Last night, we had some friends over for dinner. At one point, the conversation turned to music and concerts. It got especially animated when everyone shared their first concert experience.
I love hearing about people’s very first concert. In any given room, the answers can range from Rick Springfield to Poison to the Backstreet Boys to Pat Benatar.
My first concert was Michael Jackson. My older sister drove me and my best friend to the Capital Centre in Washington D.C. to see him. I remember so much about that night, it’s a little strange. I filled many pages in my diary the next day.
What was yours?
My first concert was The Grateful Dead at the Spectrum in Philly. I think I was thirteen. The concert lasted for 6 hours and it was just The Dead. I have no idea how I got my parents to let me go to that without any supervision. I didn’t get home until almost 3 in the morning and it was a school night. I’ll be a Deadhead till I die! I have been going to all kinds of concerts ever since. Last night I did one of those Facebook quizzes about 50 bands you’ve seen in concert. I could have probably named twice that. And that doesn’t count the ones I’ve seen several times. (The ones I’ve seen most have been Loggins & Messina, seven times so far, soon to be number eight.) In my late teens/early twenties, I’d sometimes go to two or three a week. Now that I’m in my 50’s, I go to some sort of live performance just about every other week or so….guess I’m finally slowing down! Nah!
My first concert was Cat Stevens, in the early ’70’s; Madison WI.. I still love his music, and even have some of his newer music (as Yusuf)
Cat was my first concert as well! Think it was 1971. Girlfriend @ the time dragged me to saratoga performing arts center Never heard of him prior when I heard “sad Lisa and wild world” I was sold. He still touring?
I don’t know if he’s still touring, but you may want to pick up the DVD “Yusuf”s Cafe Session” It has his whole history along with a great concert of the new stuff.
My very first concert was Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes. Does anyone remember “White Buffalo”. Brownsville Station opened for Ted.
Saw this concert at the fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis. It claims to be acoustically perfect with not a bad seat in the house. All I know is this was the start of my lifelong love of hard rock.
It’s fun to note that the last concert I attended was with my daughter and her friends (as an escort for the three minors). We saw Green Day (American Idiot Tour) at the St. Louis Convention center, with My Chemical Romance as the opening act. Green Day put on a great show. At one point, they selected three rock wanna-be musicians from the audience. They played one of GDs older, 3-cord songs while Billy Joe sang. Very cool.
Tiffany! This was the late 80s. My mom drove my older sister and I in to the city (we lived a couple hours away on a farm) to see our very first concert. And we got T-shirts! It was almost too much for my eight year old brain to take! I don’t really remember the concert as much as I remember the excitment of the whole experience and the utter shock that we got to experience it all!
Billy Joel (1986) – my first huge venue show!
Beastie Boys (1987) – my first show with friends of driving age … so no parents involved!
1983- The Police-Synchronicity Tour at “The Checkerdome” , which has since been torn down in St. Louis, Missouri. I was 13 and went with a friend and her “cool” older sister and her sister’s “cool” boyfriend.
I couldn’t stand The Police then, and I cannot stand them today….(very uncool of me)….but I couldn’t pass the opportunity up to go to a CONCERT!
I wore a pink Izod shirt, with the collar turned up! Very Uncool!
My first concert was Guns ‘n Roses when I lived in Paris the summer of 1993 (during high school). Having trained in classical piano & opera growing up, it was the obvious choice, right? *LOL* Let me tell you – it’s a surreal experience to hear 30,000 French people screaming “welcome to the jungle”!
I haven’t read all of the comments, but at the risk of maybe outing myself as one of the oldest among them…The Association at Humboldt State…7th grade…1968. But it got better…2nd concert? Ry Cooder, same year, same venue. 😉
My first concert was Richie Havens in New Haven, CT. If I close my eyes, I can still hear his soulful voice as he strums his guitar to “Freedom”. Thanks for the memory (almost as good as being there)!
