(FORTUNE Magazine) – In a way, rock & roll is a seasonal animal, The high point of its cycle being the summer, when scores of bands and millions of fans make appointments with one another at venues across the land. So what's your pleasure? There are the mega-acts, teenie-bopper bands, rap, heavy-metal shows, country, and alternative-music tours. Summer 2000, like any summer, had its high points and its lows--from the unexpectedly perky success of the Dixie Chicks tour and the triumph of Bruce Springsteen's ten sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden (grossing over $1.6 million per show) to the tragedy of the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, where nine Pearl Jam concertgoers were trampled to death in a push toward the stage. Another fatality struck a Metallica show in Baltimore, where a young man fell from a stadium's upper deck. Of course, most people's summer concert experience falls well outside those lines.

It starts with a merry car ride out to the show with friends--until the traffic hits. Then there's the euphoric hike into the arena. After that comes the sun and smoke and corn dogs and nearly cold beer--and the incredible rush you feel seeing the band take the stage and hearing it break into a tune you love. Live. Want to go up front? Forget it. Not unless you're built like an offensive lineman. The pit is a dangerous place. Besides, the music is plenty loud in the back.

And then, maybe six hours later, exhausted, sunburned, and more tired than drunk, you trudge across the trampled grass back to the car, ready for the long drive home. It's an experience most folks apparently find enjoyable. In fact, the business is going pretty well right now. Pollstar estimates that bands will sell about $1.8 billion in concert tickets in North America this year. That's up from $1.5 billion last year and $950 million in 1995. (We're talking a 13.6% compound annual growth rate, for those who care.) As with any other business, money can be made by raising prices (for tickets) or by selling more units (tickets). And like a company with both pricing power and strong demand for its product, bands were able to raise prices--to an average of $44--and sell more tickets too. No doubt there's some cyclicality to the industry. But unlike recorded music, there's no Napster cloud hanging over the business of rock & roll concert tours. You can download all the Christina Aguilera or Wu-Tang Clan or REO Speedwagon or Slayer you want. But nothing digital will ever be able to replicate the feeling of being surrounded by 10,000 screaming fans. And being one of them.