I feel like something happened this week. What took place? I know that the week felt like the longest month but was there something fandom related?! I’m kidding. Of course, I know this past week tickets went on sale for Duran’s 2023 North American Tour Dates. (I use the term North American loosely. It is the United States plus Toronto.)
Like many, I looked at the locations, the schedule, my personal calendar and budget to make some decisions about if I should go and where. Discussions followed in order to solidify plans and plot strategy for ticket purchasing. At this point, I feel like I could write a “how to manual”. Yet, I still experience the rush of nerves and adrenaline at the moment those tickets go up for sale. All that being said, that isn’t really what I wanted to talk about. The truth is that there is nothing like concert dates going on sale that brings out all of the emotions of the Duran fan community.
Those emotions run the gamut. Some experience nothing but excitement and joy. Those people are usually the ones who got tickets and got the exact ones that they wanted. Others experience frustration that the ticket purchasing process was stressful and less than successful or that none of the dates and locations work for them. Of course, there are some fans who feel something along the line of sadness that they are missing out, especially if they have missed out more than once. Anger is also an emotion that I see. After all, Duran is once again playing in the States and skipping much of the rest of the world.
Here are my thoughts about those emotions. They are all valid. Some might point out the reasons behind the high ticket prices or why Duran continues to play the States and those reasons are not wrong. However, emotions are not always logical and not always looking for reasons. Even when things make sense to be the way they are, people can still be upset.
One of the things about this fandom is that we (a general we) are not always good at being excited for others. The community also kind of stinks about being empathetic and understanding of others. (That being said, I know that there are many individuals out there who are great at this.) I know that fandom creates such strong emotions and passions, which can make it hard to see or feel beyond what you are experiencing and feeling. This makes it hard, though, to enjoy being part of this fan community. Do I share what tickets I got? Do I avoid saying anything because I think people won’t be happy for me? Or what if I am upset that Duran Duran wouldn’t know Wisconsin if the state knock them on their rock star heads? Do I share that? Instead, I suspect that many keep their thoughts and feelings to themselves. I know I do. I asked people how the presale went for them but didn’t share myself.
So here is what I am doing from here on out. I’m working hard at being happy for people. Anytime someone gets to go to a show, scores a fabulous seat, convinces Roger to hand over his drum sticks, captures a photo with Simon, etc is a time for me to cheer and congratulate. It doesn’t matter if they have done it once or 50,000 times. Likewise, I want to make sure that I’m showing empathy at those who miss out on shows or never get to experience a moment with their favorite band member. Instead of ignoring the anger of fans in different parts of world who feel overlooked and underappreciated, I am going to work at putting myself in their shoes. None of this will come easy for me but I would certainly feel better about myself. I could even hope that our fandom can grow to be a kinder, gentler place.