My first non-classical concert was Simon & Garfunkel at an auditorium in St. Louis in 1967. It probably had a seating capacity of about 3000. I was 14 and my parents bought me the most expensive tickets–I think they were $6.50. I saw them several times over the years, the last time being the next-to-last concert on their world tour a couple of years ago. I joined 40,000 of my closest friends in Basel (Switzerland). The tickets cost 135 Swiss francs each (about $130). They had a great band, had actually rehearsed and brought the Everly Brothers along. All in all, darned good value. Most recent concert: last week I was in England and went to a concert featuring four sixties bands. It was terrific to see 16 musicians who were all older than I am. Highlights: who wouldn’t love hearing the Tremeloes doing a credible rendition of “Silence is Golden”? Personal favorite: Marmalade doing “Reflections of my life”. The average age of the audience was about 60 and they were on their feet throughout!
I love it! I was also at the Beatles Forest Hills concert in 1964. I was 12 and my old best friend who had moved to Forest Hills called and asked if I could go with her, her older sister and friend (who were 16). My mom said abslutely not. My new best friend told my mom if she didn’t let me go that I would never forgive her for the rest of my life, which was basically true. So my mom said yes – wonder of wonders! this is the first concert I went to without adults and was it exciting! I dreamed of John. And yes, the screaming was amazing and loud. I remember there were other acts – not just the Beatles. That was the way concerts were in the early days – not just one group/act and a warm-up. Lots of value for your ticket dollar. Thanks for the chance to remember this one!
1984 – Bruce Springsteen on the first round of the Born in the USA tour at the Byrne Arena (now the Izod Arena) in the Meadowlands. I was all of 15, and there with my mom and a group of people from her office.
Growing up in New Jersey, you really don’t get a whole lot better than that. =)
What a fun question! As always, Christine, reading your blog makes me think about many a good time.
I was in 8th grade and had tickets to see Depeche Mode on June 16th (90? 91?)at Giants’ Stadium in New Jersey. My mother was not about to let me go alone, and so she came with my friend, Jill, and I. I was REALLY sick with strep throat but insisted I was fine. Totally worth it even if my throat was BLEEDING the next day. I remember so much of it but the best part was when Martin Gore did his two songs (as at EVERY dm show). He did two acoustic songs… world full of nothing, and I want you now.
Sooooo good. I would love to see them again even if I haven’t bought an album since Songs of Faith and Devotion.
Thanks for the memories!
You’re first concert was Michael Jackson? That’s so cool!
My first concert was New Kids on the Block! I was 11 and we had to convince my friend’s parents to drive us a couple hours to get there. We were ridiculously far from the stage, but the experience was amazing anyway.
Now that I’m older, I plan to do anything within my power to get tickets closer to the stage on the reunion tour! And I’ll be going with the same friend to see them.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Pink Floyd in 1987.
Best friend’s mom had he daughter skip school and camp for tickets. Amazing show – sound smell taste vision and feel – all senses hit on overload – and now, such a high bar to cross when deciding to go to a concert.
1975. The mighty Grand Funk Railroad! Oh Yeah!! I was in 8th grade, my oldest brother took me and I’ve been a fan ever since. I still go to concerts but I can still remember that one like it was yesterday. I even remember that I had an orange parka with a white faux fur collar. I was rockin’ and stylin’! HAHAHA
thanks for the flashback, Christine!
I do have to say my all time favorite however was seeing Dan Fogelberg at the UI Assembly Hall. Seats were on the floor, 4th row from the stage. I was drooling. Husband at the time fell asleep. Never invited husband to go to concert again.
Sandra 🙂
I think my first concert was the Beach Boys in about 1982 in Chico, California, with Greg Khin opening… My big brother took me, (I was 12) and I still remember all the beach balls bouncing around the crowd.
My first concert without family chaperones was (wait for it…) Motley Crue/Whitesnake/Poison at the Oakland Colliseum when I was 15! My best friend and I had seats just above the first aid dugout and I vividly remember seeing casualties from the floor being carried in on stretchers before us…
1990-New Kids on the Block.
Tinley Park, Illinois, The World Theater.
Oddly enough, it was just a few years later that I saw the concert that has made the most impact (albeit, hugely negative) on my life in the same theater. Chicago.
What a great topic of conversation. Well now, at the risk of blowing away all my street cred (haha) my first gig was…Brotherhood of Man when I was about 8 years old! They got me up on stage to sing with them. I went to see Bjork last week so let’s just say my tastes have significantly changed since then 😉
An indie gig. And I moshed. Yeaah!!!
