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Do you remember your first concert? Whether you were eight or twenty eight, seeing your favourite band or performer live can be a really transformative experience. Because music – and talented musicians – have a real power to affect our emotions, to bring us together, and to get our hearts really beating. There’s no other word than exhilarating – being a part of a crowd, all united in singing, screaming, crying your hearts out as the lyrics pour from your soul into the crowd, surrounded by the loud music and the voices of thousands of other people doing just the same. It’s not just the awe of seeing talented musicians perform, it’s being one part of a unified crowd, all being a part of something truly special.

The teenage girl in this story knows that – after all, she and her best friend have both been to a few concerts together now. But nothing is more exciting right now than going to see their favourite band, and she’s so excited that she managed to secure them both tickets to the now sold-out gig. But then, a spanner in the works. Her younger cousin has decided he wants to come, and her family are telling her that by refusing to give her best friend’s ticket to her cousin, she’s robbing him of that incredible first concert moment.

Read on to find out more.

AITA for refusing to give my cousin my best friend’s sold-out concert ticket?

So I (16, female) and my best friend (17, male) have tickets to see a band on September 19th that I’d booked weeks in advance.

This band was recently brought onto a comedy talent show and blew up a bit from there. We’d been following the band since before that though, and even watched that episode specifically for them.

My cousin (14, male) likes a very different kind of music. This boy band’s music is kind of like indie pop, while my cousin mostly likes rap/hip-hop.

I showed him their music before they got popular from the show, and he didn’t like it.

However now they’re popular, her cousin’s opinion has changed.

Despite this, he asked me to take him to their concert three days ago because they’re more popular now and he wants to post about going. I told him no because 1) he didn’t like their music when I showed it to him, and 2) the tickets are sold out.

He told his dad, and then my uncle called me asking me to give my best friend’s ticket to my cousin.

We went back and forth a bit because I said I wasn’t going to back out of going with my best friend eight days before the concert to go with my cousin, especially when he’d already told me he didn’t like their music.

My uncle said the tickets were paid for with my money, so I could do whatever I wanted with them, even if my best friend didn’t like my decision, because my cousin is family. In the end he asked me to reconsider, and I said okay just to end the conversation.

And now there is even more pressure being piled onto her.

My grandparents and dad also asked me to reconsider because a concert can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a kid, and I should help my cousin out.

I told them no and explained why, and they eventually left it alone. My mom is staying out of it.

Today my cousin called and asked whether I’d thought about it. I told him yes, but the answer was still no.

He got irritated and said I was only doing this because I was bitter that the band was getting more popular. He also said I was gatekeeping and that he wasn’t going to talk to me if I was going to be like this.

Yikes! Let’s see how she’s feeling about this now.

The thing is, I’d previously told him that it was bittersweet watching my niche little band get so popular, so I’m worried he’s interpreting that as me being salty about new people discovering them.

That’s genuinely not why I’m refusing to give him the ticket.

I also feel a little guilty because my best friend has been to concerts before while my cousin hasn’t, and I do understand why my family thinks his first concert would be a big experience for him.

AITA?

She booked the tickets a long time ago, and now they’re sold out.

That’s just the way it is, and there’s no way that she should be rescinding the offer of the ticket to her best friend who genuinely loves the band, just because her cousin has now decided he wants to go.

Sure the kid’s first concert would be big for him – but learning that it’s okay to be disappointed when an event is sold out and others can go but you can’t is also a learning experience, and something that the cousin needs to experience.

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Let’s see what folks on Reddit made of this.

This person agreed that she should be taking her best friend to the concert.

While others thought that the cousin was entitled.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who feels hoodwinked after finding out the sick father she’s been supporting has plenty of money of his own.

Meanwhile this Redditor pointed out the dangers of not teaching a kid what the word ‘no’ means.

She has rightfully bought these tickets with her own money, and has been looking forward to going to the concert with her best friend for a long time. And of course she has, because the pair of them have been fans of this band for a long time, and there’s nothing like seeing your favourite band live – it’s something that sometimes you only get to experience once, because of course bands aren’t always touring and sometimes they lose members or break up even at what might feel like the height of their popularity. So of course, she should be going to the gig with her best friend, no matter what her family say.

Because her cousin doesn’t even like this band, and he has openly said that he only wants to go to the concert because they’re getting popular now, and he wants to post from the concert on his socials. Sure, for some that’s a valid reason for going. But it is not a valid reason for bullying the ticket away from someone who genuinely likes the band and is excited about seeing them live. The worst part here though is the pressure from her family – because no means no, but her family don’t seem to know that.

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Author

Kyra Piperides

Kyra Piperides, PhD | Contributing Science Writer

Dr. Kyra Piperides is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter, specializing in Science & Discovery. Holding a PhD in English with a dedicated focus on the intersections of science, politics, and literature, she brings over 12 years of professional writing and editorial expertise to her reporting.

Kyra possesses a highly authoritative background in academic publishing, having served as the editor of an academic journal for three years. She is also the published author of two books and numerous research-driven articles. At TwistedSifter, she leverages her rigorous academic background to translate complex scientific concepts, global tech innovations, and environmental breakthroughs into highly engaging, accessible narratives for a mainstream audience.

Based in the UK, Kyra is an avid backpacker who spends her free time immersing herself in different cultures across distant shores—a passion that brings a rich, global perspective to her writing about Earth and nature.

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