Around 5 concerts ago I saw a concert of cover bands in a small bar and one of them were covering the Pixies, which were okay but I was really there to see the covers of Get Up Kids and Weezer. Between songs one of the audience members called out “I Love You!” and the singer replied “I love you too” 
Victor Wainright and The Train. Dustin Arbuckle and The Damnations. Brandon Santini. Coco Montoya. All touring Blues artists, all at a local bar, all great shows.
Where I grew up in West Texas, decent (by my standards) acts were almost nonexistent, and much of what made it through was shudder country-western. We had to drive hours that time we went to see Yes in Amarillo. I wasn’t really thinking clubs for this thread but actual concert venues. In Bangkok, we lived in the 'burbs for a while, within easing walking distance to the large venue where we saw Elton John and Roger Waters. But especially after we moved back into the city proper, it was just too much of a hassle to get to. And ticket prices even there have gone crazy. We’ve not bothered to go see anything in Honolulu largely due to the silly prices for tickets.
However, the property agent who manages our current residence belongs to the Hawaii Yacht Club, where a couple of Sundays a month they have a musical show featuring various singers, some of whom have sung on Broadway. We often go there with her. Very informal, but while it is a night of music, I don’t really count it as going to a concert.
Same Show, Both were Fantastic. I really like how many people are interpreting the Ministry song “we are atifa” as a pro antifa track, cause “Just one fix” was a song about the joys of heroin use, and NWO was a song about the wonders of the executive branch of the American government.
My last show, of all things, was the Zac Brown Band at Riverbend in Cincinnati in like 2014. My ex was a big fan, me, not so much, but I actually really ended up liking it. Their medley of “Devil Went Down To Georgia” morphing into “Enter Sandman”, as played by a country band, was pretty damn cool. And man, those guys can REALLY harmonize.
I finally saw them this fall. For various reasons it wasn’t all I had hoped it to be. One was that they just bashed out songs without a single word in between…not one! Maybe that’s just them.
I take it the OP means big name acts, not bands in bars and such.
I saw a total of 15 concerts in 2017 (starting with Kid Rock on New Years Eve/New Years Day in St. Louis). This is below average for me. Remember, here in Milwaukee we have the Wisconsin State Fair and Summerfest. So seeing a lot of concerts is easy here.
The last concert I attended was Alan Jackson back in August.
Guns ‘N’ Roses, [del]Verizon Center[/del] Capitol One Arena, DC, last month. Luxury box, free booze, free food, I may never see another concert or game another way.
How do you distinguish between the two?
A few years prior to her death, I saw Ms Koko Taylor, “The Queen of the Blues”. Tickets were $50 a piece, and the little bar was packed like a sardine can.
Same was true with Link Wray. He played a small blues club, yet he was a “big name act”.
Twenty-five years ago, I saw Hank Williams jr. I was amazed at home many instruments he plays. IIRC he played 4 that night.
I went to my local Rep Theater and saw a play about Patsy Cline in 2008. The actress sang just like her.
I saw St. Vincent at the end of November in DC. It was an awesome show, but I couldn’t enjoy myself fully because I was feeling nauseous even though I only drank water that night. I was thinking about going to see her in Baltimore next year but I need to save money.
For my 50th b-day a couple of years ago, I got to see Denny Laine perform The Beatles’ Rubber Soul (or maybe Revolver, I can’t remember which) in its entirety in a tiny pub in Old Orchard Beach, ME. I got to meet him and say hi, but we ended up hanging with his drummer (Steve Holley, who’s played with fucking everybody from Ian Hunter to Elton John to Joe Cocker to Chuck Berry) and shooting shit for about an hour. He was a really cool guy.
Well then, does going to the corner bar and seeing a band consisting of blue collar workers who play bars once a week count as seeing a concert?
I think this story is emblematic somehow.
It was at a club in a college city, and it was Freedy Johnston. He’s one of my favorite songwriters of the last 20 years.
There were a few at the dinner tables, but I was one of only maybe 3 at maximum, to be there in the audience area and there to see him. I’ve had this experience twice other than this, where a hero of mine appeared in that club or near there, and there was almost no one there. Richard Davies from Cardinal played to almost no one, and I think he is great. I saw Mark Eitzel from American Music Club, a bona fide genius, and it was with 3 or 4 others watching. I don’t think these guys are just my fantasy of great stuff.
Anyway that club closed after 40 years or so, and it was a trauma for the community, and I just saw the whole building razed yesterday.
It’s very depressing. Who is it that cares about rock, the thing that inspired a billion hearts? It’s not the genrefied BS. It’s not Hip Hop. It’s about who is trying to come up with the melody that’s new and takes you to the other place. It never was about anything else. And we are not supporting that.
Are they any good? If you have friends visiting from out of town and you take them to the bar are they impressed? Do they want to see the band the next time they visit?
The first time I saw Joe Bonamassa play was in a little bar when he was a complete unknown.
Pixies last Saturday!