Here’s the question: What was your first concert? When and where was it? What do you remember about it – cost, who you went with, was it all you expected? Hit the respond button below to relive your glory days.
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Mine was Doobie Brothers, summer of 1980, in the St. Louis Arena/Checkerdome. Opening act: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They could have played The Best of the Doobies, which I listened to almost daily at that time, and I would have been happy. I didn't realize I was at Yacht Rock Central in that Minute by Minute tour.
Apr 7, 2022·edited Apr 7, 2022Liked by Dave Bangert
(Kathy Trinkle) I was just thinking about this the other day -- February 1984 - Aloha Stadium, Hawaii. Bryan Adams, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Police. My older sister had to promise my Dad she'd watch out for me.
I'm not sure if it was my first "real" concert, but the first one I remember going to is Three Dog Night. They were doing a live performance for free on Father's Day in some park in Louisville. I heard about it on the radio and—knowing that my dad liked Three Dog Night—asked my mom if we could all go.
At the time, my appreciation of Three Dog Night was largely based on the fact that "Joy to the World" made me think of the animatronics at Chuck E. Cheese. As I've grown, I've come to appreciate their work. I've picked up a few of their LPs at Black Wax and decided to throw one on the turntable right now.
Billy Joel and Elton John, 1994, Foxboro Stadium. Front row tickets because I went with my wealthy friend who was given the tickets for graduation. It was amazing.
The Three Stooges, Granada Theater, Chicago, May 2, 1959. After the theater showed a few mediocre Columbia shorts from the late fifties, the Stooges strode up the aisles from the lobby. Of course, we kids went berserk and I was surprised at how short they all were. Once on stage, Moe Howard combed down his hair to reveal his trademark bangs and Larry Fine frizzed up his curls. Without any sound effects in support, Curly Joe DeRita's face was already beet red, thanks to Moe's direct slaps from two earlier engagements that day. After his first slap, Moe quipped, "That doesn't sound like it's supposed to!" And music? The Kingston Trio, Chicago Opera House, February 23, 1963. I splurged and bought a high-priced seat: $5.50. Comedian Ronnie Schell was the opening act. Supported by jazz bassist Dean Reilly, I was stunned at how powerful the trio sounded on stage. The spotlight reflected off John Stewart's shiny Vega Star banjo and bounced directly into my retinas. Wow. Fifty years later I was annotating CD reissues of its records and sitting on the board of The Kingston Trio Legacy Project. Who knew?
Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis on Monday January 7, 1985. I was a freshman at Purdue and I went with my three college roommates. I drove my 1976 Camaro and snow was coming down lightly on the drive back at 2am. It was so late because Bruce played for 4 hours! Our seats were amazing....4th row from the stage and smackdab in the middle of the floor. I've been to lots of concerts since then but they all pale in comparison to my first one. :)
The Corries, a Scottish folk band, at the Alloa Town Hall in Scotland, with my parents and brother. Probably 1985. An absolute blast, those guys knew how to involve an audience.
First as an adult was Jimmy Buffett on the lawn at the Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta in 1992. Another guy who knows how to involve his audience, and the lawn made for great people watching.
December 14, 1984 - Prince with Sheila E as the opener. It was my 16th birthday. Got my license that morning and drove to the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, IL outside of Chicago that evening with my best friend and my sister. My younger sister got to go because my other friend couldn't. His mom decided Prince was pornographic and forbid him from going! Poor guy! The people next to us lit a joint as the lights went down. Sheila E played her drums. Prince did his thing. All in all a pretty good 16th birthday.
Apr 7, 2022·edited Apr 7, 2022Liked by Dave Bangert
Michael Jackson Bad Tour in Market Square Arena-with one of my best childhood friends who also lived across the street, Wendy Jeffries, and her mom. Wendy’s dad worked for the Indiana State Police and got us tickets kind of last minute. It was one heck of a performance! Though I’ve since seen some awesome concerts, I’m not sure I’ve seen anything comparable to this day. Needless to say our pre teen hearts nearly exploded and we did a LOT of screaming during the concert. I actually came across the ticket stub a few weeks ago when I was going through some things-I think the face value was like $25! A great memory of a different time.
