What were your earliest concert or theater-going experiences? I looking for anything before 1980 and can be rock, jazz, classical, opera, live theater, or comedy (the earlier, the better). Performances by famous people are preferred but not necessary if the experience was particularly memorable.
The Beatles at the Hammersmith Odeon, London in January 1965. The programme, which I’ve still got, was illustrated by John Lennon.
I was in the second row. Everyone (apart from myself) seemed to be screaming. The screams easily drowned out anything the Beatles did. It was wonderfully exciting, and a great start to my concert going life.
Al Jolson! Before he went into talking pictures!
No, not really. The first play I ever saw was when I was 12, at a country club, a Neil Simon-type dramedy starring Peggy Cass. I was bored to death!.. The first play I saw on Broadway was in 1975, a musical called Over Here! starring two of the Andrews Sisters, Marilu Henner, and John Travolta. I thought it THAT very entertaining, heck, I thought just being in New York City was entertaining!
Aside from numerous performances of the Philadelphia Orchestra and several Broadway shows when I was a wee twickster (sorry, recall zero details), probably the first was Joni Mitchell at the Academy of Music circa 1968. First rock concert was the Who (“Who’s Next” tour) in San Diego in 1970.
I’ve posted this before - February 1964 The Rolling Stones in Sydney Australia. Same experience as NineToTheSky- saw it but heard next to nothing.
The Ink Spots around 1948. They were appearing as part of the program at a charity circus in Worcester, Mass. I was 10 years old and I can still remember how amazed I was at seeing in person a group whose records we had at home. After they finished singing, a door prize was given away (six jars of jam) and I won it! That night was the highlight of my life up until that point.
Assuming professional performances, the first stage show I saw seems to be either The Mad Show (off-Broadway) or It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman (Broadway).
For classical concerts, it was one of several; we had a subscription series that brought a half dozen professional groups to our high school each year. The one I can remember the name of was the Buffalo Symphony.
The first rock concert I went to was the Beach Boys at a free concert at Nassau Community College. This was around 1967 or so; the group was considered washed up, so much so that they probably didn’t draw 200 people.
The second was Chicago and the Allman Brothers Band at SUNY Stony Brook.
Tom Lehrer when he toured Australia, in (I think) 1960, is the earliest significant name that I can remember seeing.
In 1961 I lived in London, and saw various live shows, including Beyond the Fringe, with Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett and Dudley Moore.
Earliest theatre would be a pantomime in the mid-60s when I was 8 or 9; probably starring either Stanley Baxter or Rickie Fulton & Jack Milroy (in their Francie & Josie roles). We went every year but I can’t remember which one I saw first.
Earliest music would, I suppose, be a Gilbert & Sullivan light opera at around the same time, or maybe a couple of years later. Again, we went whenever the D’Oyly Carte company toured. The 1st I saw was probably the The Pirates of Penzance.
First proper rock concert was Procol Harum in March 71.
Earliest concert: Dick & Mimi Farina.
Earliest Broadway show: Jesus Christ Superstar, the original with the orginal cast (Ben Vereen!!!)
My first concert was the Animals at the Steele Pier in Atlantic City. I’m confused about the year. Before I started trying to nail it down, I would have guessed that it was 1966. My family took a day trip to AC and decided on the way that we would see whatever concert attraction was at the pier. Thus my parents took me to see, and were appalled by, the Animals. My 1966 date can’t be right, because the opening act was John Fred and the Playboys. They played their hit, Judy in Disguise (With Glasses) and I was familiar with it. Wikipedia tells me that Judy in Disguise was a hit in 1968. So I guess this must have happened in the spring of 1968, when I was 14. Later that year I saw Cream at the Baltimore Civic Center, with opening acts Terry Reid and the Moody Blues.
Can’t recall the exact year, but I saw Dolly Parton on stage before she met Portor. Sometime in the mid-60s I think.
Rod Stewart when he was with Faces, was one of my first proper rock concerts.
Also Bob Marley.
My first experience with live music came in the summers of 1966 and '67. An amusement park a mile from my house was booking lots of popular acts then and they performed in a rather small pavilion next to the boat rides. The bands performed on risers that were only a foot or so high and you could stand right in front of them. I saw The Four Tops, Jan & Dean, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels, Johnny Rivers, and, best of all, The Yardbirds there.
(Stood not two feet in front of Jeff Beck and got to watch all that guitar virtuosity up close and personal. Went back the next night and did the same. Beck had a different amplifier the second night as he got pissed off at his amp the night before and rammed the head of his guitar’s neck deeply into it, and so bought another the next day at a music store I was frequenting at the time. I think it was around $2,000 bucks or so, in 1967 dollars. Another memory of Beck was that he chewed gum constantly and intensely. He was an intense dude.)
1972 - Judy Collins at the Santa Monica Civic
1974 - Elton John at the San Diego Sports Arena
I’m probably one of the oldest (in age) and newest (in time at Dope). I joined yesterday…and I am 73 years old.
Saw Eddie Fischer at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan…in the 1950’s, as I remember it.
Saw Joni James in Asbury Park Convention Hall in the late 1950’s.
Cannot help but wonder if anyone but Ron Semone would even know who those people are.
Styx in 1976, that was before they hit it big with Come Sail Away, it was a good show. Before 76 they had a few hits but nothing big like they had with the Grand Illusion Album. The opening act was a group called Charlie .
I know who Eddie Fisher is. (But then I’m 61. 
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And welcome.
Dave Brubeck, Pittsburgh in 1966 - great jazz. Also memorable was being served my first scotch on the rocks - well before I was 21…
Johnny Cash at the Surf in Clear Lake in 1961 or thereabouts. The Surf is sort of a supper club kind of place, with booths around the floor and lots of drinking. Sadly, there was so much socializing going on, I remember nothing about the music and couldn’t tell ya if it was a good performance or not.