Not a fan of attending live concerts

LITTLE ROCK — I’ve never been much on going to live concerts.

Even when I was a teenager (many, many, many moons ago), I wasn’t excited about them.

Not that I didn’t attend a few with my friends or a date.

They were more fun then when I wasn’t worried about hearing damage.

I can count on one hand, OK, two hands, how many concerts I’ve attended.

In the old days, (I mean precellphones), I went to see Bob Seger (pretty cool, actually - he swung out over the audience); a group that at this very moment I cannot think of the name of, and I really liked them (I remember what I wore - a jumpsuit - awesome); Chicago; the Temptations;

and the Four Tops.

I hate to admit it, but when I was in college, I went with a friend to see Air Supply.

And me t t he m af te r w ard.

Woo-hoo. One of the guys actually asked us if we wanted to go “party.” Goody-Two-Shoes here spoke up quickly and said, “No, I have class tomorrow.” My friend kissed one of them.

I had no desire.

I also saw Rick Springfield in concert and Michael Bolton (I maintain that he can sing; he just can’t dance.) A few years ago, I saw David Cook, the former American Idol, on stage at the University of Central Arkansas.

I loved him on TV, but live, I thought he seemed cocky, and his music was too loud. I ended up going to the lobby to rest my ears and buy a T-shirt.

(Come to think of it, having middle-age women and teenagers throw themselves at you might account for the cockiness.)My husband loves Jimmy Buffett, but I have never been much of a fan.

I like “Come Monday,” and who doesn’t sing along with “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” but I wouldn’t pay money to see him.

My brother took my husband to a Jimmy Buffett concert in Dallas for my husband’s 50th birthday.

This year, I saw that Jimmy is coming to Little Rock in March.

My husband’s birthday is coming up, so I thought I’d surprise him with tickets.

He didn’t let me get that far.

He mentioned it and told me tickets went on sale on a recent Saturday morning. My Parrothead husband was going with his brother and sister-in-law.

He had a plan. I’d get on the computer and try to buy tickets; he’d be on the laptop.

That way, one of us wouldsurely get good seats. The good ones were only $150. GASP!

As cheap as he is, if he’s gonna go, he wants to have a good seat. I agree.

So, we got in our positions and as the clock struck 10, we both started trying. First, you had to type in some stupid squiggly words that I could barely read.

We both got on the site, and some tickets came up. We had only two minutes to decide.

I panicked, and was yelling, “Do you want these?!”

He opened another window on the laptop to see if he could do better, and I started hitting “continue,” panic rising.

“TIME’S ALMOST OUT - DO YOU WANT ME TO GET THEM?”

He said, “Sure,” and with a fe w ke y st rokes, I had purchased three tickets andcharged them to our credit card.

Whew. When we looked five minutes later, the sections we wanted were sold out.

I read that the entire concert sold out in 90 minutes - only Hannah Montana was a faster sellout at the arena.

I can say proudly that I have never, and will never, go to a Hannah Montana concert.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.

com.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 145 on 01/29/2012

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