In the past couple of months, I’ve purchased tickets to three concerts: U2, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Eddie Vedder at the Palace Theatre and Green Day at the Times-Union Center.

In other words, I’m reliving the ‘90s. My friend Taylor has already given me some flack for making these musical choices. “Okay, Green Day, U2, Eddie Vedder?” he e-mailed. “You’re about to become one of those hippies who still follows Neil Young.”

Hmmm. I certainly don’t want to become one of those hippies who follows Neil Young. Although ... do hippies follow Neil Young? Or do they stick to bands like The Dead, Phish and The String Cheese Incident? In any case, I don’t think I’m a hippie, and I don’t want to be one. What Taylor was suggesting, I think, is that I’m edging dangerously close to nostalgia concert territory.

The nostalgia concert is a strange beast. For a long time, I scorned the whole concept. Why would anyone want to go see The Eagles? I wondered. Or the Doobie Brothers? These bands are no longer relevant, or good — if, indeed, they ever were. My friend Jamie once sang the praises of a Foghat concert — “They were like a well-oiled machine” — but I never took him seriously.

But I’m older now, and the bands I loved when I was younger are getting older, and, yes, I’ve now been to a few shows that could be considered nostalgia shows. And they do have a certain appeal. Kiss, for instance, puts on an excellent show. The Police were great at SPAC last summer, although they probably should have played a longer set. The Pixies, Joan Jett, Cracker, even Eric Burdon — each put on an excellent show, in their own way.

In general, I take a long view with concerts. They tend to be expensive, and so when I’m contemplating buying tickets, I ask myself if the band is a band I really want to see before I die.

For instance, I’ve always wanted to see U2, I still really like their music, and when friends asked me if I wanted to go, I said, “Of course.” Eddie Vedder is an old hero of mine, I really like his work on the “Into the Wild” soundtrack, and I have fond memories of Pearl Jam’s performance at the Times-Union Center several years back. I actually saw Green Day in college, right after “Insomniac” came out, at the Gund (now Quicken Loans) Arena in Cleveland. I was always secretly hoping that they would become less and less popular and start playing clubs again, so I could catch them in a more intimate environment, but then “American Idiot” came out and ruined everything. In any case, I missed Green Day on the “American Idiot” tour, and have always regretted it.

So those are my reasons for wanting to see these bands. None of them are young and hip. But each one is still making music that’s relevant and, most importantly, pretty good. At least, I like it.

The Capital Region is an interesting area for music. For an area its size, it gets a lot of shows, but seems to lack a venue that’s appropriate for well-regarded, alternative rock bands. Bands such as The White Stripes and Modest Mouse. Why don’t we get these bands? I have no idea. I saw Modest Mouse a couple of summers ago, but in Northampton, Mass. I saw Beck at SPAC, but it was a strange show — there was a crowd, of course, but not a big enough crowd for such a large outdoor space, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Beck never played here again. Valentine’s does a good job of bringing in interesting artists, but it’s way too small for more successful bands — The Hold Steady, for instance, has already outgrown the space. In other words, I think there’s a venue gap. All I know is that Bruce Springsteen has come through the area several times since I’ve lived here, but I’m still waiting for lesser-known bands such as DeVotchKa, the Drive-By Truckers and Spoon to play here. Why can’t we get these bands? I have no idea. Maybe there isn’t an audience for them, the way there is in a hip college town like Northampton. And maybe they’ll come here someday, and I’ll be forced to eat my words. In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy Eddie Vedder, Green Day and U2.

What do you think? Does the Capital Region have a good music scene? What is it missing?

NEW TV SHOW

I caught the first episode of “Glee,” the new show on Fox about a high school glee club that premiered after American Idol on Tuesday. I’m not a big TV watcher, but this sounded like something I would like. And I did like it. (Unfortunately, Fox isn’t bringing the show back until the fall.)

Created by Ryan Murphy, the twisted mind behind “Nip/Tuck,” “Glee” is a good-hearted, slightly subversive comedy drama in the “Freaks and Geeks”/”Election”/”Breakfast Club” mold, with plot lines ripped straight from “High School Musical.” For instance: the jock who loves to sing (and happens to be dating the president of the school’s celibacy club), and is shunned by his teammates for joining the glee club. So far, Murphy seems to have curbed the mean-spirited sensibility that can make “Nip/Tuck” such a drag. His characters are easy to mock, but likable, and the show actually captures the absurd dynamics of high school fairly well. When the cheerleading coach explains that high school is a “caste system,” well, that sounded like a pretty apt description to me.

Which is why, unless things have changed a lot since I was high school, “Glee” is mostly fantasy. I can’t think of a single star athlete from my high school who ever joined band or chorus, and the one jock who came to literary club meetings was a total anomaly. No, what I remember is the time our marching played a half-time show at a football game, and drunk upperclassmen threw things at us. And stuff like that happens in “Glee,” which is why, despite its fantasy elements, it rings true. All I know is that I can’t resist a TV show where the glee club performs an exuberant version of “Don’t Stop Believin,’” by Journey, or dances and sings to “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse. Too bad it will be months before the show airs again.

Got a comment? E-mail me at sfoss@dailygazette.net.