I've walked from the parking lot to the arena for King Diamond, Candlemass and Nocturnal Rites. That's how far I'm willing to go for my favourite bands.

I took a 40 min train ride to watch Mayhem a few years back...

Also, I've spent alot of money buying the music of various bands, having (nearly) complete discographies for several bands, at least their full-lengths.

Well, I would fucking hope so.

40 minutes, wow, you sure are dedicated!

And spending money to buy CDs from your favorite bands is a sign of utmost dedication today? I guess so...

Okay, my post was lame, and not appropriate for this thread. Still, you guys are not always nice.



Sarcasm is lame. I was thinking about my longest travel to see a concert, and I amusingly found it to be merely 40 minutes with a train. I did not wear that fact as a badge of dedication, as your lame sarcasm implied.



Sarcasm is still lame, especially with misrepresentation. I said alot of money. Meaning, a large part of my income. Not that it is any of your business, but I don't have the income to buy albums regularly and still keep the budget. Meaning, buying albums is a big deal for me.



How is that any concern of yours? At all?

I toyed with the idea of flying out to Norway to see Solefald play live for the first time in 2013 - as I had been planning to take such a trip someday - but finances weren't in the right spot and I had just started a new job.

To be honest, I have to give my dad credit for "going far" and driving a good 3 hours through Chicago traffic to get me to Sonata Arctica when I was in high school, given the number of parents I know who don't give two shits what their kids listen to. Though he has always enjoyed road trips and exploring cities.

+1 to this in a sense - when i was 15, my parents funded a trip for me to go and see pantera in sydney, which was an 8-hour train ride away. they paid for my concert ticket, my transport back and forth, accommodation, etc. in hindsight, it probably cost them around $400. and the next year, they did the same when i wanted to go see slayer. should thank them for that, i guess.

I'd travel as far as I needed to see an Edguy show in the UK. They usually play Manchester, which isn't far from me (Liverpool) so it's not a problem. If, hypothetically, they only played London, then I wouldn't hesitate to book a hotel and go and see the show. I might consider travelling further (eg Europe) if they did some special shows (like the anniversary shows in 2002 and 2007).

I've been to multiple shows on the same tour before. Not sure if I'd do it again unless the setlist got shaken up a bit each night (currently doing this with Tori Amos because she changes things up and she's just ace in general).

A story I haven't told in a while....

When my ex-wife and I were dating (1999) we drove from Frederick, MD to San Antonio, TX to visit a good friend of ours who happened to be a really good friend of King Diamond's. We stayed for a couple of weeks. On Sunday, April 18, 1999 we drove another 5 hours to King Diamond's house and spent the day hanging out at his house in Frisco, TX. So, I guess I drove a total of 3200+ miles round trip to see King Diamond.

That...is freaking AWESOME!

Yeah...a total "WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!" moment to say the least. We got to hear 9 (Mercyful Fate) before it came out and we got to hear a CD-R of this awesome rehearsal tape of his pre-Mercyful Fate band, Black Rose.

There was a interview done with King around the time the Black Rose album came out and he explained that a couple of fans heard the CDR and begged him to release it. hehehehe that was cool too.

After finally convincing my wife that Iron Maiden would never come to New Zealand so I should go to Melbourne in Australia (1500 miles flight) for the Somewhere Back On Tour gig. Great concert, and then a month or so later they announced a New Zealand tour and a gig in my home town of Christchurch.

Similar with Boris, I flew to Perth in Australia (3000 miles). A few days after I had paid for all the tickets they announced a few shows in New Zealand.

I think I can't go any further with my favorite band Rytmihäiriö.
I followed them for 3 years pretty much anywhere I could go (I was underage most of that time) and when I turned 18 I followed them even more.
When I turned 19 I joined as a crew member selling merchandise. Nowadays I work for them as driver, roadie and merchandise.

Also from that job during the help of Janne (their guitarist) I'm working also for Barren Earth and possibly for Moonsorrow.

Then there is this local grindcore band Cut To Fit.
Late I have become their driver and this year I started booking shows for them.

I spend 200€ to see Black Sabbath but then happened these shitty things and the tour was changed to be "Ozzy & Friends".
I couldn't return the tickets and wasn't willing to lose 200€ so I went there and it sucked some serious ass.

Where did he talk about that? That would be great!

Tough call. My favourite band is something that changes often, and I've been lucky to see most of the ones that I consider my favourites live several times (those that tour, at least), to have picked up merch/limited records/etc. There's a few for which I'd travel the length of the country (UK) to go see though, even to London, and it's difficult to put in to words how much I hate going there.

