The Concert Diaries - That Weird First Post No One Ever Wants to Do

Hi, I'm Courtney. I shoot shows and this is where I'll talk about it. Awkward intro over.

Here's me backstage at the Basement East - as always hiding behind my camera

Like most people, I like to think I have a pretty impeccable taste in music. And if my taste in music isn’t impeccable, it’s at least broad. I’ve gone to more concerts than I can count, from greats like Queen and Beyoncé to local shows from bands that have only performed once before…in their bassist’s basement.

My downfall? I absolutely hate actively listening to new music. I’d be perfectly fine listening to the same four Spotify playlists for the rest of my life. I avoid listening to new albums my all-time favorite artists put out, and only hear new songs when a streaming site forces them on me. Why listen to new songs when you’re still enjoying ones you’ve found over a decade ago? There simply isn’t enough time in the day.

I love the music and artists that I know, but rarely do I branch out in search of new bands. I've created this blog as a way to document my thoughts and feelings that come with listening to a band for the first time - and concerts are an incredible place to do that, so I'll be going to as many shows as I can in order to soak in the new music. Thankfully, I'm in a position where I can not only attend, but also photograph, shows pretty often.

Just a few of my concert favorites

Here’s a fun fact: I once listened to the same song for 3 months. Yeah, you read that right. The song was Novacane by Frank Ocean, and fifteen-year-old me did not even know what Viagra or Coachella was. But this man has the voice of an angel, and the music was oh-so-chill. Novacane was on repeat, on a playlist consisting of that song and that song only.

So now, whenever people recommend a band to me, I think I'm actually going to make an effort to listen to them instead of just saying "Great, I'll check them out!" knowing that I'd probably rather have five teeth pulled than listen to something new.

Rock on, or something like that.

Wish me luck.