1967–The Association–absolutely fantastic!
technically, i guess it would be ‘the captain and tennille” (i don’t think i spelled that correctly) when i was about 8. my grandfather took me to a fair in indiana when we were visitng over the summer. i watched their TV show. i sang along with her. and i had her haircut. the cool part was….i got to meet them after the show.
after that, it’d have to be madonna….like a virgin….in dallas. (blush)
i LOVE hearing about all the people who got to see the beatles!!! (big fan here, but never got to see them.)
all the best!
deb
Joelle and Deb, you both mention Seals and Croft. Jimmy Seals has been touring with his brother Dan (of England Dan and John Ford Coley and later Dan Seals as a country artist). They perform lots of their old hits from back in the 70’s and throw in some new stuff, too. if you can catch one of their shows, you will not regret it. http://www.sealsandseals.com
OK, I’m showing the complete innocence of the time:
1965?
The Beatles in Cleveland.
I was 12. Went with my best friend. One set of parents drove us to the concert and dropped us off; the other set picked us up.
Last concert: Bruce Springsteen at the Oakland Arena. Main floor. I danced almost all night.
Alice Cooper, all by myself. Had to hitch a ride home after, over the bridge from Duluth back to Superior. Looking back I was incredibly independent and equally naive (stupid for hitching-I was 15!)
But in the end I am totally amazed and very proud of myself for pulling it off. I was such an unsure-of-myself person then and that was pretty gutsy.
Pat
Wow, it was The Osmonds at the Hollywood Paladium. My friend’s mom drove us, I wore purple and my friend wore green and neither one of us had voices the following day.
Thanks Christine, that brought back a nice memory.
These are so great to read! Lots of John Denver concerts – which gets me a little teary.
I’m going to ban ANY MORE PEOPLE from talking about how OLD they are or how this DATES them, etc etc. Revel in your age! Who cares how old you are? You’ve lived and you have great memories!
(Tim – The Fixx actually went on BEFORE me at a festival where I performed a few years ago. Between that, and performing on a stage next to the Gap Band at another summer festival – I sometimes wish I could go back to my young self as she listened to those songs and say, “You’re not going to BELIEVE this, but someday, you’ll be on a stage with this band!”)
The Fixx at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago in 1984. Pretty awesome show. If the Fixx ever come to your town, be sure to check them out!
Tim
Does anyone remember Little River Band ( Australian) way back in the late 70’s?
I saw them before thay became well-known and gave concerts in the US. I also saw Inxs at the same venue before they ‘took off’.
The hall wouldn’t have seated more than 300 people…Boy does that makes me sound old.
I saw U2 on my 16th birthday at the Omni in Atlanta with my best friend, Adrienne. A memory I hold in my heart with such warmth…
Odd… the first comment mentioned Thin Lizzy opening for the main event, and I think my first concert was Thin Lizzy… or Horslips … or Rory Gallagher(73/74?). Then Eric Clapton or Hawkwind… Such a long, long time ago!
My parents took me to see Elvis Presley in the early seventies when I was about six or seven years old. I was screaming and crying and just knew that I could bust through the security guards and get a scarf from the King. I couldn’t – but boy I tried. I also saw the Osmond Family (before Donny was a solo act and Marie even hit the scene) and the Brady Bunch. I am a bit envious of Mackie over the Bobby Sherman thing – I think the first record I owned was “Julie”. I cut it off of the back of a box of Honeycomb cereal. The other one I really wish I could have seen was David Cassidy and life would have been truly complete at the time. You know how Frances said that she thought that Adam Ant could see her in the crowd? I used to take a bath and put on my cutest nightgown every Friday night before the Partridge Family came on just in case David Cassidy could see me through the TV. First concert without parents was Foghat in the sixth grade. I went with my best friend and her older brother and his friend. My mother made me wear a dress and I fell alseep in my seat before the concert ended.
These are great! Mine was Whitney Houston sometime in the mid 80s maybe. I wasn’t a huge fan, but my older sister bought me a ticket to go with her and her best friend. They were 10 years older and I thought I was pretty damn cool to be going with them!