Gordon Lightfoot in 1972 at the Brick Breeden fieldhouse, which when it was bult in 1956 was the largest doomed structure in the Western Hemisphere without a center support. The MSU fieldhouse was packed and we were a long ways from the stage. My friends and I spent our spare time singing and playing acoustic guitar, so we were all big fans of Lightfoot.
I actually think my first concert was America in 1973 at a gymnasium somewhere at Purdue. Maybe Lambert or the Armory? I remember because we had to sit on the floor. But I was a huge fan back then.
Paul McCartney on the Flowers in the Dirt tour, 1990. The first one I wanted to go to was a Kinks show my dad worked at the Riv in Chicago in 1987, instead I got a good school night's rest and his peel-off backstage pass as souvenir.
Apr 7, 2022·edited Apr 7, 2022Liked by Dave Bangert
My first concert was Jethro Tull at Elliot Hall of Music. Ian Anderson provided an amazing show! I don't remember what the tickets cost, but we were on the first row of the first balcony. Excellent seats.
I took my youngest brother to his first concert. It was the band "Yes" in the round at Mackey Arena. It was memorable because it was when Rick Wakeman had rejoined the band after a solo tour. I believe that the tickets were $10 a piece (which I thought was outrageous)
One of my favorite shows was the second Ouibache down on the grounds of the amphitheater. The closing act was Michael Kelsey and his band. They were scheduled to play for 45 minutes. LD Miller joined him and they ended up playing for an hour and a half.
It was not her first concert, but my wife recalls a Dock Dance behind the residence halls with REO Speedwagon.
First show was at the Murat in February of 2000 as a senior in HS. I saw Dope, Static-X, and Powerman 5000. The following day I had my only day of skipped school because my legs were so worn out from jumping for several hours. Good times.
I grew up in Lafayette/West Lafayette. Besides all the great shows of many genres of music at Purdue, my first "real" concert, where several of us high schoolers piled into a car and drove to Indianapolis, was Deep Purple who were touring to promote their classic Machine Head album and made a stop to perform at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum. The opening act was Fleetwood Mac, pre-Buckingham Nicks. And, we made it back from Indy that night alive and well.
California Jam 2; March of '78 at Ontario Motor Speedway, California. I went with 3 carloads of Marines from our station at Barstow. It was an all-day festival, and the tickets were $12 IIRC. Heart, Santana, Foreigner, Mason, Aerosmith, Welch, Nugent ... 10 bands in all. The music was great, and the experience was 'enlightening.'
The Bangles in late 1988 or early 89 at Eliot Hall. They were great and I still listen to them. Saw Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers for the first of what would become many, many, many times after that at MSA.
Foreigner. Saturday, April 20, 1985. Millett Hall at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Miami always had concerts for their "Little Sibs" weekend. So, I was there with my oldest sister who was a student and with my other sister (Emily, also older) who had had her driver's license for probably 2 months at that point. It was like an adventure for Emily & I to be able to drive off from Richmond to Oxford on our own, taking back roads. I remember being intensely concerned about looking out for the correct barn which marked the country road where we had to make a turn. (I don't actually remember much about the concert itself!)
In later years, I would also see Kool and the Gang and Cheap Trick at Little Sibs weekend concerts.
Growing up in West Lafayette, I saw lots of big names at “Victory Varieties” after Purdue football games.
But the first big concert with a date was in 1964 (?), when my friend Sarah and I went to “Hullabaloo” at The Fieldhouse. It featured the New Christy Minstrels, and was broadcast nationally.
The next big show was Peter, Paul, and Mary in Bloomington.
