Going to see bands multiple times

[HORN]

A few years back I decided I liked Simple Minds enough to go see them four times during one tour.

By the third night the tedium was getting to me. Even Jim's banter was reproduced faithfully every evening (except on one night at Maine Road he remarked "Manchester - the best audience in the world").

So anyhow, a FB friend of mine (ie. not a real friend) has just chalked up his 51st Kylie gig. Is this just an acceptable form of stalking or can one really derive pleasure from attending what is effectively the same concert over and over?

[treibeis]

Going to see bands multiple times

Peter and the Test Tube Babies play in Hamburg the week before Christmas every year. I’ve seen them about 20 times, including the Berlin and Hamburg gigs on successive days one year.

The set list is almost identical every year and the jokes never change – he still goes on about England’s 5:1 victory over Germany in 2001 –, but it’s a good laugh. And as it’s nearly Christmas and I’m usually off work, I’m in a good mood anyway.

The UK Subs do something similar, but normally in January/February. I went about ten times, but stopped over a decade ago because I was fed up of the crowd shouting for Warhead the entire time.

And when they do sing it, Charlie Harper lets the crowd sing the chorus for him. Sod that. They’ll be getting their cigarette lighters out next.

[evilC]

Going to see bands multiple times

A few years back, I made a 'policy decision' to no longer see the same band many times if they were just doing 'conventional' shows. I resolved instead to see more bands, but fewer times.

For instance, I've seen Gary Numan probably 15 0r 16 times and, while he does vary the performance of individual songs (particularly the ones he must be bored of playing, himself, by now) you broadly know what you're going to get. Also, I'd seen John Foxx about half a dozen times or so since his 'comeback' in the mid-90s and his shows were very much a case of diminishing returns - and that was the real turning point.

You see, there was a lot of new music that I was enjoying emerging around the early 2000s and, seeing as I always prefer to see bands in smaller venues, I decided I'd rather spend my time, money and effort on seeing those bands while I could.

I'll still happily go and see a band 3 or 4 times - more if they're doing something very different, like the live soundtracks to silent films that In The Nursery do or fully improvised sets, like London Modular Alliance. However, I always feel the diminishing returns quite keenly for regular gigs in regular venues (...and the climbing ticket prices that usually accompany the process of bands becoming 'established' too, of course).

[WOM]

Going to see bands multiple times

Yeah, 51 times seems like there's something more at play.

My 'most often' is Springsteen at 15 shows. And it's my wife who's the fan, not me. Which isn't to say I've not enjoyed myself.

I've seen The Pogues/Shane & The Popes 9 or 10 times, but you're virtually guaranteed a different train wreck each time.

I'm with Clive, though. I happily see some artists 3, 4 or 5 times before I think 'yeah, that's enough'.

[evilC]

Going to see bands multiple times

There's a factor with the 'obsessive' Numan fans and it wouldn't be a surprise to me if it occured with some Kylie fans as well. That is, they treat the gigs like a big social club, where they are the 'members' and everyone else is just a 'guest'. It can be bloody annoying too. You'll be seeing Numan for the first time in years, he's putting on a good show, performing the 'classics' in really different forms and all these so-called hardcore fans are doing is standing around chatting loudly and not paying any attention at all to the show ...because they've already seen it, last night and the night before that and the night before that! I'm acquainted with some of them and, though they're nice enough to chat to (in the bar and elsewhere) sometimes, they're a right pain in the arse when they're spoiling the enjoyment of what is, for the casual punter, a potentially rare occasion.

[Bored Of Education]

Going to see bands multiple times

Apart from small local and mates' bands, the band I have seen most are Motorhead. Started seeing them in 1982, 33 years ago, saw them more in the old days, perhaps a couple of times a year and see them every couple of years now. Possibly 20 or 25+ times? Of course, there are diminishing returns but I am always surprised that they have real returns to form live depending on the venue and set-list. The last couple of gigs at the Colston Hall in Bristol have been pretty great actually. Not vintage Motorhead but definitely better than a lot of contemporary bands.

Aside from that, it's the Manics who I may have seen a similar amount of times but probably nearer 15. Since "The Holy Bible", they have probably been a more consistent live band than Motorhead, not least because they can still produce excellent new music to add to their older stuff. Unfortunately, whoever books their gigs seems to make sure that they play some of their gigs that I would love to attend only in London. Some metro-centric type I imagine.

