Category Archives: Shows

I have come up with a theory. When you (or me, her, him, whoever) go to a concert to see a band that you know and love…it’s never as great as you hoped.

But, when you go see a band that you hardly know about, they’re usually better than what you expected.

I have realized this since I started writing show reviews and such. Like when I had the opportunity to go see the band Mahjonng, I checked out their stuff on last.fm, thought it was cool, and said I’d go. And it was a fun, good show. But, if I’d been a huge fan of theirs and went to their show, it probably wouldn’t have been as impressive.

I recognized all of this after last night. For months, I looked forward to TV on the Radio’s show. MONTHS. Do you know that 1 day before the show, I realized I hadn’t gotten my tickets in the mail. Hmmm, okay, I’ll check my emails for the confirmation. Nada. I’ll check my credit card statement. NO. Nothing. My transaction on TicketWeb that I without a doubt thought went through, did not. I freaked.

I went to TicketWeb. Of course, the show is sold out. I went to StubHub.com. Nothing. I went on Craigslist. Everyone that I emailed had already sold their tickets. How could this happen?

So, yesterday when I got in the office, I emailed my friend who was supposed to be going with me. There were to be four of us total. But, there were only TWO tickets. I told her the terrible news. “That’s okay,” she wrote back. “You can have my other ticket and we’ll both just go.”

Ahh! My savior! I still felt bad all day that only the 2 of us instead of 4 were going, all of which was my fault. But, I’d been SO excited, so I tried not to think about it. At the end of the work day, my friend called. “Another friend called me and has box seats at the hockey game tonight and wants me to go! You can have both of my tickets…is that okay? Do you mind?”

Nope. Didn’t really mind much. I called the boyfriend, who by this point had to be ready to poke his eyeballs out, and asked if he wanted to go (again). He said “sure” as long as he got to see some of the hockey game before the concert.

Phew. Ok. So…after all of that…I get to the show. And I’m disappointed in TV on the Radio’s lineup. I got very excited when “Wolf Like Me” came on…that was my favorite part. “Golden Age” and most of the others were very good, too. But, I’d wanted to hear “Love Dog”. I also wanted to hear “Staring at the Sun”, which they did play, but it was their very last song. I’m glad they played it, very glad, but I was halfway out the door to beat the crowd, and I was EXHAUSTED. Therefore, I didn’t get to enjoy it as fully as I would have liked.

All in all, I am glad I got to go. I would have been kicking myself if I hadn’t, especially after all of that built up anticipation. But, there were many elements to it all that kept me from having the BEST. TIME. EVER.

Hope Coldplay’s better at the end of the month!