The band Destroy Boys are doing a tour this year and I was looking through dates. A show in Hamburg would be closest to me. That means roughly 10hrs by train each way, and costs including overnight stay and such totaling some $300.

Never done something like this before and part of my hesitancy is simply "All that just to see a band?". But that feels like sort of the wrong question since, outside of budget constraints, it's more about the value you get from it rather than the exact sum - if you really want to and this is your chance, why not? Here the whole surrounding affair makes it in this case more like seeing a band + visiting a foreign city, which isn't bad. I think the main doubt is merely whether I can afford it.

But what about the rest of you? How much are you willing to shell out and how much hassle are you willing to go through to see a band? Has it been worth it to you?

Travelled throughout Europe to see every date of a couple of Neurosis tours in the 90s. Completely worthwhile.

kokorodoko wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:31 am how much hassle are you willing to go through to see a band?

At 53? Not very much.

Gone to NY before (fr Boston) to see shows. In fact, I'm going in a couple weeks to see Bailter Space at Mercury Lounge. I'm taking a train and getting a hotel, so I'm in several hundred bucks for that. Definitely a splurge but I love that band and they didn't have a Boston date so treat yourself.

Seen bands in Chicago (Shellac), Dallas (OFF!/Neg Approach) and Seattle (Chris Brokaw/Joel RL Phelps) but those were incidental things as part of work trips. Not sure if that counts?

I used to camp out overnight to purchase concert tickets. I am sleeping-on-the-pavement-outside-of-Sears-risking-frostbite-to-see-yr-favorite-bands-years-old.

Travel-wise the one-and-only time I ever left Chicago with the sole reason being to see a band play was road-tripping for ATP NY 2009. That one was rough. Former FM pwalshj found me outside of the show genuinely inconsolable about a Lips performance. I was pretty sad. A total drip. I don't know what's wrong with me either.

I can't recall ever going through a lot of trouble to see a band.

kokorodoko wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2023 7:31 am How much are you willing to shell out and how much hassle are you willing to go through to see a band? Has it been worth it to you?

Being very close to a global city, I am fortunate that just about any band I've ever wanted to see ends up playing nearby. Oftentimes, I even have options to see the same band a couple of times at different venues that are only a couple of hours away (e.g., in Milwaukee, Madison, or Champaign).

Also, I'll echo FM MoreSpaceEcho's comment: now that I'm in my mid-life, I'm not willing to deal with much trouble to see a band nowadays. I think dealing with Metra (Chicago's local commuter rail) is the most trouble I'll go through.

At some point I travelled all the way from New Jersey to Chicago, and got an Air BNB for a whole weekend. I did get to see about a thousand bands, so it was totally worth it. Toured EA, met a bunch of you cunts. (PRF BBQ 2015?)

A few years before that I drove my tired ass to Brooklyn twice to see another thousand bands, and it was also worth it. (PRF BBQ NYC 2011)

I live in Missouri, and I will sometimes drive 2 hours to either St. Louis or Kansas City if there's a band I want to see there. I went to Chicago to see the Manic Street Preachers at The Metro a few years ago. I had never seen them, and The Holy Bible is one of my favorite albums ever and they were playing it in full. Show was great, totally worth the trip.

The furthest I've traveled to see a single act was Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in San Francisco in 2013. I really wanted to see them and didn't think they'd ever come back to MO. I was planning on staying with friends, but plans fell through, so I managed to change my trip to where I'd fly out, see the show and then fly back the next day. It was kind of hassle, the flight back was at 6am. If I ever did something like that again, I'd plan it better. BUT, the show was fantastic, best one I saw that year.

Also once took a road trip with a friend BOS>PGH to see Speaking Canaries and Run On. Pretty sure it was at some function room in CMU. That was before Pittsburgh was cool, but it was still a fun trip.