What was your first concert?

[Teng Ai Hui]

I remember my college roommate took me to see Nine Inch Nails.  It’s impossible to forget that mosh pit and the awe of silence when they played Hurt.

Also, my parents took me to see Marty Robbins when I was about 10, so that doesn’t really count.
 

Edited February 14 by Teng Ai Hui

[hauberk]

1 hour ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

I remember my college roommate took me to see Nines Inch Nails.  It’s impossible to forget that mosh pit and the awe of silence when they played Hurt.

Also, my parents took me to see Marty Robbins when I was about 10, so that doesn’t really count.
 

First was, I think Dr Hook during Mardi Gras when I was a wee lad (4?). 
 

first solo was the Moody Blues. 

[mcbigski]

Saw the Charlie Daniels Band at the old Oakdale when it was still in the round.  Semi outdoor venue in that there was a roof.  The stage revolved.  Can't remember if it went continuously in one direction or back and forth, but every seat was centered briefly.

Must have been 15 or so because my friends' older brother drove us while he was still in high school.  So around 1988.

Not counting whatever concerts my parents dragged all the kids to, vaguely remember going to Icecapades or whatever it was called in the late 70s.

Did see a bunch of great shows in the next few years especially the summer I worked parking cars at Lake Compounce.  The year after Milli Vanilli got exposed there, but the year I worked they had about 10 shows a month with 2 or 3 getting 20000 or more in the crowd.  As far as jobs for scrawny pimply teenagers go, confiscating beers from adults in a no tail gate zone wasn't the worst.

[Iskaral Pust]

Red Hot Chili Peppers in Dublin in summer of 1994 at the Sunstroke concert.  They were the headliners, supported by Therapy?, Helmet, Ice Cube and more.  Moshing and crowd-surfing with a great gang of friends.

And the only reason that was our first concert was because the Nirvana concert earlier that year (April?) was cancelled.  For obvious reasons.  I’m pretty sure the friend who booked the tickets kept them after he refunded us.  He was pretty sure they’d be a collector’s item in the future.

The following summer 1995 we saw REM (Monster tour) supported by Oasis (What’s The Story Morning Glory? tour) and a bunch of warm-up acts at another huge outdoor festival.  And then we saw Smashing Pumpkins supported by Ash later that summer in a tiny indoor venue (The Temple) just before we all started at different universities.

Then the late 90’s in university was a golden age for concerts, raves and stand-up comedy.  I chose a great era for my cultural awakening. 

[Tywin et al.]

Not counting random things my parents took me to that I can't remember really or small shows, Ozzfest, the summer after my freshman year of HS.

I went to see Disturbed and they were great. My step-brother and I got up to the very front. The other headliners were Marilyn Manson, Korn, Chevelle and of course Ozzy. He was shockingly good. It was a trip to see him talk to the crowd then actually be able to sing. Chevelle was what you get from a one hit wonder. Korn was the single worst live performance I've ever seen, and I've been to some pretty mid festies over the years since. I went in not liking Manson's music much, and I know it's clear now that he's a piece of shit, but holy hell did he have by far the best set. 

The smaller stage were a lot of fun. Cradle of Filth was terrible as I expected. Most of the other acts were great though. And like IP, I went into the pit for the first time and loved it. 

Edited February 10 by Tywin et al.

[BigFatCoward]

Happy Mondays 1990. Took a load of acid. 

[Nictarion]

Black Sabbath at the Nutter Center in Dayton, OH - 1999. I was 16. Great show. The other acts were Pantera and Deftones. 

[RumHam]

Radiohead, I wanna say 2003 at Madison Square Garden. Just after Hail To The Thief.  

I remember I went two of the three nights and much preferred the version where there was a chair. I wasn't even old yet. 

Great fucking show though. 

[3CityApache]

 Bugger, I don’t remember my literally first one, had to be in the eighties, but the first that really made an impression was a Lowlands festival in the Netherlands around 1994 or 1995, where Radiohead, Foo Fighters Soundgarden, Beck, Green Day and Throwing Muses were playing, among others. It was a blast. 

Edited February 10 by 3CityApache

[Mr. X]

Def Leppard on tour for Hysteria at the Philadelphia Spectrum. I was in 9th grade and went with one of my friends, whose uncle went with us for adult supervision purposes. I remember there being a bit about "Someone threw a packet of sugar up here on the stage" as part of the "Pour Some Sugar on Me" intro.

Queensryche opened and were touring Operation Mindcrime at the time.  Bought that on cassette soon after.

It was set up as an "in-the-round" type thing where the stage was in the center of the arena and everyone except the drummers speant a lot of time moving all around it.  The floor of the stage had different coverings for each band which were effectively blown up versions of their album covers. After it, I spent a bunch of time making concert stages out of Legos.

My next concert was Peter, Paul, & Mary at the Valley Forge Music Fair with my family, which, aside from also being in-the-round, was a very different vibe.

