Everyone can probably think of at least one concert addict in their lives. You know, those people whose Instagram feeds are full of pictures of stages and various musicians you may have never heard of, and those people constantly tweeting top artists about tour dates with pictures of count downs to the next show.
Maybe you are actually one of those people, or maybe you are absolutely baffled by those people because you just don't get it. Either way, concert addiction is a pretty difficult concept to understand, but once you've been subjected to it, you'll see why these poor souls are so unwilling to kick the habit.
As an avid music lover, I have definitely been to my fair share of live shows. Concerts are probably my favorite hobby, and I am constantly asked by many people why that is. Some of the most popular questions tend to go something like, "why would you pay to hear songs you can just listen to online?" or "you've seen that artist already, why would you pay to see them again?"
My answer is simple: because for someone who is as passionate about music as I am, there is no better place on Earth than a venue filled with a crowd of people who share that same passion.
Concerts aren't just paying money to see a musician sing some songs you may have heard on the radio a few times. Concerts are about community. They're about screaming the lyrics to your favorite songs along with a crowd of 20,000 people and watching the person who wrote them's face light up because they didn't expect everyone to know the words.
Concerts are about spending a night dancing like no one is watching with your best friends in a room filled with people who are doing just the same.
They're about meeting new people at shows that you would have never met if it weren't for your shared love for the same music or the artist that produced it and having them become your best friends.
Concerts present the opportunity to travel to places you have never been just to do something that you love and feeling so at home in a place so far away.
It's about that rush of adrenaline when the lights go down, the crowd erupts with excited screams, and one of your favorite artists takes the stage in front of you.
They're about that two hours you spend singing along to every song, laughing at all of the singer's jokes, dancing with strangers like they're your best friend, and not being able to wipe the smile off your face because you're sure that you've never been happier in your entire life.
Music is truly a special gift that we have the privilege to enjoy, and hearing that music performed live is an experience that is just indescribable. So yeah, concert tickets cost money. Some may cost $10 and some may cost $400. But the experiences those tickets give the buyer is something that is absolutely priceless.
For the addict, concert addiction presents the opportunity for adventure, excitement, and overwhelming blissfulness. Many people don't understand the concept, but that is just fine with me. Because I know my pay-offs greatly outweigh the costs, and for me, concert addiction is definitely a burden I don't mind bearing.