My senior year of high school (1964) I saw the Beatles at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum — what a thrill for every young girl in the audience to see Paul up close! And was anyone else at Indiana Beach when Sonny and Cher performed there in the '60s (I think)?Showing my age here!
My first concert was Deep Purple at Market Square Arena in 1974. My friends and I were 15 years old at the time and didn’t drive, so we took a charter bus that was organized by a Purdue student group. I don’t remember what the whole package cost. I remember the ticket price was $4.50. I still can’t believe our parents let us go. There were two opening acts. The first was a band called Elf who had a short, wiry haired singer that we later learned was Ronnie James Dio. The second opener was ELO before they hit it big. Deep Purple had David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes in the band at the time. This was the time of “festival seating” so we were able to get up front on Ritchie Blackmore’s side of the stage. I have a lot of great memories of the show.
My first concert was James Taylor at UIndy where I was attending school. It was around 1974. I had always loved his music but the best surprise was when he brought his then wife, Carly Simon, out to join him on stage and they sang together.
My first rock concert was Sept 4 1964 at the Milwaukee Arena to see the Beatles. Tickets were sold for $5.50, but by the time I convinced my parents to let me go I had to buy one from a scalper at $25. The concert was crazy - you could barely hear the music for all the screaming, and everyone was standing on those old wooden folding chairs - in order to see. More than a few people hit the floor when they collapsed their chairs from jumping and screaming. The ushers all carried ammonia swabs to revive those who fainted. Because you could barely hear the music, it was a bit of a disappointment - but to see George Harrison play the guitar was well worth every minute.
The last rock concert I attended was in October of 1970 in Amsterdam where in a hash smoke filled auditorium I saw the Rolling Stones. The venue had no seats and was packed with people. This time I was the one who fainted!
There have been other concerts between those, but the Beatles and The Stones were quite interesting bookends!
Mine was Doobie Brothers, summer of 1980, in the St. Louis Arena/Checkerdome. Opening act: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They could have played The Best of the Doobies, which I listened to almost daily at that time, and I would have been happy. I didn't realize I was at Yacht Rock Central in that Minute by Minute tour.
(Kathy Trinkle) I was just thinking about this the other day -- February 1984 - Aloha Stadium, Hawaii. Bryan Adams, Stevie Ray Vaughn, The Police. My older sister had to promise my Dad she'd watch out for me.
I'm not sure if it was my first "real" concert, but the first one I remember going to is Three Dog Night. They were doing a live performance for free on Father's Day in some park in Louisville. I heard about it on the radio and—knowing that my dad liked Three Dog Night—asked my mom if we could all go.
At the time, my appreciation of Three Dog Night was largely based on the fact that "Joy to the World" made me think of the animatronics at Chuck E. Cheese. As I've grown, I've come to appreciate their work. I've picked up a few of their LPs at Black Wax and decided to throw one on the turntable right now.
Billy Joel and Elton John, 1994, Foxboro Stadium. Front row tickets because I went with my wealthy friend who was given the tickets for graduation. It was amazing.
My first concert was 1969 Led Zeppelin Kinetic Playground Chicago
The Three Stooges, Granada Theater, Chicago, May 2, 1959. After the theater showed a few mediocre Columbia shorts from the late fifties, the Stooges strode up the aisles from the lobby. Of course, we kids went berserk and I was surprised at how short they all were. Once on stage, Moe Howard combed down his hair to reveal his trademark bangs and Larry Fine frizzed up his curls. Without any sound effects in support, Curly Joe DeRita's face was already beet red, thanks to Moe's direct slaps from two earlier engagements that day. After his first slap, Moe quipped, "That doesn't sound like it's supposed to!" And music? The Kingston Trio, Chicago Opera House, February 23, 1963. I splurged and bought a high-priced seat: $5.50. Comedian Ronnie Schell was the opening act. Supported by jazz bassist Dean Reilly, I was stunned at how powerful the trio sounded on stage. The spotlight reflected off John Stewart's shiny Vega Star banjo and bounced directly into my retinas. Wow. Fifty years later I was annotating CD reissues of its records and sitting on the board of The Kingston Trio Legacy Project. Who knew?
Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis on Monday January 7, 1985. I was a freshman at Purdue and I went with my three college roommates. I drove my 1976 Camaro and snow was coming down lightly on the drive back at 2am. It was so late because Bruce played for 4 hours! Our seats were amazing....4th row from the stage and smackdab in the middle of the floor. I've been to lots of concerts since then but they all pale in comparison to my first one. :)
The Corries, a Scottish folk band, at the Alloa Town Hall in Scotland, with my parents and brother. Probably 1985. An absolute blast, those guys knew how to involve an audience.
First as an adult was Jimmy Buffett on the lawn at the Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta in 1992. Another guy who knows how to involve his audience, and the lawn made for great people watching.
December 14, 1984 - Prince with Sheila E as the opener. It was my 16th birthday. Got my license that morning and drove to the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, IL outside of Chicago that evening with my best friend and my sister. My younger sister got to go because my other friend couldn't. His mom decided Prince was pornographic and forbid him from going! Poor guy! The people next to us lit a joint as the lights went down. Sheila E played her drums. Prince did his thing. All in all a pretty good 16th birthday.
Michael Jackson Bad Tour in Market Square Arena-with one of my best childhood friends who also lived across the street, Wendy Jeffries, and her mom. Wendy’s dad worked for the Indiana State Police and got us tickets kind of last minute. It was one heck of a performance! Though I’ve since seen some awesome concerts, I’m not sure I’ve seen anything comparable to this day. Needless to say our pre teen hearts nearly exploded and we did a LOT of screaming during the concert. I actually came across the ticket stub a few weeks ago when I was going through some things-I think the face value was like $25! A great memory of a different time.
Gordon Lightfoot in 1972 at the Brick Breeden fieldhouse, which when it was bult in 1956 was the largest doomed structure in the Western Hemisphere without a center support. The MSU fieldhouse was packed and we were a long ways from the stage. My friends and I spent our spare time singing and playing acoustic guitar, so we were all big fans of Lightfoot.
I actually think my first concert was America in 1973 at a gymnasium somewhere at Purdue. Maybe Lambert or the Armory? I remember because we had to sit on the floor. But I was a huge fan back then.
My first “real” concert was The Cars/ Nick Lowe in Elliot Hall of Music. Feb. 1982.
The year before. i saw a local band at Loeb, can’t recall the name and Roadmaster at the Slater Slammer. Which began a lifelong love for local bands!
Paul McCartney on the Flowers in the Dirt tour, 1990. The first one I wanted to go to was a Kinks show my dad worked at the Riv in Chicago in 1987, instead I got a good school night's rest and his peel-off backstage pass as souvenir.
My first concert was Jethro Tull at Elliot Hall of Music. Ian Anderson provided an amazing show! I don't remember what the tickets cost, but we were on the first row of the first balcony. Excellent seats.
I took my youngest brother to his first concert. It was the band "Yes" in the round at Mackey Arena. It was memorable because it was when Rick Wakeman had rejoined the band after a solo tour. I believe that the tickets were $10 a piece (which I thought was outrageous)
One of my favorite shows was the second Ouibache down on the grounds of the amphitheater. The closing act was Michael Kelsey and his band. They were scheduled to play for 45 minutes. LD Miller joined him and they ended up playing for an hour and a half.
It was not her first concert, but my wife recalls a Dock Dance behind the residence halls with REO Speedwagon.
First show was at the Murat in February of 2000 as a senior in HS. I saw Dope, Static-X, and Powerman 5000. The following day I had my only day of skipped school because my legs were so worn out from jumping for several hours. Good times.
