# What was your first rock concert? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528 "2003-05-21T11:58:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/61 "2003-05-21T18:52:34Z")
I was waiting so I wouldn’t be the oldest one posting. Thank you **Biffy** , **Labdad** , and especially **Foolonthehill** and **cleops**. The memory is a bit foggy these days, but I think my first was **The Doors** at the Santa Monica Civic, or maybe **Jethro Tull** at the Forum in Englewood. That would be '67 or '68. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/62 "2003-05-21T19:17:47Z")
No p\*ssy-footing around for me… **Guns 'N Roses** and **Metallica** , **Faith No More** opening. This was in the late Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA, around July of 1989 (I think). If my memory is right, I was 14. ---
**Author:** ![HazyBaby33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@HazyBaby33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazyBaby33)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/63 "2003-05-21T19:51:55Z")
Marshall Tucker Band-2000 (Everybody keeps talkin about how old they feel because they went to concerts back in the 60’s… should I feel young since I first went to a rock concert in 2000?) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/64 "2003-05-21T19:54:23Z")
yup. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/65 "2003-05-21T19:55:22Z")
**Jethro Tull** , at the Cleveland Coliseum. I musta been around 12 (went with an older sister), so this would have been in 1973. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/66 "2003-05-21T19:56:07Z")
My first concert was KISS, at Buffalo, NY’s War Memorial Auditorium in 1978. I was in third grade. I went with my two older brothers, and my very under-enthusiastic father. My dad made us leave before the encore, but that was OK, since the encore was “Beth” (the lamest KISS song). ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/67 "2003-05-21T20:19:56Z")
Tiny Tim. And his opening act was then-hot one-hit wonder The Peppermint Rainbow. Which makes me not just old (I was 10), but lame too. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/68 "2003-05-21T20:24:03Z")
> [@](#): > > haranguing the audience on the floor for crushing the people at the foot of the stage. The infamous Who concert occurred near me, in Cincinnati, where several people were crushed to death trying to get to the arena seating – which has since been outlawed. My cousin’s exhusband was there, as well as a current coworker. I’d put the date of that concert at … 1980? I guess I could google and find out … ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/69 "2003-05-21T20:27:22Z")
Ah, well that didn’t take long … > [@](#): > > Concert industry learned from Who tragedy > Safety taken more seriously after 11 died in 1979 > > BY LARRY NAGER > The Cincinnati Enquirer > Friday, December 3, 1999 > > ``` > When fans file into the Firstar Center on Friday evening, it will be 20 years to the day 11 people were killed outside that building in the crush before a concert by the Who. > > ``` [Cincinnati Enquirer](http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/12/03/loc_concert_industry.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/70 "2003-05-21T21:35:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rapunzel \* > \*\*Nutty, > > I went to see them a few weeks ago in London, and they were GREAT! Mind you I have been playing their records since I was 15 and know every nuance of every song. It’s so good this place is anonymous. > :o \*\* Good! I was a little apprehensive about seeing them. I didn’t know if they would sound good or not. Now I’m looking forward to it. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Elvis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Elvis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvis)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/71 "2003-05-21T21:41:40Z")
The Who, but in 1982, after Keith Moon died. I was 14 years old, the concert was at Shea Stadium with David Johansen and the Clash opening. I remember looking down at the stage and thinking they were a lot smaller in person…they looked about the size of ants. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/72 "2003-05-21T21:48:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gatopescado \* > **WOODSTOCK, MAN!** > > I can’t believe no-one’s tried to pull off this lie yet! > > \>snip\< I already posted mine on the 1st page (America 1973), but I’m confused. Why would this (Woodstock) be a lie? ---
**Author:** ![jools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jools)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/73 "2003-05-21T21:51:04Z")
CHEAP TRICK, Montreal Forum 1980-81. But that was after having seen KC and the Sunshine Band, Village People and Bee Gees (Saturday Night Fever)… finally saw the light and redeemed myself by seeing every rock concert that came to town! ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/74 "2003-05-21T21:59:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*I already posted mine on the 1st page (America 1973), but I’m confused. > > Why would this (Woodstock) be a lie? \*\* Because if you can remember it, you weren’t really t h e r e, man. (My guess is that while not everyone who claims to have been at the original Woodstock is lying, people who weren’t there have claimed to be in order to appear hipper than they really were.) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/75 "2003-05-21T22:09:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Peg \* > […]If not, a couple of years later I saw Oingo Boingo. Jealousy! I was in LA (Boingo Mecca) for 1990 and was too chicken to attend their annual Halloween bash. One of the few things I regret… First concert: **Weird Al** during his Stupid Tour, Toad’s Place, New Haven CT, mid-Eighties. Dr. Demento was the warm-up act and a bunch of us got free 45s at the door and the Weird One handed out scarves to the audience during “One More Minute.” MineDaddio, a mild-mannered classical music scholar, was understanding enough to take his underage daughter but admits to being “distressed” when the Doctor played Monty Python’s “Sit on My Face.” We even glimpsed the Stupid Bus leaving afterwards. w00t! Me so geeky. ---
**Author:** ![soulburnz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@soulburnz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulburnz)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/76 "2003-05-21T22:35:16Z")
**Journey** 1982 - my first contact buzz… ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/77 "2003-05-21T22:41:57Z")
**Allman Brothers** with **Rusted Root** opening in '94 or '95 at the big outdoor arena near Hartford (can’t remember the name) in a downpour. It had just opened and all the sod for the “grass seating” area came up. I got filthy, froze my but off, and had a great time. A lot of folks were actually sledding (sort of) down the hill on peices of pulled-up sod. Good times. I was 17 or 18ish. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/78 "2003-05-21T23:11:03Z")
KISS on the Dynasty tour in Pheonix, Arizona (don’t remember the auditorium name) when I was about 13. It was general seating so my friend, David Rodriguez, and I waited from about noon or something to get in. Even though it was a lame album the concert rocked! ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/79 "2003-05-21T23:15:48Z")
twickster: same (awesome) group, The Who, different album. My first show was the “Who By Numbers” tour in '76 at Winterland (San Francisco). Lost hearing in my right ear for about 3 days, but it was well worth it. Greatest band ever to take the stage. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528/80 "2003-05-21T23:47:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by twickster \* > \*\* You can guess my age when I tell you it was the Who, the Who’s Next tour. > > Damn, I’m old.\*\* Mine was The Doors with Jim Morrison, at the Singer Bowl in New York, [August 2, 1968](http://www.doors.com/door_mem/books/onthe_rd.html) The Who, who were a second-tier act at the time, opened for them. My second was on August 23rd, 1968, at the same place. The headline act was Jimi Hendrix. The two lead-ins were the Chambers Brothers, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin. Those were good concerts. Tickets, IIRC, cost $2.50. > [@](#): > > _orginally posted by gatopescado_ > \*\*WOODSTOCK, MAN! > > I can’t believe no-one’s tried to pull off this lie yet! > \*\* Well, I _was_ there, but that wasn’t until the next summer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-first-rock-concert/176528.md?page=5)