Concerts

There aren't many things better than seeing one of your favorite artists perform live. On Saturday, me and a few of my friends traveled almost 2 hours to Oneonta to see the band Brand New play at their school. One of the negatives about live shows are that sometimes tickets can get rather pricey, but since I have friends that go their she got us 4 tickets for $50 bucks which is a very good deal. A typical comparison made between seeing a show is being at a sporting event. Seeing your favorite team play, and especially win, is a great thrill no doubt and makes for quite an enjoyable day. But to me, it still isn't as great as being at a concert. More particularly, general admission - AKA no seats! A show with stadium seating is a lot more like being at a ballgame. Not much moving, listening to music is similar to sitting in a ballpark watching a game, which is again, very enjoyable.
The difference is all in the crowd. When you're standing and moving around whether it be dancing, moshing, crowd surfing, its a different interaction with the band. Being with hundreds, sometimes thousands of people all going nuts is such a great experience. Going to large events such as Warped Tour or bamboozle is one things where hundreds of bands get around half hour sets, but having a small number of bands play for over an hour its euphoric in a way. With all that moving and yelling and the heat from being in a small room can be dangerous. I often come out of shows drenched with sweat, pale as a ghost, and even lightheaded and dehydrated. For some reason though I love it and keep going back wanting more.
I love the feeling I get being at a show interacting with the band, meeting strangers and acting ridiculous with them all for music. Its something I've done for years and each time it gets better and better. I challenge anyone to find something better than being in a crowd at a live music show for one of your favorite artists.