# Your first concert experience? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010 "2010-09-25T15:32:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/141 "2016-02-07T19:04:02Z")
My first concert was in Louisville, KY. Early to mid 80’s (I was in the 5th or 6th grade). [Rick Springfield](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYkbTyHXwbs) was the headliner. Opening for him was [Corey Hart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2LTL8KgKv8). Oddly enough, I find that I’ve taken several people to their first concerts. I took my little brother to go see Aerosmith and Jackyl. My friend Jason and I saw Cheap Trick, with Joan Jett and House of Lords opening. House of Lords was a band that featured [Gregg Giuffria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Giuffria). Not a bad band, but not particularly impressive, either. I took my friend Erik to his first, which was Motley Crue with Lita Ford opening. My first serious girlfriend and I went to Lexington, KY to see Metallica. This was the “Black” album, and they didn’t have an opening act. They had a video (behind the scenes kind of thing) that ran about 1/2 hour before they came on. And a different girlfriend and I went to see Stryper/White Lion. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/142 "2016-02-07T19:27:58Z")
If memory serves, it was probably Jimi Hendrix at Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino back in 1970. Saw all the good groups there before it burned down. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/143 "2016-02-07T19:35:25Z")
> [@4LeafClvr](#): > > What year was the Shaun Cassidy concert in Kansas City? It was my very first concert, but I can’t figure out what age I was at the time. I do remember telling myself, “don’t scream, don’t scream, don’t scream”, but when he came out on stage, I did along with the other thousands of young girls there. I honestly have no idea. 1978? I remember him bursting through a large sheet of paper, and this noise that could shatter concrete being generated by thousands of shrieking girls. A little searching[seems to indicate April 1, 1978.](http://www.desotoexplorer.com/news/2008/apr/03/exploring_past/) ---
**Author:** ![Calla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Calla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calla)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/144 "2016-02-07T19:39:22Z")
Eric Clapton at the Pacific Amphitheater I think I was 15 at the time, so that would have been 1983. The opening band was called Graham Parker and the Shot. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/145 "2016-02-07T23:02:52Z")
1. A double-header country show with Marty Robbins and Merle Haggard. At the state fairgrounds, Boise ID. I was 16 and blind-dating a girl I’d only met over the CB radio (the 70’s kids version of a cell phone to all you young whippersnappers). ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/146 "2016-02-08T00:06:52Z")
The Allman Brothers. A date backed out so I bought another pair, gave them to my brother and his fiancee, and went anyway. The extra ticket? I shouted “Who wants an extra ticket for free?” in line. When a dozen people shouted “Me”, I wrapped it in a quarter, tossed it up into the air & yelled “Catch”. 😃 A better story was the Police ‘Ghost In The Machine’ Tour a month or so later on. We were waiting all night when a gang of 20 thugs (from scalping agencies) with knives, chains, and nunchucks tried to come up and tell us all they were first in line. Sadly for them, by then there were almost a thousand people waiting on line by then. **"Never try to start a riot with a switchblade, dipshit."** ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/147 "2016-02-08T02:55:59Z")
First “real” concert I attended with famous musicians was a Beach Boys show with my family circa 1995 (age 12). First one I attended without parental supervision was Rage Against the Machine around 1999. First club show I attended was probably AFI in 2001. Shortly after I saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with then-mostly-unknown Neko Case opening. That was a good one. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/148 "2016-02-08T02:59:54Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Pretty simple question really, tell us about seeing your first real concert. Who did you see and where/when were they playing? What, if anything, about the event was there that really sticks in your mind as being noteworthy? > > My story: **AC/DC** , December 1990 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium\* as part of their **Razor’s Edge** concert tour. I and three of my friend were standing down in the pit with the rest of the rabble. We couldn’t afford tickets that came with actual seats… and we didn’t care. > > The opening act was a group called **Love/Hate**. I had never heard of them before or since but I would describe them as a basic **Metallica** clone. General crowd reaction, “GET THE HELL OFF THE STAGE!” They did four songs which most people seemed to think was about three and a half too many. > > **AC/DC** ’s show was pretty good overall and was quite a bit longer than I was expecting. I thought they would play for maybe ninety minutes but they ended up going for more than three hours. How Brian Johnson’s voice held out that long is a mystery to me. I still have a couple of the novelty dollar bills they dropped during the “Money Talks” segment > > One other thing about the night that sticks in my mind. It was butt-chappingly cold outside. Moving from the stiflingly hot auditorium to the -10F degree parking lot outside was a significant but welcomed shock to the system. > > So, if you’re willing, share your story. > > - Minor footnote about the Omaha Civic, two years prior to the concert, it was the location for the famous “[Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27re_no_Jack_Kennedy)” speech. They have just set a contract to have the Civic Auditorium torn down. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/149 "2016-02-08T03:30:45Z")
