Bay Ridge man attends 24K concerts, spends $700K on tickets

Joe Sarkis at the Grateful Dead’s 50th Anniversary Show at Soldier Field, Chicago in 2015. Photo: Kim Closson

BAY RIDGE — It’s always show time for a Bay Ridge resident who has attended over a whopping 24,000 concerts in his life.

Joe Sarkis, 72, is known to many as “Concert Joe.” His love for live performances started in 1971. Since then, he has kept a log of all the shows he’s attended, saved ticket stubs, and collected memorabilia and a lifetime of memories.

“There used to be a catering hall where PC Richards is today in Bay Ridge, and in 1970, my cousin got married there and invited Richie Havens to the wedding. He’s the guy that opened Woodstock,” Sarkis said. “He sat with me.”

Sarkis’ encounter with Havens may have sparked something inside of him. The following year, Sarkis’ first real concert was at Carnegie Hall to see rock folk group The Byrds. 1971 was a big year for Sarkis as he started going to shows at Central Park since tickets were cheap.

Joe Sarkis, a Bay Ridge resident, has attended over 24,000 concerts in his life. Photo: Joe Sarkis

“The next summer, I bought a ticket for every show,” he said. “I bought like 40 tickets for like 60 bucks. That’s what started me in all this.”

Despite his massive numbers of attending concerts, Sarkis didn’t attend any as a child.

“I’ve lived on the same block in Bay Ridge at 79th and Fourth Avenue for 71 years,” he said. “I never went to a restaurant, vacation, museum, concert, a ballgame or anything. When I was 20, following the Grateful Dead was the first time I ever went into a restaurant. I didn’t see a menu until then.”

With the help of his friend and longtime music journalist Charley Crespo, Sarkis developed a system to attend shows.

“They call him ‘Every Night Charlie,’” he said. “In 1971, he turned 18 and was able to get into all the clubs, so he said he was going to go to a concert every night of the year. I think he did it for two years straight. Now he’s done almost every night since, and he was the one who showed me how to set up a calendar and stuff.”

Sarkis added, “Him and his other friend we call ‘Ticket Stub Stewie’ showed me the ropes on how to get in all the shows, how to get in cheap or free, and how to find out about them.”

Nowadays, Sarkis visits Crespo’s website, The Manhattan Beat, which lists all the concerts happening in New York City.

“I take my calendars that he showed me how to do 45 years ago and I’ll write down shows I might go to and ones I did go to,” he said. “Then that day I’ll decide how many I’m going to go to, unless I have tickets ahead of time.”

In total, Sarkis said he’s spent $700,000 on tickets to concerts. He said his love of music motivates him to keep enjoying live shows.

“I love the music and just the sound of it,” he said. “It’s just something that makes me feel good. These days, I use it for pain medication. I need a dozen operations. I can’t go under surgery unless it’s necessary. I already had two knee operations. I need another one and two hip ones, and I have carpal tunnel. Music helps me with the pain sometimes. I listen to it, and I forget about the pain.”

Joe Sarkis, a Bay Ridge resident, has attended over 24,000 concerts in his life. Photo: Joe Sarkis

Of the thousands of concerts he’s been to, Sarkis has his favorites.

One is Summer Jam at Watkins Glen in 1973 where 600,000 people attended and The Grateful Dead, The Band and The Allman Brothers Band performed.

The other is the 1983 Action into Research for Multiple Sclerosis benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. The Three Tenors at Giant Stadium also made his list.

Sarkis has fond memories of Bay Ridge, including waiting in line with friends all morning for tickets outside stores on 86th Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues. He also built a miniature Stonehenge in the garden at Shore Road Park on 80th Street.

Sarkis has a calendar for concerts he plans to attend this month. Photo: Joe Sarkis

In 1992, Sarkis saw 1,031 full concerts, not including opening acts.

“I count it by admissions,” he said. “A lot of people say it’s impossible to go to more than one show in a day. I always give them this example. We have a club called The Blue Note. They have an 8 and 10 p.m. show 365 days a year and sometimes they have an afternoon show on Saturdays. If you go there every day, that’s 730 shows in one year.”