Weekend With The Webb Brothers

It’s done! My private concert happened last weekend:

Backstory

Back in January, I noticed that one of my favorite bands, The Webb Brothers, had launched a Kickstarter campaign. I’ve loved this band for the past two decades of my life. Their music has been the soundtrack to my life.

I looked at the Kickstarter offerings and noticed that the top prize was a private show for $10,000. I quickly dismissed it: $10,000 is a lot of money. I’m the type of person who looks at the cost-per-ounce of cheese at the grocery store and makes a purchase accordingly. I fix my own cars and cut my own hair. Someone else can buy the show and I’ll beg for an invite.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about the concert, so I asked some of my friends what they thought. I suppose that I was hoping that they’d shoot down the idea, but they all told me that I should go for it.

My next move was to ask Mindy. At this point, I’m not sure what I was hoping for, but she encouraged me to do it.

I broke out the laptop and bought the show before I changed my mind.

Webb Brothers Come To Longmont

Random thoughts leading up to the big weekend:

New people! Despite being one of my favorite bands, I had never seen the Webbs in concert or talked to any of the members. I’m a solid introvert, so meeting new people is always an event laced with anxiety. Meeting members of a band who you’ve liked for a long time is even scarier. I’m a computer nerd. Would we have anything to talk about? Do rock stars and tech-dorks mix well?!??

Lots of moving parts: I wanted anyone who has loved the Webbs to be able to see the show and share the weekend with me. The only rule was that no one was allowed to give me money. I put together a BBQ on Friday night at MMM HQ and rented out a venue for the show on Saturday. Organizing the food, drinks, and making sure the Webbs they had everything they needed for the show took some time and legwork. Fortunately, I had some good people to work with.

Surreal: I play life pretty conservatively. A private concert is waaaaay out of the zone of sh*t I normally do. My daily life consists of prodding children to get ready to go to school (and breaking up their fights), riding my bike around town, and working on random writing and building projects. BOR-ING!!!

Showtime

Thoughts

The Webbs sounded great: Despite a long layoff from playing together, the band sounded awesome. The members don’t live near each other, so only had a couple of days to rehearse.

If lightning would have struck me down after hearing them play Fluorescent Lights, I would have died with a huge smile on my face.

The band wasn’t scary: Everyone was grateful, thoughtful, and nice. I’m sure that my heart rate increased by at least 50% whenever I talked to them, but it was all good. Hopefully I didn’t make a fool of myself!

The Webbs’ family and friends are amazing: Folks came from all the world to attend the show. (I hosted two spectacular humans from the UK. Hi Mike and Will!) Everyone I talked to was kind and grateful.

Experiences: One of the great debates in the financial independence community is:

buying stuff versus experiences

Most say that experiences win out, but it’s not quite that simple. For example, perhaps your dream is to buy a fancy car (I’m guilty!). Part of the joy of owning the machine may be driving it down the Pacific Coast Highway. So, you have a thing and an experience. However, experiences that bring people together have bonus effects.

When you host a big party, you meet some interesting people. And when that happens, sometimes you make a new friend. I’m not sure if I’ll ever see the Webbs again, but I already have plans to meet up with some of the people I met at the concert. Friends are priceless.

I regret nothing: This concert was a spending experiment: Would my frugal ass be happy with dropping $10,000 on a concert? Hell yes I am. No regrets. I’d do it again in a second.

I have some other big spending plans that I’ll talk about soon.

More 1500 Days!!!

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