MetaChat - First concert?

I shall start!

MY first rock concert was the J. Geils Band, in 1982 at the PNE Coliseum, in Vancouver. I was 12, and went with some friends and one COOL set of parents. In retrospect, I am quite certain that this is the also the first time I got high, although not intentionally. The J. Geils fans pretty much hot-boxed the PNE. On the way home, the street lights looked pretty awesome through the rain covered car windows.

Also, I spent some time googling a while ago to see if I could find out who opened the show. I am 99% sure that it was a very young U2! I wasn't able to 100% confirm it, but U2 did open a batch of shows in 1982, on the west coast, for the J. Geils Band. So...it wasn't ALL about Centerfold!

posted by richat 27 November | 17:52

KISS just after Alive! was released and just before "Rock n Roll All Nite" cracked the Top 40.
The Dictators opened.

posted by Ardiril 27 November | 17:54

Not many big names come to New Zealand. My first show was U2 in 1989. The Rattle and Hum tour.

posted by gaspode 27 November | 17:57

My first "concert" concert was, embarrassingly enough, Donnie & Marie. My father took me after much begging, we had horrible seats looking down sideways at the stage through the lighting rig, my dad complained the entire time about how loud the show was, and they did schtick from their variety show which I'd already seen. I felt completely gyped.

In contrast, the BEST show I've ever seen (out of hundreds in the intervening years), was Barry Manilow as part of his Paradise Cafe tour. He made an arena of 13,000 people feel like he was giving a private show in someone's living room. His personality completely won the night, and his rendition of "Read 'Em And Weep" was stunning. He had tears rolling down his face at the end of that particular number (living the "feel the lyrics" concept), and it was so powerful it led to a literal 10 minute standing ovation. I've never seen anything like it before or since, and I do go to a LOT of shows.

My most recent show attended was Rusted Root at as 1200 capacity club in Spokane. Three days before that, I saw U2 in Glendale, AZ along with 90,000 other fans. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, I'd say.

posted by hippybear 27 November | 17:57

Really? The Dictators opened for KISS? Wow, the seventies were weird times!

posted by richat 27 November | 17:58

The Who at Madison Square Garden in 1979. My older sister had just dumped her first husband but got custody of the tickets. She wasn't ready to date so she took her nerdy 15 year old brother to his first rock concert. Sadly, it was the first tour without Moon but they still rocked pretty amazingly back then.

I still have the ticket, I think that it was $12.50 for good seats.

posted by octothorpe 27 November | 17:59

Huh, Rusted Root is touring again? I should probably know that, they're sort of local heroes around here; one of the only Pittsburgh bands to make it (relatively) big. Their recording studio is about a block and a half away from my house.

posted by octothorpe 27 November | 18:10

I really wish I'd seen The Who at some point. I'm not sure there's much point now, even if they do tour again. I DO recall watching the "final" tour, again, in 1982. It was simulcast on CFOX! Pete's windmills blew my mind.

posted by richat 27 November | 18:10

Not that strange, richat. Kiss, the Dictators, and Twisted Sister all knew each other and played on the same bills quite often. I know the history more from Twisted Sister's side because a friend of mine was a magician who worked with Dee Snider in putting illusions into their act to outdo Gene's firebreathing.

posted by Ardiril 27 November | 18:11

My folks took me to a Beach Boys concert during the '80s. John Stamos wasn't there. Next after that was probably a punk-rock house show or something.

posted by box 27 November | 18:16

Heh. Ardiril, read that last sentence of yours again, and then, read that first sentence!

It's funny, I also didn't realize that TS went that far back...as an eighties teenager, I think I thought they sprang to life, fully formed, with "We're Not Gonna Take It".

posted by richat 27 November | 18:16

Jars of Clay. I was 14 or 15. I actually saw my first boyfriend there, but I didn't know him then.

But my first concert was a subscription to the melbourne symphony orchestra that I had with my parents when I was 6.

