Too many concerts, too little money
Every year around this time I get asked at work if I want a diary to keep my life organised next year. I must look really disorganised, but I always say no. Instead, I ask for a wall planner, and it's probably my favourite piece of stationery.
Wait! Stop! Come back! Before you run off shaking your head thinking I've gone nuts, blogging about awesome pens, ranking the worth of ringbinders and detailing all the bargains you can pick up at Warehouse Stationery at this time of year, keep reading, there is a point to all this.
My wall planner for 2010 is filling up fast. Real fast. Just today, I added another four concert dates for the first four months of 2010. It's starting to look even more jam-packed that the beginning of 2009, and I thought that was a crazy time.
By the time The Killers played in April, my ears and I were suffering from major concert fatigue and I hardly went to a concert for months. But Pearl Jam on Friday night got me back in the mood and fired up for a big summer of music.
Here's how 2010 is shaping up so far:
January 14: Peaches *
January 14: Groove Armada
January 15: Big Day Out *
January 23: Raggamuffin festival
January 30: Them Crooked Vultures *
February 1: Laneway Festival *
February 4: AC/DC
February 16: ISIS *
February 17: Clutch
February 18: Faith No More *
February 19-21: Splore
February 21: Tom Jones
March 1: Pavement *
March 3: Dirty Projectors *
March 4: Paramore
March 11: Backstreet Boys
March 12: Pixies *
March 13: Lady Gaga
March 17: Dead Weather *
March 21: Lyle Lovett
April 11: Kelly Clarkson
April 27: Wilco
I've put an asterix next to the ones I'm planning on attending. Of course, becoming a dad could put a spanner in the works for those shows in March, but we'll see how things go. Whatever the case, Faith No More, Them Crooked Vultures and the Dead Weather are all non-negotiable.
Of course, there's still Green Day, Fleetwood Mac and - ahem - The B52s and The Proclaimers playing before 2009 is over and out. And there are plenty of New Year's tours happening. Rhythm and Vines, anyone?
The problem is, how can anyone afford to go to everything? Are you cutting back on staples so you can pay for all these great gigs? Or are you picking and choosing your gigs, going hard for the ones you can afford and gritting your teeth and relying on feedback from friends for shows you can't?
Which shows are you planning on attending?
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Megadeth/Slayer was the first concert I'd been to since Soundwave in February, bit of a quiet spell that. Pearl Jam were brilliant. Still on the horizon for me... Dream Theater (tomorrow), Them Crooked Vultures, Clutch, and Soundwave (Sydney). I've decided I'll skip the FNM Auckland gig since I'm catching them at Soundwave - and it was awesome last year (especially Alice in Chains and NIN).
For me the picking and choosing is more about avoiding concert apathy than anything else. Too many decent concerts and you start to get a little less excited about everything.
I just saw PJ in Chch. I don't need to see any other bands after that performance except Them Crooked Vultures and the Creed World Tour. Kidding. Vedder and the crew are an example of topshelf class. Hail Hail.
I went to Pearl Jam on Friday then Gin the next night at The Powerstation. I'm going to B52s and Proclaimers next week. Then BDO, AC/DC and Them Crooked Vultures. Feb is going to be even worse with Clutch and Trivium on the same night (I've chosen Clutch but have tickets for Trivium too) and Faith No More the next night. Already this year there's been BDO, Iron Maiden, The Who, Legal Tender with Slayer/Megadeth the next night. So much on! The most annoying part is having to go to two concerts in two days. They need to be spaced out!
Neko Case, Them Crooked Vultures, Faith No More, Pixies and Wilco for me so far.
Credit Cards, Drug Dealers, Kids of 'Bankers', IT workers, overpaid do nada but create more work for others 'Office' workers will be there to watch old mostly overpriced money tours, it's 'classy', nz is a pretty place to visit ala Queenstown, the malaise has set in, this ssort of thing wouldn't inspire a codfish and thsts just how the catholiic church like its, a brave new world in artistic terms it is not...now how bout some foo fighters, free drugs, free credit, free ipod to join the army, how bout we tell you to sit down and shut up, ya ruining the 'buzz' and my kid needs a new beemer, i can hear the bell of *history repeating, what was Neil on about...
Gotta admit Blair #6 I usually enjoy your freeform stream-of-conciousness rambling comments, but with this one I have no idea what on earth you are on about. What does the Catholic Church have to do with deciding which gigs to attend this summer?
Converge.
Will be the greatest show to grace NZ shores ever.
Religion = Ignorance = Crap Art much like communist propoghanda, the dumbing down of art to serve crap to serve apathetic audiences to sell more stuff so they don't question, un-free.
in order i'm going to: Green Day Big Day out (hoping for mastodon and mars volta side shows too) Them Crooked Vultures AC/DC Isis Faith no More Splore Dead weather hopefully
hoping for other good shows of course.
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For the rest of the country that isn't Auckland (hey promoters, there is more than one city in New Zealand), money is definitely the limiting factor for the big name gigs, in that attending requires travel and time off work besides the cost of the ticket. FWIW I live in Wellington and attended the Auckland Pearl Jam gig on Friday.