Concert Joe, NYC Live Music Legend, Featured on CBS News New York
In New York City’s live music community, Concert Joe is something between a familiar face and a living legend. The Brooklyn-based live music fanatic has made witnessing countless shows his life’s mission, and after years of commitment to following the sound, he’s forged strong connections to venues, promoters (including the legendary Ron Delsener) and fans alike. Last night, in a testament to his local renown, Joe and his legacy reached beyond the city’s nightlife with a feature for CBS News New York.
On air and online at 6:30 p.m., CBS 2 shared an interview between Joe and reporter Hannah Kliger and a look inside the treasure trove of his Brooklyn apartment. Between shots of his memorabilia, including bins of ticket stubs, walls of t-shirts and a framed poster of Beck’s 2018 Relix cover, he divulges the insight he’s earned through his herculean feats of fandom. Among his most interesting suggestions is that he never listens to recorded music. “It’s the difference between fresh food and frozen food,” he says. “Recorded is good, but not as good as live. Frozen food is good, but not as good as fresh.”
Joe holds that he has attended more than 24,000 shows within his lifetime, and proudly digs up the receipts to certify his claim. To reach this unparalleled level, he says he’s spent more than half a million dollars and taken out three loans. In 1992, he gunned for a feat worthy of pitching to the Guinness Book of World Records: Attending 1,000 concerts in a single year.
“In 1992, I went to three shows a night on weekdays and five or six per night on weekends,” Joe wrote in a piece on his quest for Relix. “I skipped some shows that I would have otherwise attended so my 1,000th show that year would be Jorma Kaukonen at Wetlands. The New York Post was the first to publicize the 1,000 show attempt about a week before New Year’s Eve. Larry Bloch, the late founder of the Wetlands Preserve, set a red ribbon outside Wetlands for me to walk through and also let me introduce the band that night. MTV used my ribbon-cutting photo for a story on MTV news for two days in the beginning of 1993.”
While Guinness wouldn’t budge, Joe and his widely known reputation have been documented by MTV, VH1, The New York Times and more. Today, at 71 years old, he’s still unwavering in his mission. This summer, he’s been out at concerts for more than 50 nights in a row.
Read and watch Concert Joe’s CBS News New York profile here. Read his story in his own words in his Relix feature here.
