Why I keep the tickets, buy another one, and cry when the moment hits.

I have a box full of concert tickets.

Actual tickets. The paper kind. Remember those?

Duran Duran. Def Leppard. Depeche Mode. New Kids on the Block. Shows I had almost forgotten about until I started pulling everything out and realized just how many little pieces of my life I had saved.

I also have CDs. Autographs. Old photos. Concert programs. Signed albums. And now there may be a couple of signed bass guitars in the mix.

I am not a hoarder.

I just apparently believe that if something has a memory attached to it, it can never be thrown away. 😂

But looking through all of it got me thinking about why I keep these things. And why, after all these years and all these concerts, I still get ridiculously excited when tickets go on sale.

I think it’s because I don’t go to concerts just to hear the music.

I go to feel it.

Before There Were Phones

My love of live music started long before we had a camera in our hands at all times.

I was a teenager when I met Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block.

There is no selfie to prove it because phones weren’t a thing.

But I have the autograph.

Of course I do.

And apparently I have a New Kids concert ticket from 1990 too, because young Wendi already understood something 50-year-old Wendi is finally putting into words:

Sometimes the things we keep become the stories we get to tell later.

Maybe I wasn’t keeping stuff.

Maybe I was keeping receipts from my life.

I was a Joey girl back then. As an adult, I have grown into a Donnie girl. We should probably unpack that another day. 😂

I’ve also seen NKOTB plenty of times as an adult, including dragging, excuse me, bringing, Dan to Tampa with Lisa a couple of summers ago. He questioned some of his life choices that evening, although Paula Abdul opening and the rather impressive women-to-men ratio seemed to help.

And then there is Duran Duran.

They aren’t just a band I like. They are woven through decades of my life.

I’ve seen them over and over again, sometimes traveling with Jenny to Florida, California and Las Vegas because apparently seeing your favorite band locally isn’t always enough.

There are pictures of us at shows. There are ticket stubs. There are CDs.

And every time those first notes hit, I’m still that girl who fell in love with them in the first place.

Maybe that’s one of the things I love most about live music.

For a couple of hours, every version of you gets to show up.

Then I Fell in Love With a Bass Player

Music was already a huge part of my life when I met Dan.

We sing. We dance. We scream. We exchange those looks when that song starts. We grab each other’s hands when a moment means something.

And yes, we cry.

Both of us.

We are ridiculously sentimental people.

After we got married and were introduced as Mr. and Mrs., we walked in to Madonna’s Crazy for You. So when we finally saw Madonna live and she sang it, there was absolutely no chance I was getting through that without tearing up.

Neither was Dan.

That concert was Madonna through the years. She looked amazing. We sang. Dan cried. I cried. We held hands.

It wasn’t just hearing Madonna perform a song.

For a few minutes, we were back at our wedding.

That’s what music does.

And Sometimes Things Get a Little Ridiculous

Of course, when you combine our love of music with Dan’s complete inability to behave like a normal person around an opportunity, things occasionally escalate.

Case in point: Nikki Sixx.

Dan found a private meet-and-greet opportunity with one of his fellow bassists, because apparently that’s how I now describe Nikki Sixx.

And it was… normal.

We talked about kids. Business. Sharpie markers. A little music.

Dan gave him an On the Rocks! challenge coin. Nikki signed a bass. Dan later played that bass at an OTR show for Kickstart My Heart, and it has been safely tucked in its case ever since.

Because we’re sentimental.

And maybe slightly insane.

When Mötley Crüe toured again, Dan decided our first Nikki experience had been too much about him. I didn’t feel that way at all, but he wanted me to have the experience, and a “hers”signed bass.

Nikki may have remembered us.

Or maybe he’s just really good at making people feel like he remembers them.

Either way, he played it well. 😂

And now there are two signed basses.

Totally normal household decor.

And there’s something on that bass I hadn’t really thought about until I started putting this story together.

