Rupert: Considering I had pretty limited musical tastes at the time, I’m glad to admit that my first concert experience was one I would happily repeat to this day. In fact, it was a good transition in my life, which involved quitting sports and starting to smoke tons of brick weed and listening to lots of music. With a fresh driver’s license in hand, I drove the crew to the 1994 edition of Lollapalooza at Pine Knob in Michigan – the venue with the steepest damn lawn in the world.
The line up consisted of the Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, George Clinton & the P Funk All-Stars (I’m still partially deaf from this set), A Tribe Called Quest, Cypress Hill, the Breeders, Pharcyde, and a bunch of other cool shit. Before there was Phish and the jambands, it was all about the Beastie Boys. A lot of my high school years were spent listening to and idolizing Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D. I remember feeling pretty lame at that Lollapalooza though and deciding that I needed to get into this concert scene. Needless to say, I walked away with a set of those terrible stickers they used to sell to all the dorky kids with the cheesy sun that says “Smile.”
Luke Sacks: My first concert was appropriate for a Jersey boy – Bruce Springsteen 1985 at Giants Stadium on his Born in the USA Tour. I can recall listening to the Born in the USA album for weeks on end leading up to the concert. It was hot as hell – even for August on the East Coast – at Giants Stadium that night. I remember it was the first night of the stand and more than any Bruce song, I remember him playing Twist and Shout. And there I was, just twisting and shouting my 11-year old ass off. Out in the Street and of course, Dancing in the Dark and Glory Days, also stand out in my memory. The following November, I saved my allowance and any other cash I could get my hands on and bought the Live 1975-1985 compilation on vinyl to relive that night. I’ve seen Bruce three times since then but none compared to that first concert experience.
Jennifer Kirk: My first concert was the great Charlie Daniels Band at the Oklahoma State Fair. I don’t recall what year it was, I had to have been around 8 or 9. I do remember the rodeo taking place before the show, and that was most likely my reason for being there at the time. I can’t give you a setlist but Devil Went Down to Georgia was, of course, nothing short of epic. The state fair was a great experience as a child, not only could I consume massive amounts of fried-funnel-sugar coated-breaded ANYTHING, but I was able to see my first concert of a has-been country artist and more importantly I got to ride a camel for the first time!
I would return a year later to once again witness the awesomeness of Devil Went Down when the CDB returned to the state fair. I haven’t seen them since and have no plans to see the band in the future, unless they get added to the Bonnaroo lineup. Don’t even get me started on Charlie’s outspoken politics and soapbox rants. However, I will give him credit for throwing some of the best southern-rock and country musicians together throughout the 70’s, 80’s and even today as he hosts his annual Volunteer Jam.
Scott Bernstein: While the Springsteen concert Luke attended was my second concert, my first concert was one year earlier at the same venue. My mom took me to see The Jacksons Victory Tour, and it was fucking awesome. Michael and his brothers rocked my world during a rapid-fire set that ended with the craziest fireworks display I had ever seen. I also learned a harsh lesson that day when The Jacksons played a number of songs from their horrible Victory album instead of the old standbys. I still can’t believe they didn’t play ABC.
Chuck Myers: February 9, 1982, Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, NM. Foreigner on the “4” tour, with a bigass inflatable jukebox that blew up during “Juke Box Hero.” Kind of like Pink Floyd’s pig, but dumber. The opening act was “And Special Guest,” who turned out to be some unknown Canadian dude named Bryan Adams. My older sister took me, and she made us move because she said the people behind us were going to puke. I didn’t believe her, but about an hour into the show, BLEEEAHHGGGH. Puke everywhere, except on us. My older sister rocks.
Mike Sicki: The first concert I ever attended was Bell Biv Devoe (with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill as openers) at the Rosemont Horizon in 1991. This concert was followed a few weeks later by the second concert I ever attended: Vanilla Ice at the Riviera Theater. BBD had a basketball hoop on each side of the stage and Michael Bivins did not miss a shot he took, including what must have been a 45 footer. Vanilla Ice had the Riv balcony bouncing, but his set was on the short side.
