For almost anyone into music we have all been to a concert at least once, and for most of us that is the concert that we remember the most vividly for the rest of our lives. Well most of us at least. For some of us, we may have gotten a smidgen or insanely wasted and not even remember the show. Especially if you had any kind of crazy, rather hard drinking or drugging wild child in you. I did, so I wanted to find out if anyone was as wild or crazy as I was when they went to their first concert. So I set out to find out. I asked friends, relatives, musicians, BrainGell staff, and listeners what their first concerts where like, just to see if anyone came close to being like the wild child I was, and totally partied their way to oblivion.

I asked, and most of you I asked told. So from those who where either way to young or didn’t care, or got so wasted they partied a bit too hard, I think we have got all spectrums of peoples first concert experiences covered. I did notice one thing. It did seem that the girls tended to be a bit wilder than you boys, no matter what age we where when we attended our first concert. Let’s peek into others first concerts experiences. How did yours stack up?

Vboogieman/Owner BrainGell

I was pretty surprised that Vboggieman didn’t attend his first concert until he was 18 and that he was such a good boy he didn’t have a drop of alcohol or drugs in his system. It amazes me how people can and do change over the years. At least he saw a great band and had a great time. He saw Black Sabbath at the San Diego Sports Arena in 1980 on their Heaven and Hell tour, one of the few that actually remembered the tour name. Like most of us, he knows he went with a few friends, but trying to recall their names 27 years later, is not going to happen. vBoogieman was totally blown away by the show Black Sabbath put on, and it was his first major concert he had been to. Besides, who wouldn’t be blown away, its fucking Sabbath? Any lover of rock and heavy metal has to consider them to be in the top five of the all time great bands, and I believe most bands that have come up since Sabbath have in one way or another been influenced by them, or inspired by the vocals or the great Guitar riffs, drum solos, or other innovations they are known for.

Heather/ My SIL answer

Heather is my sister in law and is at least 11 years younger than her brother, but being around him and maybe being forced to listen to her brothers music may have led her to her first concert Metallica in some way. It’s pretty strange during this time period My husband and I had guardianship of her off and on (sometime around her senior year of high School), for the life of me do I ever remember her listening to Metallica, but I guess she did, because in 1994 she went to go see Metallica with Candlebox at the Devour Theatre in California. Like I asked everyone, I had asked her is she got wasted, her answer: no I was a good little girl.

Well what the hell happened to that Heather? I know your not quite so innocent now my friend. Unlike most she does remember who she went with. This I chalk up to being quite a few years younger than most of us. On the other hand, I don’t know how she manages to remember anything having had 5 damn kids in like 7 years, dang woman stop popping the kids out. But she did say she went to the concert with her friend Melodie, Melodie’s boyfriend Nick, and two of Nick’s friends. Hey Heather, you get any action that night?

Like several Venues for concerts in California the Devour Theatre is outside, and Heather went in the summer. It was a hot summer night, where there was no assigned seating so it was one hot body pressed against another, she remembers everyone singing together. It sounds a lot like Woodstock to me, without the mud. But the Devour is set in the foothills, and everywhere you look you are surrounded by nature (at least back then). She remembers the sweeping vista of the mountains above the foothills and says it is one of the memories that she holds near and dear and will never forget, Awwww. That’s what happens when you go to a concert straight as a pin Heather.

Bill from the Band LeNero/ Heavy Metal band unsigned

For many musicians seeing their first concert is what ignites an already burning umber into a raging fiery need to see their dream of being in a live band come true. Just from Bill’s answer I could feel that the excitement he felt from his first concert experience at about 14 may have been what led him into forming a band himself. He had gone to see AC/DC at the Oakland Coliseum near San Francisco. He went to the concert with his brother and his best friend at the time Jimmy. He says “he was too young to get wasted”, but I know from my own experience that going to a concert at 14 wasted is not that unusual. So unlike me, he was a good boy, because as you will read later I was not a good girl at my first concert and I was the same age. Good for us though is the fact that seeing AC/DC inspired him and gave him such a natural high from hearing and feeling the crowds and feeling the energy that he chose to be a musician as a career. To quote Bill “Once AC/DC hit the stage nothing could match the excitement. They where as good as ever! I use that concert as a gauge which all concerts are compared to”. Angus Young would be flattered by that review.

