First BIG (stadium) concert was the Monsters of Rock at Candlestick Park, in, oh, '87? ‘88? Metallica, Scorpions, VH, Dokken, and Led Zep Jr . . . oh, sorry Kingdom Come. Almost got killed when some fucker tripped me in the mosh pit. On the plus side, saw more girls’ shirts lifted than I ever dreamed I were possible. Fun times when you’re 16.
Since then, I’ve seen Metallica four more times at various arenas/stadiums, Van Halen twice, Testament/Megadeth/Judas Priest at the Oakland Coliseum (by far the loudest concert I’ve ever been to), and a few other BIG concerts.
First concerts of any size . . . saw Primus at the Omni (a now-defunct all-ages club in Oak-town) a few times before they ranked big enough for arenas; saw Metallica at the Omni right before Master of Puppets hit big; saw countless crap hair metal bands at various Bay Area venues during a very shameful period in my life.
My tastes have mellowed in the umpteen years since . . . The band I’d most like to see now, but never get around to, is the Dave Matthews Band. They’re playing the Gorge Amphitheater in August, and my wife is due to give birth August 7th. Oh well.
Posting about the old Atlanta Municipal Auditorium got me to reminiscing about the shows I saw there over the years before the Omni (now also demolished) was built and became the default rock arena in the city. A partial list :
The Who
Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green had just left, dammit)
Small Faces, Savoy Brown, and the Grease Band
Emerson Lake and Palmer with Humble Pie
Ten Years After (twice)
Jefferson Airplane
Johnny Winter
Pink Floyd with Hawkwind
Allman Brothers Band (with Duane, of course)
I know there are others, I just can’t remember them right now (as Fibonacci noted, it was the late sixties, early seventies). That old building couldn’t have had any cobwebs in the attic. There was a major act there blowing the roof off the dump two or three times a month!
I had a chance to see Janis Joplin in Chicago, but there was some stupid party with friends the same night and I said, “I’ll see her next time she comes to Chicago.” She died shortly after.
I did see The Who & the Kinks together in an overcrowded club in Chicago…and saw The Who again at, of all places, Indiana Beach.
In Germany I went a lot: Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Stones, Simon & Garfunkel…they were much cheaper than tickets here. In NYC you could see anyone (Dead at MSG was good…contact high walking in.)
I have tickets for VHI Divas In Vegas on May 23…Celine Dion, Cher, Dixie Chicks, Mary J. Blige and others…
Hard to get tickets for shows in Las Vegas…first they charge outrageous prices (front row for Paul McCartney $3,600 - last row was $250) and secondly, most tickets are comped to high rollers, (which I am not) and lastly, if there are cheap(er) seats, they are snapped up before they officially go on sale…how, I don’t know, but they are.
Have fun at The Who, Big Kauhuna! They’re fantastic!
First arena concert – circa 1990 Dokken & Cinderella in the Coliseum at Ft. Wayne IN. Went with my best friend & we hung out by the busses afterward - I got Tom Keifer’s autograph on my ticket (wonder where it is now…)
Also saw Billy Joel on the Stormfront tour at Market Square Arena (RIP) Indianapolis in about that fimeframe.
Have seen Jimmy Buffett several times – the lawn is the place to be! He was scheduled to be at Deer Creek (I refuse to call it by its corporate name!) Sept 11th 2001… rescheduled 2 weeks later & put on a hell of a show. I think he needed it as much as we did.
Weird Al Yankovic puts on quite a show as well - saw him twice on his most recent tour.
And just to make some of you feel old - my parent’s first date was a Jimi Hendrix concert …
I guess I can claim to be the oldest here. 1967. The Buckinghams, Tommy James and the Shondells, and headlining, The Beach Boys! Yes, this was still the era when all the girls screamed so loudly that it was hard to hear the bands. My girlfriend and I sat in the last row and looked down at the crowd with wonderment.
A couple of high points in a long career of concert going since:
The time in college when I went downtown to hear Jefferson Airplane and got back to school in time to catch the last couple of hours of the Grateful Dead concert, when some of the Airplane came down to jam with them.
