So I collected my money for winning the NCAA tournament bracket from the group of downtown lawyers last week.
Then, the question was how to spend the proceeds. I’ve always dealt with found money in a wholly different way from that which is earned. Where I am usually reliable and thoughtful with budgeting, the opposite occurs when I get an unexpected windfall and this sort of situation is typically treated with the singular pursuit of hedonistic pleasure in mind. 
Visions of DVDs and books or Johnny Walker Blue bottles or consecutive lap dances set to Poison’s greatest hits flashed through my head. I couldn’t decide until I got an email announcing 3-day passes for this fall’s Austin City Limits music festival. This seemed reasonable.
The exact band line-up had yet to be announced, but rumors had the headlining acts consisting of Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews and Beastie Boys this year. Usually, I haven’t cared too much about the major acts in years past, but I hadn’t seen them & it felt like time to knock them off the list. 
But spending the money on live music just felt right. I love concerts. Ever since high school, I’ve been to numerous shows and regardless of the chemical state which was involved, I still remember the experiences fondly even when things went awry, which was often.
I remember:
• Seeing Stone Temple Pilots and smoking an entire carton of Marlboro’s during the show with several friends, a scheme which could only be cooked up by a bunch of high school idiots who couldn’t easily get access to booze
• Watching Jimmy Buffett after guzzling a 2-liter bottle of Purple Passion (Everclear plus sweet grape soda – nasty) and ending up riding home with a girl who was definitely not my girlfriend and then lying to everyone about how I blacked out and don’t remember how I got home
• Urinating at the feet of a loud idiot who had cut in the bathroom line at a David Allan Coe show
• Liberating an entire bowl of marichino cherries from behind the bar to impress a girl during Tom Wait’s set, which didn’t work and only made my hands sticky
I’m sure there are many others which I forgot, but the point is that live music tends to bring with it a feeling that anything might happen if you give yourself over to the possibilities. This is an increasingly rare sentiment as you get older, so even if large crowds tend to irritate me and 3 days straight quickly turns into an endurance test, I still feel good about blowing the money on the ticket.
And I still had enough left over for a six-pack of Dos Equis.
-BDS
Money well spent, the way I see it.
You call that blowing money on music? Hah!
Dude, I once dropped a c-note for a used CD. That's blowing money on music.
Heff - Seems reasonable to me too. I guess it's all relative, eh?
WIGSF - That's a winner, hands-down. Ha. I don't think I could do that, but I hope it was worth the freight.
You're a true music fan, because the older I get, the less tolerant I am of 'The Masses'.
I would have bought a bottle of good vodka AND the DVD of any concert I wanted to see.
and sat home.
That specific hundred dollar copy, never listened to it. Not once. I listen to the standard version of the CD instead. This special one is only for show.
Good choice. You can justify the expense a lot better when it's a windfall such as this. Maybe I'll make it to ACL one of these days, it's always a good lineup. I can relate to this post since I blew all my garage sale earnings the same night! ha
Boxer - I'm with you as I generally only attend shows as small venues since I can't stand being packed in with loads of people. This is my one exception each year, and it barely passes the test.
WIGSF - That makes more sense because I would be nervous every time I played the $100 version. You should get a small easel for the display.
Jlee - You should one of these days . . . it's usually a good time & this year it's in October which means the weather might not kill you with heat. Maybe. And I hope you blew your money on something fun. Ha.
I would love, love, love to go to Austin City Limits this year. Alas, I can't afford it with tickets, airfare, lodging, etc.
I can think of no better way to spend found money than the live performance of your choice. Seriously.
Hummm, how far is the drive from OKC to Austin? 6 hours or so? I must check out the line up because, well Pearl Jam would be worth the trip alone.
I love going to shows at a small venue. It's my most favorite way to spend an evening, especiallly when it's a local band. I'll go to a big concert if someone awesome is playing, but they have to be really awesome.
Native Minnow - You've got to get down sometime for ACL - it's worth it. I could recommend some cheap places to eat & stay as my Dad has come down to stay with me for the past 3 years and is coming back this year . . . At the very least, sign up for their email newsletter as one year I got cheap tickets because they release some early.
Bostonpobble - I tend to agree as it would have to be at the top of my list & at least I have something tangible to show for it versus several rounds of drinks downtown for "all my friends." Ha. Nope.
Kmwthay - I agree fully on both counts of the large versus small venues as I'll be at the latter 95% of the time. As for the drive, I just drove back to Austin starting from Ada, OK (close enough) this past weekend and it was 6 hours, so it is likely a bit longer from OKC although my geography of OK only extends to Ada . . .
Wise choice as free money is the best and I agree should be spent on indulging oneself.
Did you really pee on someones feet?
Miss Ash - Agreed, and it was in the direction of his feet, although I'm not certain he noticed. Ha.