Your first concert: Who, Where, When.

On 2005-07-22 10:45, thejab wrote:
Speaking of Woodstock, I just was reading a special edition of Mojo magazine on The Who and there was a great Pete Townsend quote in there from just after Woodstock. I can't remember it verbatim but it was along the lines of: "If that's the American dream they can have it. Sitting around in the mud smoking f*$%ing marijuana all day isn't for me. I'm heading right back to Shepherd's Bush where people are people."

I couldn't agree more with that viewpoint on the whole hippie scene, at least as it was by the time of Woodstock.

I hear Pete (one of my all-time heroes) and you on this point, however I think that the 60s had more going on than just 'sitting in the mud and smoking pot'. Not that that kinda mindless stuff didn't happen. It definitely did. Unfortunately alot of the 'greatness' of the 60s counter culture is not only exagerrated it is also way over-simplified. Not everyone involved was some tie-dyed zoned-out moron, there were alot of youth that were actually THINKING and DOING back then. Say what you will, that happened too. Therefore I can only answer Pete's (and your) observation with this: What are the current crop of American youth doing THESE days?

I'll take the 60s (or the 70s,80s, AND part of the 90s) over the affected-disconnected youth culture of today anytime.

[ Edited by: donhonyc 2005-07-22 16:19 ]

I think what Pete was talking about, and what I relate to, was what the 60s counterculture had evolved into by 1969, not what it was like in 1965-67. The violence of 1968 freaked-out the hippie movement and changed it from one of action and protest into one of retreat and denial. "Let's just form a commune in the country, live off the land, and get high without being hassled by the man" feeling that was common at the time. I'm not saying they all ended up that way but a lot of them did, until they decided "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" and became yuppies in the 70s and 80s.

The cultural changes that happened after WWII (the sexual revolution, civil rights movement, women's rights, the beat generation's rejection of traditional values, etc.) all started way back in the late 40s and grew into the mid 60s when the government really started to worry and crack down. By the time of the 1967 "summer of love" the great accomplishments had already been made, and the hippie movement just became a trendy scene.

I would have loved to have been a young man in the 60s, but I would choose London c.1963-66 or the Sunset Strip c.1965-66, not Woodstock c.1969.

The early 80s was damn good too though!

The early 80s was damn good too though!

I hear you on all points, except I would say that alot of those social changes were galvanized by the youth of the 60s. Not so sure they were given attention by the government simply because they were starting to crack down and worry. I don't think the oldergeneration had really seen anything like thaq before. Why didn't that happen with Eisenhower when Kerouac & company were getting popular.

In retrospect, the early 80s (pre-MTV..which was really 78-80) were cool. I'm glad to have been old enough to see that. As far as the 60s I would have like to have been a young person for all of it in all places. L.A., San Fran, London, New York, Detroit and wherever it was happening. Once again I have to come to the defense of Woodstock and say that unfortunately that event has been widely over-simplified, nostalgized, genericized,and generally de-valuated. True, it was the point when investors were like 'Hey...look at this..why hasn't this happened before..this is a friggin goldmine' and killed the honesty of things like that that followed. But if one thing can be said about Woodstock in retrospect is that it was definitely content over style with NO corporate involvment. Yeah two of the guys that made the initial investment were rich kids, but essentially the whole thing was an 'organic' (no pun intnended) event. Without getting to lofty here, there was a sort of 'religious' aspect to it, the likes of which will never be seen again. I mean...think about how the word got out for that. It was a huge contingent of like minded people hanging out for the same reasons. So I submit..."what's so funny (or stupid or wimpy or whatever) about Peace, Love, and Understanding?"

People have tried over the years to try to emulate that spirit but it just ain't gonna happen again. There are alot of cheesey elements to hippie culture. The New-Age stuff is where I particularly get a little creeped out, but by-and-large people of that era were taking chances ARTISTICALLY and were successful at it. People these days,especially in the music biz, love to refer to themselves as 'artists' but the real stuff, like the sutff in the 60s rarely happens anymore.

