Ah, summer. It’s so close I can taste it.

And hear it?

Days on the beach, drinks on patios, and BBQs with friends. And music, lots of music. One of the very best things about summer is going to outdoor concerts.  And there are so many amazing tours this summer, I have a feeling I’m going to be at a concert pretty much every single week. And concerts mean music, beer, and friends. Which is pretty much heaven for me. Here are some of the biggest and best summer tours you should keep your eye (and ear) on.

Blink 182
Remember Blink 182? Duh, obviously you do. I used to be absolutely obsessed. I mean, how cute was Mark Hoppus? I was heartbroken when they went on hiatus and waited a couple years for them to get back together before I gave up. Mark created the not overly successful +44, Travis joined him along with fighting with Shanna Mokler on Meet the Barkers, and Tom formed the semi-successful Angels and Airwaves. But now? Back together again.

I don’t know why they’re reuniting. Maybe it had something to do with Travis Barker’s near-tragic plane crash and their thankfulness he’s still alive. Whatever the case, it’s hard not to be excited by their upcoming tour (and alleged new album!). No official dates have been confirmed yet, but the boys have said they will be touring the world this summer and rumor has it, they will be sharing the bill with No Doubt, another pleasant blast from the past! I’m pretty excited to see what the crowd is like for this show. Lots of people in their 20s and 30s reminiscing about their teenage angst-filled days I’m sure.

American Idol
Yeah, yeah, the crowd is probably going to be filled with 10-year-old kids, but come on. I’ll be at the American Idol tour, and with absolutely no shame either. After obsessively watching the contestants for a ridiculous amount of hours every week for basically half a year, there’s no way I’m missing a night of seeing them live.

The top 10 American Idol contestants of 2009 will be touring around the country, and yes, that includes the winner (ahem, Adam Lambert). But I’m also super excited to see Danny Gokey (please sing “What Hurts the Most”!) and Anoop Desai. I’m cringing a little bit at the fact I’ll have to watch Michael Sarver and Megan Joy once again, but I can always go buy a beer during their sets. Wait, do they sell beer at American Idol concerts? Please say yes.

Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney shows are always, always a good time, even if you’re not particularly a country music fan. The best thing (in my opinion) about Kenny tours in the summer is the chance that he might take his shirt off. OK, OK, so the music is pretty amazing too (but seriously, his body is h-o-t) and this year he’s touring with Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland, and Montgomery Gentry.

Helloo, it’s like a whole country music festival.

You’re probably going to want to spend some serious time tailgating, so get to the show early and wear your favorite cowboy hat. Everyone is a country fan when it comes to Kenny Chesney and with songs like “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem” and “Beer in Mexico,” there’s nobody better to spend a summer night with than Kenny.

Elton John (and Billy Joel)
Hi, Legend. Attending an Elton John concert would totally be one for the books. Right up there with Bryan Adams and Mariah Carey.  How could this not be the most amazing concert ever? Elton’s going to be touring the world with Billy Joel and while Billy’s not my absolute favorite, he’s definitely another huge legend. I kind of think whatever stadiums and arenas they’re performing at are going to explode with all that major legend-ness.

Elton has had so many huge hits, and even his recent albums are pretty fabulous, so I am super psyched to see what songs he’s going to choose to perform and if this concert is going to last all night long. Seriously, I don’t think Elton and Billy would even have enough time to sing all their hits in one evening. In any event, I can’t imagine Elton John will be touring too much longer, so I would jump on this summer tour if I were you. Do you think Elton will wear some outrageously huge sunglasses? Let’s hope so. I can’t wait to Crocodile Rock this summer!

What tours are you looking forward to this summer?

There is a real crisis going on in America and it’s deeply effecting the children. No, I’m not talking about the War in Iraq, the nuclear problem in Iran or the skyrocketing price of oil. I am talking about the Hannah Montana Ticket Shortage of 2007. Sounds ridiculous, huh? Well maybe to people with some semblance of a life, but to thousands of soccer moms and Disney-conditioned / obsessed tweens, this is a serious dilema of gargantuan proportions and someone must be held accountable.

For those of you who haven’t a clue what I am talking about, here’s a little backstory:

Hannah Montana is a fictional character from the Disney show of the same name. Hannah, (played by Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter Miley) is a 14 year-old average teenager living a secret double life as a Teen Pop Sensation. The show has scored record ratings for the Disney Channel and is incredibly popular with the 5 to 12 demo. So naturally when Disney announced a nationwide Hannah Montana Live Tour (no, it’s not an ice show) demand for tickets spiked higher than that of a furry red homosexual tickle doll on Christmas Eve.

Tickets with a face value of $66 are reportedly selling on the secondary market for as much as $4500.

Sounds like a simple issue of supply and demand. So what’s the big deal, you say? The big deal is that Ticketmaster, the biggest monopolistic bully in the entertainment business is blaming ticket scalpers / brokers for causing this “ticket shortage” when infact they are scalping tickets themselves.

Case in point: A friend of mine bought HM tickets for her sister on Ticketmaster back in September. The show of course sold out immediately. A couple of days later, she received this email (note the subject line) from Ticketmaster offering to broker any extra Hannah Montana tickets she would not be able to use through their own service TicketExchange. WTF? Am I hearing this correctly? The same company that condemns the secondary market has created it’s own after-market resale venue to profit a second time on a ticket they have already sold? This is insane, deceptive and just plain evil.

Here is TM’s current sweet deal. When tickets go onsale, TM takes a percentage of face value. You then buy the ticket, and they gorge on another $8 – $30 as a “service charge.” Just incase you are thinking poor Ticketmaster, they are on track to make OVER $1 billion in 2007 revenues. That’s right…9 decimal places for those of you who are in remedial Algebra. But wait! How can they be expected to make living off of that?

They are now proposing to take over the secondary ticket market through their Ticket Exchange. Here, they will take another percentage of what you and I are trying to sell our tickets for – but then another $8 to $30 in “handling fees” on a ticket that has already been handled. That is a total of about 30% and $60 in fees and surcharges.

TM blames brokers and resellers for high ticket prices, but that is crap. Anyone who took high school economics knows that this is a matter of supply and demand. Now those fascists at TM want a bigger cut at our expense. There is no reason why they should continue taking advantage of consumers more than they already are.

Shame on you Ticketmaster…you blow!