Physical tickets are a thing of the past. Best case scenario, you get something for the wallet app on your phone but it's much more likely to be a PDF attached to an email with a QR code that only gets printed by older people because they're the only ones with printers.
Having covid brain means I can't concentrate on anything that needs any kind of clever. A book? Maybe The Da Vinci Code. TV shows? Brooklyn 99 is about as smart as I can manage. Writing? The last few days it's taken me hours. I type some keywords, have a rest, then fill in all the other words you apparently need to make the keywords make sense. And then I realise I have gone off on a tangent.
Ticket stubs. I looked through all the stubs I have, and here are ten of my favourites:
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ATP vs The Fans, Minehead, 18th-20th May 2007. The most remarkable festival I have ever attended. The likes of Mogwai, Yo La Tengo, Patti Smith, Shellac, Battles, Edan, Echo and the Bunnymen and more over a few stages. Price: £120.
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David Bowie, Wembley Arena, London, 25th November 2003. It's rare to be in the presence of someone widely regarded to be a deity. The setlist opened with Rebel Rebel, and closed with Ziggy Stardust and cost just £46.
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Glastonbury 27th-29th June 2003. My first of three times at Glastonbury. I went to the stargreen ticket shop in soho 2 weeks before the festival and paid £105. Absolutely unrecognisable compared to the circus of going to Glastonbury now.
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New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils, Madison Square Garden, New York, 30th March 2009. I wasn't quite ready for how much better hockey is in person than on TV. Far easier to follow, huge atmosphere, and great seats just a few rows from the ice. Price: $200.
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The Mars Volta, The Electric Ballroom, London, 9th July 2003. The most raw and high-energy show I ever attended. Something changed in my brain during those 90 minutes. Price: £12.
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Les Claypool, Eagles Club, Milwaukee, 13th June 2006. My first of the 21 Les Claypool shows I have seen so far. I was absolutely bursting with excitement for this, because at that time Les Claypool never toured Europe. I travelled to Chigaco alone and met people I knew from the Primus message board there. Somehow I got complementatry tickets but the next night in Chicago cost $25.
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Bonnaroo, Tennessee, 16th-18th June 2006. Following the Les Claypool shows in Milwaukee and Chicago, it was on to the Bonnaroo festival with a big group of people I met on the internet. I'm not sure how I was that bold. My only small complaint: Being told by Americans for three days straight that Bonnaroo is the biggest festival in the world when it had barely half the attendance of Glastonbury. $185 and 110°F.
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Ozzfest, Milton Keynes, 26th May 2001. My first festival and a metal-head's dream. The original Black Sabbath line up along with Slipknot, Tool, and a litanry of far less brag-worthy of-the-time bands. £32.50.
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Live 8, Hyde Park, London, 2nd July 2005. An endless, torturous day of bands all in order to see Pink Floyd with Roger Waters. Free. Or maybe Priceless.
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Tool, Brixton Academy, London, 12th June 2001. Absolutely perfect. A setlist I have recreated as a playlist. The kind of show that makes you wonder why you'd ever listen to anything else. £14.