Concert tickets can be expensive, but they’re not a waste of money.
Venues offer tickets with different prices depending on how close you are to the artist and if you can go to a meet and greet. Traveling to the concert is an additional expense to consider.
Although some people can’t justify spending a large amount of money on a concert ticket, I would rather spend a lot of money to interact with the artist and be really close to the stage.
When Taylor Swift went on her Reputation tour in 2018, I went to her show in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium. My tickets were a couple hundred dollars and I was in the fourth row. I was so close to the stage, and I got amazing photos of her. I remember her telling us she was so happy because we broke the attendance record. I could see the emotion on her face, without looking at the big screen, on the stage. It was one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had.
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve made a friend in the crowd at a concert. I saw The Driver Era in Chicago in 2017, and I held hands with the girl next to me and screamed the lyrics to their songs together the whole night. I never got her number, so I haven’t talked to her since that night, but I will always remember that experience of having a friend during that concert.
“Concerts are such a fun atmosphere,” IU sophomore Liz McRanor said. “I’m always meeting new people and seeing the people you idolize in person and seeing that they are actually real is an experience I love.”
Instead of thinking of it as paying to hear the music, people need to think of it as paying for an experience. People who are in the first row are going to have a much different experience than someone in the nosebleed section.
“In my mind, concerts are absolutely worth the money,” McRanor said. “Seeing music performed live is something that I think is so cool and I feel like I would rather pay for cool experiences than material items.”
Traveling for concerts is not just an additional cost but part of the concert experience.
“I have seen my favorite band LANY 12 times,” IU sophomore Shayley Stumpf said. “I once flew to Los Angeles to see them two nights in a row.”
It feels like barely any artists come to Indiana, so I’ve taken many road trips to Chicago for concerts. My mom and I have a tradition of eating double cheeseburgers from McDonald’s in the car on the way back and talking about the concert.
Concerts can also be a great place to escape. No matter what is going on in your life, the second the lights go down, all of your other responsibilities are temporarily gone.
“They are my happy place,” Stumpf said. “There's nothing a good concert can’t fix for me. The energy in the air is what I think life is meant to feel like.”
Don’t feel like you have to spend a lot of money on concert tickets to have a good time because that is not always the case. Depending on the artist, ticket prices can get pretty expensive. You don’t have to spend a whole month's rent to see them in concert.
But if you like the artist and can afford nice seats, I say spoil yourself. I have never regretted spending more money for better seats at a concert.
Olivia Franklin (she/her) is a junior studying journalism with a minor in political science. She is a member of the swim club at IU and the Women in Media organization.
