How I Keep Up With Concerts

I really enjoy seeing live music.

People have asked me how I find out about shows to go to, and having a list of links to send them would really make it easier to answer, so that’s what this blog post is. I plan to keep it updated as my methods change.

I live in San Francisco, so most of these links will be SF-specific, but the ideas can be applied anywhere.

There are a few primary ways that I stay up-to-date with upcoming concerts. Most of them involve following artists, venues, and event aggregators through email lists and social media.

Things To Follow

Artists

Depending on how much I like an artist and how interested I am in seeing them live, I follow them through various combinations of their mailing list, Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify.

It’s easy for me to miss updates on social media and Spotify, but I look at every email I receive, so if an artist has a mailing list, that’s the most reliable way that I can follow them.

Venues

Whenever I find a new venue that I like, I go to their website to see if they have a mailing list. Most venues do and will send out periodic updates about all the new shows that they’ve scheduled.

Some of my favorites in SF are:

I’ll also occasionally “like” venues on Facebook so that I see updates about shows that they’ve scheduled on my News Feed.

Event Aggregators

In addition to following specific artists and venues, I’ve found that event aggregators are a good way to find out about new events that might not show up in the other streams I’m following.

Here are a few SF-specific ones with email lists that I follow:

How To Not Forget About Events

After finding out about a concert that I’m interested in, I don’t want to forget about it, so I have a method for keeping track of shows after I hear about them.

If it’s something I know that I for sure want to go to, I:

  1. Check my calendar to make sure I’m free that day
  2. Purchase a ticket
  3. Add it to my personal calendar, and make a note on the calendar event of where the ticket is (Apple Wallet, email, Ticketmaster app, etc.)
  4. Mark “Going” on the Facebook event if there is one. This is super helpful for getting updates about the show like cancellations, venue changes, or other announcements.

If it’s something that I’m interested in, but not sure whether I’ll go to, I:

  1. Mark “Interested” on the Facebook event if there is one. You can get an iCal of the events you’re going to or interested in on Facebook and add that to whatever calendar app/website you use. I like this because it gives me a quick way to see all of the Facebook events I’m interested in on my calendar that I can toggle on and off when I just want to see my personal calendar.
  2. Add it to my personal calendar if there was no Facebook event for it.