DaveO: August 8th, 1994, it was The Spin Doctors on the top of the bill with – Cracker, The Gin Blossoms and a percussionist named Vinx to support. The scene was Great Woods in Mansfield, MA for my first rock concert and I was with my Dad. I remember it surprisingly well. First up was Vinx, who was humorous, I remember him doing a rendition of Day-O. Cracker came next, their set was great, and they were still touring for the album Kerosene Hat and played the hits: Low and Get Off This, as well as a memorable rendition of HIDDEN TRACK Euro-Trash Girl. They also played Loser and introduced it as a Grateful Dead cover but it would be another 4 years before I would start to discover the Dead. The Gin Blossoms also put on a great set; I remember being impressed with the drum work in Found Out About You, killer fills. The Spin Doctors set paled in comparison to the openers. I guess you could say I was a discerning rock critic at a young age. Dad & I made the decision to split for the parking lot before they returned for their encore to beat the traffic – making good concert decisions since age 12.
Some Dude: Like a few other people who have already detailed their first concert experience I was wrestling with which one to write about. Should it be the first concert I actively wanted to go to? The first I bought tickets to on my own and went to without parental supervision? Well since the question posed was very first concert, we’ll go with that one. Much like Jennifer I don’t remember many of the details, but I do know it was none other then the Jewish Elvis – Neil Diamond at Madison Square Garden (upon further investigation all signs point to the year being 1986) What I do remember about the night, other then sitting in the nosebleeds, was being excited about hearing Turn On Your Heartlight (Diamond’s hit inspired by the movie E.T.). I also seem to recall a rousing rendition of America and Diamond playing something off his Jonathan Livingston Seagull album with accompanying cinematic visuals.
So, we showed you ours, let’s see some of yours…
24 Responses
Metallica at Boston’s Fleet Center in March of ’97. I was in 5th grade and I went to school the next day with no voice and a neck that was sore as all hell from headbanging like a hyped out little bastard. Not much of a Metallica fan anymore…
Rush – Presto Tour 1990 – Just saw them again last week for the first time since. Still just a bunch of nerdy white dudes rockin’ out!
Nothing better than a power trio with laser-beams!!
Huey Lewis & the News, SPAC summer 1989
1977 fleetwood mac rumours. on his way home from work one night maybe a month earlier, my father had picked up this german couple hitchiking. well somehow a month later they were still guests at our house…kris, the guy, i remember as being kinda cool, but as i was 9 y.o. at the time, my memories have since been peppered with my mother’s which are not as rosy… anyhow, kris buys tickets to fleetwood mac for myself and my childhood friend, billy sutherland…who became very very christian in our early teens and beyond, but this night we waffed marijuana smoke for the first time and were treated to one hell of a yacht rock and roll show. having since watched the classic album series on Rumours, it is that much more amazing to have seen this show live. so many songs were on regular radio rotation then that i was familiar with probably 10-12 mac songs even tho i was only 9. i remember for some reason thinking that lindsay buckingham never bent his knees throughout the entire show. it was a barnburner for sure… tinged with moments like christie mcvie’s beautiful ballad, songbird, which i can still hear in my mind’s ear. well, the hook was sunk and sunk deep and 3 weeks later i drug dad to take me to kiss destroyer… i’ve really never been the same, thanks to the gods of rock and roll.
White Zombie, with the Ramones opening, December 1995, at the Meadows in Hartford. The most satanic experience of my young life.
NYE 1990 I’m pretty sure – Shabba Ranks, TLC, Bobby Brown*
w/ Whitney Houston appearance
Poison at Red Rocks in 1991 with Slaughter and the Bullet Boys. I was in 5th grade. It RULED.
Boy this was a long time ago 😉 November 1971 Sly and The Family Stone at MSG. We had 10th row seats & everyone stood on top of their foldup chairs and danced, and then Sly took us Higher. Are all rock n roll shows like this?
I’d have to check my ticket stubs to confirm, but I believe the first ticket I ever bought with my own money was the Spin Doctors, Soul Asylum & Screaming Trees show at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. The timing of this sweet blog is sort of weird as I’ve been in somewhat of a retro state of mind and just loaded Pocket Full of Kryptonite back into the iPod.
The first show my parents took me to was Peter, Paul & Mary at the same venue. As my parents tell me, we were in the first couple of rows and I had fallen asleep on my Dad’s shoulder. Peter or Paul looked in the direction of my Dad and said “you’re going to want to wake the little guy up for this next one”, just before starting Puff the Magic Dragon. I guess you could say I woke up to the word Puff at a much younger age than I previously thought.
