{"id":120205,"date":"2026-02-02T17:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/120205\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T17:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:04:10","slug":"meet-concert-joe-a-bay-ridge-local-whos-seen-nearly-25000-live-shows-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/120205\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet \u2018Concert Joe,\u2019 a Bay Ridge local who\u2019s seen nearly 25,000 live shows \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

For more than 50 years, Joe \u201cConcert Joe\u201d Sarkis has followed the same nightly ritual. He leaves his home in Bay Ridge<\/a>, steps onto the R train, and heads north in search of live music \u2014 sometimes one show, sometimes two, sometimes three in a single night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have lived on the same block on Fourth Avenue for almost 71 years,\u201d Sarkis said. \u201cSince the eighties, almost every night, like 300 nights a year, I spend four or five hours on the subway and go to one or two shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a city constantly reinventing itself, Concert Joe<\/a>\u00a0has become a fixture of New York\u2019s live music ecosystem \u2014 a familiar face to club owners, door staff, musicians and fellow concertgoers across Brooklyn and Manhattan. From the Brooklyn Bowl to the Bowery Ballroom, he\u2019s known not as a celebrity, but as a constant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0
\n\"ConcertConcert Joe told Brooklyn Paper that he has spent over $700,000 in concert tickets and has taken out three loans for shows. Photo courtesy of Joe Sarkis\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have known me 35 years,\u201d he said of venue staff. \u201cThey\u2019ve only been married 25 years. They have known me longer than their wives and kids. I\u2019m some of their oldest friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarkis\u2019 devotion to live music began early. His first concert experience came close to home in Bay Ridge in 1970, when folk singer Richie Havens \u2014 who famously opened Woodstock \u2014 performed at his cousin\u2019s wedding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was like my first show,\u201d Sarkis recalled. \u201cI had dinner with him, and I never heard of a vegetarian before; now I\u2019ve been a vegetarian for 52 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

His first formal concert followed soon after: The Byrds at Carnegie Hall in 1971. Later that year, he skipped his high school graduation to attend Frank Zappa at the Fillmore East during its final month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those early, formative experiences opened the door to a world he had not known growing up.\u00a0
\n\"ConcertConcert Joe skipped his high school graduation at Xaverian High School in pursuit of a show. Photo courtesy of Joe Sarkis\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family never took us anywhere,\u201d Sarkis said. \u201cWe never went to a restaurant, a museum or a concert. I had never seen a menu in my life until I was about 20 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once he discovered live music, there was no turning back.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I live for, you know?\u201d Sarkis said. \u201cThe music, I\u2019m addicted to the music.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

A precise system<\/p>\n

Over the decades, Sarkis has attended hundreds of concerts each year, meticulously tracking<\/a> them by \u201cadmissions,\u201d his own system for counting shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI count by admissions,\u201d he explained. \u201cIf I go to a festival and I see 10 bands, that counts as one show.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

In some years, his total has exceeded 300 concerts \u2014 a pace that once led him to petition Guinness World Records.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1988 I applied to the Guinness Book of Records for the most concerts in a year,\u201d Sarkis said. \u201cThey had no category. I petitioned them for 36 years to create it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""ConcertConcert Joe tracks and plans his concerts for the month. In January 2026, he attended 35 shows. Photo courtesy of Joe Sarkis<\/p>\n

Though the record ultimately went to someone else, Sarkis remains undeterred.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my lowest year in like 45 years, that\u2019s what I saw,\u201d he said in response to the world record holder.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Concert Joe is equally passionate about preserving music history. He has collected thousands of ticket stubs and shirts over the years, particularly from the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia. He recalled a story where he gave 200 people ticket stubs from those shows relating to the year they were born.<\/p>\n

He also loaned part of his collection to a 60th anniversary Grateful Dead exhibit in Los Angeles last summer.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI found almost 300 stubs,\u201d he said. \u201cThey borrowed the rest of my Grateful Dead stubs for that display.\u201d
\n\"ConcertSarkis keeps his concert ticket stubs. Photo courtesy of Joe Sarkis\n<\/p>\n

Despite his immense attendance record, Sarkis has never owned a stereo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never owned a stereo or a music system,\u201d he said. \u201cI used to record a lot of shows \u2026 but I never had anything to listen to.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He prefers to listen to music where he first found it: on stage, in real time, surrounded by strangers.\n<\/p>\n

A city that makes live music possible<\/p>\n

New York City itself plays a central role Concert Joe\u2019s story. He credited promoter Ron Deselner with transforming the city into a live music capital, especially through free and low-cost concerts in Central Park during the 1960s and \u201870s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1972, I said, just give me one for every show,\u201d Sarkis recalled of buying tickets at a now-defunct downtown Brooklyn department store. \u201cYou know what it cost me for like 40 tickets? $50.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those shows made it possible, he said, to see major acts for little money \u2014 sometimes multiple artists in one night.\u00a0
\n\"ConcertConcert Joe is in constant pursuit of live music, and told Brooklyn Paper it what he \u201clives for.\u201dPhoto courtesy of Joe Sarkis\n<\/p>\n

Even today, Sarkis can map out a marathon evening with ease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLast summer, I went from Times Square to Rough Trade Records to Bryant Park,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s three full shows within seven blocks of each other in one night. And all free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his favorites, Sarkis is decisive. Pearl Jam tops his list of current bands.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen them about 50 times,\u201d he said.\u00a0
\n\"ConcertBesides attending concerts for the joy music brings him, \u201cConcert Joe\u201d cherishes the friends he\u2019s made along the way. Photo courtesy of Joe Sarkis\n<\/p>\n

Sarkis\u2019 favorite local venues are Brooklyn Bowl and Bowery Ballroom, though he insists there is no better place to see a show than Carnegie Hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no place better than Carnegie Hall,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the whole world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

At an age when many people slow down, Sarkis shows no sign of stopping.\u00a0As long as New York City keeps putting on shows, Concert Joe will keep showing up \u2014 ticket stub in hand, riding the R train and chasing the next note.<\/p>\n

\t