For the typical college student, money was hard to come by. Many looked ahead to student debt or spent their remaining dollars on McDonald’s fries as a reward for studying. Despite financial limits, students often spent anywhere from $30 to $300 on tickets to attend live music concerts.
Maci Hommes, sophomore communication studies major, has attended 27 concerts and counting.
“I don’t ever really have a time where I don’t have one planned ahead of time.” Hommes said. “Like, I never just not have a concert coming up.”
Hommes said she had spent as little as $15 and as much as $500 on tickets to see artists such as Noah Kahan and Taylor Swift.
“I personally am not a materialistic person,” She said. “So I’d rather experience things than buy things.”
At a live concert, the crowd had the opportunity to sing together and experience lights, stage effects and vocals in a shared setting.
“I feel like you kind of escape the world for a minute and get to just dance and have fun with your friends and your family,” Hommes said.
Maryann Garberoglio, sophomore nursing major, also attended concerts often, going to about two to four live concerts or music festivals per year. She said the appeal of these experiences was primarily the environment.
“There is something so special about being together with a group of people that all share the same interest and love for music as you,” Garberoglio said.
A study from the University of Lapland on adolescents’ concert attendance agreed that community was a central aspect of live music events.
“… Attendees celebrate together and develop a temporary emotional “we mode” through their bodily expressions during the musical performances,” the study stated.
The study also found that 39% of young concert attendees went for the atmosphere, “followed by the importance of music (likes music, 35%; likes live music, 28%).”
Garberoglio, who has spent as much as $315 on a ticket, said the cost was worth it because of the performance and the shared experience.
“I [am a] huge lover of music and the artists I go see, [so] to me seeing them perform is an art type,” Garberoglio said. “[It’s] an absolutely electric feeling that negates the cost of the ticket and the cost of getting to and from there.”
Lights moved across the arena, bass vibrated through the crowd and melodies resonated deeply. The power of live music created lasting memories for young concertgoers.
“… I think that you have that memory forever,” Hommes concluded, “and that’s really important to me, being able to go to concerts with friends or family. It’s a memory that I get to have forever with them.”
The motivation behind spending money on concerts was rooted in creating core memories and escaping daily routine. Whether a few hours or a weekend-long event, live music provided students with a worthwhile experience that outweighed the cost of attending.