[WOM]

Going to see bands multiple times

Most of my multiples, now that I've given this some thinking, are mostly my wife's gigs. Melissa Etheridge, who I no longer go and see (just dull). Lyle Lovett (excellent and varied). John Hiatt (also excellent and varied). John Mellencamp (hit and miss). Lucinda Williams (excellent).

I've turned her on to Elvis Costello (6+ shows) and Thomas Dolby (2 shows) but she wouldn't go see Kraftwerk the second time. Hmm.

[hobbes]

Going to see bands multiple times

You'll be amazed to hear I've seen The Cure and Lloyd Cole a shit load of times.
And probably more amazed that I've been to probably 20 or so Bluetones gigs. They always used to put on a good show.

[WOM]

Going to see bands multiple times

I guessed The Cure when I saw your name. Seriously.

I didn't know about your Lloyd Cole thing, though.

[Benjm]

Going to see bands multiple times

Hi all. I've seen New Order 28 times across 28 years. The core (say two thirds) of their set hasn't changed much since 1987. Going to see them was a lot like a lower commitment version of following a football team; an excuse for a social, going away, getting ratted and over the years gradually seeing people there who you didn't catch up with otherwise.

The only time I saw them on successive nights, having been promised a varied set, one song was different.

Other bands seen in double figures; Magentic Fields (they do change their set!), Happy Mondays (good, bad and ugly), Durutti Column (surprisingly samey set list over twenty years), The Wonderstuff & Pop Will Eat Itself (I was a teenager in the West Mids in the late '80s, it was hard to avoid them).

EDIT: Oh, and the Pet Shop Boys. Unforgivable omission, given that they really do put on a different show each tour.

[Jah Womble]

Going to see bands multiple times

I don't think there's anyone I'd be inclined to want to see 51 times, FFS.

I've seen The Fall around a dozen times (in a variety of incarnations) over the past three decades, which is some level above the next artist. I'm not even sure who that would be, TBH - possibly the J&MC at around 5-6 times.

[Gilles de Rais]

Going to see bands multiple times

On November 1st I'm going to see Steve Hackett do his Genesis thing at Hammy Odeon, I last saw him at Brunel University on November 9th, 1979!

[Various Artist]

Going to see bands multiple times

I think we can safely say you've left enough of a gap there to avoid any possible 'stalking' accusations Spice.

Surely given The Fall's rate of personnel turnover, you could have gone to see them on practically a dozen successive nights and seen a variety of incarnations, Jah...?!

On the absolute opposite side of the equation, I've never been to a gig. I recognise this is an "I've never seen Star Wars" category of admission, but there we are. I've seen a tiny handful of bands play at events that I was at anyway (e.g. I went to a university May Ball 15 years ago where Space, the Divine Comedy and Jools Holland's Rhythm & Blues Orchestra played), but never got to what one might call a dedicated concert. I love music, but I've just never been one to go and see it live for whatever reason. Overly sheltered childhood, I suppose.

[Calvert]

Going to see bands multiple times

I heard Neil Robertson, creepy Aussie snookerist claim he'd never been to a gig in his life before.
How can you possibly avoid them as a teenager? It's in the job description.

Speaking of 'gig', I remember making the mistake of telling my hard-as-fuck-Belfast uncle that my band had a 'gig' somewhere.
He laughed his arse off for quite some time before calling me a 'cunt'.
It's what Biffa Bacon must've felt like when Mutha & Fatha were beating the shit out of him.

[Benjm]

Going to see bands multiple times

Calvert wrote:
Speaking of 'gig', I remember making the mistake of telling my hard-as-fuck-Belfast uncle that my band had a 'gig' somewhere.

I'm as soft as shite but the g word has never sat easily with me - too Jo Whiley, BBC at Glastonbury, for some reason. Unfortunately, since it caught on if you say 'concert' or 'show' it makes you sound like a bit like a law lord querying which code of football Mr Gascoigne plays.

[Various Artist]

Going to see bands multiple times

Calvert wrote: How can you possibly avoid them as a teenager? It's in the job description.

Like I say, overly sheltered childhood, wasn't encouraged to do any of that going out and doing things stuff, so I just never got into the habit. Then lived in a small town on the far edge of nowhere (a.k.a west Wales) for the first eight years of my adulthood, and since then it's been too expensive to go and see anyone I might properly want to see.
The irritating thing is discovering years later that since my dad grew up in London in the '60s, he was running off to see the Kinks, the Who, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and whoever else he liked all the time. Double standards or what.

I'd never come across alternative uses of 'gig' before, and I'm almost afraid to look up what the Belfast version might be. I know what Benjm means about that Jo-Whiley-Glastonbury vibe to the term anyway, though; suffice to say it's not a routine part of vocabulary. That's dead right about how saying 'concert' or 'show' sounds, too, mind — you cant win.

