blondewave

Why You Should Record Your Concert History

Everyone remembers their first, and most of us remember our last, but how many of us can recall the names of all of those in between? If you are lucky, you’ve managed to save ticket stubs from all of the concerts that you have ever attended. Either way, it’s not too late and quite frankly, it’s about time that you record details about every single one of those shows. Why, you ask? Well, you’re a lot cooler than you give yourself credit for, you’ve probably gone to more shows than you realize, and, if you grew up in the period of time before streaming music, you attended a lot of shows for a little money. Bask in the memory, if you will, of the days before LiveNation got their greedy paws in all of our pockets. 

I have a good stack of stubs, but it’s not a completely representative set. Recently, during The Cure Ticketmaster debacle, my friends and I waxed nostalgic about the days of camping out for concert tickets. We’d wait in line at the local east coast West Coast Video store with a promise to buy 4 tickets for the crew. Overnight, we’d join the cast of characters with their folding chairs, tents, sleeping bags, hacky sacks, smoke, and fandom. It was the closest to camping I’d ever get. 

Eventually, you made it to the window and watched bleary-eyed as the dot matrix printer produced those prized beauties. You slid them under your car visor, in an envelope, on your refrigerator. You could not lose those tickets. You had no idea then that something so precious would all too quickly become just another artifact. 

If you have no stubs to speak of, you can begin by thinking of all of the venues that you used to frequent. Then, do some research on the artists – I have found a simple ‘artist + past concerts’ query will do the trick. In compiling my list, I found that one venue changed names four times in the span of 10 years. Who knows? The information you uncover might also give you an edge at music trivia night. Enlist your friends to help you remember details about these events. I can guarantee you it will lead to some fun conversations and laughs, as memories beget memories. 

I am not too proud to reveal that I like to compile my concert data in spreadsheet format – google sheets out in these streets. Besides all the expected info (artist/date/name of tour/price) I have recently added a column for the people with whom I attended each concert. Can I remember every name? No, unfortunately. But it’s an exercise in sparking something (anything) to honor the memory. Recently, a good friend asked me for my top 3 moments from a recent concert. What a great question, I thought, as I promptly added that column to the sheet. 

So write to remember. Remember the reason why we were all so starved for live music during the pandemic. Remember the reason you waited in line for a show. Take some time to reflect. Those moments are a part of you now. They always were. Even if you lost the stub.