1991 Paula Fucking Abdul (with Color Me Badd opener).
Peoria Civic Center – Peoria, IL
My older sister got invited to go the show with some of her friends. Since it was the second concert my sister was getting to go to, my brother and I pitched a fit until my mom bought tickets for us. We went, I hated it, thought it was too loud and the screaming girls hurt my ears. I ended up facing away from the stage with my fingers in my ears for the majority of the show. Little bro (I was 10 he was 8 at the time) fell asleep after CMB and didn’t wake up until we got home that night.
check it yo:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1402/1184239746_0cee75f846.jpg?v=0
Sharon, Lois & Bram’s Elephant Show (1989?)
^^^^oops! just realized that last post is incorrect. i saw this show before that one…
Monsters Of Rock
Giant Stadium
East Rutherford, NJ
06/26/88
* Van Halen
* Scorpions
* Dokken
* Metallica
* Kingdom Come
pink gilmour @ the vet in june 2, 1994 – division bell tour – sitting in the 700 level, smoked our 15 year old-selves silly – if we only knew then what we know now we may still be seeing flying pigs and lasars when we close our eyes 🙂
NKOTB-Worcester Centrum…the internet seems to say it was 1989 which sounds probably about right. My dad was away (or maybe just hiding, I don’t really remember) and all the neighborhood moms were taking their daughters (including my mom and younger sister) to the concert in a YELLOW FUCKING SCHOOL BUS. So not only was I forced to see New Kids w/ a bunch of screaming girls…I had to travel to the Centrum in a school bus. I spent the entire night w/ my head buried in my hands slouched over in the seat. It was at that young point in my life that I knew live music could only get better.
::shudders::
Bruce Springsteen 9/2/92 World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, IL. I was 9.
Billy Joel- October 1986
damn..
Guns and Roses, MSG Use Your Ilusion tour.
I went with my Japanese exchange student, and was accompanied by my older brother and his girlfriend, or was she already his fiance?
anyway, GNR did not come out even remotely on time. during the wait, the cameras panned around the aduience, getting people more and more excited, and enticing someexibitionism…. it wasn’t long before women started pulling their tops off, and the crowd went wild… then some women pulled their bottoms off… needles to say, my brother’s girlfriend was not pleased, he wanted to kill me, and my exchange student was yelling “FUCK YEAH!!!! AWESEOME!!!! I LOVE AMERICA!!!!!!”
the show was great too.
🙂
Kiss in ’78, I think. Maybe ’77?
I was about 8 and my friends dad took me. Talk about an off the hook introduction to live music! I don’t count the numerous spyro gyra, beach boys and sha na na tours I saw headlining the Dallas summer music festivals my family attended. My next “real” concert was Neil Diamond. Dang do diddly. My parents, somehow, outdid Kiss. I knew all the songs and was in the 2nd row with my mom right next to the center runway that protruded into the audience. When he would swing his arm I would be bathed in sequins or sweat. I was carrying giant binoculars that i didn’t need, and Neil commented that it was a little unnerving to see someone this close to him with binoculars in his lap! When I finally graduated to attending concerts without adults and with drugs (Sammy Hagar and Quarterflash in 81/82), I was already jaded to the whole big venue tour. I had been in the first few rows for too many concerts and had seen genuine spectacles. It took a long time to come back full circle and appreciate the musicianship of the band and the quality of the sound.
The Doobie Brothers in 1980, with my dad.
They absolutely rocked.
Check it:
1982–QUIET RIOT (Metal Health tour, of course)
with SAGA and Girlschool opening! Trust me when I tell you it was awesome. It truly was. I was 11 years old, and Carlos Cavazo and Rudy Sarzo BLEW MY LITTLE MIND.
Jacksons Victory Tour – RFK. I disagree with ScottyB, though. “Torture” melted faces. But “She’s Out Of My Life” broke Michael’s arm.
Rolling Stones – 1989 – Metrodome
Living Colour opened
Went to Musicland to get tickets with my sister and her friends. They handed out wristbands and I ended up getting the lowest number – about 40th in line. I got all of the money from the others (never had I felt so cool with so much money in my hand) and got to the front and got floor seats for everyone. I got 2 tickets for myself.
All of my friends begged me to take them. I couldn’t decide and in the end, opted to take my dad to make it fair.
I was 12.
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