^Boo school trip! You must go to as many shows as you can! I sincerely regret not "gigging it up" (as my lame friends used to say) more when I was younger.
I totally do. 
My tastes have been leaning more towards classic rock recently, so there aren't many acts that I absolutely love that are still touring. So it's rare to find a band or artist that I really like and would want to see live, that I can see live. And then when I do find one, I can't go to the concert. 
Hmm, you need experimental concert buddies (and money). My experimental concert buddies and I have a scale that goes like this:
For $0-$20, we'll try any band once, no matter the venue/atmosphere, even if we don't know anything by the group.
For $21-$50 we'll check out a band who we like at least 2 songs from, no matter the venue/atmosphere.
For above $50, it's got to be someone whose album tracks we like too in a venue/atmosphere that's not a pain in the butt (no expensive parking, no screaming girl fans, etc).
I discovered three new bands this year following this method (all were opening bands from the $21-50 category). This has helped diversify my music tastes, too!
