7 Rules for Watching Live Music

Hello all

I have occasionally hinted in this blog that I, every once in a while, go to watch live music. Whilst I don't object to going to see your favourite music acts, I'm starting to realise that it's just not worth it that much, at least not for me.

I've been to seven concerts, at least those that I can recall, and I can only truly say I have enjoy less than half of those....and two of those were for the same band. I suppose one reason that I don't like going around other people, and more often that not I just stand on my own somewhere. I'm going to go through the seven I have been to and what I thought was good and bad about it, which highlights some of the good and bad points of going to live performances. I will also give you five "rules" of going to watch live music.

One thing I will say for all of these groups is that they ALL performed their songs live, something which you would rarely get with so called more "popular" acts.

All American Rejects - October 2009

The first concert I can remember going to was to see the All American Rejects at Rock City in Nottingham. I had been invited by friends whom I had worked with at Showcase Cinema and it came just a month after I had stopped working there, so it was good for a quick catch up. Upon arriving at Rock City, just three or four minutes before the whole show was due to start, it was quite packed but the group somehow managed to get separated and I ended up on my own at the back. Standing at the back, even in a small venue, isn't great because people moving right in front of you means you often struggle to see.

After a reasonable support act (who I can't even remember), the AAR were on the stage and their first four songs were all of my favourite songs.....the only problem being that they were the only songs I knew, meaning that the rest of the song, whilst not bad, saw me just stood there. I eventually left with a few minutes to go, but it was still a half decent show.

RULE 1 : IF YOU ARE GOING TO GO TO WATCH AN ARTIST, AT LEAST TRY AND KNOW MORE THAN A SMALL HANDFUL OF THEIR SONGS


Rammstein - February 2010

I had always been a fan of Rammstein since first hearing them on the soundtrack for Mortal Kombat Annihilation in the late 90s and when they announced that they were going to play in Birmingham then I jumped at the chance.

After a day spent in Birmingham, I eventually headed to the arena and after a long wait, we eventually got into the arena. About 3 hours after entering the arena and with only one support act (who themselves came onto the stage a full 90 minutes after the doors opened), Rammstein finally took the to the stage. Due to their late arrival, and the fact I had time constraints due to being on the train, I only actually got to watch about an hour of their two hour concert, and I wasn't the only one who had this problem as a lot of people left at around the same time.

Whilst it was awesome seeing one of my favourite bands, I was slightly annoyed that they took so long to get onto the stage.

RULE 2 : NEVER JUST EXPECT A CONCERT TO FINISH AT A CERTAIN TIME, IT RARELY DOES.

Canterbury - November 2010

In 2010 I got REALLY into a band called Canterbury and couldn't get enough of their song "Gloria" and when I saw that they were playing at Sheffield (the nearest that they came to where I was living at the time), it became an inevitability that I would go. I booked a hotel nearby and my room had a delightful view of a multi-story car park.

Onto the concert itself and I struggled to find the entrance to the venue at first, only really figuring out when I noticed a girl just sat about randomly. I sat speaking with her for a while and her dad eventually came and gave us a cup of tea each....I thanked him but didn't have the heart to tell him I don't drink tea (he just gave me a tea, didn't even ask if I wanted one).

Anyway, onto the gig and being second in the line, I got the chance to stand pretty much where I wanted....where I stood was right at the front, even leaning on the stage because there was no barrier separating the fans from the stage. Whilst this provided a decent view (although a bit of a strained neck), because I was right next to the speakers (which were on the stage) my ears were aching for days...it was worth it though.

To this day Canterbury are still probably my favourite band, they were also the first band I saw live twice and I did struggle to think of a rule, but.......

RULE 3 : DON'T STAND RIGHT AT THE FRONT AT A CONCERT WHEN RIGHT AT THE FRONT MEANS YOU'RE ONLY ABOUT 50 CENTIMETERS FROM THE FEET.

Bowling for Soup - November 2011

Growing up I had plenty of bands that I loved but one of the main ones was Bowling For Soup, who were known for their rather immature songs, and admittedly when I went to the concert I hadn't actively listened to them in years. The thing about getting older is that you stop finding things funny that you found funny when you were younger.