Good times!

 

[DanteGabriel]

First show was Nine Inch Nails, Self-Destruct Tour, at the Universal Amphitheatre in LA. Opening acts were the Jim Rose Circus and some new guy named Marilyn Manson.

My first concert would have been Guns n Roses-Metallica a couple of years before, but I was 14 and my mother wouldn't let me go. 

[Ramsay B.]

6 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Black Sabbath at the Nutter Center in Dayton, OH - 1999. I was 16. Great show. The other acts were Pantera and Deftones.

You lucky bastard. I saw Deftones for the first time ever recently and Chino’s voice obviously isn’t what it used to be. Still loved it though. 

One of the first concerts I remember going to was Rage Against the Machine/Wu-Tang in Hartford. I think it was 1997. It was insanity. A huge mud/sod war broke out. The grass seating was literally 2 huge sides just throwing crap at each other. Then people were ripping the wooden fences down and started burning them. A crazy amount of fights broke out also. I think we left during Rage’s set because it was getting too out of hand.

 

 

[dbunting]

Mine was Kiss, Slaughter and Faster Pussycat. It was general admission Toledo sports arena, 15000 or so people? I got to the stage when Kiss was on and it was soooooooooo loud that my shirt was moving from the music. Kiss was really good back then, 89-90 not sure which. Saw more titties at that show than any since.  My next concert was Toledo speedway Guns and Roses and Skid Row. I want to say 100,000 or so people and Axle Rose was at his dickhead worst, complaining about cameras and shit. I've seen them since and he has gotten better.

[hauberk]

2 hours ago, Mr. X said:

Def Leppard on tour for Hysteria at the Philadelphia Spectrum. I was in 9th grade and went with one of my friends, whose uncle went with us for adult supervision purposes. I remember there being a bit about "Someone threw a packet of sugar up here on the stage" as part of the "Pour Some Sugar on Me" intro.

Queensryche opened and were touring Operation Mindcrime at the time.  Bought that on cassette soon after.

It was set up as an "in-the-round" type thing where the stage was in the center of the arena and everyone except the drummers speant a lot of time moving all around it. 

….

Good times!

 

I saw them on the same tour in St Louis.  Tesla was the opening act.  7th row seats - my ears rang for a week. At that show, the drummer was on a turntable in the center of the stage to help with the in-the-round experience and it wasn’t just a couple of sugar packets - they started playing and it was a cascade - we were getting pelted from behind as well. 

Edited February 10 by hauberk

[VigoTheCarpathian]

1996, my mom drove to San Francisco (8 hours+) to see Oasis headlining, Cornershop opening.  My brother and I were 15 and 14, and were small enough that we squirmed our way to the front of the crowd and were at the barrier the whole show.  It was pretty amazing.

[Leofric]

My first concert was Carlos Santana when I was in High School back in the early 80's, one of the Concerts on the Common in Boston.

[DaveSumm]

Soundgarden, Brixton Academy in 1996. I then saw them at Brixton again in 2016, only a day off 20 years exactly, with the same guys.

The 1996 one, I was 14 and didn’t know them that well, couldn’t see shit, was basically a slog to get the train in just to stare at some guys back for a couple hours.

[mormont]

Rush, 1988, Glasgow SECC. It was an all-standing gig, capacity must've been about 8,000, and we queued all afternoon and got in right at the front. Acoustics were shit but it was amazing.

Best gig still Anthrax supported by King's X on a sweltering hot July night in the Barrowlands, Glasgow. Both bands got an encore, the place was ankle-deep in sweat and spilled beer, my ears were ringing for days.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Some time in the late 1980s Rolf Zuckowski.

German boarders will probably feel some sorta nostalgia hearing that name. 

First young adult/teenager concert, probably some DÄ concert, or was it that festival with Bad Religion, Spitfire, Unwritten Law and some other bands mid/late 90s.

 

 

[Iskaral Pust]

15 hours ago, RumHam said:

Radiohead, I wanna say 2003 at Madison Square Garden. Just after Hail To The Thief.  

I remember I went two of the three nights and much preferred the version where there was a chair. I wasn't even old yet. 

Great fucking show though. 

I saw them too on that tour.  At the Gorge outdoor amphitheater in eastern WA.  That was one of my most disappointing concerts ever.  My wife got really bored and we left early (even though I sat through an entire The Cure concert for her).  I saw Radiohead live previously in Ireland; in Galway for The Bends tour and in Dublin for the OK Computer tour, and both were vastly better shows IMO.

In fairness to Seattle and touring English bands, I did hit upon two absolute gems: I saw David Grey live in Seattle in the summer of 2000, when he was a huge hit back home with the White Ladder album, but it was a small, intimate gig in Seattle because he was basically unknown there.  And I saw Travis at a small theater concert in 2003 or 2004 in Seattle with just a few dozen in the audience. Crazy to see a hugely popular band after The Man Who in such an intimate venue.