What was your first concert?

rolling stones steel wheels tour, three rivers stadium '89
Madonna with Level 42 at Foxboro Stadium i believe in 1987. My friend won two tickets over the radio. My first concert by choice was Tesla and Great White at the Cow Palace in Sacramento in 1989. Thats when they were filming the video to "Love Song"
Originally posted by zonapunk:
At the very tender age of 13, my first concert was the Grateful Dead in May 1977 at the Baltimore Civic Center.
You saw the Dead in May of '77? Damn . You win! Even among the pickiest of deadheads this is considered one of the greatest months of Dead shows ever.
Originally posted by Guiny:
Madonna with Level 42 at Foxboro Stadium i believe in 1987. My friend won two tickets over the radio. My first concert by choice was Tesla and Great White at the Cow Palace in Sacramento in 1989. Thats when they were filming the video to "Love Song"
Wow, suddenly I don't feel so bad about my first show.
Originally posted by redsock:
Originally posted by Guiny:
Madonna with Level 42 at Foxboro Stadium i believe in 1987. My friend won two tickets over the radio. My first concert by choice was Tesla and Great White at the Cow Palace in Sacramento in 1989. Thats when they were filming the video to "Love Song"
Wow, suddenly I don't feel so bad about my first show.
Why not?
Originally posted by Skeeter:
Originally posted by zonapunk:
At the very tender age of 13, my first concert was the Grateful Dead in May 1977 at the Baltimore Civic Center.
You saw the Dead in May of '77? Damn . You win! Even among the pickiest of deadheads this is considered one of the greatest months of Dead shows ever.
What constitutes a good Grateful Dead show from a bad one?
Originally posted by mankie:
Originally posted by Skeeter:
Originally posted by zonapunk:
At the very tender age of 13, my first concert was the Grateful Dead in May 1977 at the Baltimore Civic Center.
You saw the Dead in May of '77? Damn . You win! Even among the pickiest of deadheads this is considered one of the greatest months of Dead shows ever.
What constitutes a good Grateful Dead show from a bad one?
From the ones that I saw (refuse to use present tense as the new band can not be the dead in my opinion) I would say first flow, song choice, and speed of play. The last is important as some shows they would drag 3 songs for 30 minutes each going no where with the noodling. Others, they would do a lot more songs that worked, bridged well from one to the next, and were fun to listen to.
the brain is bit blurry as to what my first "proper" show was but for some embarrasing reason Chicago sticks in my head… i'll say that Devo was an early show i was really excited to see. most of early concerts was my going with my dad to see several jazz legends like, miles davis, dexter gordon, stan getz, sarah vaughn, ella fitzgerald…
Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
most of early concerts was my going with my dad to see several jazz legends like, miles davis, dexter gordon, stan getz, sarah vaughn, ella fitzgerald…
Holy crap, you saw some absolute legends. I'd kill to see Stan Getz, but Ella….I can't even fathom. Very very cool. Did you grow up around here? (I don't think those folks ever made it to St. Pete…we got Vic Damone instead)
Originally posted by mankie:
Originally posted by redsock:
Originally posted by Guiny:
Madonna with Level 42 at Foxboro Stadium i believe in 1987. My friend won two tickets over the radio. My first concert by choice was Tesla and Great White at the Cow Palace in Sacramento in 1989. Thats when they were filming the video to "Love Song"
Wow, suddenly I don't feel so bad about my first show.
Why not?
Well, Bryan Adams is bad, but at least he has some 80's schtick and sentimental value. While I did love Tesla's "Love song" when it came out, neither Tesla or Great White can claim to be anything but 80's hair-metal. Which is fine, but they are on a lower tier of embarrasment than Bryan Adams. That's what I think anyway.
Originally posted by Bagster:
Holy crap, you saw some absolute legends. I'd kill to see Stan Getz, but Ella….I can't even fathom. Very very cool. Did you grow up around here? (I don't think those folks ever made it to St. Pete…we got Vic Damone instead)
nope grew up in detroit… the ann arbor jazz and blues festival always had great lineups as well as the early montreaux-detroit festivals. one of my most memorable shows was seeing sun ra in this small club in detroit… the heat was on full blast and it was packed with people and just insane musically. saw dizzy gillespie several times as well.
Originally posted by Sir HC:
Originally posted by mankie:
Originally posted by Skeeter:
Originally posted by zonapunk:
At the very tender age of 13, my first concert was the Grateful Dead in May 1977 at the Baltimore Civic Center.
You saw the Dead in May of '77? Damn . You win! Even among the pickiest of deadheads this is considered one of the greatest months of Dead shows ever.
What constitutes a good Grateful Dead show from a bad one?
From the ones that I saw (refuse to use present tense as the new band can not be the dead in my opinion) I would say first flow, song choice, and speed of play. The last is important as some shows they would drag 3 songs for 30 minutes each going no where with the noodling. Others, they would do a lot more songs that worked, bridged well from one to the next, and were fun to listen to.
I pretty much agree with that. I was big Deadhead in the day, saw 70(!) shows over ten years—i generally didn't like it as much when they meandered a lot. But, of course, it varied with the Dead—sometimes they were Ok, sometimes they were the greatest band on the planet. That was why it was fun to see them, they took chances, which many bands won't do.
Originally posted by Bagster:
Hmm, what a great topic. ;)
HA! Love the fashion choice!
My very first concert was a WPGC "Toys For Tots" show at the Capital Centre 12/10/78. It featured Dr. Hook, Firefall, Pablo Cruise and The Atlanta Rhythm Section. Ugh.

