What was your first concert?
Since everyone else on Comet seems to be going down memory lane, I thought I'd ask you what your first concert was? Who did you go with? What do you remember most about it?
Back in the summer of 1986 (almost 20 years ago!), my first concert was Depeche Mode (Black Celebration tour) at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Book of Love opened the show. It was the first time that I ever took BART, and all I remember was that both Depeche Mode and Book of Love were great, and I was happy to see lots of other kids dressed in black, just like me. Some things never change. :)
Good news for DM fans: they're touring this year, and will make an appearance at the Shoreline on April 27, and they're headlining Day 1 of Coachella.
Comments
My was the Eagles in 1979 during their Long Run tour. I went with my friend Bob Lucan and his two buddies. I was 15 years old. They were 17 and 18. I remembered three things from the concert.
A) Joe Walsh was hilarious - he was running for president at the time :). (Life's Been Good was a huge hit at the time)
B) The reefer smoke was thick and smelly.
C) The guys I went with had a bottle of Pink Champaign with them. Not sure why
Hi Doug: Item #B not surprising. :)
Item #C made me laugh! Pink Champagne seemed to be big in the 80s too, not that I was a fan.
I snuck out of my house to go see the Metallica/Guns n'Roses show when I was 14. i then got stranded at the DC Metro stop and had to call my dad to come get me in the shady neighborhoods around RFK stadium. He was, in a word, displeased.
How was the show? Was this the tour where James Hatfield caught on fire at a show in Canada? I never got to see GNR, wish I did!
When I was 12, my dad had a friend who worked for a radio station and who, for some reason, decided to take me to some shows. My first concert was either the Smiths (Queen is Dead tour) or Depeche Mode (Black Celebration). That year, I also go to see REM and the Cure. I later saw DM on the Music for the Masses tour (and I can briefly be seen in "101"), as well as several times on Violator. After that, Dave started to think he was Jesus and I kinda lost interest.
1980.
Journey.
The Cow Palace.
My friend's boyfriend (oops).
Pot. (hey, I was 15)
Lit our Bic lighters.
Danced.
Yes, danced to that music (don't ask me how, I'm sure it wasn't pretty)
On the way home we got totally lost and ended up in San Jose (we lived in Mtn. View).
It was fantastic.
Rolling Stone: One of the 50 Moments that Changed the History of Rock & Roll.
1983
U2
Red Rocks
Under a Blood Red Sky album recorded
"This is not a rebel song!" (Bono)
I don't remember many details from the concert other than it raining the whole time.
Loved hearing about other people's first concerts!
I saw Journey back in the 80s too... I remember thinking... man, this is the best guitarist I have ever heard or seen in my life. That dude rocked... I had never heard anything like it before.
Went to Depeche Mode too, but don't remember when. They were banging on these metal things a lot, which I thought was cool. That was back in the days of Howard Jones, Yaz, General Public...
I wish I saw Peter Gabriel. Been a fan forever, but never seen him on concert. I did ride up with him to the top of the Marriott, up the street from 6A, during a trade show a few years back. He's old.
My first concert was one for They Might Be Giants. Probably one of the nerdiest groups ever. I went with my friend Wes and I remember I got a job offer from a web design company named Corwin Web. I'm not sure why they offered me a job, I think it was just because everyone at the concert was nerdy so it was kind of implied that everyone knew everything about computers.
Rick Springfield in 1984. I had the biggest crush on him ever. I was seven years old. I dont remember the concert but I really wish I still had the purple and gold t-shirt.
Schomer: Howard Jones just played at the Red Devil a couple months ago. Tix sold out before I got around to getting them, though, so I missed it. I still rock a little HoJo from time to time. It makes me feel like Lane from Better Off Dead.
Andy: TMBG is one of my favorites (I'm wearing my TMBG Snowman shirt today). The first time I saw them was in 1991 when it was still just two guys and a DAT. If you haven't already, check out the documentary "Gigantic", which is not just awesome because it's about TMBG, but is really well done and has some pretty incredible footage.
The Judds, Love Can Build A Bridge - Farewell Tour, 1991. I was 15 or 16. I think I still have the concert t-shirt somewhere.
Ah, back in the days of Wranglers and Cowboys. ;)
1984. I was 21 and just had a baby. My daughter's father took me to see Luther Vandross. I miss him. Luther, not my daughter's father.
Man, everyone else's answers are so much cooler than mine. U2 at Red Rocks? Seriously?
Anyway, my first concert was one of those radio station things with a bunch of different bands that have nothing to do with each other. I was most excited to see White Zombie but I vaguely remember Oasis, Soul Asylum, Sheryl Crow, Presidents of the USA, ummm.. there were a bunch of others.
