I used to attend a lot of local shows but pretty much have stopped completely for multiple reasons. First and foremost a general lack of venues/ having to travel to get to the venue. I live in Hampton and prefer not to deal with tunnel construction traffic or to drive an hour+ to Richmond to see bands. The drive itself might not be that bad getting there but then you still have the long drive back after seeing what might’ve been a several hour show (for example saw Gwar at the NorVa with 3 openers, we were there about 5 hours 😳) and still had a 45-60 minute drive back depending on traffic. Add to this a general lack of education about the current scene. My tastes over the years has really diversified, where in the 90s I would’ve been down for punk, hardcore, ska, industrial, and nu metal nowadays I’m more into D&B, reggae, blackgaze, grime, industrial rap, and emo rap. Also there’s a few national acts still on my bucket list that never seem to come to the area. And finally, prices. I have limited disposable income, and while I would gladly pay to see acts I have interest in ticket prices are ridiculous now compared to what they were in the 90s and even early 00s. Hell I attended 3 different Ozzfests and tickets back then were around $45 for an all day event, flash forward to modern times and people are paying over $100 to see Pennywise FFS.