Live Music Beats Live Sports For Me Now
When I was a kid, I went to a ton of professional sporting events. All four major Philadelphia teams, plus indoor soccer (Philadelphia Kixx,) indoor lacrosse (Philadelphia Wings) and the women’s indoor tennis tournament that came to Philadelphia every year. I went to more Phillies games each year because that was my Dad’s favorite. We probably averaged around 45 games each season we had season tickets from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. I also went to games with other people he gave tickets to. I easily went to over 50 games per year for most of the years we had seats. We would go to one Eagles game per year. They were from one of his vendors. If the Eagles made the playoffs, we would go to one of those games, too (like the 1980 NFC Championship Game!) We could have gone more, but my Dad didn’t want to sit outside in the cold. We bought 10 Flyers games off of a family friend (who was also my eye doc,) but my Dad wasn’t big on hockey, so he only would go to a few games and then find someone else to take me to the others. I would go to a handful of Sixers games each year, mostly with others, since my Dad wasn’t a big hoops fan.
So, you see I went to a bunch of games each year. My first taste of live music actually came at a Phillies game. Pat Benatar play a short four or five-song set before a game in 1979 or 1980. My first real concert was in 1981 (Billy Squier and Foreigner,) and I was hooked. Most concerts then were larger, arena shows by rock acts like The Moody Blues, Journey, The Kinks, Styx, Yes, Genesis (ask me about sitting on the beach in France with all the members of the band back in the 90s,) and Live Aid in Philadelphia, While I liked rock, my first love was New Wave, which sometimes now referred to as Classic Alternative. None of my friends were with me on this. That is why I’m still waiting to go to a Depeche Mode show…
I haven’t been to a pro sporting event in two or three years, but I’ve been to eight or nine concerts in the past year. Obviously, music is much easier to enjoy if you have little sight. And, it is much harder to socialize while a band is playing. “What did you say?” As I mention in the show, I love alternative rock, as does Eliz. We have a great alternative station in Philadelphia called Radio 104.5. We also listen to Alt Nation on SiriusXM. Radio 104.5 has been a great source of getting to concerts. They do about half a dozen free shows each year, where anywhere from four to 10 bands play. They did have one show last November where only one band played. It was a mystery until you arrived. Eliz and I were excited to learn it was Bastille when we walked through the gate at Xfinity Live. Just like my podcast, Radio 104.5 is available on the iHeart Radio app! you can listen online, too!
Below, here are some of the meet and greets we’ve had, with Bastille being the most recent.
