I’m a huge fan of Little Dragon. Ever since their guest appearance on the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach (song “Empire Ants”) I fell in love with Yukimi Nagano’s voice. After researching the band, I immediately purchased all of their music.

My brother and I were lucky enough to see them last June in New York City. It was a fantastic show as they are some of the best live performers around. They aren’t afraid to change up the arrangements or tempo of their songs. The natural flow that results is the stuff of dreams.

Anyways, as soon as I heard these tickets were on sale for the House of Blues Boston, I thought about buying them. My roommate loves electronic music, so I meant to ask him sooner. Side note: This is my problem these days, I don’t write anything down and I forget to do things. Bad, bad… But eventually I secured two tickets on the third floor, upper mezzanine.

My roommate and I were planning on going. Long story short, he backed out at the last minute.

Frantically I scrambled to get someone to go with me. Now I had insurance on the tickets and could have received my money back, but I love sharing an experience with someone. One of my co-workers had become hooked to Little Dragon since I had introduced him to them. However, he was unable to go.

I posted on Facebook for a companion. No response.

Finally I just hoped for the best and filed a claim for the extra ticket. Worse case is I actually use the ticket. But in order to claim it, I had to fib and say that my roommate’s family was in the hospital. Whoops, not a fan of this kind of lying.

Even If I couldn’t find someone to sell this ticket to, or more importantly to go with, I was still going. Originally I was going to stay at a hotel after the show, but after seeing the cost (and especially for a lone person), I decided that I would drive back the long four hour trip.

There were a LOT of times that I almost gave up and decided to stay home, even the moment before I left for the show. “Maybe I could claim insurance for both tickets.” But I was losing sight of why I wanted these tickets in the first place.

A. I’m a fan of Boston (although that’s not where I want to move)

B. I’m a MASSIVE fan of Little Dragon. I want to see them again.

I head down. Along the way I’m planning out my itinerary when I arrive. “I’ll walk around for a few hours and maybe grab some Boloco.”

Just then I remembered something. PARKING. Dammit, I didn’t even think of that. Another cost I have to incur.

I quickly Googled how much House of Blues Boston parking would be. The search results introduced me to a fascinating service called SPOTHERO. This company reserves spots for you at whatever garage or lot you wish.

I purchased a spot in a nearby garage, and all seemed fine and dandy except when I glanced at my receipt “Print off this receipt and leave it in your window… Shit.”

The customer service folks are fantastic at SpotHero. I called them, immediately connected to a real person, then they explained that some garages do not let you use your phone as a pass. So she connected me with a garage that did, and gave me $5 off for the inconvenience.

I highly recommend them if you ever need a parking spot for any occasion.

Sponsored?! HA! Have you seen my traffic?

But nothing beats what happened next when I arrived in Boston. Wandering frustration and companionship.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Little Dragon Concert adventure.

---

Keep up with Jamie and his wandering mind by following him on Twitter @TheGuyOnAWire

-Jamie