[ Edited by: donhonyc 2005-07-23 14:42 ]

Who: Pink Floyd
Where: Cowboys Stadium, Irving TX
When: 1994
I still have the t-shirt!!

I have been a Floyd fan since I was 8 or so and never really was a big concert goer. Then when they announced that they where going to tour in 1994 (to promote the Division Bell album and secret farewell tour), my best friend (who is a Floyd fan as well) skipped one of the biggest high school senior activities to go to the concert. No it wasn't graduation. We figured we would have more fun seeing Pink Floyd live than people we didn't care to see again after seeing them our whole lives. Apparently so did a few of our stoner classmates. As much as I smoked that night, I still remember the whole concert it like it was a few months ago. Shoot, we still talk about it.

I remember that Steve pulled a ticket that got him in 3rd in line for ticket sales (to deture people from sleeping at the box office) and got the best seats for us. I was extra happy that we didn't get seats in the field, everyone stood the whole time and it rained on all of them. We were bone dry in the last row before the field starts.

Who: Peter Frampton
Where: Long Beach Arena
When: 1978
Tour: Frampton Comes Alive

On 2005-07-20 23:28, RevBambooBen wrote:

Dunkest/Druggiest: Germs. Starwood.

:lol: when I saw the Germs in '79 at the North Park Lions Club, Don, Pat & Lorna spent half the time changing strings, fixing cords, tuning up and arguing while Darby Crash solicited the crowd for drugs and alcohol.

Who: Adam Ant (opening act The Romantics)
Where: Jai Lai Fronton, Tampa, Florida
When: 1983
Tour: Friend or Foe

Little 7 year old DawnTiki, 1973 Knotts Berry Farm...I don't think they actually sang a word, it was all about the lip sync..is that the right term? But lil' Tony DeFranco was so dreamy who cared?
First real concert 12 years old DawnTiki, July 1978, The Rolling Stones, Some Girls Tour, Angels Stadium.
Most vivid memory? An ancient toothless old lady offering me pot, terrified I said no thank you, politely like my mom had taught me...such a good girl :)
After her offer, I noticed the ancient, toothless old lady hoisting one of her ancient toothless old lady, hangin' mighty, mighty low, sweaty (it was late July) braless breasts to pull out her bag of smuggled stash.
See it was educational too! The things you can learn at concerts if you just pay attention!
BLECK!

Headliner: Mountain
opening act: James Cotton
1973
At: UMBC

Best I ever saw: Roxy Music at Carnegie Mellon w/Crack the Sky

... odd... remember the first concert...

... but cannot remember the last...

... beer...

Attended many a punk rock show. First "concert"? DEVO, Long Beach Arena, with X opening. Well, actually DEVO opened the show as DOVE, a flower-lovin' 60's, hippie- spoof. Weird.

What a great thread!! My First 'Real' concert? "Kiss, T-Rex and UFO" at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, 1974!! Yikes! What a first show! When I was a little kid, my folks took me to see 'The Osmonds' at some county fair in Illinois, but they don't count. Some later concerts were, Frank Zappa (about 15 times!), Dio, Ramones, Dictators, Rough Cutt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Tonic, Third Eye Blind. There were more, but those are the stand outs.

On 2005-10-02 21:58, CondorTiki wrote:
my folks took me to see 'The Osmonds' at some county fair in Illinois, but they don't count

Oh Yes they dooooo-oooo!
Hey! The Osmond's is better than my DeFranco Family...at least you got the genuine article! I got stuck seeing The Osmond's wannabee's...little Tony DeFranco sure was dreamy though...

First concert - The Beatles! Saw them at Forest Hills Stadium in NY (now Arthur Ashe Stadium where the US Open is played). My older sister brought me. I couldn't really see them very good but luckily some girl had binoculars and let me use them so I could get a close up look at my beloved. I was sooo in love with Paul. The worst thing was that I could only hear the 1st 3 words of every song because the second they started singing the girls started screaming. It was still the best concert ever though. Talk about exciting. I was the envy of all my friends.