That said, I'm at an age now where I have responsibilities, and can't really afford to quit a job to go to gigs as I may have done in the past.

I totally hear you. That is one of the drawbacks of 'growing up' goddammit. I've missed many shows that I really would have liked to see over the years, simply because I couldn't fucking do it. I had the dough, just not the time.

I guess I've lucked out in that regard, because despite just starting a full-time job I live near Chicago where a lot of bands pass through and they almost always play on weekends.

I'm only a few hours from Chicago. The problem is that I REALLY dislike driving there. My wife and I go there to visit from time to time, but it is not a spot I choose to drive to for a show. If I were younger, yes, I could see myself doing it. Now? No thanks.

I don't necessarily have a "favorite band" but I drove nearly 800 miles to see Agalloch play their CD release show for AAtG in Portland Oregon. Waldteufel and Wolves in the Throne Room opened up for them which was my first exposure to both bands as well, and the show was really enjoyable over all. I had wanted to take a trip to Portland for a while anyway, so it was pretty convenient when Agalloch announced the dates for their small tour. This was back when Agalloch rarely played shows, so I felt like I couldn't pass up the chance to see them play live because it felt like a rare opportunity. It seems like they have toured more ever since AAtG which is cool I guess.

Ah yeah, traffic can be shitty. I only live about half an hour away as the crow flies, but I normally just drive 15 minutes to the nearest train station and take that the rest of the way in so I don't have to deal with the clusterfuck of rush hour traffic closer to the city.

I've been to shows all over California but I don't think I've driven over 2-3 hours specifically to see a band. If I'm going out of town I'll always check to see if anyone is playing in the area so I can catch them during the trip, it tends to work out pretty well. For a couple years I pretty much spent every paycheck on tickets to shows and gas so I could drive all over the bay area, mostly by myself, to gigs. Sometimes I ended up in some kinda sketchy places. During this one Cro-Mags show some tweakers smashed my truck window with a brick and stole my knife and flannel but that was just bad luck, car window smash and grabs are like a fucking epidemic in San Francisco. Another time when I was pretty young and inexperienced with driving in the City I went to see Motörhead by myself and ended up parking like an hours walk from the venue because I just had no idea what I was doing.

A few years ago some Sarcófago "tour dates" got announced (I think they were supposedly just LA and NY) and I frantically started planning the logistics of a trip to Los Angeles; taking time off work, calculating gas prices vs plane tickets, and calling friends down there for a place to stay. It was revealed to be a hoax or something by, I think, the next day.
That would have been the furthest, and god damn I'd have done it without hesitation. Oh well. Later on I think a very similar thing happened with Sodom (the tour dates were real but they had to cancel if I remember correctly).

That wasn't at the Pound was it? I lost 2 windows to that parking lot in as many years. Only place in the city I've ever had any issue

Thee Park actually. Decently well light street, not a terrible area. It's kind of funny, in San Francisco with enough time there's just a good chance it'll happen to you. That was a cold ride home though! Over the bridge with no fucking window.

Seen Satyricon at least 10 times on the Nero tour, throughout Europe.

Seen Priest 4 times on the Epitaph.

Waited to speak with Frost after a gig in Essen, 3 hours in the rain. That was incredibly silly of me, since my teeth were clutching and I could barely utter a word. Plus I had talked to him previously in Greece.

Only the London Satyricon gig in 2009 cost me $2000, with hotels and delayed Christmas flights.
Not worth it of course; especially given how lame they are now. Went to see them in Berlin last year. Yawn.

Wish I could've seen Priest in Hammersmith or at High Voltage 10 times, instead.

Highlight of Berlin gig

Wouldn't say that any of these bands are particularly my favorite, but a few summers ago a buddy of mine and I drove 10 hours in the middle of the night from the Chicago suburbs to Buffalo for this. We ended up doing it totally last minute too and it was quite a good time.

The only really long trips I've made are from Georgia to Maryland for MDF. That said, having to drive over four hours round trip from here to Atlanta for every fucking show gets really old, and as of now I simply can't afford it. Again, that's not an epic journey, but it adds up fast, and besides, I hate that drive, and I always seem to come close to falling asleep on it. @_@

Amon Amarth are my favaourite band & have been for over a decade.

I have a fairly big tatt on my back of Thor's Hammer with the Amon Amarth logo across it, i went to Germany to see the Bloodshed over Bochum gigs they did (First 4 albums, 1 album each night, holy fuck that was the best thing ever), i usually go to 2-3 States when they tour Australia. & I probably have one of the biggest amon amarth collections in Australia, if not the biggest, i might even be up there with one of the biggest AA collections in the world! hah, who knows.

