I hate going to shows alone, and I rarely do so, but I have tried to do so in an effort to get over that aspect of my social awkwardness... I usually just either grab a spot on a couch (at the 40 Watt for the couch-appropriate shows) or I just weasel my way to the front and stay there. Or grab a spot at the bar. I often see people I know at shows, but not the sort of people I am close enough to to just join them. If it was a band I really wanted to see, I'd just 'suffer through' the alone part and deal with going so I could see them.

i guess in a big city like la, it's easier for us to go to shows alone... i used to have a problem with doing that until my routine became to be about going to 2-3 shows a week. then i realized that i see the same people around and try to eventually get to know them (plus i'm really outgoing and not shy at all).

i mean, if it's a band you really like, why miss them because you can't find anyone to go with? fuck that, if the music is good, that's all that matters.

If I never went to shows alone, I'd rarely see anyone that I'd want to see.

bingo. my friends have a knack for discovering bands a year too late, and my wife often changes her mind at the last minute.

I usually go alone. I will tell friend's about the show, if I think they might like it, but I never ask them to go along so I don't have to go alone. I have paid for people in the past, but that usually involves travel, so I do it in return for cheap and reliable transportation. I also tend to cover gas or hotel too during these trips.

You do have a point there. I think if I lived in downtown Toronto and, for the small shows, it was just a matter of $5 for the bus and $10 or 12 for the ticket, I probably wouldn't mind going by myself.

As it is, I'm out in the suburbs so it would cost me $20 just to get to the show, on top of the venue itself.

I'm pretty sure I've never seen anyone at a show that I wanted to meet

I've started going alone to really good shows that I can't get anyone else to go to (Deerhoof, Dungen), and it's not that bad. Definitely better than missing a great show.

Although I may also opt for option 5: buy a ticket for the girlfriend and make her go with me

np: beck - go it alone

So if you never talk to anyone ever because you are a quiet, reclusive sack of misery, then what's the difference? Go to the show and do your thing. Seriously, what are you worried about? No one will even know that you're there. You could go sit on a stool and do nothing and no one would give a flying fuck.