During the set of one of the support bands I also got hit in the eye with a drumstick, which put a bit of a downer on the thing straight away, and it didn't really improve as I was listening to songs from Bowling For Soup that I used to love, and whilst not awful, they certainly weren't great, or at least not as great as I had remembered.

Because I loved them growing up, I will always have a soft spot for Bowling For Soup, but I wasn't listening to them regularly before this concert....and I haven't listened to them regularly since.

RULE 4 : JUST BECAUSE YOU LIKED THEM WHY YOU WERE YOUNGER, DON'T JUST ASSUME YOU WILL LIKE THEM WHEN YOU'RE OLDER.

Canterbury - February 2012

Oh yes, it's Canterbury again and you know what my only complaint about this concert was, it was photographs. I had gone to the concert with my friend Charlie and her boyfriend at the time. Afterwards Canterbury were in the foyer signing autographs, mingling, taking pictures etc, and I jumped at the chance and got pictures with Scott Peters (drummer), Mike Sparks (joint lead singer) and Luke Prebble (joint lead singer) and all was good at the time....that was until I looked at the pictures later and the picture of me, Charlie's boyfriend and Luke wasn't really a picture, more just a fine example of blurriness...so instead I will share with you the picture with Scott (please note this picture was before I started to become Kate).

Again, I loved the gig, and I would seriously recommend Canterbury, they are four of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet.....but the rule.....

RULE 5 : IF YOU WANT PICTURES WITH YOUR FAVOURITE BAND MEMBERS, MAKE SURE BEFORE WALKING OFF THAT THE PICTURE ISN'T BLURRY

Blink 182 - July 2012

This was a brilliant night, a night I can't even put into words. I loved Blink 182 when they were immature but I grew to love them even more when their songs gained a far more serious tone. When I saw that they were coming to England I didn't even hesitate getting tickets for their gig, especially as I thought I had missed the chance when the split up several years ago.

They had All American Rejects as their support act, which is always a very good thing, and finally gave me a chance to watch their set properly, and heard my favourite songs again.

It was an unbelievable concert and unlike all the other concerts I had been to (with the exception of Canterbury) I knew every single one of their songs, so I was able to sing along and I had a great view of the action (as you can tell from the above video), and you'd think that I wouldn't even have a rule based on that, but unfortunately I made the mistake of planning to walk home.

I had moved to Newark and decided to walk the 15 or so miles back after the concert so hadn't booked a hotel or left in time to get any method of transport, so in other words, if I was to get home and not spent any money I had to walk really. I got a grand hotel of a mile from the arena before I realised that I really couldn't be bothered, so I ended up walking back into Nottingham and trying to find a hotel. Only one hotel had a room and it was the Jurys Inn.....they wanted £70 for the night. I had no intention of paying that so started to wait for a train....the next train was five hours into the future....I got bored after 20 minutes so phoned a taxi and got home on the same night.

The real annoyance is that had I left the concert a mere five minutes earlier then I would have been able to get the final train home. Oh well.

RULE 6 : PLAN TRAVEL/HOTELS PROPERLY

Yellowcard - March 2013

Rule 1 certainly applied here. I went to the Yellowcard concert on a bit of a whim. I hadn't heard anything from them for years and then stumbled across "Hang You Up", loved it, and then noticed they were a few weeks away from a UK tour, so I got tickets for their Manchester concert.

After travelling across and a three hour spell that was filled by talking to two girls, I got in and got a seat right at the top of the room on a comfy couch. I REALLY enjoyed the support act (Set It Off) but I didn't really think much to set it off.

Even now I still only know three Yellowcard songs (Ocean Avenue, Sing to Me and Hang You Up) and they only actually sang two of those. I was sat there bored for most of the time, but as I had a train booked I couldn't just leave early.

Luckily they finished early enough to allow me to easily make the train and to go to the local shop to get some food, but much like Rule 1......

RULE 7 : DON'T GO JUST ON A WHIM, GENERALLY ONLY GO TO SEE BANDS YOU'VE HAD A LONG TERM INTEREST IN AND NOT JUST A FEW WEEKS.