The biggest big concert was at the Carrier Dome with Pink Floyd in the 90s and its magnificent huge laser and light show. Shows have come a long way since the 60s.
Pearl Jam, Rock for Choice benefit, Pensacola, 1994. It was the first anniversary of Dr. David Gunn’s death. Security was tight due to fear of violent anti-abortion protestors, but never having been to a concert before I thought that uniformed police officers, metal detectors, and pat-downs were SOP for rock concerts!
I attended my first concert In '75 or '76 I saw The Eagles at the Miami Baseball Stadium. Opening was ** Andrew Gold** and ** Jimmy Buffet**
We had to leave early because my best friend Beth started getting panicky and claustrophobic. We are outside in the parking lot and hear the strains of Best of My Love* , Beth’s favorite song, she cried all the way home for wimping out on us.
I attended my first concert In '75 or '76 I saw The Eagles at the Miami Baseball Stadium. Opening was ** Andrew Gold** and ** Jimmy Buffet**
We had to leave early because my best friend Beth started getting panicky and claustrophobic. We are outside in the parking lot and hear the strains of Best of My Love , Beth’s favorite song, she cried all the way home for wimping out on us.
My first concert, though it wasn’t really rock, was Willie Nelson. My parents took me, sometime in the early '80s. Don’t remember exactly when—'81 or '82 probably.
The first show I went to on my own was Camper Van Beethoven in '86.
First large, stadium rock show? Gosh, I don’t remember for sure. It was probably the Grateful Dead in '87. Might have been Pink Floyd.
The Black Crowes at the Furthur Festival in 97. Amazing show, first time i saw them and it was an important show because they changed lineups after that.
A few month later I saw the Stones at Dodger Stadium which was great despite far away seats!
I got to see them twice in 95! First in Houston at Rice Stadium. It had been cloudy all day & we were praying it wouldn’t rain. It didn’t until about halfway through the show. Dave & the gang were getting so drenched they had to shut it down. I remember the sky completely clearing up by the time we made it out into the parking lot. Charlie Brown couldn’t have worse luck.
Then I went to their show in Dallas at Texas Stadium. Damn near rained on us again. Looming clouds & lightning throughout were a pretty neat effect, though. I remember the sky looking particularly creepy during the gloomy “High Hopes”. My then-wife was so freaked she started crying.
The music was anywhere from surreal to sweet. The effects unbelievable. The pig in rare form. Best concert ever.
I saw my first ones really close to each other–Rolling Stones (with ZZ Top opening) and Van Halen, both in Dallas, in '81 or '82.
I don’t typically care for big concerts just because I don’t like to be in huge crowds of people. I’ve seen Elton John (Salt Lake City), Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Peter Frampton (all in Dallas). I went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2000 in Dallas, and enjoyed that. But they were playing a smaller venue so I didn’t feel quite so mashed in.
I miss the Caravan of Dreams in downtown Ft. Worth. A smallish place that got great shows–I saw a number of acts there.
I think I have you all beat so far: I saw the Rolling Stones as opening group for Roy Orbison in late 1965 in the Agicultural Auditorium at the old Sydney Showground. As was mentioned before, the girls screamed so loudly, none of the songs could be heard.
For any other Sydney residents from that time, we finished the night at Surf City listening to Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs. A great way to start out!
I don’t know if it would be considered a big rock concert but I went to see Roger Dultry (sorry, I can’t remember how to spell it right now) and a bunch of local singers (it was a choir or something I can’t remember) preforming Who songs. Then I went to see Rod Stewart. Then I went to see Tom Petty and Jackson Brown last July. Would any of those be considered a big rock concert?
I think it was Van Halen. Our Lady Peace opened for them. It was in GM Place in Vancouver… I’m guessing 96. Sammy was still with the band. I remember that Alex had a cast or was bandaged up pretty good. I think he hurt himself golfing (!!! I’m serious!).
When I say I think it was VH, its because it was either them or Bryan Adams… I think it was the same year. The Bryan Adams concert was way better IMHO. He was way more “personal” with the audience and he really got everyone into it.
Let’s see if I remember. Suzi Quatro (before Happy Days), the Elvin Bishop Band and Uriah Heep sometime in the early '70s at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.
