There are probably more bands than jobs on the market, but that doesn’t mean they should be taken for granted. If you were to walk down the main street of any popular city or town, the chances of you walking past live music are very high. While the chances of them drawing you in to stay for their set might be slim, it’s for gosh-darn-certain that the time is worth the try.

Because you never know who‘s the next what, it’s important to support as much live music as possible. If they don’t impress you, simply carry on and know that your lack in attendance will most likely influence the club promoter’s decision to never invite them back; and thus the cycle will continue until the musicians realize whether or not to continue their passion with hopes of making a day job. If they do impress you, well, there’s a world of endless opportunity that can start from the bar stool of an old sports bar in the corner of god knows where on a Tuesday night.

Here are five of many reasons why you should always go out and support your local bands!

5. Numbers mean everything.

If you’ve decided that you are in favor of a local band that is most likely not charging any more than $5 for entry (if any at all), you should go out and support them. It’s the only way they will be invited back out, and therefore the only way they will continue to get noticed. Life only gets better with more music, so why not support it all you can?

4. Like the musicians, the techs, bartenders, and bouncers need to get paid too. 

The music business is all-encompassing. Everything you need to run a successful bar, club, or lounge is needed to operate a venue. If the smaller shows don’t sell, they won’t be able to support the larger shows; and so on. Nectar’s got its legacy because of a local band named Phish.

3. Supporting music is (quite literally) supporting life.

For many who try to make a living out of it, music is life. It might (just barely) pay their bills, and it might (only sometimes) get them laid, or perhaps (but not likely) it will lead to a full career, but it is 100% worth supporting a dream–even if it (probably won’t) change a life. These people, too, need food on their table. Though there is ALWAYS the chance that their career DOES take off, and therefore your support means the world. For a person dedicating themselves to an industry once described as “a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs,” they, too, must see that “there’s also a negative side” (Hunter S. Thompson). Everything is worth it if you make it.

2. As far as new experiences, you never know what you’ll walk in to.

So long as you go about your automatic existence, go home after work, “catch up on sleep,” or rationalize another time over the now, you will never gain a new experience; you will never meet the people you should meet; and you will never gain back the time you’ve lost. So be sure to do the unexpected, talk to strangers, and find the others. You may never know who’s to walk through the door unless you go through it first.

Every adventure has the capacity to turn into an experience, so long as you put yourself out there, do things you normally wouldn’t do, and do your best to radiate radical change all the while.

1. Everyone needs a vacation.

Neither the musicians, promoters, or management, nor the agents, ticket-buyers, or fan-base will ever get one without the initial support. Whether the concert pays for the vacation, or the concert IS the vacation, be sure to find your link within the cycle. Let music be the gift that keeps on giving.