Mackie, I remember Tennessee Ernie Ford! I especially remember an “I Love Lucy” episode on which he played a country cousin who’d never seen
a roll-away-bed. He spent the night in it like a hotdog in a bun because he didn’t know it made into a single bed (:
How fun to read all of the first concerts! I don’t remember mine. :
Bette Midler at Pine Knob outside of Detroit. It was my senior year in high school. I went with my best friend Wendy (still my best friend 28 years later!). My car was a ’73 Pinto with a stick shift I hadn’t quite mastered and I remember nearly running us into a ditch because I couldn’t get it moving from second gear. Fun memories!
Late 70’s and it was The Steve Miller band. Front row tickets! It was great but soooooo loud because we were in front of a huge amp!
Well, the best thing about being #55 (I think) is that I get to read the other 54 comments beofre me first! All great fun!!!
My first was Santana in 1984 at Popular Creek Music Theatre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois (which is now bascially the Sears/Kmart headquarters).
I was 19, my parents bought the tickets if I took my younger brother. We on the lawn and had the best time ever! I didn’t even mind the hour wait it took me to get out of the parking lot!
My first concert should have been Led Zepplin when I was 15, but sadly John Bonham died and that was the end of that! We went to a monster truck rally instead!
Ahhh…the memories!
Crosby Stills Nash & Young at the Philadelphia Spectrum in 1970, with both my parents. I was 13, and thrilled to be there in spite of my parents!
Led Zepplin at Wembley stadium on their ‘Led Zep IV’ tour. It was a 15th birthday present from my (21 rear old, computer genius, hell’s angel) boyfriend. I didn’t even know who they were, but Stairway to Heaven was phenomenol.
Amy Grant in the very early 80’s … after the concert she sat on the edge of the stage, drinking a Tab, and talking to anyone in the audience who wanted to visit.
oh my … Adam Ant in 1983. i was a sophomore in HS and i had the biggest crush on him. (thank you MTV.) i was sooooooo sure he was going to fall in love with me after picking me out in the crowd. i can still remember the t-shirt i bought that night. too funny.
My first was Rush, the Moving Pictures tour. I had never heard of them, neither had most of the world, I think, except for my nerdy friends. At that show they played a song called “Tom Sawyer.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Love this question and the answers.
Like Lisa, above, I saw Andy Gibb in the late ’70s in Miami. I was 12. When he sang “I just want to be your everything” I shouted “You are, you are!” Oh boy.
Hey, it is so great to see that others also saw their first concert at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC)in my hometown.
My first concert was at SPAC around 1978 when I was 13. It was my love – Andy Gibb – “Love is higher than a mountain, love is thicker than water…” I even had an Andy Gibb locket, I was so cool!
Good Golly, Sly and the Family Stone, mid 70’s, at a small state college in Nebraska. They were 3 hours late and the crowd busied themselves throwing beach balls around which I thought was just the wildest thing!! Saw Steve Martin during his ‘arrow through the head’ days. We thought we were on the cutting edge!
Hey Mackie, a big cheer for Tennessee Ernie Ford!
Great question Christine. Thanks for the memories.
Hard to remember — NightRanger @ Six Flags, maybe? Or maybe it was Huey Lewis & the News (at a “real” venue)? But you get the jist….. I thought I was SOOOO worldly at that point!
=-)
My first concert was probably the Beach Boys after a Cincinnati Reds baseball game once summer when I was young. I was, of course, with my family.
My first concert was JOHN DENVER in 1977 at the Oakland Coliseum (Oakland, CA). I was 17 and I went by myself because none of my friends liked his music. I saved up my babysitting money, hopped in my ’67 VW Beetle, and sang along with every song. At that point in my life I owned every record he released and was just starting to branch out. My first non-John Denver album I bought was by The Surf Punks (and it’s been downhill ever since).
Gene Pitney in Richmond, Virginia. He whistled that great part in “Only Love Can Break A Heart.”
Do I win oldest award here?
Belinda Carlisle at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee (a venue I think you’d love) for my 12th birthday with my sister. We got a limo and my twin and I drove in the stretch limo to the concert while my dad hid in the back watching us.