Jeff My Stoned Husband

Leave it to my husband to go to a concert, get stoned, and turn the night into something that looks like it could come out of the movie Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. Which if you have not seen any respectable stoner or former stoner must see? He and his friend Harry were both 16 and he was living with his step-mother in Missouri at the time.

They had driven to Kampar Arena in Kansas City to see Kiss, about a 40 minute drive from where he was living. Once seated they pulled out their mota out and started toking

away. My husband back then was a more of a stoner, than a drinker. Once the concert started they where stoned out of their minds. They sat through part of the concert but thought the music was too loud. So like the stoned kids they where, they started wandering around the arena. Well when you’re stoned, even those with a great sense of direction get turned around. They ended up lost walking around the arena for awhile looking for a way out. Once out and still stoned, they couldn’t find their car. It took the 2 stoned 16 year olds a good walk around the arena four times to find their car. Now I know he’s my husband and all, but damn that is a real dumb ass move. Not that my first concert made me look like a rocket scientist either.

Tyler from the Band a New Shade/ Heavy Metal band Unsigned

From all the people I had spoken to about their first concert Tyler was the youngest when he had seen his first concert. Even though he went with his parents, I still could not believe he went to see Third Eye Blind and Smash Mouth at 11 years old. I could just see trying to take one of my daughters to a concert at that age. My guess is that both of them would have been crying because of how loud it was. Not Tyler, he saw them at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Ohio when he was in fourth grade. Along with his parents, they allowed him to bring a couple of friends along with him. As he got older and has since been to more concerts he now realizes that that concert was exceptionally calm for a concert. Not because he was 11, but the atmosphere in general. Despite the fact that the concert was on the mellow side, he did have a blast singing to all the songs that he heard on the radio. Beyond that, he told me, he did not remember much else, after all he was only 11 and has been to many concerts since.

Steather BrainGell Listener

Steather is a BrainGell Listener I met up with in the BrainGell Chat room. He is a good old mate type from the UK and frequents pubs. When he emailed his answers back to me it was no surprise that his first concert experience was not like what most Americans are like, in large arenas, where big name acts play. His first concert experience happened at 16 where 3 or 4 local bands played at a small venue that only sat about 300 people. Though the drinking age in the UK is only 18, and he was served a few ales before they realized he was underage, they did figure out he was a bit shy of the legal drinking age much to his chagrin, and refused to serve him for the rest of the night. He went with about 10 of his mates from school, and even cut off from their ale managed to have a good time out. He knew some of the band members from his brothers. One of the bands played death metal, another styled themselves after Guns and Roses. Eve doing a couple cover songs, with the lead guitarist wearing a top hat just like Slash does. The other band he remembers played indie rock, the other band he has no recall of; they must not have been anything special if he can not remember them. He does remember the one downside. The following day; he had been down in the mosh pit the entire night before, and woke the next morning aching and a bit banged up and bruised, but excited and satisfied with his experience the night before.

