Conor Goodwin
Reporter
Since early April, students had circled their calendars to attend the Dave Mathews Band concert on Friday, May 28. Throughout the spring and summer, a variety of concerts have occurred and will be occurring and are popularly attended because of both the music and the party. This raises the question, are the concerts just a four hour party or two hours to enjoy the live performance?
“Who’s Dave?” junior Grayson Cordes replied when asked if he was a fan of Dave Mathews Band. Grayson is one of many students who had attended the concert at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut this past weekend. “I was completely unfamiliar with the music, but I went since all my friends went and it was such a fun experience the year before,” he said.
It seems that the reasons students attend concerts vary from the social experience, to actually listening to and enjoying the music. Senior Charlie Kelly, a loyal DMB fan, has noticed that the majority of students who attended DMB for the social experience purchase tickets that are meant to be sold to fans of the band. “I personally go for the music because they’re my favorite band and they put on a great show,” he said. “It does bug me a little bit when tickets are sold out and many students that are attending the concert have no interest in the music, while fans like myself can’t get the tickets for the reason people are actually supposed to go for.”
There are some cases in which those who attend for the party end up liking the music and become fans of the band. “I originally went to DMB because everyone was going and I knew it would be a good time, but when I listened to the music I really liked what I heard,” junior Patrick Hagerty said. “I downloaded some of the songs they performed and I’ve been listening to them a lot.”
Junior Cassidy Dumbauld is one of the students who chooses to attend concerts for the social opportunities rather than the musical experience. “Although many times I do enjoy the music at concerts, I mainly attend because it’s a fun time to hang out with my friends and a good opportunity to meet new people,” she said.
Although senior Katherine Roper agrees that many students focus on the social experience over listening to the performance of the band, she recognizes that many do go for the music. “I think people go more for the environment to hang out with their friends and have a good time. But in the case of DMB, I have gone the past two years and there are fans that I have run into and talked with about how much we appreciate the music,” she said.
Concerts tend to be chaotic, but it depends on the location and performance. Even more complicated than the actual concert, however, is getting there. “Organizing a ride is usually really difficult and stressful,” senior Emily Ely said, speaking of the bus she organized as a ride to DMB. “People change their minds all the time about whether they’re going or not, and it’s hard to keep track of so many heads.”
Junior Mackenzie Aquino agreed, but also stated that the effort would be worth it. “It’s really annoying a couple weeks before the concert, but on the day of, I know that everyone’s going to have fun and it’s going to be a great time,” she said.
For those who aren’t willing to travel great distances to attend a concert, Alive at 5 occurs in Stamford every Thursday. Senior Bridget Maguire saw Smashmouth perform last summer. “It was very fun and very diverse. People came from all different towns, and it was a high energy feel with generally an impressive soundtrack,” she said. “The music was very upbeat and entertaining, but there was a big party atmosphere as well.”
After the summer concert season comes to a close, more prevalent fans seem to attend musical performances. “I went to Ohio to see Wiz Khalifa, Jay-Z, and Kid Cudi this past February; I came in looking forward to the party, but it turned out to be one of the best concerts I’ve ever been too,” junior Christian Cottington said. “It was a combination of a good party and a good concert, it was perfect.”
