I’m obsessed with the idea of walking to stadium shows. This despite the fact that I might well never go to one again (so expensive! and for what?). I think the origins of this obsession come from growing up in the country. Our nearest so-called stadium was a 45-minute car ride away. We went to a surprising number of shows back in the day, though. They were mostly Billy Joel, but still.

Well after college, while I was a carefree single gal living in a four-bedroom apartment, one of my roommates invited me to see Bon Jovi with her. She had two tickets and no interest from anyone, nor a car. So she traded me a ticket for a ride. We drove 40 minutes south to the venue in what is now my hometown (though I’d never have guessed that turn of events then). We ROCKED our way through that show. And we sat in traffic forever coming home.

That same summer, TGOTS arranged for us to see her boys Aerosmith at that same place. Amazing show, horrifying traffic.

Oh, and then there was the time I saw the Grateful Dead in northern Vermont. Amazing show, horrifying traffic … you get the picture.

So I was so thrilled when I lived for a time in another city, within walking distance of an arena. I even took advantage of it, going to see Bruuuuuuce on his solo tour. Amazing show, no traffic!

That’s partly why I was so excited to go see him last month, at the venue-in-what-is-now-my-hometown — it’s 1.5 miles away, and I fully intended to walk. But that was during the whole double ear infection baby melodrama, and alas, we had to give the tickets away.

For me the sheen is sort of off the concert idea, so I don’t know if I’ll ever walk to that place. Oh, but the trigger for this fascinating anecdote is that friends came down to see The Fray a few years ago (really? like, they paid money for it?) and I was able to drop them off and pick them up at a halfway point, thus sparing them the horrifying traffic.

If only it had been an amazing show.

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