First Concert? Observations?

I was forced to attend my first concert. Elvis...ugh...probably 1976. Parents & older sister wanted to go, and they were not willing to leave me at home. Hated every minute of it and didn't understand the whole, wiping sweat and tossing the hankie into the crowd thing. Also, FAT Elvis in his white leather outfit trying to perform the leg shaking gimmick was pretty awful.

First concert I was a willing attendee was Rush at the Cap Centre in Landover, MD in 1980. Was the Moving Pictures tour, but I think the date was before the album release date. Went with my older sister & one of her friends, because I wasn't old enough to drive yet. Was very surprised by the number of times I was offered a toke. I declined since I was there with my "straight A" parents wet dream sister. Surprised that she would be somewhere where there was such an open drug culture.

Rush-Signals 10/82 in Milwaukee. The Brewers were in the World Series and Geddy wore a Brewers uniform top. Changed the lyrics in "Spirit of Radio" to "...one likes to believe in the freedom of baseball..." and the crowd went nuts. Have seen Rush double-digit times since...

The Police @ Dolphin Stadium in Miami back in 2007.

I never cared for concerts, but when The Police announced that they were coming I thought it would be my last shot to see them live on stage. It was an amazing concert.

First Concert was in Nov 1984 in St. Louis. Performer was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was LOUD. I had to stand on my chair to see anything since I was only 10. I had a great time. Don't remember any smoking going on. Slept for 18 hours after that.

My 1st concert should have been The Police in 1983 but my Mom said I was too young and the drive to KC was too long. :(

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: First Concert was in Nov 1984 in St. Louis. Performer was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It was LOUD. I had to stand on my chair to see anything since I was only 10. I had a great time. Don't remember any smoking going on. Slept for 18 hours after that. My 1st concert should have been The Police in 1983 but my Mom said I was too young and the drive to KC was too long. :(

So funny. I've been taking guitar lessons to get "tuned up" a bit. Teacher says "So what's the ONE band you'd be least likely to let your daughter go see? GWAR?"

I thought about it for a second and said "Dave Matthews or Jonas Brothers."

Not a lotta drug use going on at a GWAR show, and 90% of the audience is harmless goofy metal dorks.

My first concert was the Rolling Stones in 1989 for their Steel Wheels tour. Not only was it the first concert I went to, but it was the first one I worked.

I love getting paid to see bands

First was mid-70s "April Wine". They had a rather unknown band opening for them called "Heart"

Save Ferris at the Sun Theatre in Anaheim. Must have been 99 or 00.

If we're talking rock concerts, my first one was Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. A friend took me there for my birthday, it must have been about 1971.

wvumtnbkr wrote: Why can't everybody stay seated and listen to the music and relax? I don't like standing for hours.

One big reason I didn't go to that many rock concerts.

True 1st was Paul Rodgers (with out bad company) at the Bangor state fair in the late 90's early 2000's and I did not know any of the songs at that point lol

First I will admit to, Tool and Meshuggah in fall of 2002 at Augusta civic center, only slightly smoked out but was utterly mind blowing.

First was with family I was twelve and it was Chicago.... I know classic, but not exactly note worthy.

First memorable I went to unsupervised was Eric Clapton 1988 or 1989 and it was everything I could have hoped for. (yes I am a bit of a fan)

United States Navy Band. Not the local guys who bang on guitars, but the real and official one. Back in the 1960's. Watching Daddy perform.

If you mean rock concerts, I didn't get to one of those until I was nearly 20. Kiss Destroyer probably. Them or the Bangles.

I remember walking by a bar once as a kid where a local band was performing. Thought they sounded kinda interesting. Poster said their name was Aerosmith.

First concert was Traffic on the"Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" tour. The warm-up act was JJ Cale whom the crowd basically ignored.

It was a good payment for writing someone's high school term paper.

Oh, just realized that I lied. My first concert was the Grateful Dead in 1989. Note that I wasn't born until 1990.

1st concert - May 1988, Pink Floyd, Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, Philly at the Vet. I was 15. Went with a buddy. Dad dropped us off.

