Is anyone here still into live concerts these days?

 Here in Phoenix there's quite a variety of acts that come to town. I'm with several other poster that prefer smaller venues. My favorite is Celebrity Theater with seating capacity of only 2650. No seat is more than 70' from the stage and it also rotates. The last show I remember was a trilogy of acts that included Tom Rush, Al Stewart and Alan Parsons. Next up in April is Graham Nash. Been attending concerts there for more than 60 years, through several name changes that included the Travelodge Theater and the Star Theater. The larger places are such a pain, but for the bigger names, one must endure the obstacles. The last few attended were Eric Clapton, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Paul McCartney, Jackson Browne, Rush and others. The smaller venue has hosted Zappa, Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys, B.B.King, John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Z Z Top, The Firesign Theater, Harry Chapin as well as many others thru the years. My very first show was The Rolling Stones back in late 1965 and I have kept a record of all the live shows attended that provide me with a multitude of great memories.

I still go to live shows, but am doing less so because most of my favorite bands are a fragment of the original group.  I did catch U2 and The Eagles at the sphere.  What amazing shows and the most incredible venue ever.  165,000 (that's correct) speakers leads to pinpoint multidimensional sound-not the mono sound typical of standard venues.  On Hotel California, the chorus was sung by faces in the ceiling and the sound came from overhead.  Pretty cool. The picture show, though, is worth it alone.  Both bands had specialized 3-D video to accompany the music.  Like a Disney attraction, it doesn't matter where you sit, you get the same incredible in your face presentation.  The Sphere takes a concert to a whole other level.  If you haven't been, do yourselves a favor and go to at least one show there.  Absolutely incredible.

I also saw two nights of David Gilmour on the Luck and Strange tour at MSG.  Amazing.  David still puts on a great show and his new music is the best product I've heard from an aging classic rocker ever.  If you're a Gilmour fan, check out the latest offering.

Pop music concerts use amplified public address systems which have no better sound than modestly-priced audio gear in the home. This makes higher end audio pointless. 

In an opera or a concert hall, where all music is acoustic, you get a better idea of how to judge how well speakers, amplifiers, and sources need to sound to closely resemble what you hear live. 

If there is something special, such as a Mahler symphony, or operas by composers I like or who have written something new, I go. 

In choosing components, the effect of cables costing thousands of dollars or half-million-dollar turntables is comparable to the acoustic effect of the clothes you are wearing or where you are sitting. 

Occasionally San Francisco Symphony - Itzhak Perlman, Yo-yo Ma…

@drbarney1 - PA technology has gotten immensely better over the decades; Just because you've not experienced a high-quality PA does not mean they do not exist. It's an extreme, but check out the Sphere in Vegas. But some bands like the Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd had excellent PA tech for many decades. Higher end audio is most assuredly NOT pointless to ME.