My first _real_ concert, however, was 7/ 7/79 - The hottest band in the world…..KISS!!!

My SO loves playing this game. His first show was none other than Elvis Presley.
Originally posted by tooms:
Originally posted by Sir HC:
Originally posted by mankie:
Originally posted by Skeeter:
Originally posted by zonapunk:
At the very tender age of 13, my first concert was the Grateful Dead in May 1977 at the Baltimore Civic Center.
You saw the Dead in May of '77? Damn . You win! Even among the pickiest of deadheads this is considered one of the greatest months of Dead shows ever.
What constitutes a good Grateful Dead show from a bad one?
From the ones that I saw (refuse to use present tense as the new band can not be the dead in my opinion) I would say first flow, song choice, and speed of play. The last is important as some shows they would drag 3 songs for 30 minutes each going no where with the noodling. Others, they would do a lot more songs that worked, bridged well from one to the next, and were fun to listen to.
I pretty much agree with that. I was big Deadhead in the day, saw 70(!) shows over ten years—i generally didn't like it as much when they meandered a lot. But, of course, it varied with the Dead—sometimes they were Ok, sometimes they were the greatest band on the planet. That was why it was fun to see them, they took chances, which many bands won't do.
I would imagine at a Dead show they could've put the Wiggles up on stage and the stoners wouldn't know any difference, with their arms outstretched in the air with the fist clenched apart from the index and pinkie finger sticking up while you all yell, "WHOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. GERRY RAWWWWWWKS" while your equally stoned girlfriend dances as if having a epilectic fit with those unrestrained nasty hippy titties flopping around all over the place.

Am I wrong? ;)
Yes, you are wrong. They actually know all the songs from the dead repetoire (over 120 if I remember correctly). A friend from college was really into the dead and didn't do drugs. He was a jazz musician and really liked their improvisational skills. When the band would do 2 notes of some songs the crowd would cheer knowing what song was coming up. I have seen shows where the fans don't get the songs until the chorus!

Also the dead are responsible for some major advancements in live and studio sound. Alembic, Meyer Sound, and some others that I forget all are associated with the band. They got the 3rd 16 track recorder ever made. Unfortunately as Jerry's junk habit grew, you would swear he was going to nod off on stage.
Originally posted by mankie:

I would imagine at a Dead show they could've put the Wiggles up on stage and the stoners wouldn't know any difference

Hey pal, watch it with those Wiggles cracks. I've got 10th row seats for their show at the MCI Center tonight. I heard last night they did a 40+ minute version of "Drums in Space". Awsome. Just awsome.
The Area:One tour at Merriweather in 2000 or 2001. It was pretty good, especially the roots, but I left after Incubus because I threw up. :)
Originally posted by chaz:
Originally posted by mankie:

I would imagine at a Dead show they could've put the Wiggles up on stage and the stoners wouldn't know any difference

Hey pal, watch it with those Wiggles cracks. I've got 10th row seats for their show at the MCI Center tonight. I heard last night they did a 40+ minute version of "Drums in Space". Awsome. Just awsome.
I heard the encore is a version of "Wheels on the bus" that is nothing short of religous! Try to stay sober so you'll remember it.
Originally posted by Sir HC:
Yes, you are wrong. They actually know all the songs from the dead repetoire (over 120 if I remember correctly). A friend from college was really into the dead and didn't do drugs. He was a jazz musician and really liked their improvisational skills. When the band would do 2 notes of some songs the crowd would cheer knowing what song was coming up. I have seen shows where the fans don't get the songs until the chorus!

Also the dead are responsible for some major advancements in live and studio sound. Alembic, Meyer Sound, and some others that I forget all are associated with the band. They got the 3rd 16 track recorder ever made. Unfortunately as Jerry's junk habit grew, you would swear he was going to nod off on stage.
Thanks for the information, although not really needed because I was only joking…the Dead are not my cuppa but they must have something very special or wouldn't have the huge loyal following that they have.