I've met amazing people at shows over the years. I met a dude at random at a Nonpoint show in Joliet, Illinois in 2011. I got to the show early to catch the opening bands and ending up sitting next to these two dudes in front of the bar, who were actually brothers, and we all started chatting and making fun of how lame one of the openers was. We hung out for the duration of the show, talked about music. The one brother, Shaun, his favorite band was Nonpoint and he had seen them dozens of times over the years. The show ended, we said our farewells, and I added Shaun on Facebook so we could keep in touch
Nearly exactly a year later, Nonpoint played another show at the same venue. Shaun and I hung out again and caught up on the last year of our lives, and we also both met a couple of other guys for the first time who were also die hard Nonpoint fans. Not too long after that, Shaun invited me to take a trip down to Springfield to catch a show. Fast forward a decade, Shaun has been one of my best friends for years. He now works for Nonpoint directly, and also helps run a hugely successful fan group with the two other dudes we met at the show 10 years ago. Shaun and I still love shitting all over bad opening acts to this day, and we're also planning on launching a music podcast next year, mainly just so we have more chances to talk and make each other laugh.
Also, December 2018, I had just moved to Atlanta 2 months prior. Sevendust was playing a trio of hometown shows downtown, the final one being on NYE. I went to all 3, but during the last show I went to check out merch booth shortly after I arrived. I'm just standing there, deciding what I want to buy, when I hear a voice next to me say "which hoodie design do you like more?" I turned to see where this voice came from and saw one of the most drop-dead beautiful women I had ever laid my eyes on. We hung out until 4 am and bonded over Sevendust being our favorite band, walked around the city and got lost for awhile, but had an amazing time. Unfortunately, she was only in town for the shows; she actually lived in Denver. Despite that, we met up for a lunch date the following day before she had to leave. To keep the story short, we ended up in a long-distance relationship. The distance was brutal but we made it work, or I should say, I made it work for over 3 years. Sadly we ended things earlier this year, but I still look at going to that concert as an absolutely pivotal moment in my life. Despite the heartbreak, I wouldn't change a thing.
Concerts can be an amazing experience for a variety of reason, with the music sometimes being secondary. I've been to hundreds of shows over the last 18 years and have plenty of encounters with random assholes and weirdos and temporary friends. I've even met some of my idols. Nothing will ever top those two shows though.
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