ZZ top & James Gang in Tulsa, Emerson,lake & Palmer Brain salad surgery in Quad is the I remember
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Smashing Pumpkins -- 1996. I was 13, and rockin' out! |
Jefferson Airplane, 1967 or 69, University of Hartford, in CT. Boy was that an eyeopener!! |
Very hard to remember -but among the first were Bruce Cockburn and Janis Ian, both in London, Ontario. James Taylor and Kim Carnes and Linda Ronstadt at the CNE in Toronto. Exciting stuff! |
Buddy Rich and his big band or Cleo Lane with Dankworth & co - can't recall which was first - my parents took me - and it must have been 1970 or so. (My dad played trombone in a jazz band.)
The first concert I paid for myself (as a student who got pocket money from gardening) was in 1979 in Nice, France - Average White Band with Steel Pulse (as the opening band) - that was when my jaw dropped after hearing Steve Ferrone on drums - astonishingly musical performer and a superlative groovemaster. It was the same year that the Police "Message in a Bottle" came out and Copeland became a household name. Great stuff. |
REO Speedwagon. Summer 1974. I was 13. |
Richard,
Do you sometimes feel that you're just wandering through life on a horse with no name?
Marty |
Alan Freed's 1955 Rock&Roll Show.Acadamy Of Music in NYC
A Group named 'The Wrens opened the show and 2-3 hours later "The Cadillacs" Closed the show. |
america, my older sister took me when i was 12. does this count? america? oh my. this may explain some things that are wrong deep in my soul. |
In a club, Herbie Mann, The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, 1968. In an arena, the Grassroots, believe it or not, and Credence Clearwater Revival, Long Beach Civic Auditorium, 1969. Then Jethro Tull or Fleetwood Mac, Pasadena Ice House, 1969. |
My first concert was actually when a friend in high school invited me to go with her to see a Christian Rock Group at the local fair. It was actually a really good concert though. |
At the Fillmore East '70 or '71. Saw Fat Mattress (Noel Redding's band) 3rd billing, Grand Funk Railroad 2nd, and Jethro Tull. What a night!! |
Dave Mason in the Fall of 1971 in the Aquarius theatre in Boston. This was also my first exposure to the smell of weed at the tender age of 14. |
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B.B. King at the University of West Florida field house.I was 14 years old. I will never forget how good he was. |
Cream, Buddy Miles Express, and Terry Reid. It was Cream's farewell concert, at Madison Square Garden. This was the last time they played in the U.S. They went on to play at the Royal Albert Hall, I believe, and then broke up... |
REO Speedwagon (.38 Special opening) 1981 at the Chicago Amphitheater. They were terrible!!
My next concert was Jan 1983, the Who at the Rosemont Horizon on their first "Farwell Tour", they were fantastic. |
For me, I think it was Cat Stevens doing his first two big hit albums Tillerman and then Firecat,back to back. I'm not sure. It's hard to recall that far back. There was so much to do about the latest reprise of an older invention, I believe they called it the 'DRAFT'.
The last half of the sixties were such a volitile era one could not escape from it even with music. Music then dutifully echoed those tumultuous times, underlining the undeniable and at times, woeful losses and literally crying out for positive changes in social reform and the political rank and file. There was much to say and it was said. The content then seemd more akin to delivering a message than to commercial ends, although commerce was in full force as many of the outspoken groups & artists came to grater prominenceย
and a fair amount of those one of a kind sorts left the stage forever, and well before their time.
So great was the outcry, so pitiful the change by contrast. Moreยs the pity. Music however made immense strides s the result, or maybe in spite of it all.
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The United States of America on St Marks in 1968 or so. It was awful. And LOUD! |
In 1969 - IIRC - at 12 (or so) years old, I tagged along with my older brother to see Mountain play one of their earliest gigs at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, N.J.
Marty |
National Symphony Orchestra - Children's Series - Fort Meyer Arlington VA, Probably 1956 or 57. The first really moving concert was Glenn Gould at Lisner Auditorium in DC - had to have been 1958 or 59. I can conciously remember Gould and how he horrifed the stuffshirts in the audience.
Hmm from the responses, I guess you're talking about Rock Concerts in which case it would be The Yardbirds' December 23rd show at the Alexandria Roller Rink, in Alexandria VA. |
National Symphony Orchestra - Children's Series - Fort Meyer Arlington VA, Probably 1956 or 57. The first really moving concert was Glenn Gould at Lisner Auditorium in DC - had to have been 1958 or 59. I can conciously remember Gould and how he horrifed the stuffshirts in the audience.
Hmm from the responses, I guess you're talking about Rock Concerts in which case it would be The Yardbirds' December 23rd show at the Alexandria Roller Rink, in Alexandria VA. |
Electric Light Orchestra at Madison Square Garden, in '73? 74? My big brother took me. They were at their peak and the light show was pretty amazing as I recall.
What was that smell in the air? I would soon find out.... |
jimi hendrix at the old minneapolis auditorium in 1968. the thing i remember most is the way he laughed into the mike....the laugh of a guy who felt he had the world by the tail..and godamn, he did |
Elvis Presley at the Charlotte Coliseum in 1972. My parents took the whole family. Chinese food afterward.