I grew up in Lafayette/West Lafayette. Besides all the great shows of many genres of music at Purdue, my first "real" concert, where several of us high schoolers piled into a car and drove to Indianapolis, was Deep Purple who were touring to promote their classic Machine Head album and made a stop to perform at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum. The opening act was Fleetwood Mac, pre-Buckingham Nicks. And, we made it back from Indy that night alive and well.
California Jam 2; March of '78 at Ontario Motor Speedway, California. I went with 3 carloads of Marines from our station at Barstow. It was an all-day festival, and the tickets were $12 IIRC. Heart, Santana, Foreigner, Mason, Aerosmith, Welch, Nugent ... 10 bands in all. The music was great, and the experience was 'enlightening.'
The Bangles in late 1988 or early 89 at Eliot Hall. They were great and I still listen to them. Saw Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers for the first of what would become many, many, many times after that at MSA.
Foreigner. Saturday, April 20, 1985. Millett Hall at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Miami always had concerts for their "Little Sibs" weekend. So, I was there with my oldest sister who was a student and with my other sister (Emily, also older) who had had her driver's license for probably 2 months at that point. It was like an adventure for Emily & I to be able to drive off from Richmond to Oxford on our own, taking back roads. I remember being intensely concerned about looking out for the correct barn which marked the country road where we had to make a turn. (I don't actually remember much about the concert itself!)
In later years, I would also see Kool and the Gang and Cheap Trick at Little Sibs weekend concerts.
Growing up in West Lafayette, I saw lots of big names at “Victory Varieties” after Purdue football games.
But the first big concert with a date was in 1964 (?), when my friend Sarah and I went to “Hullabaloo” at The Fieldhouse. It featured the New Christy Minstrels, and was broadcast nationally.
The next big show was Peter, Paul, and Mary in Bloomington.
My first concert was 1969 Led Zeppelin Kinetic Playground Chicago
My first concert was the Beatles at the State Fair grounds. Sixth row!
Also, maybe circa 1969, I saw the Grateful Dead in the Purdue Union ballroom!
My senior year of high school (1964) I saw the Beatles at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum — what a thrill for every young girl in the audience to see Paul up close! And was anyone else at Indiana Beach when Sonny and Cher performed there in the '60s (I think)?Showing my age here!
Sonny and Cher at Indiana Beach in Monticello, IN the summer of 1965! We were close to the stage and such a fun time.
My first concert was Deep Purple at Market Square Arena in 1974. My friends and I were 15 years old at the time and didn’t drive, so we took a charter bus that was organized by a Purdue student group. I don’t remember what the whole package cost. I remember the ticket price was $4.50. I still can’t believe our parents let us go. There were two opening acts. The first was a band called Elf who had a short, wiry haired singer that we later learned was Ronnie James Dio. The second opener was ELO before they hit it big. Deep Purple had David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes in the band at the time. This was the time of “festival seating” so we were able to get up front on Ritchie Blackmore’s side of the stage. I have a lot of great memories of the show.
My first concert was James Taylor at UIndy where I was attending school. It was around 1974. I had always loved his music but the best surprise was when he brought his then wife, Carly Simon, out to join him on stage and they sang together.
My first rock concert was Sept 4 1964 at the Milwaukee Arena to see the Beatles. Tickets were sold for $5.50, but by the time I convinced my parents to let me go I had to buy one from a scalper at $25. The concert was crazy - you could barely hear the music for all the screaming, and everyone was standing on those old wooden folding chairs - in order to see. More than a few people hit the floor when they collapsed their chairs from jumping and screaming. The ushers all carried ammonia swabs to revive those who fainted. Because you could barely hear the music, it was a bit of a disappointment - but to see George Harrison play the guitar was well worth every minute.
The last rock concert I attended was in October of 1970 in Amsterdam where in a hash smoke filled auditorium I saw the Rolling Stones. The venue had no seats and was packed with people. This time I was the one who fainted!
There have been other concerts between those, but the Beatles and The Stones were quite interesting bookends!