Average Jane Foregoes the Festival

Up until early this week, I had tickets to Rockfest this coming Saturday. The lineup sounded great: Godsmack, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Seven Dust, Saliva, Drowning Pool and a bunch of other bands I like.

My husband and I eagerly bought tickets as soon as they went on sale. Then we started to think more carefully about the realities of the concert-going experience:

• Sold-out show
• 40,000 attendees
• Outdoors
• In June
• At least 12 hours long
• Concessions advertised as "all items $5 or less"

We both enjoy heavy metal as much as ever – particularly when we’re playing it. However, we’re not young folks anymore by a long shot. When the gritty reality started to set in, we realized that our ideal concert experience these days looks more like this:

• Concert DVDs
• 5:1 surround sound
• Big-screen TV
• Comfy leather couch
• Free snacks and drinks
• Air conditioning

It would be a different story if we were performing, but we simply don’t have the will to subject ourselves to that kind of endurance test as attendees anymore. Lame, I know, but what are you gonna do?

So, we sold our tickets on Craigslist and now I’m going to spend the day volunteering at a low-cost rabies clinic, among other things. Maybe I’ll at least get some song lyrics written that day so I don’t feel like a total traitor to teh rock.

Speaking of songwriting, I’ll probably have a MySpace or Bandzoogle page for my band started in the next week or so. It looks as though we have a couple of songs that are about ready to be mixed and uploaded. I’ll be sure to post a link when that happens. Have a great weekend!