5 Live Shows That Became Road Trip Memories

Some concerts you just go to. Others become the whole reason for the trip. Over the years, a handful of shows have blurred into something bigger than the setlist — they’re tangled up with the drive there, who I was with, and where I ended up sleeping that night. Here are six that stuck.

1. The Rolling Stones
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN | Dec. 11 1994

I hadn’t been to many shows at this point in my life. I was a junior at St. Mary’s in Winona, MN, when a bunch of us decided the move was to head to the big city and see the Stones. In classic college fashion, the plan came together exactly how you’d expect: rent a bus, hire a driver, load a keg, point it at Minneapolis. It’s still one of the best kinds of road trips there is — 20 or 30 of us just hanging out, zero responsibilities, nothing to do but have fun. The show itself was great even in a venue that size — they’d set up a smaller stage for the older songs, which felt like a real treat in the middle of an arena tour. A great night, and looking back, probably the trip that set the tone for a lot of what came after.

2. The Verve
Mammoth Event Cenber | Denver, CO | Aug. 11 1998

A friend and I built an entire trip around this one — Iowa to Denver, no other real excuse needed. We’d spent the previous summer out west and just wanted back in it, so a Verve show became the reason to go. Truth be told, this one happened long enough ago that most of the details have faded — but the feeling of that show hasn’t. I do remember that Richard Ashcroft had a huge stage presence as he towered over us on stage.

It was at the old Mammoth Events Center, which by the time I actually moved to Denver a few years later had been renamed The Fillmore. Funny how a venue can outlast your memory of the actual night.

3. The Other Ones
Alpine Valley Music Theatre | East Troy WI | July 11 1998

This was the first tour after Jerry Garcia died, and I went with a college friend and three of his buddies — five guys with a show ticket and zero plan beyond that. That combination turned into one of those nights I’ll probably write a whole separate post about someday. After the show, we all assumed we’d just camp in the lot. We assumed wrong. After a few chaotic, directionless hours, we found an open spot near a pond where someone had just packed up — fire still going, like it was left for us. It ended up being the perfect close to a perfect, crazy day, even though nothing about getting there went according to plan. A bond was formed and we continued the madness the next day on your trip home.

4. Old Crow Medicine Show
Robert’s Western World, Nashville, TN | September 19, 2024

This one’s more recent. We were in North Carolina trying to decide where to head next, saw there was an Americana festival happening in Nashville, and that was that — new destination locked in. Part of the festivities was Old Crow Medicine Show playing a free pop-up show at Robert’s Western World, celebrating 25 years as a band with 25-cent PBRs to match. Getting to see one of my favorite bluegrass bands up close, with original member Willie Watson sititng in, was one of those “right place, right time” travel moments. The show was early enough that I actually had time to grab a slice of pizza, then walked down Broadway to catch Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats after — a two-for-one night that only works in a town like Nashville.

Side note, if we didn’t go to Nashville there was a good chance we would have been right in the middle of the huge flooding that took place in North Carolina in the summer of 2024.

There is no official setlist for this show, they did play Wagon Wheel! Here is an article about the show HERE. Its worth a read.

5. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival — Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA | Oct. 5th 2019

This one’s not a single concert — it’s closer to a decade-plus tradition. Before I was traveling full-time, Hardly Strictly was a trip I made almost every year for 10+ years, and the lineup over that stretch reads like a wish list: Jason Isbell, Gillian Welch, Son Volt, Steve Martin, Buckethead, Chris Robinson, and plenty more.

The standout year was 2019, when I traveled from Portland down for the festival and caught Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters. Hearing Led Zeppelin songs live in Golden Gate Park with 100,000 other people around was one of those moments that’s hard to explain to someone who wasn’t there, and he played one of my favs, Babe, I’m Going to Leave You. And it wasn’t just the music — that same trip is where I met the person I’ve spent the last three years traveling with. She was right there with me for that whole night.

Five shows, six very different trips — but the thread running through all of them is the same one that runs through Wandering Radio: the music was never really the whole point. It was the excuse to go.

Got a road trip that started with a concert lineup? Tag us — we want to hear about it.