Best concert? Radiohead.

Weirdest concert? A sold out gig that my friend Wally- aka gotye did. It was his first solo show, and I found it very confronting seeing my friend up on stage as common property or something. I've never seen another live show of his, but I am proud of him.

posted by jonathanstrange 27 November | 18:21

I remember Twisted Sister being a cult local band when I was in high school and being really surprised when they showed up on MTV five years later or so.

posted by octothorpe 27 November | 18:23

re: the Who now. During the last tour, Pete's brother Simon played most of the loud guitar parts with Pete playing the solos with some FX trickery. Why they don't just put Pete's big amps in an offstage room and feed him a low-volume signal through his monitors is beyond me.

TS goes back to 1972 and the glam of the New York Dolls and Bowie. The 80s version of TS included Mark "The Animal" Mendoza who played bass for the Dictators. That's about all I know. jonmc probably has a deeper well of inside information.

posted by Ardiril 27 November | 18:28

When I was sixteen my other sister got me into a punk club in Boston named Spit. We saw a Reggae band named Zion Inotation(sp?) and a punk band, the Neighborhoods who still seem to exist.

Did you see that The Who are playing the superbowl next year?

posted by octothorpe 27 November | 18:41

Whitney Houston. Hey, free tickets!

Of course the best concert I ever went to is a lot cooler.

posted by dg 27 November | 18:43

At least Daltrey still has most of his voice, although in some of the video I've seen of the tour after John died, I swear he lip-synched the scream in Won't Get Fooled Again.

posted by Ardiril 27 November | 18:47

The Who are sadder than the Stones these days, I wish that they would give up. They haven't put out a good album since 1978 and even that was uneven. Townsend hasn't written a good song since Give Blood which was almost twenty five years ago.

posted by octothorpe 27 November | 19:00

And, arguably, the Stone still have the members that matter, onstage. I couldn't imagine the Stones without Mick, Keith and Charlie. The Who, down to Roger and Pete is not as bad as a Who with only John, say, but...sheesh.

For some reason, I do have a real soft spot for Pete though. Fucker's written some of the coolest shit EVER.

posted by richat 27 November | 19:05

With all the Who fans here, I'll post this. When I put it on The Blue, it broke the server, but maybe it will survive a posting here on MetaChat.

Goodnight Keith Moon

posted by hippybear 27 November | 19:22

Edgar Winter, around the time Frankenstein was popular. I think Wishbone Ash opened. Not particularly memorable. I was never a big concert-goer.

posted by DarkForest 27 November | 19:23

... My dad took me to that concert. He, a smoker, was quite intrigued by the smell of pot, remarking how sweet it smelled. We brought a cassette recorder and taped a bit. I probably have that cassette around somewhere....

posted by DarkForest 27 November | 19:30

Smashing Pumpkins, the Siamese Dream tour, which was what, '93? Something like that. I won a pair of tickets off of the radio which was pretty exciting to my 13-14 year old self. I loved that album (hated Mellon Collie.. though). A band called Red Red Meat opened.

posted by ufez 27 November | 19:31

Asia. 1982.

posted by Stewriffic 27 November | 19:37

Buffalo Springfield at the Anaheim Convention Center. Oddly, they were second on the bill, opening for a band called the Association.

I can't remember anything earlier. . .this was in high school.

posted by danf 27 November | 19:53

Willie Nelson, Missouri State Fair, 1980 (I think). I sat on my dad's shoulders. I've been a fan ever since.

posted by chillmost 27 November | 19:55

It was a USO tour in the Philippines. It had members from Cheap Trick, Kansas and Poco in some sort of super group. Outside in the hot tropical evening. I think the year was 1982. Or 1983. Mostly military folk. I was a kid in high school at the time on Clark Air Force Base.

posted by alteredcarbon 27 November | 19:56

I'm pretty jealous of some of you. Willie at a Missouri State Fair? Cheap Trick? Wow.

