I’ve been thinking about something that came to mind yesterday. I mentioned it to my wife and she agrees: we appreciate and enjoy our live music and concerts excursions more – now that we live in a “metal desert.” I won’t say “music desert” because there are plenty of events to attend – if you like country or gospel. But to satisfy our tastes, we need to plan trips around shows, and I think it’s actually worked out well.
In the before-fore times, there was a show practically every night that could scratch our itch. Someone was always playing at the local venues, and typically we could decide at the drop of a hat. We could wait until the last minute to see if ticket prices came down or if something else was a better option. We lived in an area that had big bands come through regularly and didn’t need to travel far.
And we took all that for granted.
When we moved to Idaho, we were still near a relatively large music hub. We would still occasionally travel for shows, but most often we could catch them in the city next door. A bit more planning was necessary, but most often it was just a 20-minute jaunt across the border. Big bands would still come through, though we missed seeing the “up-and-comers” and smaller bands. We still missed the availability of live music, but it wasn’t too bad.
Now we are living in an area that requires much more planning. While there is a small stage in our rural town, really we are an hour away from a proper venue, and most of the shows there aren’t anything we are interested in. When big tours happen, they typically don’t even consider Montana, so we are forced to travel elsewhere to get our fix.
We’ve really only done this for Dream Theater and Iron Maiden so far, but I look forward to more. On each of those trips, there was much more anticipation and buildup to the event itself. We would prepare and pack for travel with specific intent. We’d run into other fans of the music at the airport and have excited conversations with new people. All those steps became a bit of a ritual building to the main event.
Because of all the extra effort now required, the experience has become elevated. The shows are more enjoyable and fulfilling. We feel more appreciative of the experience when we are able to have it.
Now we are assessing future plans and shows to attend. LA was pretty overwhelming and we went way over our planned budget for the trip. Gas prices were insane – due in part to California’s taxes and the ongoing war in Iran. Parking for the show ended up costing us $125.
Denver was expensive, but much more manageable. The traffic wasn’t nearly as bad and parking was (relatively) a breeze. I can’t compare gas prices since we hadn’t started the war yet, but today’s prices in Denver are on par with around here. Moving forward, I believe we will prioritize smaller cities and venues to get our live music fix.
We are already planning our next one – Nevermore, one of my wife’s favorites, will be in Montana next summer. We won’t have to travel as far, but it is a festival so there will be a lot of planning necessary.
And we are already looking forward to it.
Anyhow, I took a down day yesterday to write and decompress, so I still have a lot to catch up on around here…