It was great!
1983 or 1984 (can’t remember precisely now), and it was Triumph, the Canadian rock trio. Lots of lasers and smoke and cool special effects. My ears rang for days afterward (at future concerts, I brought earplugs!). Great band, really put on a great concert. I saw them several more times after that, in fact.
1965? 66? (I am truly ancient.)I know I was around 16ish and it was either The Rolling Stones at the Long Beach, CA auditorium or Bob Dylan at the Hollywood Bowl. What I remember most is Mick Jagger singing Little Red Rooster and Dylan doing Mr. Jones. I do remember, also, that I was with the same boyfriend at both.
Geez, I feel like such an old geek. My first concert was January 12, 1974, Seals and Croft at Penn State; which was three days before I met my husband; I thought I would throw that in there. It was festival seating but I managed to ride the crowd and get third row floor. Yes, I feared for my life but it was so worth it. And sitting here remembering that I still can’t believe that 1) I went – by myself; and 2) I did what I had to to get a decent seat – considering crowd crush wigs me out. I still like much of their music but almost never hear it.
1st with adults – The Bee Gees at Miami’s old baseball stadium (now torn down).
1st without adults – Black Sabbath! With Ozzy Osborne. Egads what was I thinking?
The Beatles, August 1964 at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, NY. I was 14 and in luv with Paul. You could not hear any music because everyone was screaming their heads off. I loved every second even though I though I thought I had gone deaf with the ringing in my ears. I saw them again at Shea Stadium August of 1965, and remember being annoyed at the oh so immature screaming fans cuz I was so grownup at 15. NOT! Gotta laugh.
I couldn’t tell you the year. I am going to guess that it was around 1976/1977. I saw England Dan and John Ford Coley at Six Flags in Arlington Texas, with my parents. I remember reveling in the energy of the crowd at 6 or 7 years old. The one song that really stands out in my memory is “Soldier in the Rain” and what a powerful song that was.
My dad took me to the Springfield Civic Center when I was nine or ten to see John Denver. Still some of my favorite music!!
Kid Video! Do you remember them? they came to Israel, I was probably about 12-13, and so ecstatic. 🙂
Fall 1981, The Rolling Stones “Tattoo You” tour, at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. An all-day affair with Journey and George Thorogood and The Destroyers as opening acts. I was in 9th grade. My sister was a senior in high school. She and her friends had an extra ticket, so the let me tag along. 6 Jersey girls in a wood-panel sided station wagon heading south on the New Jersey turnpike for a rock ‘n roll experience! What a day. The people-watching was remarkable (and a little scary), the stadium show experience was overwhelmiong and the music was awaesome. Good times…
Come to think of it, my sister and I have been to another great show. Michelle Shocked at the Ritz in NYC (formerly Studio 54). I think it was spring of 1989. That woman can really sing! She and her band even sounded better live than they did on their Captain Swing album, which is a great album. My brother joined us for that one. Good times indeed!
It was Dizzy Gillespie just before he died. I think it was a middle school band field trip, and we were all very excited to be seeing a living legend despite the fact that we were in the nosebleed section. My band teacher kept admonishing the trumpet players not to imitate his style because it was bad form 🙂
My sister and I went with my parents and our neighbors to see The Bangles at Summerfest in Milwaukee. I was eight or nine — we thought we were so cool.
Hmmm… I recently wrote that I remembered my first concert as either The Kinks or Cheap Trick (they were very close together)… but now I remember I saw Crosby, Stills & Nash before that. It was all a bit overwhelming to me – the lights, the loudness, the crowd. But magic.
Rod Stewart and The Faces, at McGaw Hall at Northwestern University, in 1973. Opening act Jo Jo Gunne. I was amazed at how loud it was. I was sixteen.
My significant other, whom I did not meet until about sixteen years later, was at the same show.
TWM
That was my first concert as well! Thanksgiving weekend, right?
“Chicago” concert in Minneapolis in the early 1970s with an old boyfriend. Yup, I’m that old. I remembered the smell of dope in the air and seeing people going up the aisle and returning with baggies. I was so young. So naive.