ok, maybe NOT so much Asia :-)

posted by richat 27 November | 20:33

Heh. I didn't pick it, mind you.

posted by Stewriffic 27 November | 20:43

Perhaps it was something picked in the heat of the moment?

posted by richat 27 November | 20:48

Oh, wow. I think--I *think*--it was Eric Clapton with Bonnie & Delaney, after he'd left Blind Faith, so probably around 1969-70, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. I was still in high school, and I remember I was so wound up and excited after the concert I went racing out into the street, which was full of ice and snow (so, probably winter of 69-70), and came THAT close to slipping and falling right in front of a car, but luckily my friend grabbed my arm and jerked me back to safety.

posted by kat allison 27 November | 20:50

Actually, upon further reflection, I think I'd earlier gone (with fear and excitement surging in my 15-year-old heart) to a concert by Golden Earring down at the old Labor Temple. Probably in 1968. Terrible psychedelic light show, truly terrible dreadfully-amplified music, lots of incredibly-stoned people wandering around. I have no idea why I chose this particular band or venue to break my concert-going cherry--probably it was just a night my parents were away and so I could sneak out without explanations.

Having barely thought of Golden Earring since then, I am surprised to learn from Wikipedia that they're the band responsible for that deathless classic, "Radar Love." Huh.

posted by kat allison 27 November | 21:00

My actual first concert was a comedy show, to see Jerry Clower. Barbara Mandrell opened. (My parents took me to this. Obv.)

A couple of years before this I'd asked to go to see the Sex Pistols, as they were starting their first-ever U.S. tour in Atlanta. ATLANTA. My parents refused to even consider it. (OK, I was 13 at the time. I might have done the same as a parent.)

But this is a wound from which I will never heal. Especially since I now have to tell everybody my first concert was Jerry fucking Clower, when I could have said, "First concert? The Sex Pistols, beeyotch."

posted by BoringPostcards 27 November | 21:08

Only time will tell, richat.

posted by Stewriffic 27 November | 21:09

BoringPostcards...that's really funny. I can only imagine, as I DO know the pain of missed shows. Somehow I missed Billy Bragg when I was in high school, AND I missed Joe Strummer TWICE in Toronto with the Mescaleros. How was I to know that time was running out? MAN.

P.S. stewriffic? hee hee.

posted by richat 27 November | 21:17

First concert? David Bowie. It sucked really badly. Never've been to a concert again.

posted by jouke 27 November | 21:26

BOWIE SUCKED? REALLY?

When was it?

posted by richat 27 November | 21:26

Well, technically it was Duran Duran (with Erasure). My friend got tickets for her birthday and asked me to go. I wasn't a huge fan at the time--and soooo not thrilled that she insisted I wear her 7 and The Ragged Tiger t-shirt-- but it was a great show.

But the first concert I ever bought tickets for and attended voluntarily was David Bowie at the Vet. Glass Spider Tour. Squeeze and Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers opened. The Hooters might have played, too. (It was the 80s in Philly. You could not escape Eric Bazilian.) I got so excited and overheated that I passed out during his cover of White Light White Heat.

posted by jrossi4r 27 November | 21:28

And now I see jouke's post. When did you see him?

posted by jrossi4r 27 November | 21:30

Ten Years After, in 1970. Curved Air opened.

posted by Kronos_to_Earth 27 November | 21:30

Also the Glass Spider Tour.
The whole experience sucked. I won't elaborate because you people like concerts.
Let's just say that after 2 consecutive songs I'm done with any musician. But there's no 'skip' button on a concert.
And Bowie being a tiny spinnetje in the back of the stadium didn't help.

posted by jouke 27 November | 21:34

That sucks jouke! I can, however, relate to being at a show that made me wonder why I did these things. They're certainly not ALL fantastic times.

