What is your first big concert experience

A couple rules for this thread...

1) you were young and impressionable, so the experience resides with you to death.

2) give an interesting story about the whole thing.

I will start.  I was 15 years old and me and my buddy wanted to go see Def Leppard.  We were not old enough to drive, and talked my older sis into taking us.  I don't recall too much about the concert but we had floor tickets back in the day when you could worm your way right up to the stage.  Front row hands on the fencing watching those young punks crank it out at about 110db.  A great first concert - back in the day when the drummer had two arms

Only maybe a year later, I was basically same situation at a Sammy Hagar concert and he was giving his trans-am away at the concert... some kind of raffle of sorts.  Sammy announced that Gary soandso won the car (which was now on stage headers blaring).  I screamed THAT ME!!!  All the peeps around me lifted me up, spotlights were all over me as I body surfed up to the stage and got up there and gave Sammy a huge hug.  He asked for ID, I looked stupid and he tossed me back into the crowd.  My buddy at home who did not go to the concert caught it all on FM simulcast.  No shit all true.

What is your story?

Depeche Mode World Violation Tour 
October 2 1990 Copenhagen ..

I was 15 1/2 years old.

I was going with a couple of school friends and we had loaded up on beer and drinks before hand at our homes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj7qOITLne8&p=CF02ACAF4A6707D8&playnext=1&index=26 

It was so awesome

lol Depeche Mode for Mikael... how did I not see that one coming?

Fair enough!  you like what you like, right? 

More storied need on this thread, come on chime in...

I think Depeche Mode is my favourite band of all time. I grew up with them, it was their songs and music that defined me.

I will always have a soft heart for DM even if their newer music is not so good.

My first was Led Zeppelin when I was 14, 1974 at the Forum in L.A. Took a girl from school, and we went with my older brother and his g/f. I really dug Zep since LZ II came out and was looking forward to it. I had no clue that EVERYBODY would be smoking pot hehehe. I left with a contact high that lasted two days.

Judas Priest......1979........Seattle Center Coliseum (now the Key Arena)

 I had been to other concerts before this...... But this will stick in my mind forever.

 I was 16 & working in a restaurant. The night before the show one of the waitresses asked me if I wanted her tix to this show. A local radio station had printed up ( on plain white paper) about 1000 tix for this show & gave them away. She had two & couldn't go. I didn't know much about JP at the time but said sure, I'll take them. Next day at school I asked my best friend if he wanted to go & he said "FUCK YEAH I'LL GO!!" He was more of a hard rocker than I was back then & was pumped.
 So we go down & get in line around 4-5 pm.......this was back when festival seating was the rule.....1st come gets the best seats. The line wasn't real big so we got in shortly after the doors opened & my buddy runs straight for the stage & sits down on the floor. I'm like "wtf....you wanna be on the floor?" He says yes......he wanted to see this show bad. He had no job & no money so this was a real gift (funny, he always had money for dope). So joints are passed around, the opening band (don't remember who it was) plays & departs.....everybody returns to sitting on the floor smoking dope. Place is filling up now.........then BOOM! the lights go off......we get pushed to the stage by a mob behind us. We were probably 50 feet from the stage when the lights went off & ended up about 6-7 people deep by the time the pushing stopped. Then we hear the roar of a motorcycle being revved on stage........crowd goes nuts...........stage lights come on & it's Halford.....just sitting on the bike revving it. Then they break into "Hell Bent for Leather".......LOUD!
 I'll never forget being that close to the stage & watching Rob Halford just go off along with Tipton & Downing......they just kicked our asses........still get chills just thinking about it. They played "The Green Manalishi" & "Victims of Change" B2B.........it's stamped in my mind forever. Halford is one the greatest metal vocalists of all time. FUCK that guy could belt em out. Still one of the best concerts I've ever seen.
 Anyone who wants a taste of it, just listen to "Unleashed in the East"........I think it was recorded around the same time....maybe even the same tour.

Van Halen/Black Sabbath 1978. Van Halen's first tour. I was 15 or 16 years old. Baltimore Civic Center. Van Halen were kids then. It was LOUD....... and i was HIGH......