Have a drink on me...

[ Edited by: codelisa 2005-10-03 06:45 ]

First concert - The Beatles! Saw them at Forest Hills Stadium in NY

Cool! I know somebody else that was at that show. Funny, I saw The Cars at Forrest Hills Tennis Stadium in the summer of '84 right after I graduated high school. Wang Chung opened up for them. My cousin and I somehow got my aunt to pay for really good seats for us. All I can remember is that they opened with 'Hello Again' and about a third of the way into the show it started to rain. Fast forward to now: I saw Ric Ocasek play CBGB last week. After the gig was over he was doing an informal meet & greet in one of the rooms behind the stage. I told him that I saw him at that gig in '84, and he said "Oh yeah, I was just talking about that. That was the night I got shocked".

I don't remember THAT...

I saw The Cars in Forest Hills

I loved them. Now there's someone I wish I had seen. Cool full circle story.

Great idea!

I first saw Sammy Hagar and Thin Lizzy in Sacramento in 1976. I was sad because Queen called in sick. My boyfriend was glad! He was a big Red Rocker fan.

Then I went to two Day on the Greens in Oakland in 1977.
First was Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and Rick Derringer.

Next was the Eagles, The Steve Miller Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Heart and Foreigner. Wonderful day! I will be seeing the Eagles again soon here in Hawaii.

Some of you have seen some amazing concerts!

My sister would have killed to have seen the DeFrancos! What a great ear-worm song: Heart Beat it's a Love Beat...

May we cherish the memories!

On 2005-07-12 11:40, Turbogod wrote:
Band: Depeche Mode
Year: 1984
Venue: Warner Theater, Washington D.C.

Book of Love was the opening act, not that it matters much.

First concert was kiss at the Hollywood Sportatorium yeah was a dump in that the roof leaked and the parking lot turned to mud after shows and there was only one lane in the middle of nowhere at night. BUt saw the best bands there Rush Deep Perple so the memories are great. To show how things changed I saw Brian Adams, Sammy Hagar,Aerosmith, and Journey at the local minor league baseball stadium (Bobby Maduro Baseball Stadium) for $14!!!!! cant even get a souvenier now for that

An old post maybe some of us new people care add here.

ok not sure if it counts as a real concert but here it is:
Summer of 1974 I think. It was at The Mall in Arcadia Calif (Santa Anita Fashion Park) I went with my first girl friend, Susan I was in Love! " Shawn Cassidy" on the back of a flat bed truck. Oh the things we do (run run) for young love.

I followed it up later that summer with the Motor City Mad Man Ted Nugent.

Venue: Long Beach Arena
Artist: Peter Frampton
Seating: 2nd row from top/absolute back
Ticket Price: $10.00
Tour: "Frampton Comes Alive"
Year: 1977
My age: 14
Contact High: Massive

First concert?........wooooooosh,wooooooosh.........(holding breath).............here.............can't remember man. got the munchies...........cotton mouth...........woh dude, you see that? wohhhh!

Now I know I'm gettin old!

I believe it was 1976 .....dates are gettin unclear....besides, next to a pro musician I've seen SOOOOOO many concerts it's all just a blur! 8)

ALICE COOPER (with special guest The Babys) :D
The Cow Palace - San Francisco
Welcome to My Nightmare Tour.....damn fun then and still a stand out after seeing all the biggest acts left alive after that date!

I go to a concert for the SHOW.... acoustically perfect, I can stay home and play the LP if they don't have a show.....that was how I felt about The Cars...loved the band, the music, was WAY into them but BORING live! :roll:

ALICE COOPER was like watching live theater, a monster movie and, (at that time of my life), awesome music! :P

[ Edited by: Dr.TikiMojo 2006-11-10 22:42 ]

Rush-Signals Neal Pert's drums-priceless!

First:The Rubber City Rebels, at the golden bear.