posted by richat 27 November | 21:39

my first show was Alice Cooper and it was the welcome to my nightmare tour and i was like 10 or something and it was the most awesome thing i had ever seen

one of the coolest shows i saw was the rheostatics at a small club across the street from the europe hotel in gastown . there was 6 or 8 people in the audience, but that didnt stop the band one bit . they played a fuill set and it ended with the band crawling all over the walls and tables of the place while playing a cool version of play that funky music white boy .

the club isnt there anymore (last i heard it was a piano bar), but it sure was a fun night

posted by rollick 27 November | 21:58

i saw bowie on the lets dance tour at bc place a few months before he came back to film it as a concert movie . the movie was better than the concert i saw, but that wasnt the best phase of bowie's career.

my memories of seeing the who are from the tour at pacific colisseum after keith died and feeling sorry for the drummer that tried to replace him . what i remember most about the show was coming over from the island and the ferry was late . by the time we got to the pne grounds, the opening act had already started and some really sleazy scalpers were trying to gouge us for tickets. we decide to skip the show and walked over to where you could hear the music fairly well . then a guy walked up to us and asked if we had two cigarettes . my friend did and gave them to him and he handed us two 4th row seats and said i made my money tonight, enjoy the show

posted by rollick 27 November | 22:08

I've seen Bowie 4 times and he never failed to be awesome, IMO. The second time was the Glass Spider tour- I liked the artsy stuff he was doing, but I can see where it might have disappointed people hoping to hear the classic stuff. (Luckily he went back to that on later tours.)

posted by BoringPostcards 27 November | 22:13

My first show was They Might Be Giants in 1994. It was a birthday gift from my family, and fifteen-year-old me had a heck of a time (they were my favorite band).

posted by wimpdork 27 November | 22:15

my first show was Alice Cooper and it was the welcome to my nightmare tour and i was like 10 or something and it was the most awesome thing i had ever seen

Oh hell... no doubt.

posted by BoringPostcards 27 November | 22:16

LIBERACE. At an outdoor venue in the middle of July. He came out wearing a full length fur coat. It was as fabulous as you would expect. I remember it being a fun night - I felt very fancy. I was wearing a yellow gingham sundress that my mom had made for me and I remember we went out to dinner beforehand (which was a big deal at the time since I would have been six-ish, I think.)

The first concert I chose to go to on my own was Billy Idol, I think. Would have been 1986, I think.

posted by fluffy battle kitten 27 November | 22:17

I'm pretty sure I used the phrase, "I THINK" way more than was necessary in that post. Nobody thinks that much ;)

posted by fluffy battle kitten 27 November | 22:18

rollick, that is a VERY cool Who story!

posted by richat 27 November | 22:28

I am loving the hell out of this thread.

posted by BoringPostcards 27 November | 22:43

I saw the Rolling Stones play in a provincial dance hall in 1967. We had to pay an extra shilling (7 cents) because they had come up from London. I thought they were scruffy and noisy (torn jeans and too much shouting). The Beatles were much smarter (matching haircuts and suits, in '67). OK, I was a kid ...

posted by Susurration 27 November | 22:58

TMBG show, central park, wherein I ran into my English Teacher.

posted by The Whelk 27 November | 23:12

who, I should add, was stoned out of his mind.

(I wanna say ..sophomore year of HS?)

posted by The Whelk 27 November | 23:13

1975 I saw Rush and I believe it was Moxy that opened.

posted by arse_hat 27 November | 23:17

Susurration...somehow that blew my mind. Too bad they were so scruffy!

posted by richat 27 November | 23:19

um Jethro Tull.

posted by special-k 27 November | 23:29

um Jethro Tull.

AWESOME.

