[i just posted this on my blog and thought is was appropriate here]
as soon as i got off the train, megan met me to try and scalp tickets. we spent an hour in the cold, haggling with scalpers and generally being angry at every 16 year old boy dressed like a woman and every girl dressed like a 12 yr. old. finally we were able to get two tickets, one from a nice and intoxicated kid going to school at loyola in chicago. the other came from a guy who's other ticket for his wife was a phony (foreshadowing). for the both of them we paid about $50, which was only $20 more than face value.
when we went through the line to get in, it turned out that my ticket (from the intoxicated loyolan) had already been scanned. the kid went through, then came back out and sold us his ticket. i don't know if it was out of malevolence or drunkenness, but anger and frustration are not adequate words.
we sat in the lobby for about 15 minutes just stalling, hoping the ticket checker would have a heart and let us in. there was nothing he could do. either megan went to the show by herself (not an appealing proposition, espeically in light of one of the better conversation we'd had outside the venue earlier with a particularly wise 19 yr. old: "i had sex with a girl at the last show! the enitre crowd saw my ass." amazing. i'm sure that's how she would describe it as well), or neither of us went. we gave up and went home.
i guess the most disappointing thing about the whole evening was that by the time we got home, i wasn't that depressed. maybe i'm trying to be coyly jaded or just getting older, but sitting outside the theater last night seeing those kids didn't make me want to experience that crazy concert at all. i should've known before going to a concert like girl talk, but i guess i just ignored that quiet, prideful and judgmental voice in the back of my head until last night.
i still love going to shows. and i even truly appreciate the semi-counter culture that the indie music scene can be. i've just gotten very choosy about live music and what was once unique is now mainstream. there are still plenty of original artists (girl talk is one of them) and there are plenty of listeners who will enjoy them as art and not as consumption (maybe girl talk is intended to be more of the latter?). but i guess all things change, including my love for live music and what used to be considered independent. this sounds pretty trite and stuffy, i know, but there it is. in spite of everything, here's to hope for art...
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2 comments:
wow. great story. and i can totally relate. as hard as it is to admit to myself, i can say i don't enjoy going to shows the same way i used to. remember when we used to get to blue cats an hour early to be in the front row for david mead? i think the only band i would do that for now is radiohead, but even that seems like a chore to an extent. and do i really want to deal with all the other people that would be eager enough to show up an hour early? no. anyway, good post.
Okay, Thank you Stan! I have felt this lack of enthusiasm for concerts for the past year or so and I felt weird and alone about it. Like a old fart or something (I am not ruling out that option either). But reading your email i can totally relate to the sense of "unless its going to be a comfortable or a ridiculous, got to see, performance i really don't feel like paying a minimum of 30 dollars to see it." Maybe money is getting more valuable now i don't know. Either way, sorry you had such a bum experience and thanks for the post.
HOWEVER if LED ZEPPLIN TOURS AGAIN... YOU BET I LL BE THERE WITH A TAZER IN MY ARSE!
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