My confession: you’d never guess from my musical tastes now (or then, for that matter - at thte time they tended toward Beatles, Bob Marley, various classic rock and 60s - 70s singer-songwriter stuff, along with English madrigals and Bach). but mine was Asia, with Chris De Burgh opening, at Poplar Creek near Chicago. Went with my 2 best friends at the time: one friend’s older brothers had a sideline scalping concert tickets, and bet (and lost) that the Asia show would sell out, so they offered us the tickets for practically nothing. We went for the experience - we were 14 or something, and thought it would be cool - and the main thing I remember about that show was that we were all practically 100% deaf until the next morning.
I don’t regret doing it, but I’m glad the next few shows I saw were a lot less cheesy - Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Gipsy Kings, Grateful Dead, and stuff that’s a litle more, ummm, enduring. (Plus lots of classical concerts and various folk/rock/jazz, etc. in small local venues, which is still my preferred way to see a show.)
My first concert was Serial Joe (ugh!), Moist and the Matthew Good Band at the ACC as part of the local new rock station’s Christmas show. 3 Canadian groups who I don’t think had much international success. I was 15 or 16 at the time.
Since then I’ve seen everything from the Arcade Fire with about 30 other people to Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails with about 50,000 others.
I still have the ticket but the ink has faded away to the point where you can’t differentiate from all of the other tickets that have faded away too.
The very first concert I ever went to was Judy Collins at the Santa Monica Civic. Second was Elton John at the San Diego Sports Arena. Since then I have seen hundreds of concerts, from the inane (Sheena Easton) to the sublime (Dave Brubeck).
I had overprotective parents, so as much as I loved music as a kid and especially as a teenager, I didn’t get to go to a “real” concert until my junior year of high school (1995), when I saw Billy Joel and Elton John together at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. It was a huge show and a major event in itself, teaming up the two titans of piano pop-rock. I was (and still am) a Billy Joel fan, but Sir Elton was pretty good too.
Growing up in the sticks, I never had the money or the opportunity to see any cool bands. Been to music festivals, etc. but it wasn’t until 2005, when I was twenty, that I saw a band anyone has ever heard of.
I went to see Static-X in Baltimore. They were touring with three opening bands, and I got there really early, so I listened to them all play. The first was crappy, the second was okay, and the third, American Headcharge, was very good. Finally Static-X came on and they were excellent, everyone was having a great time. I loved the show, although I didn’t love all the mosh pits.
My first concert was Chris de Burgh in Whitley Bay. My mum’s friend couldn’t go and rather than waste the ticket I went with her. I still get the piss taken out of me to this day for that. Having said that he was real good. :o
Iron Butterfly at the San Diego Sports Arena, December 1969. Doug Ingle announced that the show was being recorded for a live album, and sure enough, Iron Butterfly Live appeared a few months later, complete with a mention of San Diego in the between-song chat. Second on the bill was It’s a Beautiful Day, and the opening act was a male-female acoustic duo called Too People, who seem to have disappeared without trace.
My mom was a Willie Nelson groupie, early seventies, so me and my sisters sometimes had to hang out in the bars during some of his and Waylon’s sets. She also hung out with Ray Wylie Hubbard. Those probly weren’t “real” concerts. Probly my first “real” concert was when my mom took me to see Elvis Presley. I was like 11? He was almost dead. My first concert, as an adult, with a fake ID, was Billy Idol. He was drugged to the gills and he signed my 12". I saw him naked.
I feel like I’ve seen Billy Idol naked, because my “straight” ( ;)) ex roommate looked exactly like him. But do go on.
I’m not sure what my first ‘real’ concert was. My father’s a musician, I’ve always been around live music. For some reason I remember going to see k.d. lang with my mother and grandmother, but that can’t have been the first one by a long shot. Maybe Alan Parsons Project. That would be funny. Oh, maybe Yes, actually. Both of those were my mother’s fault, not my dad’s. He took me to a lot of local rock and blues shows.
The first one I went to alone, though, I know. They Might Be Giants when I was fourteen. It was in a gym, and there were not many people there. My girlfriend spent the whole time sitting in the back of the room while I stood up against the stage with the rest of the geeks.
