Anyone who has met me knows that I’m not especially daring. That changed earlier this month, at least for one night, when I decided that I was going to go to Boston for a concert on a school night.

Yes, I know that sounds like a perfectly normal thing for a twentysomething to do, but consider where I’m coming from. When we first started expanding our Times columns, my editor Lee asked if I wanted to write about local nightlife, and I came back with a column on a booze-fueled Dungeons and Dragons meetup. Going out isn’t really my jam.

Enter Alien Weaponry. If you haven’t heard of them, it’s probably because your musical tastes want nothing to do with teenage Māori thrasher metal. I didn’t think mine did, either, but two months of a weird YouTube rabbit hole involving folk and symphonic metal will do that to you.

A lot of it was convenient timing; I went to New Zealand for a week in November, and I came across this babyfaced trio a week or two before I left. I bought “Kai Tangata,” the first song I heard by them, on my iPod so I could feel all special about having some Kiwi music for my trip.

I ended up listening to the rest of “Tū,” their debut album, on the flight home — Air New Zealand has a local artist section in their in-plane entertainment system, and I needed to recover from crying four times during “Moana” — and I eventually bought the CD so I could listen to it in my car.

I know thrasher metal isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it’s cool that a lot of their songs are in Māori (all three guys have some ancestry) and address Native and historical issues.

Sometime in early February, I saw that Alien Weaponry was coming stateside, including a show in Boston on May 13. I launched myself into a three-month internal debate on whether to go.

“Boston is only two hours away!” “But you’d have to drive back at like midnight.”

“But they’re stateside and who knows when they’ll be back?” “You need to save the gas money.” “But tickets are only 12 bucks!” “IT’S A SCHOOL NIGHT.”

Further proof that I’m a stick in the mud: I stalled on the decision until the week before, at which point my mom asked how much tickets are to determine whether that was a factor. When I told her, she gave me that “are you kidding me” look and told me to get a hotel so I wouldn’t have to drive back that night.

Total cost for the trip: $183. That included my ticket, a band t-shirt, dinner and breakfast, gas, parking, an Airbnb and earplugs. (Still cheaper than floor seats for Lynyrd Skynyrd!)

I also got a free milkshake from this couple from Vermont I ended up hanging out with during the concert; I think Rachel felt bad for Keegan repeatedly hitting me in the face with his hair while headbanging in front of me, but I’ll take that over a skull to the nose.

Was it worth the money, sleep deprivation and wet socks? Absolutely.

I wasn’t a fan of the 40-degree rain, and it was a little weird being some of the youngest people there (except for obviously the band), but the food was great, my cute little Airbnb was conveniently located, both Alien Weaponry and their opener Reapercussion were awesome, and everyone was super friendly.

The Reapercussion guys joined us in the audience while Alien Weaponry was on, and everyone stayed after for autographs and pictures, even when we got temporarily kicked out into the rain due to a fire alarm.

It’s not something I’d want to do on a regular basis — I need to save up the gas money for roller derby road trips and, you know, my student loans — but it was fun being adventurous for once.

Amanda Hutchinson is the assistant community editor.