Last: RUSH, at Irvine Meadows. (the tour with the washing machines)

We saw the same show at the Shoreline, in Mountain View -- GREAT Show! It was amazing how the washing machines fit right in with the show.

On 2006-11-11 13:29, lucas vigor wrote:

Last: RUSH, at Irvine Meadows. (the tour with the washing machines)

The Motels
1981(ish)
@ Toad's Place just off Yale (New Haven) campus
FAB show!
ok, ok, I know...I got a late start at concert attendance, my parents wouldn't let me go...something about concerts and drugs...

the rolling stones
@ the orange bowl, in miami, FL
1997....i'm only 19! haha

I saw my first concert at 10, and it was the stones, I think that's pretty darn cool!!

[ Edited by: hala_kahiki 2006-11-12 00:22 ]

November 7, 1987
Providence Civic Center
Providence, RI

RUSH!
It was the Hold Your Fire tour and I was just as pumped for that show as I am today when they come around. The only difference now is the price of the ticket - then 18.50, now around 85.

Hollywood Sportatorium, Florida 1982

Rush - Moving Pictures Tour.
Infamous tear gas and riot concert, and yeah my mom dropped us off in front just like in "Almost Famous".

Completely out of control first concert to attend.

The first concert I ever went to was Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding Company.....simply fabulous (I can still hear her singing in my head). I have been to other great concerts too....I'll be back with a list of some of them....which will surely relegate me to the old/teetering on Alzheimers category.

On 2006-12-26 17:44, thegreenman wrote:
Hollywood Sportatorium, Florida 1982

Rush - Moving Pictures Tour.
Infamous tear gas and riot concert, and yeah my mom dropped us off in front just like in "Almost Famous".

Completely out of control first concert to attend.

That happened when I was in high school in Ft. Lauderdale. I have friends that were at that show. I wish I was there!!!!

On 2006-12-26 17:44, thegreenman wrote:
Hollywood Sportatorium, Florida 1982

Rush - Moving Pictures Tour.
Infamous tear gas and riot concert, and yeah my mom dropped us off in front just like in "Almost Famous".

Completely out of control first concert to attend.

That happened when I was in high school in Ft. Lauderdale. I have friends that were at that show. I wish I was there!!!!

Loggins and Messina (before Kenny threw his integrity in the rubbish bin). With some guy I'd never heard of as the opening act.
Leo Kottke. No singing, just vaseline machine gun finger-pickin'for a straight hour. Whoaaaaah....

1972, Cowtown Ballroom, Kansas City, MO. $5.00 maybe $5.50

Best concert: 1973 Babe Ruth, the headliner cancelled. Damn. Had to listen to this opening band I'd never heard of for the whole night:

Genesis! Selling England By The Pound tour.
Phil Collins played his ass off and didn't sing a bloody word (thank God). Peter Gabriel was ON.

[ Edited by: squid 2006-12-28 22:02 ]

Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Guess Who and Southwind...November 28th, 1969 The Forum in Inglewood, Ca.

I can't believe I would even admit this BUT....1974 (I was 11) Bay City Rollers! Yeah! S-A-T-U-R D-A-Y NIGHTS! I did, however, see Harry Chapin with my folks when I was about 9 - not too long before he died.

John Schneider (yep Bo Duke from Dukes of Hazzard) was my first concert. I was 8 years old and it was at Magic Mountain. My Mom had won tickets and I was a HUGE fan. I think I still have one of his LP's

Summer 1979, San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium (now called Qualcomm)

Blue Oyster Cult
Cheap Trick
UFO
Pat Travers

Quite mindblowing being young and impressionable, and seeing all of that for a first concert!