The first I went to on my own was America. Poco opened for them. In Fayetteville, NC in 1975. |
Joan Baez on Boston Common in September of 1971. |
Black Sabbath & Blue Oyster Colt in 1980 or so, I was so wasted, I still don't remeber much of it, LOL, Did bring home a drum stick though, still got it somewhere. |
Elton John, bicentennial tour '76. Tenth row center; didn't appreciate the great seats. I was only 12, what did I know! |
Boston.....Heart and Black Sabbath the fall of '76. Superb bands and shows. It was Boston and Heart's first US tour. Still kicking myself for not buying at least one t-shirt from that great concert! ;-) |
An event sponsered by WFIL AM radio in Philadelphia, in the early 70's. I was the lucky caller who won tickets. I must have been in 7th or 8th grade. I remember Jim Croce, Jose Feliciano, the O'Jays, and I think, the Raspberries, playing there. The most memorable things that I took away from that concert were the image of Jim Croce so joyously playing, not long before his untimely death, and the crowd snaking around the floor of the Civic Center in a massive "Love Train" as the O'Jays sang that hit. Philly was about to become a fantastic place to hear live music in the 70's, during the heyday of the Electric Factory music promotion group. I went to many concerts, mostly at the concrete echo chamber known as the Spectrum. J. Geils, Steely Dan, Loggins and Messina, Zeppelin, Foghat, Roy Buchannon, among so many others. Ruined my hearing, but what fun it was. |
Beach Boys mid sixties in Cleveland- Glen Campbell was touring with them and sang the high parts. The Lovin' Spoonful was the warm up band. The Beatles in 1966 may have been the same year or a year later. The best early concert, however, was Genesis Selling England by the Pound concert at an old, beautiful movie theater downtown Cleveland, tenth row center-probably not more than 500-1000 people there. They were using SAE amps! Killer concert-early 70's. |
SAXON 1982 Birmingham Odeon, U.K. 'Eagle has Landed Tour' 12 years old at the time. Excellent gig!! |
Drubin, I made a mistake. I was thinking of the Blues Magoos. A NYC band from the same era. |
Yes-Madison Square Garden 1974, Relayer tour. I'm not quite sure that show was ever surpassed in 34 years of concert going. I was not yet 15 years old. The Roger Dean stage set-up was surreal. |
My first concert was at Valparaiso University. We saw Black Oak Arkansas and Brownsville Station (no comments please) but the next week we saw Edgar Winter. We use to see Styx alot at the Hammond Civic Center for $2.00 when there was nothing else to do. |
Judas Priest & Slayer in 1988 - but that's not the punchline. I grew up in a small town and didn't really have access to concerts until I went to college. A buddy and I found last minute tickets and headed to the show in Phoenix in the early fall of 1988. Being over 100ยบ still, we dressed for the occasion - me in khaki shorts and sneakers wearing a Bloom County comic T-Shirt and my buddy wearing neon green sneakers, a pink "beach bum" cut-off shirt, and shorts that were the state flag of Colorado.
Yes, you can guess what we looked like.
Yes, our seats ended up center aisle in the second row.
Yes, we were surrounded by black t-shirts and long hair everywhere.
And yes, Rob Halford noticed us and gave a wink at the opening of their set. It wasn't until years later I learned the irony of that moment. |
Drubin, The Blues Project were great! They had a song called "Never go back to Georgia" I was 10 years old in 1966 and I knew a great song when I heard one. |
First rock concert was The Blues Project in April 1966. Early acoustic concerts included Peter, Paul & Mary, Bud 'n Travis, Glen Yarbrough, New Christy Minstrels. |
Roxy Music, Spring of 1975, Akron Civic Theatre |
Ted Nugent 198something in Albaqurque NM. with uria heap
....but my most favorite concert of all time was Jimmy Buffet alpine valley wisconsin 199something. It was a giant keg party and all parrot heads are cool cool. THey fed me burgers and they drank my margaritas. Just a whole lotta fun. |
Jimi Hendrix - 1968 Will Rogers Collisium |
The Beatles, Cleveland Municipal Stadium, August 14, 1966. I was 12 and went with my brother's friends. My next concert was five months later....The Monkees, Jan 15, 1967,Cleveland Public Auditorium!! (Not my brother and friends this time; me and two neighbors) Both were scream fests and I could barely see them.....BUT...I was there. |
Wagner Walkure, Seattle Opera 1974. The next year the whole Ring in english and German, then the next year as part of Sigfried, manually operating Fafner the Dragon.
But my first concert of the sort you're talking about was Talking Heads (and some video thing) at the Mudd Club, NYC 1978. My most fun concert was standing right in front of the Gang of Four (spring of 1980) in a tiny U.C Davis cafeteria side-room.
Gregg |
Steppenwolf at the War Memorial in Syracuse NY in 1968.--Mrmitch |
Black Sheep in the early 70's with Lou Gramm on vocals well before Foreigner came around. |
Double4w ... Yes, Fleetwood Mac opened for Deep Purple in 1974. Bob Welch did vocals/guitar.
Savoy Brown was part of the triple bill. Tickets were 4, 5, and 6 bucks.
I have a pouch full of ticket stubs from that era. |
Ncarv,actually my memory is 'smokey' on that subject.I did some research,and have discovered that in fact I only could have seen L/Z once at Pirates World,in '69'.The only other time had to be the time in Miami which you referred to.It's a wonder I remember anything from those days. |
Ncarv,don't mean to intensify your regrets,but L/Z was at Pirates World at least 3 times total that I attended,if memory serves me correctly.Then there was Jethro T.,Rod Stewart-Small Faces,Steve Miller,Blue Oyster Cult,Uriah Heep,and I could just about swear Fleetwood Mac opened for another band,before they were main attraction level.Then Ted Nugent,and heck I forgot most of them.Oh,was'nt Black Sabbath there also.If not I know I saw 'em somewhere.P.S.,I don't know of anything I still have from 1970.There are some things I wish I still had from those times. |
Hey Double4w, I saw a lot of concerts at Pirates World, but I don't remember Led Zep there -- can't believe I missed that one. I did see them 4/10/1970 at Miami Beach Convention Hall -- still have my ticket stub. |
He had no idea who Hendrix was but that we wanted to go to the concert at the Dallas Symphony Hall to hear him was all good. He was a little surprised to hear the music later...... |
