Learning about life – and music and love and eating leftovers – from the world of finance: Reflections on the Psychology of Money
During my first year at university, in Boston, I went to a lot of gigs. I was really into Britpop at the time – Blur, Oasis, Suede and Pulp in particular – and they were massive in the UK, selling out decent-sized arenas. But the beauty of seeing them in America, where they were less popular, was that they played smaller venues of less than 1000 people, right at the height of their popularity. I loved it. I didn’t only listen to Britpop – I had my other [guilty? shameful?] pleasures, one of whom was The Offspring. I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit to liking them back then – this was in 1994-95 – but it could be worse. They weren’t (aren’t?) that bad, are they? Surely Nickelback, Matchbox Twenty and Blink 182 are worse, right? (at the time their big hits were ‘Self-Esteem’ and ‘Come Out and Play’) Anyway, they were far more popular than the usual British bands I went to see, and so were playing in a much bigger venue: the Worcester Centrum. My friend Simon and I – we went ...