With spring break concluded we begin the six-week wait until summer, but for the music lover this may feel like an eternity.

Washington has always been home to some of the best concert venues in the country. Rolling Stone ranked The Gorge amphitheater the 3rd best in the country, while places like The Paramount and Show Box at the Market give Seattle a unique musical character.

These and many more venues around Washington will be active as concert season picks up, but this summer in particular is panning out to be one to remember.

Great concert opportunities start the week of finals here at WSU. Check your exam schedule wisely, as rapper Tech N9ne has stops in Spokane and Seattle. On the opposite end of the musical spectrum, Selena Gomez is kicking off her summer tour with a show in Key Arena in Seattle.

With pop music in mind, Demi Lovato is in Seattle in August while 5 Seconds of Summer play in Spokane, Auburn, and Ridgefield.

Classic rock icons will also be making the rounds in Seattle this summer. The Who, Bruce Springstein, The Dead and The Steve Miller Band will be rocking around the Puget Sound. But while standout artists are enough to start saving up for tickets, the festival scene in Washington is a completely different world.

Paradiso, Watershed, and Sasquatch! are the big names, each one magnificently different in atmosphere and lineups, but each one at the Gorge in Quincy.

Watershed, which is 2 weekends in a row at the end of July and the beginning of August headlines Eric Church, Keith Urban, and Jason Aldean. This country show pulls the most people out of all the Washington festivals and with this being the inaugural year of the second weekend, country fans are eagerly waiting.

With Sasquatch!, the lineup is as diverse as Washington itself. British rockers The Cure, Indie rock group Florence and the Machine, electronic duo Disclosure and rapper A$AP Rocky are all headliners.

Finally we have Paradiso, the Electronic mega show that last year headlined Armin Van Buuren and Skrillex. As of now, the lineup is still a secret and causes a whirlpool of rumors and he-said-she-saids that make even more anticipation for the festival. None of this has stopped tickets from being sold, as they went on sale Friday.

Festivals have the opportunity to be one of the most memorable music experiences one can have. With so much music and having to travel or camp, the festival setting may have everything the music lover is looking for. But the one problem many run into with festivals and stand out shows alike is the ticket cost.

According to ABC News, ticket prices have gone up over seven percent since 2000. This is a complicated issue that remains a topic of debate, but one thing is certain; the college demographic has some of the least amount of spending money. Or perhaps I should speak for myself.

But even after that price increase, it’s still worth it. The shows I have been to I’ll never forget. In a way, I will remember these years of my life by the music I listen to and there is no better way to set that in stone than going to a show.

Among the shows I am looking forward to the most are a series of concerts at the Woodland Park Zoo. Yes, the zoo. Going to go see a band like Boston before or after seeing a hippopotamus up close sort of sums up the point of it all. It’s the experience.

I grew up on classic rock, which is a genre that has already seen its prime. I was not around to see The Doors or Led Zeppelin live, so I implore you to seize that moment while you still can. Let this be the summer you maybe spend a little more than you should to see that show you will be talking about the rest of your life.