It's almost scary how much I heart Jethro Tull.

posted by BoringPostcards 27 November | 23:35

After reading rollick's comments about scalpers at The Who show, I'm remembering my encounter with a bootleg t-shirt vender after my Who show. We walked out of The Garden after the concert onto the plaza area outside and saw a t-shirt vender. I went up and asked if I could check out one of the black shirts with the iconic outline of Pete windmilling next to the logo. I held the shirt up to my chest to see if it would fit and right as the shirt left the vender's hands, a NYC cop runs up and pushes the the vender and his cart away from me toward the sidewalk. The cop yells at the guy, "I told you to stay off the plaza already," and then yells over his shoulder at me, "Hey kid, you got yourself a free t-shirt." The cool thing is that he obviously watched and waited until I had the shirt in my hands before he busted the guy. It's shrunk down to extra small by now (and I've gained fifty pounds) but I still have that shirt. Thanks NYC cop.

posted by octothorpe 27 November | 23:35

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by Hugh Janus 27 November | 23:36

In 1978 I was scalping KISS tickets for 20 whole bucks!

posted by arse_hat 27 November | 23:37

Finally saw RUSH on Friday, Dec. 13th. So noted because a) it was a Friday the 13th (like the day I was born) b) It was my half-birthday c) was the day I got into college. Also the same day my current gf got into the same college, so extra lucky.

At the Meadowlands, of course.

posted by Eideteker 27 November | 23:41

The first ticket I ever had was to see the Thompson Twins at Massey Hall when I was 12 or 13, but the male singer got sick and they cancelled. Thank god, because now I can say that the first concert I ever saw was Iggy Pop opening for The Pretenders at Maple Leaf Gardens. The tour where Chrissy Hynde started her set by kissing the stage on which Iggy had performed. You could barely see the No Smoking signs through the smoke. It was a great show, and I've been addicted to live shows ever since, though I refuse to go to stadium shows these days.

posted by elizard 27 November | 23:55

I saw Rush in 1982 at the Worcester Centrum [this is weird how much Rush there is here in this thread] and Roky Erickson opened. This is not couting various folkie concerts I got dragged to with my parents when I was a babe-in-arms [Arlo Guthrie?]

posted by jessamyn 27 November | 23:58

I saw NIN at the Worcester Centrum in 95 with Adam Ant and the Jim Rose Side Show.

posted by arse_hat 28 November | 00:03

I think it was 2005 at BFD.

Foo Fighters, Social Distortion, Jimmy Eat World, Kasabian, and the Lovemakers with some other side bands (Sleater Kinney, Hot Hot Heat, Alkaline Trio, The Bravery, Lyrics Born, Ash, Kaiser Chiefs, Rise Against, Tegan & Sara, MXPX, Senses Fail - according to their site). It was a strange first concert experience, especially since I wasn't (and still am not) super into this particular music scene, but it was good.

posted by unsurprising 28 November | 00:59

Oh, and this was the summer after junior year of high school.

posted by unsurprising 28 November | 01:00

Great lyric to start off the thread. I see Dave Bidini all the time at Faema cafe up the street. I have, in fact, seen the Rheostatics many, many times. Almost religiously in the '90's.
And I was supposed to go to Alice Cooper at the CNE in on August 19th 1980 for my birthday on the 20th, but thankfully I didn't because he was sick and cancelled and the place erupted in a giant riot and I was small and would have been crushed.
Unfortunately, my first concert was Spandau Ballet at Massey Hall. Doesn't that suck? 1983 probably. Grade 10.
The only cool memory of it was during the intermission a few girls came by to say hi to us and tell us that they were going to "rush the stage!" one of whom was in my Math class and who I thought was nice but she probably thought I was a giant loser.
We later became best friends and we've been married for 16 years. Not because of Spandau Ballet though.
Oh and I think Donny and Marie wins.

posted by chococat 28 November | 01:12

my first show was Alice Cooper and it was the welcome to my nightmare tour and i was like 10 or something and it was the most awesome thing i had ever seen

Way back when, I saw the Mothers of Invention at Fullerton State College (had to drive forever) in the gym.