Nikki wrote:

“Live in the moment. Moments make history.”

Well… apparently we took that literally.

Have You Met Dan?

Then there was The Killers.

Dan was speaking at a conference. One of the private events featured The Killers.

We got to meet them for a photo opp.

No autographs.

Have you met Dan?

He brought an album.

He made friends with some influential people.

And somehow he walked away with the album signed by the entire band.

Meanwhile, I was busy talking to the drummer when it was time for the photo, so the photographic evidence makes it look like Dan completely bumped me out of the picture in favor of his newly signed album.

Priorities. 😂

It is one of my favorite concert-related pictures because it tells the story perfectly.

The Songs Become Something Else

That’s the thing about seeing music live.

The songs stop being only songs.

Crazy for You becomes our wedding.

Duran Duran can take me back decades in a few notes.

Mötley Crüe somehow becomes bass guitars and stories we’ll probably tell forever.

A concert isn’t simply an artist playing the songs you already know.

The songs collect people.

They collect places.

They collect moments.

And sometimes, they collect people who aren’t there anymore.

And Then Garth Played Piano Man

I’m not a huge country music person.

Neither is Dan, really.

But Dan met Garth Brooks years ago when he was working at ESPN, and he has talked ever since about what an incredible entertainer Garth is. How genuine he is. How much he seems to truly love his fans.

Dan told me seeing him live was an experience.

So when we got tickets, I was excited.

I also suspected Dan had built this up quite a bit.

I should probably put this in writing because I know he’ll enjoy seeing it:

Dan was right.

Garth Brooks is one of the best live entertainers I have ever seen.

There. I said it. 😂

The energy. The connection with the audience. The way thousands of people became part of the show instead of simply watching it.

At one point, the entire arena was lit up by thousands of phones.

Everyone was singing.

It was exactly how Dan described it would be.

And then Garth played Piano Man.

My mom was a HUGE Billy Joel fan.

The whole place went crazy.

And I bawled.

Sometimes it’s a song.

Sometimes it’s thousands of people singing a song your mom loved while you’re standing next to the person you love.

And suddenly she’s there too.

At least, that’s what it feels like.

Music Is What Feelings Sound Like

There is a little sign in our house that I’ve always loved.

Music is what feelings sound like.

I’ve probably walked past it hundreds of times.

But after thinking about all these concerts, I understand why that quote has always resonated with me.

Music has always been emotional for me.

I cry during the national anthem.

I cry when a song reminds me of someone.

I cry when a crowd sings together.

I cry when Dan grabs my hand because he knows a song is about to hit me.

Apparently, I just cry.

A lot. 😂

But I also scream.

I dance.

I sing at the top of my lungs.

I exchange knowing looks.

I travel to see bands I’ve already seen.

I buy another ticket.

And I save the ticket when they’ll actually give me one.

Because a concert is one of those rare places where thousands of strangers can walk into a room carrying completely different lives and, for a few hours, feel the same thing together.

That’s pretty incredible when you think about it.

One More Ticket

Looking at that pile of old tickets now, I don’t see clutter.

I see versions of myself.

The teenager who loved Joey McIntyre.

The lifelong Duran Duran girl.

The woman traveling with her girlfriends to see bands they’ve loved forever.

The woman who fell in love with a bass player.

The newlywed holding her husband’s hand while Madonna sang their wedding song.

The daughter unexpectedly finding her mom in Piano Man.

And me, now.

Still buying the tickets.

Still keeping the memories.

Still screaming when the lights go down.

Still crying when the moment hits.

Maybe Nikki was onto something.

Live in the moment. Moments make history.

I don’t know which concert or song will get me next.

But I’m pretty sure there will be another ticket.

Another trip.

Another knowing look between Dan and me when we hear the first few notes.

And probably some tears.

Because I don’t go to concerts just to hear the music.

I go to feel it.

And music?

Music is what feelings sound like. ❤️🎶