1993 Toad the Wet Sprocket. It was awesome, and I have been hooked ever since.
My first real concert with my family was the inimitable Anne Murray at Irvine Meadows in Orange County, CA. But my first concert of my choosing was Morrissey at Irvine Meadows in Orange County, CA.
Coincidence? I suppose so, because figuring out the ramifications of a cosmic overlap between Anne Murray and Morrissey makes my head hurt.
FAB FOUR!
In 1964, during the Great Mania, my sisters were 12 and 13–just the right age to join the millions of screaming preteens then going insane at the very thought or mention of the Beatles. I remember my sister had a jar to hold the change she was collecting to make a pilgrimage to a holy site in Great Britain—Liverpool, where the deity Paul was born.
Strange as it sounds, our parents were more or less on board with Beatlemania, showing amazing levels of tolerance for this foolishness.
Long story short, Dad purchased tickets for the whole family for the Beatles’ concert at the Hollywood Bowl. An amazing night indeed. We were in the next to the last row, which actually was ideal. The sound was deafening, to be sure, but we were lucky because the unfortunates nearest the stage likely suffered ruptured eardrums from the sonic phenomena produced.
I was only 8, and it was great to be on hand for a part of history. It was also quite otherwordly to witness my sisters going through what can only be termed a severe case of spirit possession. The Beatles were so far away, they were the size of ants, and the music could not be heard over the screaming. You couldn’t see them, and you couldn’t hear them, so as concerts go, it was more like a pantomime. Still, an unforgettable experience—it was like being in the midst of an urban riot, but you could enjoy yourself without threat of violence.
Wow, this question really takes me back. The 1st concert I went to was a Rick Wakeman concert. The towers of keyboards were awe inspiring, and a little frightening. They all looked like they would just fall over and bury him at any minute. It opened my mind and broke my world wide open. (That of course was both good and bad.)
Dionne Warwick in Dallas. She was great. I passed up a chance to see Elvis in his last Las Vegas show. Wish I had made it.
Not including the concerts at school (which were very exciting because my friends were up on stage under *colored* lights!) it was Elton John in St. John’s coliseum (the old one) in Columbus, Ohio. I took my high-school sweetheart. We were both 16.
I still remember the feeling of awe that something so big and so cool could revolve around the same music I was listening to on the record player. I knew all the songs he was playing and was completely mesmerized.
I still get a touch of that thrill when the colored lights come up…
NKOTB! At the Rosemont Horizon, near Chicago. Hey, and now they’re back! Talk about coming full circle.
Hey You!!!!
Dave Mason at the New Haven Coliseum when I was 15 years old. Whoo hoo! I loved, loved, loved that man! Still do.
Such a wonderful, powerful, poignant, nostalgic song……………..hey, hey, hey,… we just disagreee………
Dare I admit this? Meatloaf!!! I went with some friends from school – who were keen fans in the 1980’s. He needed oxygen several times during the show… It was a weird experience. I thought all rock stars must need oxygen at concerts!?…
Phew! glad to get that out in the open!
Steppenwolf. Then I saw Joe Cocker, Santana, and Chicago Transit Authority in the same show for about $8, then on the the 2nd Atlanta Pop Festival for B.B. King, Procol Harem, Hendrix, Poca, John Sebastion, et al, and the Allman Bros. were the opening act `cause they were ‘local’. All this in the space of about a year and a half. Those were the days,CK,those were the days!
May 1998 – Dave Matthews Band at Foxboro Stadium (Boston). We had “floor” seats – in the 2nd section back. About 25 friends went.
It was the day after my Senior Prom – two of the best consecutive days of my life.
Mine was Gloria Estefan when I was 11, so that had to be…1993? She had started touring after her bus accident and people were excited. The people I carpooled to school with had an extra ticket. There were disco balls. I knew a lot of the songs. I became a folkie, but that was a very cool “first”!
New Kids on the Block when I was in the fifth grade!! And my dad took me — I didn’t understand at the time how much he had to love me to sit through that for me!! 🙂
REO Speedwagon at the Worcester Centrum (Survivor opened). This was back in, oh, 1984 I think.