Definatley all worth it.

I've always been a bit surprised about how many AA fans like this their are. I know a girl who has seen them 30+ times, for most of which she drove 8+ hours. Their music isn't bad by any means, but they generally have the same setlists and so much of their music is very samey to begin with.

Here in the Netherlands you don't have to travel far to see bands play. I also don't live far from the most important cities concert-wise (Tilburg, Eindhoven, Utrecht, Nijmegen Arnhem are all less than a 2 hour trip for me).

I did once travel to Bremen which is in the northwest of Germany which took me about 3.5 hours (362 km) to see Katatonia open for Porcupine Tree and then leave because Porcupine Tree were boring. Also went to see Empyrium in Bochum but that was only a 2 hour long trip. A month or two ago I went to Brussels to see Mgla, One Tail, One Head, Svartidaudi and Verbum Verus but that was also less than a two hour drive. Apart from that, I went to Slovenia (metal days) by tourbus, but a festival doesn't count because I didn't go to just see a single band. Most bands tour through NL, so theres no need in doing that.

Off-topic, but I was there, great show by Mgla!
I even had my arm in a sling, having undergone wrist surgery the same day... that also counts as dedication, right? ^^

OP: 250 euros? Jesus Christ, never in hell would I pay anything like that to watch a band... I saw them in Barcelona on that tour and Megadeth were shit as well, but Maiden were amazing, as always...
I'm not that fanatical about anyone, I've pretty much seen most of the bands I HAVE to see in this lifetime (missing Deicide, Gorgoroth, Toxic Holocaust and a few others, but I wouldn't go to ridiculous extremes to watch them).
I went through the obligatory Maiden fanaticism when I first started out, with loads of posters and shirts, but that blew over a long time ago and now I just stick to collecting the studio albums.
I have The Exploited, DRI and... Maiden tattoos, I suppose that's the most extreme show of fanaticism I'm likely to do.

I traveled about 3 hours to see Crowbar played up north in Flagstaff Arizona (it was their only Arizona stop). It was good show, Prong and Witchburn opened up for them, it such a shame that it was less then 50 people at the show but at the same it was worth it.

I've gone to Colorado Springs a few times from Denver (where I live). That's about as far as I'll go.

Oh definitely! I've seen Mgla before on Aurora Infernalis festival in Arnhem, but I thought they were better when I saw them in Brussels. Still, Svartidaudi were the ones who truly blew me away. It was possibly the most powerful permormance I ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

Haha, that surely counts as dedication!

Seven years later the Mr. Bungle reunion tour actually happened. Was only an hour long bus ride and $45. Grateful.

I will probably miss the next Iron Maiden show in Finland. They play in a festival, and one day ticket is 100€. Lovely.

I have gone to Germany and Estonia from Finland to see Maiden, but... One day ticket 100€ !!! Too much in my opinion.

Non-Metal (and favourite overall) is Bruce Springsteen. I've seen him 25 times in total, including travelling numerous places (some very far away like Italy) and also insane trips like flying in and out of Boston in a 20 hour period and driving around the northeast to follow him on last 4 shows of his tour in 2014. He hasn't toured since 2017, but you can bet when he does next, I'll be cramming in as many shows as possible before he retires.

My favourite metal band is Metallica (not very kvlt but whatever) I've seen them 11 times, and I've mostly done shows within an 8 hour drive of where I live.

I once planned a trip to Ireland around Anathema. I wanted to see one of those shows they were doing with all the former members and songs they hadn't played in years in 2015.

Still dreaming of doing Wacken one year. I plan almost all my big, big vacations around concerts.

Wow, just noticed this thread was resurrected from 2014.

If Deathspell Omega said they were going to put on a few shows 5000 miles away I would immediately start booking my trip. If they only played Furnaces of Palingenesia I would be slightly disappointed.

BJs

Im not much into live shows so I wouldn't really travel just to se a band. I like albums and thats probabaly as far as I'll go. I was never a huge fan who wanted all the merch. I used to wear band shirts years ago but don't anymore. So yeah, I like studio albums and I go to the occational live show (2-3 times a year at most) but nothing else.

I'm just not a fanboy type person. I've met people who meant much to me during my childhood and teens (some in the music business) and even though I love their music I never reacted strongly when meeting them. Some are very nice people but I don't really value meeting them much different than other really nice people.