I just nabbed my ticket to see the indie-folk act Bon Iver at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C., and am all sorts of thrilled about it for a few reasons. The group has hailstorm of critical buzz going for it, recently recorded an excellent Daytrotter Session (if you haven’t checked out Daytrotter, do it now) and the gig sold out yesterday afternoon. Namely, I’m excited for a rock ‘n’ roll road trip, a chance to spend a few hours in a car anticipating a gig and making a mental setlist.
All this excitement poses a problem, however, because driving from Charlottesville to D.C. to see a concert is the financial equivalent of driving to New York for good pizza. The problem is complicated by the fact that I have two more such trips planned for August, including one to see recent ATO Records client Liz Phair perform Exile in Guyville at the 9:30 Club.
Is bearded rocker Bon Iver worth the price of a ticket and $40 in gas money? Leave your thoughts below for a chance to win concert tickets.
In John Sellers’ book Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life, the author makes a strong case for the rock pilgrimmage as the sign of ultimate commitment to a band as a part of your personality. Neither Bon Iver nor Liz Phair fit that bill for me, but I’ve traveled far for my fair share of bands—notably, from Fredericksburg, Virginia, to Rochester, New York, for a Bob Dylan show.
For me, it boils down to whether a concert is enjoyable enough to justify a few weeks of thrifty living. More specifically, it’s a cost benefit analysis that pits tangibles like musicianship and appeal of the venue (I really don’t like the 9:30 Club, but the Black Cat is my kind of joint) against that intangible, subjective feeling of how satisfying a concert is.
Who would you drive 100 miles to see? Five hundred miles? Leave the country? The first response gets two tickets to Saturday’s show at the Pavilion, featuring bands from the local rock doc Live from…the Hook.
