Going to Concerts Alone/Unreliable Friends

Ugh... So tonight I was supposed to be going to a Rise Against concert with my best friend. I'd already bought mine about a month in advance, but he can like no one I've ever seen before. I'd remind him every few days to get a ticket and I'd always be met with, "Oh yeah I forgot I'll do that when I get home" or "I'll get it tomorrow". Eventually he told me he got the ticket, so I thought everything was fine. That is, until yesterday the DAY BEFORE the concert when he tells there were some complications in getting the ticket the first time and he wasn't sure if it worked, so he'll just do it today... Well, shockingly, it was completely sold out by then. I'm 90% sure he lied about getting the ticket in the first place and planned on just waiting until the last possible minute because he kept saying "dude, don't worry it's not gonna sell out they're not that popular". So now I, a very pissed off, 5'6" 18 year old boy am going to a concert by myself. Oh joy.

Anyone ever gone to a concert by yourself before? Got any tips on how to enjoy yourself? Anybody ever had plans blown up by your unreliable friends before? Feel free to tell me about either.

I had a similar experience at the beginning of this month, although It was for skydiving and not a concert (I posted a blog about it). All my friends either bailed or had something come up and couldn't go.

Going alone isn't too bad. You'll still have an excellent time and when you're done, you can tell about how great it was to your procrastinating friend so he'll be more likely to plan better for the next one.

Dude!

I'm a veteran of a LOT of concerts. I used to follow the Dead if that tells you anything. I STILL go to live shows and, frankly nowadays, I PREFER to go alone. The freedom of it FAR outweighs any inconvenience! Think about it! You can get there when YOU want to, no negotiations required. If you've bought a reserved seat you can either go in early and schmooze it up with the folks around (who doesn't like to trade 'concerts-I've-been-to' stories?) and make some new friends OR you can slip in JUST as the show is going to start! If the seat ends up sucking, you can move to something better (way easier locating a good single seat than two of 'em). Let's say the concert isn't to your liking, although I encourage you to sit through ANY show at least halfway....first impressions can be deceiving...you can get up and leave when YOU want to, not someone else. Going with friends has its pluses, don't get me wrong, but if I was you, I'd LOOK FORWARD to a show solo.

I HOPE HOPE HOPE you enjoyed the concert and didn't get wrapped up in some 'woe is me' headtrip'. You gotta see the forest for the trees!

CLPP said:

Dude!

I'm a veteran of a LOT of concerts. I used to follow the Dead if that tells you anything. I STILL go to live shows and, frankly nowadays, I PREFER to go alone. The freedom of it FAR outweighs any inconvenience! Think about it! You can get there when YOU want to, no negotiations required. If you've bought a reserved seat you can either go in early and schmooze it up with the folks around (who doesn't like to trade 'concerts-I've-been-to' stories?) and make some new friends OR you can slip in JUST as the show is going to start! If the seat ends up sucking, you can move to something better (way easier locating a good single seat than two of 'em). Let's say the concert isn't to your liking, although I encourage you to sit through ANY show at least halfway....first impressions can be deceiving...you can get up and leave when YOU want to, not someone else. Going with friends has its pluses, don't get me wrong, but if I was you, I'd LOOK FORWARD to a show solo.

I HOPE HOPE HOPE you enjoyed the concert and didn't get wrapped up in some 'woe is me' headtrip'. You gotta see the forest for the trees!

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Haha thanks dude, and yeah the concert was killer. It was a standing room only deal so I got to just move all the way to the front after the opener when everyone went to use the bathroom (Also helped that I was diapered so I didn't need to leave :laugh. I'm not exactly a social butterfly so standing in line for the venue to open kinda sucked, as well as waiting for the bands to come on between sets. No one really seemed interested in talking to me so I just kept to myself and I really didn't give a damn. Once Killswitch Engage came on I couldn't have given less of a crap that my friend wasn't there. Honestly we usually lose each other in the crowd when the headliner comes on anyways. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

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And you saw the Dead?? THAT'S AMAZING! My Dad's a huge Dead head, he got me into them when I was really young.

Good for you for going by yourself. It sounds like you had a great time. Back when I was in college, I got tickets to see The Doors and I was taking another guy who I was very close to. When we got there (Atlantic City) we found out that Morrison had gotten busted for indecent exposure (again) and was replaced by Mitch Rider's brother....not even Mitch Rider. We asked for our money back but they said there were no refunds. Seeing the Doors would have been so incredible. So I'm glad you went and experienced seeing who you wanted.

dogboy said:

Good for you for going by yourself. It sounds like you had a great time. Back when I was in college, I got tickets to see The Doors and I was taking another guy who I was very close to. When we got there (Atlantic City) we found out that Morrison had gotten busted for indecent exposure (again) and was replaced by Mitch Rider's brother....not even Mitch Rider. We asked for our money back but they said there were no refunds.

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Wow sorry you missed it, that really blows. Jim's live performances are pretty interesting... The only concert footage I ever saw of him live involved him burping into the microphone mid-song :laugh: I see why the ladies loved him so much.

theQman said:

Wow sorry you missed it, that really blows. Jim's live performances are pretty interesting... The only concert footage I ever saw of him live involved him burping into the microphone mid-song :laugh: I see why the ladies loved him so much.

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He was very charismatic, almost a mystic. I loved his music. There was no bass player. Manserak played keyboard with his right hand and a Vox keyboard bass with his left. This becomes impressive when you listen to songs like "Light My Fire". I've done the same thing with our band when the bass player was late. Organists do that sort of thing all the time, I guess.