My friend Justin Hoffman took me (Abbie Hoffman’s nephew). He had 4th row seats. They opened with “Don’t Let ’em Go”. Pretty good!
I think it was Clay Walker at a outdoor weekend festival when I was around 12. The only thing I really remember was when I met him after, he said “oh my god, look at that hair.” (I have very bright, very curly red hair). I’ve never really been sure if that was a compliment or not…
Styx – when I was in 8th or 9th grade – around 77 or 78 it must have been. Went with my girl scout troop (we didn’t sell any cookies). It was a big exciting event to drive to Albuquerque (100 miles away) to see a rock concert – I still remember much about the night. I wonder what badge we got? I don’t recall “looking cool at a rock concert” badge.
I also attended a keg party with high school boys up in the mountains on one of our overnight trips that year. We were not a very conventional girl scout troop and as I recall the leader (one of the girls fathers) was replaced the next year.
Can’t imagine why.
Seals & Croft at the Waikiki Shell, 1974. I was turning 14 at the time, my mother wouldn’t let me go unless the older brother went along. He wasn’t crazy about driving my best friend and me to listen to “inferior” music as he called it but he was kind enough to follow through. We sat in the grass area-I was in heaven…
Well, mine WAS Rick Springfield at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, NY. I was in the 9th grade I think, or almost in the 9th grade…maybe 13 years old. Unlike most girls my age who wanted to marry Rick Springfield, I wanted to BE Rick Springfield. I remember seeing his concert on HBO first, rocking out with his guitar, jumping all over stage and singing, everyone cheering for him. I took up the electric guitar for a while after that, but I never practiced enough to get very good.
John Denver when I was 13 years old at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (big outdoor amphitheatre) with my aunt and uncle. I wanted to be him – up on that big stage singing to a huge audience playing my guitar!!! My parents were stodgy and out of touch but my aunt and uncle were hip (although they towed the Catholic line.) My same age cousin and I giggled when we realized the guy behind us was smoking pot – thinking Aunt Janet and Uncle Paul wouldn’t know what it was. But they heard us giggling and took that chance to have a drug use talk with us. A very memorable experience.
Some up-and-coming local “garage band” that played at my town’s high school gymnasium in the 70’s. Think they were called “Aerosmith.”
Tori Amos…1994. Absolutely incredible. I’ve seen her four times since!
Actual first is hard to say..my parents took us to see lots of people in concert when we were kids. I remember Tennessee Ernie Ford and Wayne Newton to name a couple! (Does anyone else even know who Tennessee Ernie Ford is??)
But my “real first” on my own as a young teen…and boy, does this date me….Bobby Sherman! He appeared at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs back in the…well, never mind the date! I remember screaming nonstop through the entire show!
And TODAY I am headed from Dallas to Houston to see my first Jimmy Buffett concert! Yep, I’ve become a ParrotHead!
Thanks for stirring up the memories!
John Denver, 1977 (or sometime in the late 70s). I was a kid and can still remember standing on my seat and singing along when he sang “Country Roads.”
I don’t believe I went to a concert until i was 17…that was 1993, and it was Paul McCartney at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. May as well start with the best!
whitney houston- her voice was breathtaking. i had so much fun. it was a birthday present from my grams!!
Suzanne Vega at the Orpheum in Boston, with my friend and her cool older sister. I was maybe 12?
My first concert was a James Taylor concert in 2001. My daughter gave me and my husband tickets for our 5th anniversary. His concert was in North Carolina
near the Research Triangle Park. It was terrific.
Most of the audience was “of a certain age,” but that
didn’t keep us from dancing and singing along. He
gave 4 encores that night! WOW!
Starbucker – how did i KNOW that you’d be the first to comment on this??? 🙂
erika – cheeseballs are good.
Early 80s – Peter Allen at Westbury Music Fair venue in NY, complete with glittery suit and I believe, dancing on the piano.
Still love Fly Away. I’m a cheeseball.
1974 – Bachman Turner Overdrive at the Milwaukee Arena. Thin Lizzy opened for them. Me and three other HS buddies (I was a freshman at the time) each rustled up the 6 bucks for the tickets. Takin’ care of business indeed!
See you soon,
Terry