When your favorite band is touring, you look for your hometown date and do the obligatory “log onto Ticketmaster at 9:50am and hope for the best”. You get the tickets, it’s your regular Saturday night out and then you go home.

What if you went to see your band in another city or even another country? Sometimes, you’ll have a vacation booked and say, I wonder if there are any concerts in town? Sometimes, your favorite band will be there the day before you get there (noooo!). I had a trip to Amsterdam planned and looked to see who was playing. Queen with Adam Lambert?! Never mind that it was my husband’s birthday trip, and he’s only a casual Queen fan, we were GOING TO QUEEN in a place with the coolest name, the Ziggo Dome! That was May 2020 and sadly, we didn’t go.

Let’s talk about a vacation built around a show (not Coachella or Bonnaroo). My mom is a huge Aerosmith fan but has somehow never seen them live (me = 5 times). When they fired up their new Las Vegas residency, we planned a whole trip around it. As she’s also a huge fan of Food Network, I lined up dinner at Giada’s and Bobby Flay’s newish place, Amalfil. Perfect Vegas trip! Poor Steven Tyler ended up in rehab and there went the trip. Undaunted, Mom wants to try again in November. So off we go (again), then!

Don’t worry, I did get to see some concerts…

I ended up keeping my Vegas reservations and went that week anyway. On the way to the airport, our rideshare driver played Morrissey, who I really like and is, of course, legendary if he shows up to a concert. I remember hearing of a residency in Vegas and got a little bit excited. We scored great seats and all of a sudden, a potentially boring night of “steakhouse and maybe some gambling” turned into an exciting night of “will he show?” and “wow, he was amazing!”. Morrissey. In Vegas!

During the worst of the pandemic era, like everyone else, I missed my friends and family around the country so much. That’s when I got the great idea to see shows in different cities. They were coming to LA anyway, why not have a little extra fun and see them in random cities. So began my own US tour. Eric Clapton and Lindsey Buckingham in Miami (helpful that they were within the same week), Tool in Buffalo, Shinedown in Fargo. I got to see the bands and got to see my people.

Eric Clapton, Steve Gadd, Hard Rock Hollywood

What’s your favorite band? We’ll find the best place in the world for you to see them. Email us at lysa@offyougothen.com.