[hijack]By the way, blessedwolf are you from Maryland? Just checking because, you see, you lived in Maryland…you lived on the Grand Strand…maybe I should be preparing myself to move to Florida?[/hijack]
My first show was George Michael’s Faith Tour. I think it was in 88. (I was 16 years old.) Some girlfriends and I did the “Mom, can I spend the night at so-and-so’s house?” and drove up to Alpine Valley in WI.
It was such a thrill for me because not only was it my first concert, it the first time I did something sorta bad. (Sneak out with several 16-17 year old girls to see a concert two states over!)
Marlene Dietrich—one of her last concerts, c1972. I had third-row seats.
She was anazing; and when I later read about how ill and in pain she was at the time, I’m even more impresed. THAT’S a Star.
Before living in North Kackalackie, yeah.
Well, at least the weather’s better! C’mon down! Centre of the Universe, y’know!
Van Halen, April 1984 at Nassau Coliseum. I came home smelling like beer, even though I was only 12 and went with someone else’s parents as chaperones. As a result, I couldn’t go to concerts for a while. I think the next one I went to see was Whitesnake in 1986 on a school trip.
My last concert was B.B. King in NYC last year. Great show.
Hall and Oates, H2O tour. I was 12.
Damn shame about the Loverboy bassist. I saw their Get It Up tour when I was 14.
Michi
Blackfoot/Nazareth in the early 80’s. My SN comes, in part, from the nickname of Blackfoot’s drummer. Awesome show.
Harry Chapin, during my freshman year at college. A great concert from a wonderful performer. He could really work a crowd.
I remember the show started late. When Harry arrived, he apologized. He’d gotten behind a state trooper on the way and had to drive the speed limit. Just a few years later, Harry died in a car wreck.
Creed, with Finger Eleven and Sevendust opening up. It was about 2 weeks ago. Really kicked ass.
First and still the best : Creedence Clearwater Revival right after “Cosmos Factory” came out.
My first one was Bob Dylan and Phil Lesh in June, and I saw Dave Matthews Band in early August. I was seventeen. They were both great shows, though the crowd was half the fun at Dylan. I saw them both at the Gorge in Washington, which is an awesome place.
Oh my…
No, I didn’t know about the Loverboy bassist drowning.
Thanks a bunch. That’s really weird that i would be thinking about the concert now…unless i heard about it subconsciously.
No, Brian Wilson is still alive. You are thinking of his brother Dennis- he drowned.
I saw a “Where are they Now” bit on VH1 about Loverboy, and the guy from the band, i don’t know which one, was really bitter and said that Nirvana destroyed their career.
I thought it was really crusty of him to say that.
Andy Gibb, with the Alessi Brothers, at the Nassau Coliseum in 1978. What can I say, I was young… 
My first concert? The Jacksons Victory Tour at Mile High Stadium, Denver. My heavy-metal loving older brother took me, and let me hold up his lighter!
Kansas, with ::cue spooky coincidence music:: Loverboy opening for them, at Barnhill Fieldhouse on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, sometime in early 1980. I rarely admit to it; it was one of about 4 “concerts” a year in Fayetteville, and my desire to go to a rock concert got the better of my musical tastes. I’d just turned sixteen, so it was one of the first times I was able to drive myself (and having your parents drop you off at a rock concert just was not the done thing).
Of course, within six months I was spending most of my weekend nights at a venue called Colonel Smucker’s, in the old UARK Theatre building on Dickson Street, watching what passed for punk bands in Northwest Arkansas (The Dots, The Zebramakers, and others lost in the mists of time). The bands actually played not in the old theatre auditorium itself, but in a smaller room behind it – dimly lit, with no stage to speak of, some chairs and tables on a raised platform and an open flat area in front of the stage that served as a dance floor. The guy that ran the place had no hope of getting a liquor license, so there was no minimum age. It was an open secret that the proprietor maintained a refrigerator in a storage room in the downstairs lobby full of generic beer, for which a $1/can donation was expected. I date my experience of live music from that time, not from Kansas/Loverboy.
My first concert was Cyndi Lauper, at the Chattanooga, TN arena, around '84 or '85. I was 11 or so. Went with my brother who is 2 years older. Opening for Cyndi…none other than…The Bangles.
If you don’t count all those Orchestra Hall field trips in grade school, my first concert, I ashamed to say, was just last year, DePeche Mode at the Miami Arena. It was awesome.
I don’t think anyone should be ashamed of Depeche Mode being one’s first concert.
You were saving yourself for something good all this time, that’s all.
Some people are embarrassed by their first CD ever, but not me-
Mine was the Cure- Staring at the Sea.
I still listen to it.
Deep Purple (1980s)
At the time, I didn’t even know who they were, but damnit, I wanted to go to a concert and my friend had tickets.
Oh, you suck!!!
I’ve never seen a Phil show, since he never tours anywhere near where I live now. I’m jealous!
(BTW, welcome to the Boards!)
Anyway, my first concert was the Grateful Dead at Nassau Coliseum, 1978. $9.50!!! Still have my ticket stub. How times (and prices) have changed. I must have had fun, since I went to see 'em 156 times since. 