Memorable moment that wasn't show related, two thirty-something guys sitting next to us start toking. The 15 year old me didn't understand why two adults were getting stoned. I laugh now.

Noticed lots of Rush in this thread. First Rush concert was April 1990 at the Philly Spectrum. Nose bleed seats. Was amazed at the sound coming from just 3 guys. Went from a casual fan to rabid that night. Seen them on every tour since.

Saw a bunch of memorable shows at the Spectrum. Was really sad to see it torn down.

FSP_ZX2 wrote: Rush-Signals 10/82 in Milwaukee. The Brewers were in the World Series and Geddy wore a Brewers uniform top. Changed the lyrics in "Spirit of Radio" to "...one likes to believe in the freedom of baseball..." and the crowd went nuts. Have seen Rush double-digit times since...

Holy crap! When I was in high school, a bunch of friends who had a lot more talent than I did were jamming on somebody's back porch. They did a really good job on "Spirit of Radio" but the singer sang "freedom of baseball...". I could never figure that out until tonight. That's been bugging me for twenty years. Thanks!

The first big concert was Ozzy's Blizzard of Ozz tour at the Broome County Arena in Binghamton, NY sometime in 1981. I remember we were pissed because Motorhead was supposed to open but Def Leppard came on at some point. It was before they were a sad embarrassment (High 'n' Dry was pretty good) and I recall it as a great show all around.

foxtrapper wrote: United States Navy Band. Not the local guys who bang on guitars, but the real and official one. Back in the 1960's. Watching Daddy perform.

Your dad was in the Navy Band? That's pretty cool. They played a concert at my high school when I was a kid; there were three brothers from my home town (Ken, Bill and Sam Arsers) who were all members of the Navy Band at the same time.

I had gone to a few local shows before this, but my 1st real concert was the 1996 edition of the WBCN River Rave at Great Woods in Mansfield, MA (now the Comcast Center). Some of the bands I can remember were Everclear, Dishwala (LOL), Lush, Orbit, and Sonic Youth (!). I was in 8th grade, and we went with a friend's older sister. There was lot of "smoke", drinking, and less than moral behavior. In other words, your typical festival atmosphere. Yeah, it was a good time.

I still have not seen Rush. I am ashamed.

A lot of you guys have seen some pretty awesome metal shows, and I'm jealous.

I finally saw Rush for the first time on their latest tour. I know, a late bloomer. Still, it was an awesome, awesome show. The biggest treat? I got to meet them!! (Well, Alex and Geddy.)

Thinking about it some more, my first real rock/stadium concert had to be Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe--Yes, kinda. I guess it was senior year of high school, so that would have been 1988. Most recent concert was Clutch less than two weeks ago.

Sadly, I have nothing in the concert queue. Anyone on tour that we need to see?

Oh, and my first concert observation: I'm short.

David S. Wallens wrote: You know, I think it was Pete Seeger. My grandparents took me. I still have the autographed album. I was way young, so I'd guess mid '70s.

Yeah, going with my parents as a kid, I saw all kinds of people like Pete Seeger, a ton of the bluegrass classics, etc. We used to go to Sunset Park in Pennsyltucky, which was a major stand on the bluegrass / real country circuit.

Oh, and my wife got to see both Zeppelin and Floyd at Madison Square Garden in 1976. She was 13 and her parents let her and a friend take the train in from Lon Gisland.

Almost 40 years later and she still lords it over me every chance she gets.

The Cars IIRC.

poopshovel wrote: <---jealous. I'd be even more jealous if it was during the Bon Scott era. I'd have killed to see Van Halen. At the beginning. I've met a bunch of folks who have. "Dude, how were they!?" Answer is always the same: "LOUD!"

Y'all just rattled some memory cells loose. I recall seeing very crude posters on phonepoles to see this "van halen" outfit playing at John Muir highschool in Pasadena. I was like 9 at the time and didn't see 'em, but they musta had at least a few bucks into PA gear even back then cuz we could hear 'em..Then they got signed, and I looked back a couple years and was like "dayum"...