Your first *real* concert? - Follow-Up

[NDallasRuss]

I mean real as in a show that you went out of your way to go to - not "I was at a car show with my parents when I was a kid and Steppenwolf happened to be there performing".

Mine was George Strait on New Years Eve in Dallas. I was 14yo when I went. My grandmother got tickets for me, my sister, and two cousins. She dropped us off and left us there unattended. It was an awesome time and we had a lot of fun.

The reason that I'm asking is that I'm about to get tickets to take NDallasDaughter to her first concert, and I'm excited to be able to do this with her, and also reminiscing back to when I was younger.

FWIW, I'm going to take her to a Dead Milkmen concert in July. She listed to some of my old CDs and really got into them. They're playing at an "all ages" club in DC, so I'm going to take her to the show. I think she'll have a blast.

 

[TarponSpringsNole]

Rush. 1981. Although my cousin planned it and took me (my bro and a cousin too) since I was 14. I'll never forget it.
BTO was the opening act and I wanted to see them too, but my cousin just looked at me and laughed. Lol.

 

[BelemNole]

I think it was an Iron Maiden show in San Antonio back in the mid-80's. Either them or Ratt with Cheap Trick.

 

[seminole97]

Went to see Guns 'n' Roses with Metallica in New Orleans when I was 16.
My friends and I were actually surprised our parents said ok when we asked to drive over to NO (from the panhandle) and stay the night.

Had a blast. Only thing that sucked was Faith No More opened, so I managed to take a nap.

 

[seminoledq]

Went to Steve Miller Band every year of high school because at the time is was easy for underage kids to drink in the parking lot at Red Rocks.

 

[SeaPA]

My first was one of the old "Rock Super Bowl" shows, at the Citrus Bowel in Orlando (I think back then it was called the Tangerine Bowl). John Waite, John Cougar, Loverboy, Fleetwood Mac.

 

[OrlandNole]

I grew up in Gainesville, so there weren't many options. It was either Run DMC, the Fat Boys, Salt N Peppa or DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. I can't remember which came first.

I took my daughter to see Weezer - one of the few bands we both love - last year at the Ryman. Awesome time.

 

[RancheroNole]

JJ Cale
Phoenix
Summer 1971
Still one of my top three

 

[DFSNOLE]

The "cool parents" (not mine) took several of us to a BTO show in the early '70's. I'm guessing I was 12-14. Didn't know much about the band or their music but being around all those attending the concert was a trip.

 

[TallyNole93]

Saw Mountain and Black Sabbath in Denver early 70s.

 

[jaxnole77]

Freshman in college - December 1974
Charlie Daniels and Black Oak Arkansas

 

[RunRonnieRun]

Arlo Guthrie - 1992. With my parents, but we went specifically to that concert. Lots of fun.

Bob Dylan - 1994. First one I went to with just friends.

Taking your daughter to a Dead Milkmen show is f'ing rad. Good for you man!

 

[Fijimn]

The Cure - I believe 1990/1991. I want to say it was at the Forum in Inglewood. My moms was so mad when she found out I went to LA and didn't get back to Bako until 6 in the morning....that was the start of my summer of rebellion.

 

[tommynole3476]

Not sure of the year, but it was Gloria Estefan, Coming out of the Dark tour. I remember she got hurt pretty bad in a bus accident or something, messed up her back, and the opening of the show was all these dancers in these black fencing masks (or something) doing all these incredible moves and then one of them pulls off the mask and it's Gloria, which was surprising since people didn't really know how strong she was physically.

 

[OrlandNole]

Freshman in college - December 1974
Charlie Daniels and Black Oak Arkansas

I saw BOA play at a festival in downtown Little Rock a few years ago. Some of the original members. They were old.

 

[FSUTribe76]

Good question!

I don't know what my first concert was as my parents took me from before I can remember to bluegrass, blues, jazz and rock concerts plus plenty of shows at the Strawberry Festival and other fairs. Kenny Rogers, Allman Brothers, Bee Gees, Oak Ridge Boys, AC DC and Marilyn Manson standout as concerts I remember as a small child, which came first I don't know. As far as first concert I took myself to without them, it would have been something in Tallahassee when I was a freshman. So probably Gwar, Deep Blue Something, Tool or Papa Roach.

 

[cmanole]

Bad Co 3/26/76. I was 12 and rode over from The Cola to Mobile with my 15 year old sister, her sixteen year old boyfriend and my 12 year old girlfriend. We all stayed the night in a hotel room downtown. It was a party!

My girls are 17 and 12. The recently went to see the Dirty Heads with friends unchapperoned...

 

[HulaNole]

Tallahassee Civic Center. Beastie Boys 'Licensed to Ill' Tour opening up for RUN DMC 'Raising Hell' Tour.

 

[vevois23]

I think it was NKOTB in the late 80s in Tally. Went to a Garth Brooks concert and Sawyer Brown concert around that time.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

My Dad loved country so he took me to a bunch of concerts in the 70s and early 80s. I think the first was Ronnie Milsap but could be mistaken.

My first on my own was Boston at the Hollywood Sportatorium.

 

[RunRonnieRun]

Bad Co 3/26/76. I was 12 and rode over from The Cola to Mobile with my 15 year old sister, her sixteen year old boyfriend and my 12 year old girlfriend. We all stayed the night in a hotel room downtown. It was a party!

My girls are 17 and 12. The recently went to see the Dirty Heads with friends unchapperoned...

Easy to get good drugs at those ages. I'll bet they had a blast.

