I have spent many many years compiling a very fine collection of Van Halen and other groups. Then I had a thought. How can I possibly listen to all of these shows? it is not possible. Anyone else run into this thought?

I don’t even have a large collection and I know I’ll never get to listen to them. I started out by just wanting to collect shows I’d been to, but then it branched out from there. I rarely throw on a bootleg just to listen to it. Rather, there’s just “something” about knowing it’s there if I want it.

I like to listen to shows as I get them. However, I rarely go back to listen to shows again.

There was a point where trading was very active, but that has really rolled off. Now most shows are just taking up space in a bin.

I’ll watch my bootleg dvd’s while I walk on the treadmill,They are way better than anything on tv.

For audio shows, sometimes I’ll listen to part of a show or my favorite songs.

I rarely play an actual disc, mostly shows that are on a hard drive for convenience

and easy access. DVD’s & BluRays I’ll check out when I get them, sometimes skipping

over songs. I still have discs I haven’t even checked out yet. But they are there for if & when

I do !

I too will sample the shows I get from Dime and the Den. I think I have more fun maintaining the spreadsheets that I have for the cds and flac files. For about the last ten years I have been filling data DVDs with flac files and keeping all of the info files on a thumb drive for quick reference.

dand363: I too will sample the shows I get from Dime and the Den. I think I have more fun maintaining the spreadsheets that I have for the cds and flac files. For about the last ten years I have been filling data DVDs with flac files and keeping all of the info files on a thumb drive for quick reference.

funny maintaining the list can be sorta fun but tedious.

I mostly only collect VH shows. I have a handful of other bands…but don’t listen to those very much.
VH I do listen to every one, try to right after I get a new one. and re-listen to most of em too. But I do have a folder of “new” downloads that need to get listened to and seems that is a growing folder

At first I listened to the boots that were most recommended and was fascinated by the nuances of how they played songs at different shows. But ever since I started creating the tour compilations, I’ve found myself listening to all of them, depending on the year I’m compiling as research. When I’m in research mode, I’ll meticulously go through a show every night until I need a break. I take notes on solos, length of intros, Dave’s banter between songs, quality of the sound, crowd noise, cuts in the recording, everything. It can be laboring at times but also very rewarding. Then there’s the process of writing copy, researching photos/images, developing a graphical theme and ultimately choosing which songs to use and executing the transitions. Whew!

I’m in the early process of doing the same for Lollapalooza festivals 91-93 so if there’s anyone out there who knows any recorders from that era, would love to engage!

Same problem here. When I started I grabbed all I could from bands that I liked as well as requests from friends. For quite a while I would spend Friday nights watching a lot of the shows but after a while life took over and that stopped. Now occasionally I’ll watch one but if I had to guess of the 600+ dvd’s that I have I’ve only watched about half at best. I do have favorites that I’ll go back to and re-watch more often than watching new shows.

If I am not mistaken guitard posted something similar to this a while back … who has time to listen to every recording they have? I agree with Gilligan, there is a certain satisfaction of just having the recordings available … IF and WHEN you want to listen to them. I stopped maintaining my list some time ago (although, I have given it some thought to try and update it again). It can be kinda nice looking at the list and think about what I have and what I have available. I know I probably have recordings I’ve never listened to (kinda sad). I tried once to listen to a recording or two a day; in attempt to listen to all the recordings I have, but that didn’t last long

I am constantly authoring DVDs and blu-rays (at least a couple a week), so I actually watch a lot of video. Although, it’s not quite the same as sitting back and watching a DVD, I still enjoy watching shows while I am authoring them. I don’t normally watch the finished product because by the time it reaches that stage, I have already seen it a couple of times and don’t want to watch it again; at least not right away. I’ll go back and watch favorites again later though.

I try to watch or listen to the new Van Halen shows I get. I do go back and watch or listen to favorites as well. I will sometimes pull out a show from a certain tour that for one reason or another I want to listen to. But otherwise, I too have many that will never be played again. I do like collecting the shows. There is a certain satisfaction of knowing they are there. My favorite video is definitely the Just Another Day at the Office blu-ray that guitard authored. I’ve watched that video the most of any the shows I’ve received. Great stuff!

I know there’s no chance of me listening to everything in my collection. I do have my favorites that might get a couple plays out of them but it’s also a borderline obsession at times. If it’s out there I have to get it haha.