yeah, i think a lot of this has to do with where you live.

before i moved to chicago a year and a half ago, i never lived within an hour of a metropolitan area, so i always had to drive to shows. and with that came things like late nights, tolls, city parking, etc. i never went to shows then unless i liked the bands and was pretty sure it'd be good.

now that i live in chicago, i can bike, take the cta, or even walk to a lot of venues, but i've kept the old ways and still only really go to shows if i like the bands or am pretty sure that it'll be good (in the case that friends like a band that i don't know well). i'm starting to take more chances now, though.

i'm in the "only go to shows of bands i like" crowd.
my parents wont even let me drive to concerts. if i didn't rely on verbal intercourse for rides i'd be going to see elvis costello june 15th at the wolf trap.
but.. i'm not. even though it's four days before my birthday.

#3 But that may change now that I'm in Milwaukee and summerfest is around the corner. I'm going to hate to have to pay NIN prices to see Bauhaus but i think i'll do it.

I'll take a chance on a show that happens on a fri or sat, but you better be someone I really want to see to go out on a sun through thurs.

last weeknight show: Morrisey about a month ago. Still working on convincing the Mrs Shadenfreude to trust me, take friday off and let's go to OKC/Norman to see John Vanderslice on a Thursday...

option 3

this reminds me that, when i was in high school, the number of shows that i was allowed to go to was determined by my grades. my father is serious about academics and doesn't really care for music, so it wasn't too easy for me. he even kept me from seeing nirvana because i'd already used my show allotment for that quarter by the time they came around. he said, "you'll see them the next time." uh, alright.

well the thing is, i can go to however many concerts i want, nomatter what my grades are. well actually, they try and bribe me every now and then. i couldn't see the drive-by truckers in february if i didn't have good grades with the exception of math.

and the biggest reason i can't drive to concerts is because i already have a lot of problems with my car just driving it around town.

Ahhh, high school. The days when you really needed to want it to go to a show. Shows *always* ended after the last train, and you *always* ended up in the city overnight. You *always* sustained a combination of ass-whuppin' and grounded. You often had to choose "this show and grounded" or "save my bullets for the show in two weeks".

Nothing better than taking one of those ass-whuppin/grounded combos, and then posting the favorable NY Times concert review on the refrigerator that weekend.

I only went to a few shows while I was in high school, White Zombie and Prong being the biggest one. We got shit for concerts in Nebraska at that time and you either had to 21 to get into the Omaha indie shows or they were on school nights.
I had to stick to attending five band for five dollar shows in my hometown.

it depends on the venue and price if I have never heard of the band. I am much more likely to pay some $ for a band I have not really heard (buy may heard of) if it is at a decent venue.

it depends how much it costs. If its only 5 bucks or something to get in, then i'll go sound unheard, but if its a full scale concert ill only go if i love the band.