Next time James, include airfare and I'll be there for you.

bapu
Next time James, include airfare and I'll be there for you.

Let's blame this one on my son - had I had just a little more notice...
 
:)
 
Now, today is hooking up the Midas Venice 320 and the UAD Apollo 16! WOOT!

Slugbaby
I'm not a fan of either Winger or Kansas, but I don't think I'd ever turn down free tickets to a concert.
You never quite know what you're going to discover when you see someone play live.  You may not like the music, but there might be a musical "trick" to take away from the show.  Or you may actually discover that you like them after all.
 
In 1988, I HATED Bryan Ferry ("lame synth crap"...).  I was offered a free ticket and had nothing to do that night, so I went.  I was in awe, and by the end of the show I was a huge fan.  He's now one of my biggest influences.  If I'd turned down the ticket, I'd have missed out on one of my favourite bands.
 

 
I went see Michael Jackson once having already turned down the offer to go with a friend because I had no good answer to the question.."why, what else are you going to be doing?"  I was also invited to bring my girlfriend along. It was the second to last night of the "Bad" tour.
 
Arriving at the venue after a 3 hour drive my "friend" then dropped the bombshell that he didn't actually have any tickets, so we ended up buying some from nefarious looking characters in the car park for 3 times the face value. Needless to say I wasn't a particularly happy bunny at this point, especially as I had to spring for two, so by now I'd spent a considerable amount on something that I didn't even want to go to, but trying to be cool about it 'cos at least the girl was impressed.
 
By the end of the show I was all for driving straight to the next venue a further 200 miles away to see if we could score some tickets for the final show the following night. Say what you like about the guy and I've said a few of those things myself, but he knew how to put on a show.
 
Fast forward to the next tour and same friend asked the same question. I said I would go, but only if we got tickets in advance this time at the right price. He said he already had them and because of what happened last time he gave me two and wouldn't take any money. As it turned out, neither he or I could go in the end. As I hadn't paid for the tickets it didn't seem right to sell them and profit from a gift, so I decided to just give them to someone else. 
 
Except I couldn't.
 
WTF ? MJ was still a big draw in those days. I even offered them to people I didn't really like that much that had told me on more than one occasion that they wished that they could go and see him. It was also a Saturday show, so the people in question didn't even have to worry about getting time off work. No dice.
 
I even got hold of the local radio station who put out several announcements on air at peak times that these were genuine tickets and free to the first caller. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
 
 
 
 
 
 

I was a HUGE MJ fan as a kid and took endless hell for it from my classmates.
 
Eventually I "grew" out of it and moved on to the metalz.
 
Still though if I hear an old MJ tune I can dig it. There's a reason he was so popular and he definitely had the best of the best musicians and producers working for him.
 
These days, as much as I like the solo stuff, the Jackson Five is my fave MJ period. It's like mainlining motown... and Beepster lurvs him some motown.

Many people forget how incredible live gigs actually are. They are comparing to the records all the time which is not a good thing to do. The live shows are usually pretty spectacular in comparison. MJ would have been unbelievable live I am sure as are many other bands. 
 
I got tickets once to see Glenn Campbell many years ago because someone had them spare and gave them way. I was not a fan and went reluctantly.  I am came out a total covert, my god Campbell live was something else. He played guitar for about 20 minutes before he opened his mouth.  I must admit I do like Wichita Lineman too as a song.  They did a 15 minute intro live before he sang the first line! It reduced me to tears. 
 
Same thing happened to me with Emmy Lou Harris as well. She knocked my socks off too. The Buddy Rich big band was another gig I don't think I will ever forget either.  Last gig I saw recently was Frank Gambale's Soulmine band. Now the CD's are excellent and very well produced etc but live they were something else. He took it way past the CD. They all stretched way out past the albums. There was an energy on the stage that was just amazing. 
 
At the end of 2014 I saw Tangerine Dream live too and could not believe it either.  As a lover of electronic music and that band in particular I just had to go as they came to Melbourne Australia. The sound live was over the top but the playing live was something else. Lots of live playing not as much sequencing as you would expect either. 
 
So James I have heard that Roger Waters live is something else as well. I don't think you will be disappointed!! I have been listening to Endless River a lot too lately and just love it. It is a very beautiful CD.  Gilmour has out done himself on this I reckon.  I wish those two had worked it out. They should have recorded that album together and done more live gigs before Richard passed away. Floyd is still exceptional in my opinion and no other band actually sounds like them either.
 
And to Beeps you just keep on loving Micheal because he was an incredible talent. I have just finished reading the latest book on him and the level of input and detail he put into his music was over the top. The This is It video is pretty awesome. That band is pretty awesome too.

Hey, Jeff. Sup?
 
Ya, I stopped caring what people thought about my tastes in music many moons ago. When I was right in the center of the hardcore scene I formed a Nirvana tribute with a buddy of mine and whoooo boy that got a lot of ribbing from my stinky mohawked brethrin... but I always kind of liked making those clowns cringe anyway. However we played some gigs at the nasty punk clubs and all of a sudden a lot of those doods begrudgingly became fans (mostly because they'd only been exposed to the hits and not the ultra crunchy stuff which is what I was into).
 
But as far as MJ I remember (I guess about a decade or so now) there was that alt rock cover of Smooth Criminal (Alien Ant Farm?) which was pretty well done but compared to the original was like toddler levels of musicianship/production values.
 
Meh... daddy, the industry and his public just ripped that dude's mind to shreds. Someone should have stepped in and tried to save him early on but I guess there was too much to be gained enabling his growing oddities and isolating him from reality.
 
And we all no how that worked out.
 
Ugh.
 
Cheers.

Great story Jeff, thank you! :)

A few years ago I had a client who's a semi-famous actress (she's been in a couple of network sitcoms and is also a Tony award winner) and at the time she was doing Broadway. She got me tickets to shows she was in. One of them was Wicked, a big multi-million dollar big ass production, and I went thinking damn, this is not my kind of thing at all, I'm gonna have to just grin and bear it. Three hours later I was just totally blown away. It's one thing to see clips of something like that on the TV, but when you're actually there seeing the full extravaganza in front of you and you get a sense of just how talented these people are, it mesmerizes you. The singing, the sets, the lighting, the music, everything. She was also in a non-musical play, August Osage County, and that blew me away as well. It made me realize what a different beast the theater is to movies and television - so much more intimate and immediate. She also got me tickets to see a play that her acting bud Michael McKean (of Spinal Tap) was in, and I really enjoyed that too. I have problems watching movies because I have a short attention span for stories, but seeing stuff on stage held me spellbound for the full duration. I really should go more often. 

I agree sharke. Live theatre is something to experience if only once (but I'll bet most will go again). I find concerts are the same way. I have been told by theatre geeks that it is a collective energy that takes hold of the audience and makes each performance unique. Even with summer stock or community theatre, every audience is different.
 
I can say the only live band concert that changed my mind was Huey Lewis. I didn't really care for them but it was a job. I was a fan afterward though because they were very tight and, while they had a good sound and light show, they didn't simply rely on a bunch of effects. Maybe a little egotistic but they were a good honest band.
 
Then there was AC/DC on the Midnight Special and green windowpane. But, I digress...

DrLumen
I can say the only live band concert that changed my mind was Huey Lewis. I didn't really care for them but it was a job. I was a fan afterward though because they were very tight and, while they had a good sound and light show, they didn't simply rely on a bunch of effects. Maybe a little egotistic but they were a good honest band.

+1
 
I picked up a Huey Lewis 'Live' DVD some years back at an estate sale. Yea, they are a tight band. Really good. Excellent players. Never saw them live though.