Captain Beefheart, Alice Cooper and a few other of the Zappa protoges opened. Alice Cooper was like third on the bill. He was weird but nothing special. In interviews, he seems to revise history a bit.

posted by danf 28 November | 10:41

My first three concerts were the Who in 1982 on their first farewell tour. I'm pretty sure my next concert was Youth Brigade a few months later.

My first concert could have been Jerry Lee Lewis at an auto show in the mid 70's. But rather than walk to the other end of the facility to see him I stayed by the Bat Mobile and Monkees car.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 28 November | 11:12

My first concert with jon (cause that's really when my concert life started) was none other than the Ramones. Open admission and so close to the stage I could have reached out and touched Joey's leather. Let's see, I wanna say around 1995 or '96? Great show. We went with a couple friends of ours and it was like I was 19 again. I'd never heard of the Ramones before I met Jon. Lots of great concerts since: KISS, Social Distortion, the Bell Rays, Bruce Springstein, They Might Be Giants, The Dictators...

posted by Pips 28 November | 14:17

(not surprised at all at the Dictators and KISS combo -- two nice Jewish boys :)

posted by Pips 28 November | 14:19

Spirit and Iron Butterfly at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. I was 14 or 15 in 1973 or 74. It was a wild open drug market - I felt like I was living "Go Ask Alice", the omnipresent YA paperback in those years.

I LOVED IT!!!!

Saw the Pixies last week with my oldest daughter. Wish I had tickets to The Jesus Lizard tonight.

posted by readery 28 November | 16:59

The Allman Brothers, in um I think 1978 or 79, in Boston. I was about 15 and strictly forbidden to go to concerts, but I went to that one.

posted by mygothlaundry 28 November | 16:59

Wish I had tickets to The Jesus Lizard tonight.

I did have tickets to the Jesus Lizard a couple of weeks ago. And then my daughter got sick and I had to stay home :(

posted by gaspode 28 November | 17:20

It was supposed to be Queen but Freddie Mercury came down with the flu and canceled the concert, so my first was Alice Cooper two weeks later, same tour that rollick saw.

posted by jamaro 28 November | 23:31

My first concert was the first Lollapalooza, in 1991. I was a sophomore. My dad drove myself and my gothy friend Diane 30 miles in our hideous, beat up family minivan. We must have looked so uncool getting out of that minivan. The lineup was:

Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Living Colour, Nine Inch Nails, Ice-T & Body Count, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes, Fishbone, Emergency Broadcast Network

I was there for Jane's and Siouxsie. I didn't become a big NIN fan until later. (I've made up for it; I've seen them four times since. And worked for their record company.)

I will always love this concert because nobody knew who Lollapalooza was "supposed" to be for. So there were goths, skaters, punks, and bikers all jumbled together in the same audience. And getting along.

posted by halonine 29 November | 02:42

Bob Dylan with The Band, Birmingham Alabama, 1974. I was 17.

posted by flapjax at midnite 29 November | 21:02

Aw geez, flapjax...SO cool. I'd have loved to see The Band, even by '74. I have hopes of one day getting to Levon's studio for one of those terribly expensive Rambles he puts on.

posted by richat 29 November | 21:08

Wow, flapjax. My suffle karma kept bringing up Dylan and the Band stuff on the ipod so I dove right in. That is some timeless music. Yazoo Street Scandal has been going thru my head all week.

Never got to see them live...

posted by readery 30 November | 00:32

I saw The (non-Robertson) Band twice in 1983 opening for The Dead and then in ~1991 opening for (non-George) Little Feat. They were very good but obviously past their prime. I did see Rick Danko solo in a tiny dive bar in State College in '88. It was great to see him so close up and he sounded great but he was drinking tumblers of Jack Daniels and didn't look so great.

posted by octothorpe 30 November | 08:00

Yeah, Danko was a mess near the end I think. Between the coke and the booze. They really were a small moment in time, where they are pretty much perfection. Then, various demons and egos started unraveling the beauty. Levon's autobiography is one of my favourite ever rock reads.

posted by richat 30 November | 09:44

27 November 2009