First Concert

My first “real” gig was The Damned 5/7/1981 at The Lyceum in London. A day before my 15th birthday... What a night!!!!

 

Elton John in Chicago on his first US tour.

We all know the rest of the story.

 

Do you mean the first concert to which I followed me parents when I was a kid? Or the first I went by myself?
(Option A is gonna be terrible).

 

1983, 16 years old, took my girlfriend to the "Big Swing" music festival in Heathcote, Sydney, Australia. Aussie bands just starting out included Hoodoo Gurus, The Models, I'm Talking, the Divynyls, who all became iconic bands on the Australian pub circuit.

Jimmy Barnes and INXS headlining. They finished with the first live version of "Good Times". If you haven't seen it on youtube do yourself a favour & check it out.

What followed for me was a decade of amazing live music every week. often 3 or 4 nights a week. Left me with a deep love of live music and no hearing...

 

Age 12 my older brother took me to see "Rockarena" in 1977 featuring Santana, Police, Fleetwood Mac, Little River Band, Kevin Borich Express.

https://jpjaudio.com.au/1977/11/13/rockarena-1977/comment-page-1/

Santana blew everyone else off the stage

 

13 years old. June 28th 1986. I saw Marillion, Gary Moore, Jethro Tull, Saxon and Mama's Boys at The Bowl in Milton Keynes, UK.

It's one of those days my life seems permanently attached to. 4 mates, all early teens, all into Prog Rock. 40,000 people. A blazing hot summers day. Jettisoned into an adult world. In awe of watching the mother of all bottle fights. Walking 4 miles each way to the venue.

The raw excitement, the fear, the music. I'll never forget that day.

 

1964, Gene Pitney's Cavalcade of Stars in Notre Dame's Stepan Center.
28 bands in 4 hours. Probably cost me a whole $3 or 4.
First local band earlier that year changed my life.
As I walked in, the guy started the piano riff from The Kingsmens' "Money".
Started playing it as soon as i got home that night, much to my parents' chagrin.
Haven't been the same since.

 

If I remember right, it was The Doors and Iron Butterfly, probably in 1967. Coincidentally, that was the last time Jim Morrison was allowed to perform in our fair city.

 

Dr Feelgood supported by Squeeze. Hammersmith Odeon 1978. Two great bands out of the pub circuit and into the Big Time at a major London venue. I was 16.

 

Statler Brothers did an afternoon concert at the county fair in 1980. Loved. Every. Minute. Whole town was there, even the guys who drank too much at the demolition derby the night before. I remember everyone in the stands going ape every time Harold the bass singer would turn sideways, stick out his gut and grin.

 

Fall of '79. Carlos opened for the Marshall Tucker Band. MTB was at their peak, stadium tours, and not long before Tommy passed away.

Odd pairing, or so I thought. Carlos was Carlos. Gracious to the crowd, and was just killer. The crowd was ready.

MTB was really kicking it too, when they introduced and had Carlos do a song with them.

"Running Like the Wind."

They literally blew the crowd away. Unforgettable moment in music for me.

Love Carlos and miss the heck out of the Caldwell brothers.

 

I believe it was Eric Clapton when I was 13 or 14 (end of the '80s) @ Riverfront Coliseum. I bought the tickets & took my mom for her birthday. It was a crappy venue for music, but still a fairly good show in my memory.

 

Feb 1965 The Rolling Stones (with Brian Jones) at the Capitol Theatre in Perth. I was 17. The set list was:

1. "Not Fade Away"
2. "Walking The Dog"
3. "Under The Boardwalk"
4. "Little Red Rooster"
5. "Around and Around
6. "Heart of Stone"
7. "Time Is On My Side"
8. "It's All Over Now"

 

They did 3 shows that day! Short playlists were common back then, most rock acts did less than an hour.