First Concert? Observations?

I was very young,12 I think. My 19yr old uncle came to town to see the show under the guise of visiting our family and hanging out with his nephew. My mother had zero clue what was going on when he said he wanted to go see the town and demanded he take me with him. I remember him telling me to be cool and stay out of trouble and I would see something that would change my world.....it did.

Jello Biafra threw Jello powder packets at the audience which "Damaged the historic flooring of the Woodsmen of the Word hall" and punk shows were banned there for 5 years.

Nowadays if I could go back in time and re-see that show I would probably stand up front for the Wipers and sit in back for DK. East Bay Ray is one of my guitar heros but the Wipers were just an amazing band.

first show: george thorogood and the destroyers, march 1985, smith center @ GWU in DC.

first big show: rush, fall '85, i think it was Power Windows tour.

show i'm most thankful for seeing: stevie ray vaughan, live alive tour '86, i think it was at george mason in NoVA, but i might be wrong on that.

AngryCorvair wrote: first show: george thorogood and the destroyers, march 1985, smith center @ GWU in DC.

That would have been a pretty good time to see him. First time I saw Lonesome George was around 1984 at the Mann in Philly (with The Replacements opening for him), and then again in '85 or '86 (with, I believe, The Fabulous Thunderbirds opening).

<img src="" /> Black Flag 1982 or 1983. I am not in the photo.

http://www.flintexpats.com/2008/04/black-flag-comes-to-flint.html

stuart in mn wrote:

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.

Yep. He played trumpet in the Navy Band, and sang bass in the Sea Chanters. Mom was an opera singer. So musically, I grew up a bit...differently.

Woody wrote:

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!

Happy to oblige.

pilotbraden wrote: <img src="" /> Black Flag 1982 or 1983. I am not in the photo. http://www.flintexpats.com/2008/04/black-flag-comes-to-flint.html

Are you from Flint? I visited friends up there and whent to a few shows at the Capitol Theater. I remember a couple cool bands from up there: The Guilty Bystanders, and Rollercoaster of Tranquillity.

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

I don't think I've ever gone to a concert expecting to "see" a show. It's always been about "sound" to me. I usually try to get seats that won't cause my ears to bleed so I can actually hear the show. Maybe I'm not "normal"?

Doobie Brothers, Norfolk Scope, 1976 or so. The seed of my understanding that the best songs are often not the "hit songs". Footage from a much more recent show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk4AaPXZgi0

First concert was also first time smokin' dried flowers instead of dried leaves. Can't believe that more than 30yrs later, that E36 M3 ain't legal yet, especially with all the data supporting the medical benefits that has come to light since then.

I also got mugged peeing in the parking lot. I have "stage fright" peeing in a public bathroom to this very day because of that.

Secretariata wrote:

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

I don't think I've ever gone to a concert expecting to "see" a show. It's always been about "sound" to me. I usually try to get seats that won't cause my ears to bleed so I can actually hear the show. Maybe I'm not "normal"?

I actually agree with you. The first time I saw Rush was 1981 in the Jackson (MS) Coliseum, a round building with a metal roof. Egad, it was like they were playing inside a 55gal oil drum. I don't mind loud (or didn't, when I was younger), but bad acoustics can really ruin a show if everything on stage is turned up to eleven.