 

High at 15 eh, no wonder you are so screwd up in the head

KISS. MEMPHIS. 1979. A WEEK AFTER MY 9TH BIRTHDAY. i was in AWE. never forget yer first concert or yer first KISS.

1st was the Beatles in '65 at 12 in Houston. My Dad took my sister & I remember it being great but being mad that we couldn't hear 'em well from all the girls screamin, lol

1st rock concert was Santana in '69 at 16. Took a cool, good lookin girl with a group of us - got high before & during & was amazed at how good they were. Incredible experience & remember I stood the whole time & couldn't stop drummin the rail in front of me. Was hooked from then on & saw at least 100 great shows from then thru the early '80's at all kinds of venues in the Houston/Austin area. Good mems

My first concert wa at the old JFK stadium in Philly called the Corral.It was in the late 70"s's.It featured L.Skynyrd,Outlaws and Molly Hatchet.REmember all the Southern Comfort bottles and people with their confederate shirts and the smell of weed and booze just reeked thru the air.It was funny as I was with a friend of mine both of near 17 years old and remembering we are on the east coast and seeing all these redneck acting people which most were from the tristate area of Pa/NJ/Del. Great people watch as well as great concert.

Black Oak Arkansas 1974

"Jim Dandy to the Rescue!"

Sooooooo many to choose from since 1973,but I'll go with Pink Floyd's 1977 "In The Flesh Tour" at South Philly's Spectrum.They were promoting 1 of my all-time favorite albums, "Animals".To this day and some 800+ concerts later (yea,I'm old),still ranks in my top 3 shows I have EVER seen.Just the spectacle of seeing this band live for the 1st time, the superb quad sound system, the light show, the inflatables,and the visuals on their big round screen still gives me chills.I also saw them in 1980 for "The Wall" tour on Long Island,in 1987,and also 1994.However,the 1977 show is the one I always think about when concerts are mentioned.

I was there also.Great show,great memories.Never saw so many confederate shirts in all my life.I could have sworn The Allman Brothers were on the bill also.Or maybe they were on another JFK show called "The Roundup".My memory hasn't been the same since breathing in the air from that "Corral" concert

i was about 10 at that time..

kenny g. for me..
nice pair of lungs.
romantic!!

 Pink Floyd in 81 or Priest in 82

 

Rick James. Universal Ampitheatre 1981

Mary Jane

1974-Edgar Winter Group

Opening band was this new band from England-Bad Company

BAD CO  

I think I was almost 10 years old and my Mom told me she was taking me to the dentist. We always went everywhere by bus back then in Philly. Anyway... the ride sure seemed long but I didn't complain. I was cold as shit outside. When we got off the bus I realized we were at the Spectrum and the big sign simply said...

ELVIS

All us kids liked Elvis back then and I use to do the leg shaking and sing for the grownups. The neighborhood teen chicks thought I was really cute as well .

My Mom had me completely fooled. We had a great time. 1971 seems like yesterday when I think about it.

Here is a cool link I found of someone else who had been there.

https://www.elvisconcerts.com/reviews/rev711108.htm

It was his first concert in Philly since the 50's from what I've heard. The next time, in 1974, My Mom and I were part of our family group that went to his next concert in Philly. May seem stupid to some but for me, back then, it was awesome. And I got to go TWICE.

I wish that this had been video taped somehow. Shame.

I forgot to add that many, many years later... my Mom surprised me again with a photo album full of the newspaper clippings and ticket stubs from these two concerts in Philly. We never had alot of money but these shows were always something we could reminisce about... the good ole days.

Thanks Mom... You've always been the greatest.

Rush at the Forum in L.A. ..   Late 80's

Correction... "The next time, in 1976..."

 

Twas a long time ago in what seems like a different world and life. Sorry for the typo.

 

I wish that I could go back in time on this 1.... it was either 1980 or 1981 (hell,I cant remember what happened this morning let alone 30 years ago)... I found myself in this little club in Philly,the "Bijou Cafe".Not getting anywhere with this hot looking babe I was trying to charm,I decided just to listen to the band that was playing.After about 6 songs,it dawned on me... "these guys are really friggin good".I want to say they played 10-12 songs.Little did I know at that time that this band would turn out to be one of the worlds greatest bands.... U2.