 

[BigHungryNole]

It was either Run DMC, with Public Enemy, Salt N Pepa, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince in Las Vegas
or
White Lion with Cinderella in 1987 or 1988 at the West Palm Beach Auditorium

 

[RTM58]

The J. Geils Band, 1Q 1982. I got invited by a couple cheerleaders at my middle school. The one cheerleader's college age sister and the sister's boyfriend provided transportations, in addition to tickets, condoms, pot and booze. To this day I'm shocked I wasn't sold into some child slave labor (or worse) camp. Parents weren't really thinking it all the way through. Solid concert though....

 

[NDallasRuss]

There are a whole lot of concerts listed here that I'd have loved to have seen!

Ronnie - Thanks! It's been cool seeing her get interested in them based on one song that she randomly overheard and liked. It's going to be a lot of fun to take her to see them in person. Plus, she'll probably get the distinction of being the only kid in her class to have been to a punk concert - I'm going to make sure she gets a t-shirt.

Ranchero - I just watched a show over the weekend that was about the making of Eric Clapton's tribute album to JJ Cale that he did with a bunch of other musicians - Cale was responsible for a whole lot of good music.

 

[pink shizzle]

Saw Linkin Park in 2008 in Alpine Valley, WI. It was right before freshman year of college began.

 

[Originole1]

Ozzy w/Queensryche opening. Part of the Ultimate Sin Tour in Orlando. Had to be 86 or 87 as I was around 10 yrs. old.

 

[DFSNOLE]

My first on my own was Boston at the Hollywood Sportatorium.

Ahh, the Hollywood Sportatorium. Can't count the number of shows I saw there. Great memories though most pretty foggy.

 

[Nole Lou]

Also Guns N Roses/Metallica, at Rich Stadium in Buffalo. Memorable show, glad to have seen it.

I'm not much of a concert guy, it's just not something that does much for me. I've probably seen less than ten real concerts in my life. Some were fine, some were meh, but none go down as one of the great memories of my life...I just don't get much out of it.

But my daughters, they love them. At 18 and 15 they've probably been to more than me, sometimes with my wife or I or with another parent. The older one goes on her own now. Not sure why they don't do that much for me.

 

[BarryB1081]

1983 - at the Citrus Bowl when it was known as the Tangerine Bowl. It was part of the "Rock Superbowl" series. Saw the Animals, The Fixx, and the Police. It was fantastic.

 

[DanC78]

311 and No Doubt

 

[Gonolz]

My first was when I was 13 and was Twisted Sister, or maybe it was Iron Maiden. They both were right around the same time.

 

[ggmike1992]

KISS in 1983 at the Lakeland Civic Center. It was their first tour without the make-up. I saw them again in 1999 or 2000 in Charleston with the make-up and it was one of the best concerts I ever saw (2nd to Iron Maiden in terms of theatrics).

 

[More Kirk Less Spock]

The Amazing Rhythm Aces - Tully Gym - 1975?? Maybe...not sure about the date.

 

[SeaPA]

There are a whole lot of concerts listed here that I'd have loved to have seen!


Ranchero - I just watched a show over the weekend that was about the making of Eric Clapton's tribute album to JJ Cale that he did with a bunch of other musicians - Cale was responsible for a whole lot of good music.

There's a great video on youtube of Cale & Leon Russell playing together in the late 70s.

 

[Brooks&Dunn93]

Pensacola civic center- 1999
8th grade
Red hot chili peppers/foo fighters
Floor seats- no parentals
Most epic music moment I've ever had. Long story short, Dave grohl walks through the crowd mid set, grabs a beer in the back concession stand. On his return to the stage with the spotlights following him he just stopped. People going nuts; circled around him. My friend and I eyes as big as melons just staring at him 2ft in front of us. He's looking around at everyone with a huge smile, takes his guitar off and smashed it on the ground. Guitar winds up at my feet, I reach down to pick it up, security guard says no. Dave walks up, dead in front of me, picked it up and looked me straight in my face and his eyes lit up. He then yells, "eff-yeah" and gave me and my boy the most awesome high five ever and proceeded back to the stage and didn't deal another high five to anyone else. I'll never forget that night.

 

[Manch.]

August 12, 1986. It was the summer we all turned 16 and we were able to start going to shows. The Centrum in Worcester, MA was really the only venue at the time that held shows back then, and Worcester was an hour and a half away, too far for parents to drive us, some parents actually listened to the same music as us, but we couldn't get f*cked up if a parent came with us.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive opened up for Van Halen on VH's 5150 tour with Hagar.

 

[NolegirlY2K]

I've never been to one!

 

[fsugrad]

The Eagles and Jimmy Buffett on tour together....approx 1979 or 1980....in the Old Sombrero aka Tampa Stadium.

 

[NDallasRuss]

I've never been to one!

Really? Lack of opportunity? Lack of interest?

You may have missed your window. Concerts used to be pretty affordable, but now they're all pretty expensive and they sell out in a couple of minutes because scalpers buy them all up, so you have to pay even more to buy them on the secondary market - at least that's my generalization of most concerts nowadays.

 

[FSUdawg]

Metallica - Wherever I May Roam Tour in Philadelphia

I was in college at Rutgers at the time. A few days later I went with a friend to another Metallica show in the Meadowlands. We didn't realize we needed to pay cash for tickets purchased at the door the day of the concert so we wound up gathering coins from the floor board of his car to be able to afford the tickets. Only after paying for the tickets did we realize we didn't have any money to pay the tolls on the way home. We ended up taking back roads all through northern NJ back to Rutgers and got back to our dorm around 2am. It was well worth it.