Musical Tastelessness — Fed at the hand of others
Hat tip to Kevin for today’s writing topic. I doubt I can answer the actual question, but when does that ever get in the way of pontificating needlessly?
The prompt: Median ticket prices are $100. How much would you pay to see your favorite band play at your favorite venue in 10 years? How much would you pay to see your favorite band from 10 years ago play today?
I graduated high ten years ago. And while I was (more?) musically naive then than I am now — at least I am ten years longer in the tooth now — my musical taste certainly has not improved over the last decade.
I always admire my friends who can share “the hot new song” with me. It is always the same few friends that harvest this new crop of music and then hawk them to my Bambi-esque musical tastes (though admittedly, in the heyday of Spotify, this huckster approach is less present)
Music has always been an enigma to me. I am a passive person by nature, but when it comes to music, I am even more deferential. An example will help. I changed schools in sixth grade. That transition had the largest influence on how I am today as a person, and 95% of that change is positive. However, at the time I was a pre-teen boy facing the awkwardness of puberty. So, hello, awkwardness and insecurity. How does this fit in with my musical tests?
Well, let me explain. I grew up listening to my parents’ music (as all kids inevitably do). Paul Simon and The Spinners occupied the CD player in the car, so to this day I love both artists. Glenn Miller made an appearance and “In the Mood” is still something I listen to frequently. Sure, I had my “own” music. My first CD was Millenium by the Backstreet Boys. Not great. The second, Astro Lounge by Allstar — much better. But none of this music was actually mine. It came from Now! CDs and friends discovering music for me.
So, back to 6th grade. There was a catchy tune on the radio at school (?) — I don’t remember how it was played since the radio at school wasn’t a thing, maybe someone’s phone, who knows — and I turned to one of the cool guys in my grade and sheepishly admitted I didn’t know the song. “Oh yeah, it’s a Green Day song” was the response I got.
I had never heard of Green Day, but not wanting to look dumb in front of my new classmates, I waited until after school to find out. In the car on the way home I asked my Dad what Green Day was, thinking it was an actual day (like maybe a more color-focused Earth Day). He had no idea. I can’t remember when I found out that Green Day was a band. But you can bet I bought a lot of their music on i-Tunes the day I did. My subsequent musical tastes evolved similarly. At least in the world of AI-recommended playlists, a computer can be the one to show me new music with the band name so I don’t feel like a complete American Idiot.
So, to answer Kevin’s question. My taste in music is pretty bad and based on the opinion of others that you could probably convince me of half a dozen bands being my favorite right now. Same thing ten years ago.
With that preamble aside, my answers are as follows:
Favorite band ten years ago: Pretty Lights?
Price I would pay to see him live now: $20 (if I happened to be at Denver, the concert was at Red Rocks, I had my high school friends with me and we were all pretending we were 18 again). Otherwise, $0. The other potential answer is Macklemore. The $0 price remains the same.
Favorite Band now: Mandolin Orange?
Price I would pay now to see them live in 10 years: Adjusting for inflation and assuming relatively equal vocal and acoustic quality to venues and voices; assuming the world is no longer in a global pandemic; assuming that traveling to the venue is covered; assuming that the band's music either a) continues on the same path in terms of quality, or b) Mando exclusively play the songs I like now; assuming that this is a nostalgic music tour; assuming I have my friends that I listen to the band with now; assuming the venue still serves whiskey: $75.