Quite possibly Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs at the National Guard Armory in Anchorage, mid 60s. No wait: probably The New Christie Minstrels a couple of years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/150 "2016-02-08T04:12:30Z")
Adam Ant with The Romantics. Feb. 3rd, 1984 at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, AL. _Strip_ tour. I was 15 and I still have the concert shirt. (Like this one…) > **[Adam Ant Concert Tour T Shirt Vintage 1984 Strip Tour 146492663](https://www.ioffer.com/i/adam-ant-concert-tour-t-shirt-vintage-1984-strip-tour-146492663)** > > Adam Ant Concert Tour T Shirt Vintage 1984 Strip Tour 146492663 and other Balenciaga T-Shirts for sale ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/151 "2016-02-09T18:26:58Z")
I’ve only ever been to two arena-type concerts in my life (I prefer clubs and halls, I suppose) and the first one was Steve Miller Band at the Capital Center in Largo, MD (a little outside DC), 1978. The second was the Rolling Stones at RFK Stadium, Voodoo Lounge tour, 1994. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/152 "2016-02-11T04:16:10Z")
The Four Freshmen, in the student union at Southeast Louisiana College in Hammond, Louisiana, 1957. Pretty small house, maybe a couple hundred, in folding chairs. First outdoor “event” concert would be the Monterrey Jazz Festival, 1961, where I saw Dave Brubeck and Odetta. Everybody orderly and considerate and appreciative. If there were any drugs, I didn’t know about it. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/153 "2016-02-11T11:55:45Z")
Pat Benatar in Cincinnati. Survivor opened for her. Around 1982/1983. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/154 "2016-02-11T17:46:14Z")
Other than the “young people’s concerts” when we piled into a school bus in grammar school and went downtown to hear the symphony, the first concert I saw with my parents was the New Christy Minstrels in 8th grade (1964). The Rooftop Singers opened. First show I saw without my parents was in 1966 - James Brown and the Famous Flames at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/155 "2016-02-12T03:09:13Z")
My first “real” show was 10,000 Maniacs in June 1993 at Poplar Creek (Chicago). This would have been about two months before Natalie Merchant left the band so I guess it’s a good thing I went to go see 'em. It was a good show although Poplar Creek was a pretty crap venue and it was no tragedy when it closed down a year later. My son just got tickets for Coldplay in Soldier Field this summer for his birthday. It’ll be his first concert of any type – nothing like diving full in with a stadium show. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/156 "2016-03-06T04:09:40Z")
The Police in 1982 during their Ghost in the Machine tour at the Tucson Community Center in Arizona. Dave Edmunds was the opening act. ---
**Author:** ![justmeetee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@justmeetee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justmeetee)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/157 "2016-03-06T05:32:16Z")
1972 at the Dane County Coliseum, Madison Wisconsin. Three acts with the headliner being The James Gang. The middle act was The Five Man Electrical Band who had the hit " Signs" all over the radio. But the most memorable thing of the night, in retrospect, because at the time it ment nothing to any of us, was the opening act. It was a new band out of California called The Eagles. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/158 "2016-03-06T06:33:40Z")
Hollywood Bowl, July 1965. Peter, Paul and Mary and the Dave Brubeck Quartet. I think the ticket cost about six dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/159 "2016-03-06T13:41:52Z")
My first one was Glastonbury, 2000. I was 17. I went with a schoolfriend; but she wound up not having the money for a ticket last minute, after I’d already booked transport, so I decided we should just both try our luck together (getting permission from my parents caused quite a big argument- Dad said I could, Mum disagreed, pretty much the only time I remember them seriously arguing about what I shouild be allowed to do, and I was not going to waste the permission), and fence hopped. It was really simple, someone had already pulled a secton of fence down. People were climbing over the fence right by the main gate, no attempt at enforcement. Despite Glastonbury’s mudfest reputation, that year was glorious, dry and incredible. David Bowie was headlining (I actually didn’t rate it that much at the time, but I’ve since seen footage, and I have no clue what the hell I was thinking, it was pretty damn awesome), also watched Nine Inch Nails, Moby and just loads of random weird stuff. I think it still rates as the most exciting weekend of my life. I now live close enough to Glastonbury that I occasionally go shopping in the village (mostly to laugh at the hippes, I’ve developed a kind of hippy bingo to play there), but, though I have been to quite a lot of other festivals and random concerts, I’ve never tried to go to that festival again. I’m sure it’s still really worth a visit, but it cannot possibly be as good again as it was for me back then. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010/160 "2016-03-07T06:40:30Z")
First gig was in grade 10 in '81 seeing one of Ozzy’s earliest post-Sabbath gigs with his Blizzard of Ozz band in the crusty old Memorial Arena in Victoria, BC. Cool seeing Randy Rhodes holding his flying V vertically almost the whole time, struttin about. Motorhead backed up, and at one point, Lemme - pissed off with the sedate Victoria crowd - yelled, between songs, “WOT’S THIS?!?!? A FOKKING TEA PARTY?!?!?!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-first-concert-experience/555010.md?page=7)