we saw Bob Dylan back in 2015, when we heard that he did not do many of his classic songs during his current tour.

As a result, I was able to see what songs he was going to perform, and we listened to as many of those songs as we could before the show. We listened to them quite a few times each. That way, when we went to the show in Milwaukee, we were able to sing along with some of the songs. A lot of the people there were baffled that they did not know hardly any of the songs he was performing.

We're going to see Cheap Trick and Heart next week. I've been checking out the setlists, and I see that Cheap Trick will be doing a couple of new songs and that they have a new CD out. I had DW order it and it just arrived. We plan on listening to it a few times before we go to the show. I also see that the setlist changes from show to show. I guess when you've been a band for over 50 years, you can swap around whatever songs you like.
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Yes, I always go to setlist.fm too. Sometimes it has kept me from going if I dont see the songs I want to hear played. Within the past couple years Eric Clapton was coming to town and I wanted to see him. But Im not Blues or complete Eric Clapton fan, I am a 1980s Eric Clapton fan. And he wasnt performing hardly any of that era songs, so I skipped it.
We just booked a John Waite concert for February. Love the little comfortable theatre he is performing in. Seen him several times but he always puts a good show on.
 
When I was young, pre age 40, I always wondered if I'd end up being an old person going to classical concerts.

Well, I ended up being an old person going to classical concerts. :)

DW is classically trained, so she drags me along. I have to admit, I've really grown to appreciate the genre, especially live. I can't stomach too much listening only. The joy and sometimes frenetic pace (especially the percussionists) of watching the performers is enticing. We are fortunate to live in the medium sized capital city of North Carolina. The symphony, chorale and of course the world famous Raleigh Ringers make it easy to attend, and it is affordable.

Last night we attended the North Carolina Master Chorale, and was brought to tears by their youth chorale, consisting of high schoolers from state schools. These kids blew me away. I can't say enough about their talent. And I'm the guy who once said "I'll listen to anything except classical vocals, especially opera." OK, I'm still not into opera, even though I have the chance.

The piece that brought me to tears last night was a secular piece at this holiday themed concert. It is brand new, composed and released this year. If you are willing to listen to this haunting chorale, I've attached the short 4 minute youtube below. I tell you, the kids, including their soloists, did just as well, if not better, than this professional chorale.

Sheet music included, if you want to chant along. ;)
 
Just bought tickets (paper tickets! - Hooray!) to see Great White (w/new singer - RIP Jack Russell) and Slaughter at a somewhat nearby casino in March.

I haven't seen Great White since 1989 or Slaughter (the entire group) since 1990. When I saw Great White, it was a double-headlining tour with Tesla and it was really good and really loud. That was back in the days of general admission and we would always leave around midnight the night before the show, arrive at the arena around 3:am, wait outside in line the entire day, which made for a long day, but we always were in the front row for those shows. I remember Jack Russell from Great White reaching down and high-fiving a few of us (including me!) front row fans during the show.

I did see Mark Slaughter perform with Scrap Metal, which was a little fun touring group he was in with Dee Snider, Lita Ford, and the Nelson brothers back in 2019, but it will be nice to see him with the band again. When I saw Slaughter back in 1990 I remember seeing Mark riding his bicycle around the arena at around 3:pm while we were waiting at the front of the line to get into the venue. A friend yelled out and called him over so he rode over to the front of the line and talked with us for 10 minutes or so until we could hear the band inside doing sound checks and he told us he had to go. That was cool. :biggrin:
 
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Pretty excited for 2026. DW and I are going to Las Vegas in March to see Sammy Hagar Best of All Worlds show. Sammy has been a favorite since I can remember.
In August we are going to Nashville for the Foo Fighters at Titan Stadium. This will be my 3rd FF concert. They put on a great show.
 
Spaste19 said:
Pretty excited for 2026. DW and I are going to Las Vegas in March to see Sammy Hagar Best of All Worlds show. Sammy has been a favorite since I can remember.
In August we are going to Nashville for the Foo Fighters at Titan Stadium. This will be my 3rd FF concert. They put on a great show.
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We are going to see Sammy and Rick Springfield in Stl on his mini summer tour.
 
Concerts were such a big part of my teen years, I’m kinda surprised that I just can’t muster the motivation to go any longer. Other than cover bands that play locally (and for free), the last concerts I went to were both in 2022 (I think). One was the Stones and the other was the Eagles. I went to the Stones show, in part, to keep my streak intact - 6th consecutive decade I’ve seen them. Who knew that a 1978 concert would be the beginning of such a streak? I went to the Eagles show because I had a friend whose girlfriend split up with him and left him with an extra ticket.

While I enjoyed both concerts, I realized that the present day form of the idols of my youth isn’t how I want to remember them.

Now if the Stones are still touring in the 2030s……
 
I went to a lot of concerts in my teens/20's and still like to go. Of course there are fewer of those to choose from now. I used to only go to my "A-list" performers. And in the past few years I've paid $500 for a ticket for those-- Stones/Springsteen/Eagles, etc. But it is easier for me to lay out $500 now than $5-$10 back then.

So I've gone to my "B-list." And you know what--for the most part they have been great (and a whole lot cheaper). In the past couple of years I've seen John Fogerty, Paul Anka, Tom Jones (just ok for him). John Fogerty just seemed so happy to get his songs back and play-he looked like he was having so much fun.

Also saw Herb Alpert (my parents always played his records on our huge console stereo!) I couldn't tell how much "he" really played but the band was really good. OTOH Bob Dylan was terrible -I knew three songs he played. He didn't interact with the audience at all and we had to lock up our phones. Then Ringo played in Vegas, he tours pretty often so he's easy to see.