...believe it or not Bob Dylans Rolling Thunder Revue in Fort Collins ...my sister & i sold PEPSI in the stands of the OUTDOOR auditorium to go for FREE ..and it POURED like MAD..only the STONERS with cotton mouth bought anything but it was a GREAT concert ..I was like 13 and wrote an article on it for my JR HIGH paper...hundreds YAWNED

Now this is a cool thread. Let's see, it must have been in 74-75? I went to see Deep Purple...Rory Gallagher was up first. All I have to say (and I'm a Deep Purple fan) is that Rory Gallagher just plain smoked Deep Purple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Jaodra7AY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1zsRRt1FWE&feature=related

Flashback, Babs! My older brother had a Rory Gallager live LP with Bullfrog Blues (first link) on it. Watching the video, he reminds me a lot of Alvin Lee/Ten Years After. Very similar sound and energy.

My first concert was Alice Cooper in '72, with Edgar Winter opening.

That Bullfrog Blues video just proves white men can't dance! LOL Looks like Rory invented grunge and headbanging!

Elvis at an early 1956 un-televised, Jerry Lewis telethon at a Miami school auditorium. My cousin Ellen wanted to get her record signed. WE all gave Elvis a dollar and shook his hand on stage.

My first concert was Bill Graham's 'Day on The Green' #4 on July 23rd 1978. At the Oakland-Alameda Stadium (Where the Radiers play).

In Order of appearance:

AC/DC
Van Halen
Pat Travers
Foreigner
Aerosmith

Kinda strange looking back that Pat Travers was a bigger act at the time the Van Halen or AC/DC.

My second show was 3 days later, Day on The Green #5, Mick Jaggers Birthday:

Rolling Stones
Santana
Eddie Money
Peter Tosh

Man what a great summer. Rode the BART to both shows.

Wow! This thread is 3 years old already. Great to see all the participation. Now that I have a scanner I can scan stuff like regular people. This stub isn't from a rock show, and it's not my first show but in the interest of current events I'll post it. And let's face it, this guy was a rock-star anyway.

George, man. I love and miss ya. What is this planet going to do without you.

Great thread.
First show was Haircut 100 at the Palace(?) in Hollywood.
Other noteworthy shows I've seen-
GWAR in Tijuana
Bad Brains in LA
The Smiths -Meat is Murder Tour(yummy steak)
Cheap Trick with Guns and Roses at a small craphole punk rock dive called Fender's in Long Beach
Bad Religion at Bottom of the Hill SF
Ramones at the Hollywood Paladium
The Damned
TSOL
Murder City Devils
Face To Face
Patti Smith
Billy Idol
Social Distortion
Doug Carn
Pharoah Sanders
Madness
Sex Pistols
Bauhaus
Cult
Smashing Pumpkins
X
Go Gos
Bowie
Adicts
Toy Dolls
Specimen
Jane's Addiction
45 Grave
Lords of the New Church
Sublime
Adam Ant
Tom Waits
Alright, this list can go on forever

Absolute first: Rubber city rebels, at the Golden Bear

First time I slept in line for tickets: Asia (not my idea)

First punk shows: Black Flag, Circle Jerks, TSOL--all at the Cuckoo's nest, I think. Also 45 grave/Vox Pop

Next early concerts I went to: AC/DC, RUSH, YES, Spyro Gyra, Larry Carlton, Miles Davis, Stanley Jordan, Golden Earring, Duran Duran, X, Oingo Boingo, Spandau Ballet, --those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head from when I was really young.

There have been many, many more since then. Rancid (back when they were nobodies) at a private party up in Berkely, Brian Setzer orchestra, Gap band, Christopher Cross (got drunk and started crying cause the music was so good)Salif Kieta, Yusef N'dour

Small jazz shows: Poncho Sanchez, Jack Sheldon

Bands I have opened for: Foghat

Last live concerts I went to: The Rippingtons (6 times now!!), Tom Scott, Bob James and Fourplay.

And most recently, this guy (who happens to be my uncle)
https://www.esflamenco.com/product/en95305400.html

[ Edited by: Lucas Vigor 2008-06-30 14:44 ]

On 2008-06-30 14:27, lucas vigor wrote:
Absolute first: Rubber city rebels, at the Golden Bear

Golden Bear!
Great memories.