This is what I thought Ender Will’s thread was going to be about.
You can guess my age when I tell you it was the Who, the Who’s Next tour.
Damn, I’m old.
Damn, that was an excellent concert.
Hee, hee! That IS old!
Mine was Pink Floyd, in 1988.
Del Fuegos, sometime in the late 80’s. My brother’s band was opening for them. I remember trying to drink beer (it tasted awful) and wondering why people were sucking on those balloons (whippets).
If I remember correctly …Steppenwolf
Had been to an Association concert before that, but can’t really call them “rock”
These were in the late 1960s.
Yes. I am old.
Um, does Duran Duran count? No, I didn’t think so. I suppose my first actual rock concert was U2, during their Unforgettable Fire tour.
I would like to preface this by mentioning that I worked at the place hosting the concert, so I got in for free. Free concerts for 14 year olds were a pretty big deal. I otherwise would not have bought a ticket for the show.
Anyway, my first concert was Stryper. I don’t remember much of the concert itself, but I do remember cleaning the locker room after the show and thinking, “They drink A LOT of beer for a Christian band.” And I was able to get my friend backstage to have his yellow t-shirt autographed by the band.
So if anyone is embarassed by what their first concert was, remember that someone has already posted something worse.
Technically is was the Beach Boys about 1967. They were considered has-beens at the time; despite the fact the concert was free (which is why I wandered over), there were less than 200 in the audience.
My first real concert was Chicago/Allman Brothers at SUNY Stony Brook around 1969.
Judas Priest on their “British Steel” tour in 1979.
It was my fave band at the time and we squirmed up to the front row (general admission) and were in total awe. Halford came riding out in a motorcycle singing “Hell Bent for Leather”.
At the time that was sooooooo cool. Man oh man…what were we thinking?
Best I can remember, it was the Ramones, with opening band theRunaways (Joan Jett, Lita Ford, I think they were like 17 or 18). It musta been '77 or '78, and we were just a few feet away from the stage, right next to the speakers. I was deaf for 3 days afterwards.
Lynyrd Skynyrd. Fourth of July Weekend Bash, 1975. They were with about ten other bands, Charlie Daniels and Goose Creek Symphony being the only two I can remember.
God, that was a fun time.
Man, I’m a spring chicken.
Lollapalooza 1992 - Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chilipeppers, Ministry, Soundgarden, Jesus & Mary Chain, among others.
It was pretty fun.
America, 1973
Bad Company, July 1979, at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
dinosaur junior at leeds town and country, feb 1992 i think.
i was deaf for about 3 days after, i know that
Iron Maiden - Power Slave Tour - Radio City Music Hall (83 or 84).
Never been to one.
The Cure, 1981
Me neither.
Queen, News of the World Tour, 1977
Iron Butterfly at the San Diego Sports Arena, December 1969. They announced from the stage that they were recording the show for a live album, and a few months later Iron Butterfly Live came out. Second on the bill was It’s A Beautiful Day, and the opening act was a male-female acoustic duo called Too People. I’ve never been able to find out anything about Too People. They were probably a local act and as far as I can tell they never made a record, at least not under that name. The one thing I remember about their set is that they did a version of “Mr. Bojangles” with a silly ending. (Something like “There he goes…he’s walkin’ down the road…he tripped.”)