Is going to concerts really a hobby?
Or are you just paying to listen to your Spotify playlist?
2024 was the year of concerts. Almost everyone in the pop genre went on a world tour, most of them breaking their attendance records by double or triple compared to their previous rounds around (a part of) the globe. I cannot really explain the phenomenon other than by stating that going to concerts is now cooler than ever before.
“You had to have been there” isn’t really the case anymore
Thanks to TikTok, Instagram Stories and other forms of social media, concerts don’t seem like a once-in-a-lifetime, never to be repeated experience. One could always go onto TikTok anytime of the day and search up any concert, to find hundreds of videos of the concert itself, funny moments from the show, the set list and the exact times the artist does what in a show.
While the online-ification of a concert experience has destroyed the uniqueness of a concert experience, it has allowed way more people to enjoy their favourite music even after the fact.
I feel at home at concerts
I personally love going to concerts. I always tell people that going to concerts is one of my favourite hobbies because it combines my favourite things. Listening to music I’ve adored for years, singing and dancing to it and witnessing an amazing live-production.
To me, going to concerts is just as much a hobby as reading and watching movies is. It’s an experience that makes memories I will hopefully have for a lifetime.
Making a day out of it
Most concerts are in the evening. However, I just love making a full day out of the concert, to elongate the experience as much as possible. Getting ready and theming my outfit around the artists vibe, listening to the setlist and some of the openers music, grabbing a bite to eat beforehand and getting there like an hour before the opener starts to look at merch and explore the venue.
My concert highlights this past year
I love going to concerts. I enjoy going to a concert on my own, but I also love singing and dancing around with my loved ones. This year I went to six concerts, varying in all of their attributes. I went and saw four German indie artists. Which had an attendance of 500-7.000 people. I went and saw Role Model this past week in a venue that housed 1.000 people. Oh and then I went and saw Taylor Swift at The Eras Tour.
I loved each and every experience. From standing in the pouring rain with my friends waiting for the next artist at a festival, over camping out for hours to see my childhood hero, to going to concerts solo and singing out my heart to the album of my friendship breakup. I couldn’t possibly choose a favourite, so decided to just leave you a picture from some of the concerts I went to!
Going to concerts *is* a hobby!
Crowds, loud noises, long wait-times and queues everywhere. Whilst those are some of the faults one could see in going to concerts, for me those couldn’t ruin it. I love the anticipation of going to concerts, the months of build up and then the day finally being there. Listening to my favourite artists music live and just enjoying the moment!
To me all of those this accumulate to one of my favourite hobbies.
Did you go to any concerts this year? If so, which one was it? I’d love to hear about it!
Love,
Sabrina