obsessed xx: Getting your concert calendar ready with mylifeinsound!!

Every year I ask for one thing for Christmas, my annual Gustav Klimt planner. He is my favorite artist and seeing his artwork along side of my crazy busy schedule makes me feel a lot better about everything I have to do. When it comes to organizing, my concert calendar is something I take very seriously. My friends rely on me to tell them who is coming to town that I’m excited about, and what shows I am going to. But when I asked if they have ever heard of the website Songkick, they usually always say no. This blows my mind because I visit this site almost everyday, it helps me so much with organizing what shows I’m going to and tells me when my favorite bands are coming to town, sometimes even before the band announces it. I’m going to tell you how it works, because I think it’s awesome and every music fan should do it.

First, go to Songkick.com and register for a log in. This is simple and self-explanatory, you can even sign in through your Facebook, although I never do that because it already creeps me out how much Facebook knows about me. Next, you start tracking cities. For me, I track Philadelphia and New York, because some of my favorite bands, especially those from abroad sometimes only play in NY. This way, I know when and where everyone I love is playing and if it’s not in my city, I can plan the two hour trek to NY.

Next, you’re going to want to start tracking your favorite artists. When you are a huge music fan, this can sound extremely daunting, but do not fret. All you have to do is search for an artist you like in the search bar, then click track artist. When you do this, Songkick suggests artist you might like, and since this is usually dead-on you can knock out many artists to track through that alone. Once you start tracking an artist, you can tell it worked because it shows a button that gives you the option to “stop tracking”. But why would you want to do that?

Once you build up the artists you track, Songkick puts all their upcoming shows in calendar order. This is awesome because if two of your favorite bands are playing the same night at different venues, you know right away that you have to choose instead of accidentally buying tickets for or making plans to go to both.

Next, you can click a button that says “I’m going”, this pulls the show into your own specific calendar where you can scroll through and see by month and date what shows you are going to and where.

When you decide you want to go to a show, you can click the concert and it takes you to a page where you can: purchase tickets to the show, see who else on Songkick is going, and see what other events are coming up at the venue. When purchasing tickets, make sure you click the top link, usually either Ticketfly, Ticketmaster, or Live Nation to buy. Steer clear from Stubhub and other related ticket reselling websites at the bottom. You usually (through Songkick) will know when tickets are going on sale so if you want to go, make sure you get your tickets right away and don’t have to fall prey to over-priced ticket reselling sites. You should go to shows to support the artist… not some asshole who is not a fan and bought the last ticket because they knew you wanted it and would buy it for five times as much.

Songkick is an awesome way to keep up with and keep track of your favorite artists and when they are playing live in a city near you. They email you whenever your favorite bands announce a show in the cities you are tracking, sometimes even before the band announces it! I am obsessed with the website and love using it to keep my concert calendar in check. It’s great when I can open my planner and tell people whether or not I have a show that night, make sure I don’t over-book myself, and overall make sure I don’t miss any awesome shows! I am so stoked for my upcoming concert calendar, which I must say is super crazy this Spring.

Check out Songkick, and until then, check out the songs from the bands I am seeing next on my concert calendar, Of Montreal and Loney Dear at Union Transfer next Monday. I can’t wait!