The ultimate music fan

Robert Matonis, aka “Beatle Bob,” may be the world’s most obsessive music fan, says David Peisner in Blender. A 55-year-old sometime social worker in St. Louis, Matonis claims to have gone to a rock concert, music club, or some other music event every single night for the past 11 years—and people in the local music scene believe that’s true. By his count, he has now been to more than 5,000 shows, and there’s nothing he would have rather done instead. “It’s just an exhilarating feeling, a euphoria that’s hard to put into words,” says Matonis, who got his nickname when a nun at his Catholic boarding school caught him reading a magazine about the Beatles. “You plug into the music and it gives you an uplifting feeling.” Matonis doesn’t just attend shows, he practically takes them over, dancing feverishly in the audience or hopping up on stage, where he’s often cheered by fans. “When I go to a club, I know the chef, the waitresses, the door guy, the sound guy, the security. I’ll talk to the bands and the fans, too,” he says. “I’m usually the last person to leave.” Matonis says he can keep up such a hectic pace because he doesn’t drink, smoke, eat meat, do drugs—or sleep more than five hours a night. “There have been nights I was a little tired, but here’s my motto: Drag yourself there, the bands will pick you up.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up