On the upside, I won the tickets so I went for free!
I saw Depeche Mode at the San Jose Arena in 1996. It was a fantastic concert - and my last one.
The best concert was UB40 at the Greek Theatre. So mellow and happy.
I wish I could see the Gorillaz at the Apollo next weekend http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002114394). That will be a great show.
Uh, I posted a comment just now and it seems to have disappeared. I wrote about my first concert, which was Peter Gabriel on the SO tour. Man, I wrote so many amusing things in that comment. I wonder why Comet lost it? Maybe because I started writing the comment last night, then finished it this morning? Oh well.
This was the first Comet bug I've encountered involving lost data, which is impressive considering its alpha status.
I already gave schomer props for U2 @ Red Rocks being his first concert. U2 was my second, at the Cow Palace, first leg of the Joshua Tree tour. Rapture was in the house.
And for both those shows, I was stone cold sober. I think the first show I saw in an altered state of consciousness was Adrian Belew at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, summer of 1989-but just a few beers, since I had just turned 21. (I was by myself, so this was also the first show I saw alone. Other bands I saw alone: Jerry Cantrell, Creed, The Cult.)
Talk about an amazing guitarist. People don't really know him, but they've heard him, if you know the David Bowie album "Loder", the mid80s version of King Crimson, or Talking Heads "Remain In Light." By far the best guitarist I've ever seen live. During that show my jaw literally dropped open (until then I thought that was just an expression) in amazement.
- djchall
* Pat Benatar at the Universal Amplitheater in L.A.
* I was 9; this was a gift from my older, cool cousin.
* It was on St. Patty's Day and at the end of the show, small people dressed in green came out dancing!
I've been going to concerts for longer than I can remember... literally! Here's a story my Dad tells me. Yeah... I know... it sounds far fetched, but I don't doubt that I was there. This could have been my first concert.
My Dad and I were at a "Day on the Green" concert at Stanford. I was just about 3 years old and was sitting on his shoulders as he danced off to the side of the stage in the front row. During one of his songs, Eric Clapton bent over to point his guitar at me and I reached out and grabbed it momentarily.
The amount of comments here really shows how badly we need either threaded comments, or the ability to respond to individual comments on a post here on Comet!
Steve: I would have loved to have seen the Smiths but never had a chance. You're absolutely right about Dave Gahan, he's definitely got the Jesus complex going on. "I rock a little hojo"--that made my day. :)
Karen: You naughty girl, going to see Journey with your best friend's boyfriend! Don't stop believing. :)
Todd: Wow, you actually got to see U2 before Bono was completely full of himself.
Andy: Nerdy describes TMBG pretty well! I love Anna Ng.
Gabe: Rick Springfield was one of my 1980 crushes too. :)
Melissa:/strong> Was this really a farewell tour? Or did they end up touring years after that like Cher?
Teresa: It was a sad, sad day when Luther passed away. He was much too young to go.
Colleen: Seeing White Zombie and Oasis at your first show isn't too shabby!
Djchall: So sorry to hear about your earlier comment becoming a Comet fatality. :( Adrian Belew did Big Electric Cat, right? Can't say that I was a fan, but maybe I should check out his other songs. I love the Cult! I've seen them 3 or 4 times and they never disappoint.
Robynn: Pat Benatar! She rocks. :)
Gadget: You might just have the best first concert story of them all! What was the first show that you chose to go to as a teenager?
Okay, now I wish we had the ability to Preview our comments, or edit them to remove bad HTML coding. :(
The Who, 1982 in Philly. I was a freshman in college.
http://www.thewho.net/ConcertGuide/1982/berichte/1982-09-25.html
Lisa, sounds like quite a show! I've never seen The Who or The Clash, and would have loved to have seen both in one show. Do you remember it being as rowdy as described in this story?
Lisa - The Who cool. My second concert after the Eagles was the Who. It was 3 days after the 12 fans were crushed in Cincinnati. Roger forgot the words to a few songs and they sang 5:15 twice. They look disoriented. I saw the 1982 tour as well and will not forget how big Pete's feet and the watching him deal with a bleeding hand from too many windmills. I have seen them 3 times since - not the same experience but they are always good. I did see the Clash in a small club once. It was a great experience. I still cannot tell if they are Posers or the real thing - but their music was good and the crowd was interesting.
Hi There,
My first concert was a Rick James concert here in San Diego way back in 1980 but Black Celebration was my first Depeche Mode concert.
I actually googled "Depeche Mode 1986" and your poster came up so I went from there.
Yeah that Rick James concert was wild. I was 12 years old & from then on I've been hooked on concerts. There is nothing like live music. Do you know how rare your D/M poster is ???