And so far this year I have the Guess Who lined up (they had a big battle getting their name back), also Don McLean, and James Taylor later this year.

I saw Judy Collins recently and her voice was still really nice-a lot of story-telling to take up time but really enjoyable.

So as long as they are playing, I'll go to see them.
 
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Luvdogs said:
OTOH Bob Dylan was terrible -I knew three songs he played. He didn't interact with the audience at all and we had to lock up our phones.
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I did my research before we went to see Bob Dylan back in 2015 or so. He had given an interview and said he could no longer hit some of the notes of the songs written when he was younger. His voice has gotten a little gravel to it as he has aged. We knew going in that his setlist would focus on the newer songs and the few older ones that he could still do so we looked up the setlists from previous songs on his tour. We then made a playlist with most of those songs and listened to it beforehand and on the drive to Milwaukee so we would at least be familiar with them at the show.

We also liked that the ushers were making sure people kept their phones off and put away. It was so nice not to have distracting screens lit up everywhere. There were signs all over the venue (Riverside Theater in Milwaukee) as well as printed on our paper tickets that no phones would be allowed during the performance. We do not own a mobile phone, so it didn't adversely affect us, and we thought the show was refreshing. DW loves Bob Dylan and was happy to get to see him play the harmonica.
 
Going to see Offspring in March at the Strawberry festival. Very excited.
 
ArmchairMillionaire said:
I would be too.
Always wanted to see them. Have all of their CDs.
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Gen-X has entered the chat. :)

In all seriousness, to me The Offspring are the ultimate Gen-X band. I see some of the members are exactly my age (low 60s), which I like to identify as Generation Jones. But since they took so long to get going, they hit when Gen-X was coming of age.

I bet that concert will be fun.
 
JoeWras said:
Gen-X has entered the chat. :)

In all seriousness, to me The Offspring are the ultimate Gen-X band. I see some of the members are exactly my age (low 60s), which I like to identify as Generation Jones. But since they took so long to get going, they hit when Gen-X was coming of age.

I bet that concert will be fun.
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The key for me is that the lead singer is still part of the band. Not sure his range currently, but should be fine. Also taking an Uber there and back (45 minutes each way), so can have more fun.
 
A few years back, I saw John Hiatt, one of my top 5—and Buddy Guy at the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee.
 

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Leaving shortly to drive to a casino near Escanaba, MI to see Great White and Slaughter tonight. I just called the casino to confirm the show was still a go (we just got over a foot of snow) and they said everything was good to go. 🤘
 
Saw The Orchestra, which I used to think of as a "legacy" band of ELO. But one of the legacy members is not on the tour and I realized, hey, they now have zero former members of ELO. Closest is son of an early member and one who played on some late albums. Also, my favorite member, Parthenon Huxley, passed away about a month ago, sadly.

Well, despite all that, good show. They played all the hits. And with Jeff Lynne now retired from touring, the tribute and legacy bands are about as good as it gets. Except perhaps some YouTube concerts in my basement.
 
80 cruise last week - saw live: OMD, Heaven 17, Berlin, Quiet Riot, Men Without Hats, Billy Ocean, Nile Rogers and Le Chic (umm, did not know how accomplished he was and how many artists he had written songs for along many different genres - amazing), Bret Michaels of Poison, Gary Numan (has gone Goth Metal ala Nine Inch Nails), Aldo Nova, Sugar Hill Gang and several very good cover bands. Missed Taylor Dayne and a few others not my cup of tea. Actually am not much of a fan of the hair and heavy metal bands, but went to say I have while on the cruise - I had paid for it, so would see it.

Last year saw Peter Hook and the Light, Kraftwerk, Squeeze, Boy George, XTC, Midge Ure and The Fixx.

Classical music - saw a production of Bach's Weinacht Oratorio in a cathedral in Brussels in December. Try to see either that or Handel's Messiah every year.

Will be curtailing some of my live concert going in the future....getting expensive and a bit repetitive...want to BTD on other stuff.
 
erkevin said:
Deserat; we were on the 80s cruise together!
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hahaha - were you the guy I danced with until 0100 at the Dark Wave night on the 14th floor ? ;-) Did you succumb to the pressure and book for next year? I got an email they are 85% booked for next year - I only like 2 bands, so no go for me for 2027....:)
 
No go for 2027 either. i love the Boomtown Rats but the cruise was entirely too much for me. We spent a lot of time in the solarium for quiet and relaxation.
I was not your dance partner! I am an "in bed by 10 guy". Only stayed up 1x time until midnight and once until 11 pm.
 
erkevin said:
No go for 2027 either. i love the Boomtown Rats but the cruise was entirely too much for me. We spent a lot of time in the solarium for quiet and relaxation.
I was not your dance partner! I am an "in bed by 10 guy". Only stayed up 1x time until midnight and once until 11 pm.
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Must have walked past you guys many times - yes, it was a mind boggling experience. I only stayed up that late that one night - 10pm for me most nights and up early to catch breakfast early, too, before the decks were filled with the pool goers, heavy drinker and smokers....nevertheless, I was amazed at how one was immersed in 80s television - movies and videos and TV shows, bands, posters, theme nights....it was a firehose of nostalgia for sure. I did take advantage of the port days and got off the boat...and rode the wave riders and hit the water slides once...soaked in a hot tob once, too. Otherwise just walked around and people watched and listened to music....
 
The smokers were crazy! I didn't think our generation still smoked; they lined that entire side of the pool deck.
I also assumed that there wouldn't be that many drinkers.......wrong again!
 
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