Taking Your Kid to Their First Concert

I was talking to a friend the other day about how much I enjoy this stage of having kids. I always thought I enjoyed the baby years, but as they have gotten older, I’ve realized that I might have just told myself that to get through the chaos of early parenting. Watching the boys grow and develop their own likes and dislikes is such a fun part of being a parent. I get to teach them about things I love, and they teach me things too.

In December, we bought several Pelicans tickets as part of the kids’ Christmas gifts. One night at a game, Peyton saw that Drake was coming to town and asked if we could go together. Our family loves live music, so going to a concert with the kids was something I was excited about. After discussing it with Justin, we decided to go for it.

Not long after I took Peyton to see Drake, Paxton wanted to go to a concert too. He chose Bad Bunny, and I got us tickets to see him perform. Since the older boys are only 11 months apart, they always want to do something as soon as the other one has done it. Porter, our youngest, will have to wait until he’s 10 or 11 for his turn.

It had been a while since I attended a concert, so here are a few things I had forgotten:

Parking is Wild: The parking situation for Drake was especially chaotic. I wish we had left the house much earlier than we did. It took almost two hours to get to the city, and then we had to park and walk. When I went back with Pax to see Bad Bunny, I left earlier and parked on Poydras Street, which made for a much better experience.

Everything Starts Late: My kids are not patient, and concert schedules don’t help. Peyton and I arrived a bit late for Drake, which meant we missed some of the opening acts. For Bad Bunny, we arrived too early and had to wait inside for about two hours. The waiting was tough, but once the concert started, they completely forgot about it.

Late Nights: Both concerts ended past midnight. Why can’t concerts start at 5 PM? For someone who’s usually in bed by 8 PM, it was a long night. The only downside to living on the Northshore is the long drive home after a late evening.

Both concerts were great experiences, and I would do it again with them. I had a long conversation with each of them before their concert about how these are adult events and that they needed to act accordingly. I wanted to make sure they understood the importance of respecting people’s space and having proper concert etiquette.

One last thing: I used SeatGeek to purchase our tickets. I bought both sets on the secondary market and probably paid a bit more because of it. For Drake, I picked seats in the upper bowl of the arena because Peyton can be sensitive to light and sound. For Bad Bunny, we lucked out and got seats in the Hub Suites. If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn’t choose the suites because the vibe is different. There’s something about being packed in with the regular crowd that feels right for a concert.

Both kids asked to be on the floor next time, but I told them that’s an experience for high school or college friends—mom is too old for that.

My parenting philosophy has always been to just try it. We’ve had wonderful experiences, terrible ones, and often there’s a 15-minute span during any outing where I wonder, “Why do we even leave the house?” It’s always a little crazy, but I never regret the memories I’m making with them, no matter how wild things get. For now, I’m savoring the fact that their first concert experience was with mom.

XO,

Tiffany