Gig Bag
As A Live Music Supporter There Is No Better Experience Than Watching Your Favourite Band Live At A Gig, But Why Do A Lot Of People Get Condemned For Wanting To See Their Favourite Band On A Regular Basis?
As an enthusiastic music fan, I love nothing more than going to watch my favourite bands when they play live. Over the years I’ve driven all over the UK to follow the bands that I are my favourites, and have even headed over to Ireland and mainland Europe once in a while. On a number of occasions, I’ve actually bought tickets for a complete tour of about ten or twelve dates and had a really fun road trip with a friend to go to them all.
There are many people who think that doing this kind of thing is a bit peculiar, but I always ask them if they assume it strange that someone would go and see a football team at every match they play, and as we are well aware, there are many people all over the world who do exactly that. And only a handful of people ask why they do it! Anyway, I don’t honestly care what other people think about it. There are many people have hobbies that hold no interest for me, so why do I deserve to be rebuked for doing something that I enjoy so much?
Anyway, when my very favourite band confirms some shows, the first thing me and my friend do is to look at our diaries and check our bank balances. Cold hard cash is always the most difficult obstacle, as a decent road trip doesn’t just mean the expense of tickets, but petrol and accommodation costs too. If the tour looks financially viable, then holiday from work needs to be booked. And we do consider that if we decide to go to a gig straight from work and then drive back home that evening, anything up to about two hours travelling each way is quite reasonable.
After that it’s all about identifying hotels wherever we require them, getting them booked, checking out maps of the few venues that we haven’t been to before, and then we’re all set to to rock and roll – in the literal sense! As the dates get nearer, the excitement mounts.
I never cease to have butterflies in my stomach before they arrive on stage, and this feeling never diminishes no matter how many times I go to see them. And before I get on my soapbox about media influenced pop music, it’s great following a talented band, guys who write all their own music, are all very accomplished musicians and sound amazing live. They don’t need to rely on choreographed dance steps, banks of lighting, Laser eye beam effects and polytechnics – their music and their personalities are more than enough to keep the punters happy.
But for this band, budgets are limited, so if we are able to assist them by doing things like running their merchandise stall or turning up with things we know they’ve left behind, it makes us feel like we’re just a little part of their crusade. It’s great to feel useful!
We’d dearly love for this band to be massive and for everyone to have heard of them, but worryingly they have a number of fans who would prefer them to remain a well kept secret so that they only play in intimate venues and can chat to fans after every show. But as I have explained to so many people, small venue concerts don’t pay the bills, fund decent transport, finance the Laser eye surgery and elbow operation that two of the guitarists need or most vitally, provide any money to devote to promoting their music.
To return to something I said earlier, the music industry in 2011 is far more interested in making a quick return and hasn’t much interest in nurturing musicians with potential because they take years rather than days to become famous. It’s awful to think that a lot of outstanding musicians quit the industry because they cannot survive financially, whilst the music business throws ridiculous sums of money at the people who appear on television reality shows, spending millions on their ‘image’ – which probably means cosmetic surgery, Laser eye treatment, hours with stylists, quirky choreographers and almost without question the infamous autotune. But, naturally, it’s all about the music!
I’m visiting Wembley Arena next week. But I’m going to see the support act. I’ve paid virtually £30 just to watch half an hour of quality music. I really won’t bother to stay and listen to the band whose gig it is, as I’ve seen them once before at a festival and they were fairly awful. Given the size of Wembley, I expect I’ll wish I’d already had my Laser eye surgery operation as I’m well aware that my eyesight has got quite bad, so in all likelihood the money I’ve spent will give me a blurred view of a few moving dots on stage, but it’s still important to me that I turn up and support the musicians I love.
Ernie Ball Gig Bag Amp
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