[Calvert]

Going to see bands multiple times

Funnily enough, I've been reticent in using it after my humiliation thirty years ago, but as you rightly point out all the other words are worse.
I've never felt compelled to watch the same band more than once. It's a busman's holiday for me anyway, so even if previous favourites of mine were in town and I had a night off I probably still wouldn't go.
I met some Deadheads before in Port Authority bus station and these people thought it their duty to follow Jerry Garcia and the lads around to every single show.
Mentalists.

[Calvert]

Going to see bands multiple times

I'd never come across alternative uses of 'gig' before,

Oh, there are no alternative uses, or double-meanings - he just meant that I sounded like an utter twat for using the word, and the more I thought about it, the more I kind of saw his point.
It's just that I'd never even considered it poncey before.

[Borracho]

Going to see bands multiple times

I've only seen one band more than once, and that was a mate's outfit who are basically a parody version of the Wolfe Tones and Éire Óg and other rebel ballad bands.

I've no urge to see any "proper" band multiple times. The greatest live show I ever attended was The Young Gods at the Mean Fiddler in 1995, and they played Dublin again a few years ago, but I just didn't feel any compulsion to go along. The records they've released since the mid-1990s haven't been particularly amazing, and I wanted to keep my memories of the 1995 gig intact.

Same with Kraftwerk, who I saw in 2005 and really enjoyed. Once was enough, let alone spending €220 on a ticket for Electric Picnic just to see them (the rest of the bill was profoundly dull).

EDIT: I just remembered I have seen two Cathal Coughlan gigs. They were very different from each other though. In the first one he was doing a straightforward rock 'n' roll show, in the second he was in crooner mode at the piano.

[Jah Womble]

Going to see bands multiple times

I'd never come across alternative uses of 'gig' before,

Oh, there are no alternative uses, or double-meanings - he just meant that I sounded like an utter twat for using the word, and the more I thought about it, the more I kind of saw his point.
It's just that I'd never even considered it poncey before.

Sadly, there is another meaning to the word 'gig'. It can now also mean 'appointment' or 'post' and is a popular expression in TV. Which may not surprise many.

As naff as it might sound, 'gig' is pretty much the accepted term these days. (I mean, treibeis upthread recalling Peter & The Test-Tube Babies is hardly going to refer to their performances as 'concerts', is he?)

Surely given The Fall's rate of personnel turnover, you could have gone to see them on practically a dozen successive nights and seen a variety of incarnations, Jah...?!

Fair point. I think what I was emphasising was that Mark E was the only common member from my first Fall gig (c 1981) and the most recent. (But your comment pretty much holds up, yes!)

[Calvert]

Going to see bands multiple times

Sadly, there is another meaning to the word 'gig'. It can now also mean 'appointment' or 'post' and is a popular expression in TV. Which may not surprise many.

I'd pay to see you explain that to him. Even now when he's in his seventies

[beak]

Going to see bands multiple times

Benjm wrote: I'm as soft as shite but the g word has never sat easily with me - too Jo Whiley, BBC at Glastonbury, for some reason. Unfortunately, since it caught on if you say 'concert' or 'show' it makes you sound like a bit like a law lord querying which code of football Mr Gascoigne plays.

Possibly a situational (I hesitate to say generational!) thing, but to me the word "show" gives me horrible flashbacks to the encroaching Americanization of the hardcore scene when I were a lad.

[MsD]

Going to see bands multiple times

I avoid the word and say "... is playing at ..." whenever possible.

[MsD]

Going to see bands multiple times

I've seen loads of bands 10-20 times, especially friends' bands. No-one 51 times, although it sometimes feels like it.

Given the chance, I'd have seen Bowie play 51 times.

[treibeis]

Going to see bands multiple times

As naff as it might sound, 'gig' is pretty much the accepted term these days. (I mean, treibeis upthread recalling Peter & The Test-Tube Babies is hardly going to refer to their performances as 'concerts', is he?)

I'm allowed to be naff, as I've been abroad for so long that I speak Eurovision English (or so I've been told).

I don't like the word 'gig' much myself (I disapprove of it in the same way as I disaaprove of the verb 'take' when used to describe which newspaper one reads regularly) and I apologise if my using it has caused any offence. Would 'dates' instead of 'gigs' have been more acceptable in that sentence?

Oh, and there's no hyphen in 'Peter and the Test Tube Babies'.