OK, Randi just sent me a great bit from SFGate: the First Concert Quiz. The theory is you can tell a lot about a person (or yourself) by what your first concert was, and how you went. Here's where you can take the quiz...
I want to hear about other people's first concerts (thanks, Dusty Giraffe, for your story on the Zeppelin post below). Please comment below.
But OK, I'll go first; but it ain't pretty. Well, not SO bad. Blood, Sweat and Tears at Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium in...1970? 1971? I remember them playing "Colour My World," but that's unlikely, since that was a Chicago song! So, memory is funny here. All I can say for sure is that I was in the very back row of the entire place, and that even then, the Memorial sounded like shit.
And I'm not sure how I got there, but I think I was part of a church group. Ewwww....
But wait! That's not the first concert I WANTED to go to. That one was Jimi Hendrix at the Cal Expo Grandstand, in summer of 1970, I believe), and I was invited by the girl across the street, who was a total slut and three years older than myself. My parents wouldn't even BEGIN to consider it, and I wasn't ballsy enough to go against their wishes. Besides, even I was a little scared of this girl across the street. Fascinated, but scared.
She did, however, tell me about it later: She said she wore her yellow sundress, and no panties (I don't use the word "slut" lightly) and she said that she sat in the front row and spread her legs to Hendrix, who acknowledged her by dedicating "Foxy Lady" to her. Which may or may not be true, but it was a visual I will carry to my grave.
By the way, the same girl had asked to accompany her to ALTAMONT, which my parents ALSO nixed. At least I've forgiven them for that one. Sorta.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
dB, my first concert was Jethro Tull at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. It was a fantastic first show. It was 1974, and I was fifteen. I think it was the Bungle in the Jungle tour. My brother took me to the show, and it was one of my first experiences with getting really stoned. I also witnessed the use/abuse of cocaine for the first time, though I did not partake.
Jethro Tull was an incredibly active stage band. Ian Anderson was all over the place, jumping up and down whilst playing the flute in his elf outfit. The bass player wore a checkerboard suit, and the other band members were similarly, outrageously dressed.
The music was superb, and I remember being particularly affected by Aqualung.
A wonderful highlight that still brings me tears of joy, was the woman across the aisle who puked on the aisle steps, which someone then proceeded to sit upon. It was a situation intensified by my early experience with marijuana, and one that I still vividly and humorously remember.
This was an awesome show, and one that has clearly ruined me for life. This concert set the pattern for a number of subsequent awesome shows where performance matched the music. In other words, it fucked me up!
Does this count ... a live tele-cast of the Beatles at the Stockton Civic Auditorium? I still have the ticket stub!! It was like almost being there ... the energy, the music, the mop heads ... what a delight. As I vaguely recall, my first "live" concert (not counting the Inkspots ... same venue), was Barry McGuire. What was memorable about that performance was it was a Sunday late afternoon performance and it was the first concert with my first g/f. As we came to find out, Stockton had an ordinance (curfew?) that kids under 18 could not attend (be at home). I was 18 and she was 16 ... yeah, I know, robbing the cradle ... we were both still virgins. For some reason I remember we saw the performance ... Barry was mad because he had to end it early, so he really got into singing the "Eve of Destruction"!! Come to think of it ... I think we "lost" our virginity that evening because we were told to "go home". HAH! I guess we showed them!!
Cheers ... John (reminiscing about the fields of Stockton, circa 1966 … aaah!)
Cool new space dB and congrats.
I like this thread:
The Quiz makes Blue Oyster Cult and UFO at Winterland in 76 sound a little cooler, but I didn't score too many bonus points.
There was this terrible opening band called Bob Seger and the Silver something. We knew they'd never amount to anything.
I noted BOC playing the Red Lion Hotel in Pasco, WA about ten years back. So sad.
Todd
David Bowie, Diamond Dogs tour, June 1974, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa. I was 15 and dressed in homemade glam attire. I was thrilled to see Ziggy himself in person, but I wasn't prepared for how different the music sounded from the albums. Anyone who's heard David Live from that tour knows what I'm talking about. Saw Bowie 4 more times: Young Americans "soul" tour, Station to Station (his best sounding show), Serious Moonlight (1983), and at the Moby Area Two festival a few years ago. MM
I don't buy this "first concert" nonsense. My first concert was Donovan - so what? I can barely remember a thing about it (well, I am a little long in the tooth - maybe that's why - or maybe it was just lousy?) Your first concert doesn't necessarily mean crap - but what are your "favorite" concerts? You could tell a lot more about me by knowing what I consider to be my most memorable concerts. Here's a few of them (i.e., here's who I am) (dates are approximate): Capt Beefheart and the Magic Band ("opening" for John McLaughlin) at Winterland (Beefheart: "Our next composition is called Peon". Heckling audience member: "Pee on you, Beefheart!" Beefheart: "Your cock ain't long enough, Jack!" Song begins.) (1973); Bruce Springsteen at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium (Show opens with only Bruce and Roy Bittan on stage; Thunder Road begins; the two of them play the whole song without the rest of the band; I'm hooked.) (1976); Richard and Linda Thompson at the Roxy in Los Angeles (one of the most exhilarating, terrifying shows I've ever seen as we watched a marriage disintegrate on stage right before our eyes) (1981) and Richard Thompson solo at McCabe's in Santa Monica (1982); The Philip Glass Ensemble at The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (1983); (then there's a big break - warning: having kids can be hazardous to your concert going habits); Radiohead at The Greek Theatre in Berkeley (we're waiting for it to start, suddenly, the fog slowly rolls in and the band enters and begins a show that is just as moody, melancholy and powerful as the setting) (2006); The Pogues at The Fillmore (db - talk about dancing! a Fillmore fulla Irish/Irish-wannabe's, aged 15-65, dancing like crazy people one minute and crying into their Jameson the next, singin' along with almost every song, and the band was one of the tightest and most energetic I've every seen - the accordion player was prancing around like a guitar-god!) (2006 AND 2007). (Final Note: db, you should profusely thank your parents for sabotaging your Altamont plans - I went, and it was grotesque - the vibe was loathsome just walking towards the entrance and it only got worse - Hells Angels all over, being very belligerent, barking commands at everyone - I left early, thank god - my most vivid memory is of an Angel standing on the top of a VW bus parked in the middle of the crowd, throwing full cans of beer into the air - NOT as a friendly gesture, but hurling them as fast and hard as he could. Whew. Was there actually music that day?)
My first was Herman's Hermits and The Who, Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, 1965. The second wave of the British Invasion.
My parents, who liked the squeaky clean look of HH, drove me and my G/F at the time. Dropped us off in our finery.
I hated the Who. Too loud, too rowdy and too noisy. eventually I got over it. the HH I barely remeber really, the girls were way too excited (or not!) and all I really remember is the pure sexuality that came out when the HH took the stage. Screaming, sighing, crying all within one song's time.
But the first time I ever got IT, was NYE 68-69 with the Grateful Dead. Lots of first times for that one and as a 13 year old, it was a very life changing event.
Post a Comment