Beth Ann Friend

My wild child, flower child friend attended her first concert in 1987 at the age of 15 and hell even wasted off her ass remembers the date and the tour name, which came as a huge surprise to me, since at times she can seem to be floating up in the sky, but recalls her first concert clear as a bell. She saw Pink Floyd on their Momentary Lapse of reason tour on September 17. If I took how old she is and tried to do the math and fill in the gaps to get to the year, I would be way way off. Which is why I chose writing over being an accountant like my dad many years ago? My best estimated guess is that the concert was in the late 8o’s though since she is a couple years younger than me. She saw them at the no longer standing Cleveland Municipal Stadium. After many issues the stadium shut its doors for good after the 1995 football season. Non Withstanding, Beth Ann said that she got totally wasted before the concert drinking Jack Daniels Coolers. I do know that she does live pretty far from Cleveland and that it was at least an hour and ½ drive, but one of her friends Dawn had gotten so wasted that she could not hold her pee until they reached the stadium so she pissed into a gigantic plastic mug. You all know that when you go to a concert that manners go out the windows and you just do what you gotta do, and if you have to go you have to go, and it was rather obvious her friend could not wait any longer and just went! I would have held it, no matter how hard the devil was calling and pleading with me to pee in a cup, ashtray, or any place other than a bathroom at that age. But All of us females know the calling sadly, we are not guys, who can just whip out our member and piss any place we wish. Once they arrived at the stadium, they where toasted on alcohol, so they found their seats barely, and weed was being passed all around them. It was long before strangers were passing the joints to them, like me she thought what the hell, and just though what the hell. I’m already messed up, I may as well toke on the free weed, and toke away she did. Beth Ann was so Fucked up, that she pretty much pretty couldn’t move, so she just decided to kick back and watch the amazing made for wasted show that Pink Floyd put on. She just sat there tripping out on the magic of Floyd, the lights, the giant screen over her head with trippy images she can’t remember, and other visuals. Pretty much just tripping out on the whole experience. Though she didn’t remember doing it that night, she recalls waking the next morning with a sore throat that was so raw she could not talk. But Inside she felt awesome, and lucky to have seen such a legendary band play live. To this day, over twenty years later she still has the T-shirt from Dark Side of the Moon the prism on the front, and the tour dates on the back. Hey Beth Ann, that’s some vintage clothing your walinking around in… Hold on for dear life. She ranks it as one of the greatest days of her life.

Wasted Zombie BrainGell DJ, Writer

Believe it or not BrainGell’s own Wasted Zombie was one a teenage too. He attended his first concert at 16 at the Dancing waters Club in San Pedro, California to see Kiss, their opening act was a band named Morrill. I never heard of them, so I guess opening for kiss was their 15 minutes of fame. He attended with his cousin and a few friends. Though he was not toasted at the concert, he made up for it after, it was the first time he had ever really partied, and he got toasted. Kiss was playing in a small venue that night, only about 500 people where in attendance. Wasted Zombie said it was rocking. The crowd had a mob feel to it, and the energy was high. Sweat was soaked everyone since they where all rocking out, and with a venue that small you can really get the stench coming from everyone’s body odor and bad breath. Though he says he could have done without that, he probably wouldn’t exchange the experience for anything. He had a blast being that close to the bands, but wouldn’t trade that night for shit. Once out of the stinky, musty club and back to his car, he partied, covered in sweat. He considers it one of the best nights of his life, and soon found himself addicted traveling to many local clubs to experience the high he had gotten that night all over again.

My Friend LaNay

My friend LaNay lives up in Michigan or the frozen tundra to those of us who live in warmer climates, but she did go to a killer concert for her first time. She was 16, and saw Ted Nugent. Like most of us, she has no clue what the tour name was, but she knows that she went to go see him in 1982 in Kalamazoo, MI. She went to the concert with about 6 people, and said it was a pretty chilly night, and the concert was outside, and from what I am getting from her notes, there was no assigned seating, so she and her friends had their booze, got a bit wasted (to keep them warm of course) and slowly they nudged their way up toward the front of the stage where it was warmer. The only person not having much fun that night was the designated driver. She got pretty toasted and close to the stage when all was said and done. So to her she hit the jackpot that evening, She got to keep warm, by being close to the stage where all the lighting, equipment, and Ted was, and she got to drink and smoke a doobie here and there. She does remember standing in line for everything. She had school that following Monday and was not leaving that place without a T-shirt, so she stood on line for that, for a rather long time. But hell she wanted to be one of the few girls to be able to say, I went to this fucking concert (in the cold) I got my damn T-shirt, and I am proud of myself. After that concert, many followed for years to come. Just like many of us, you always remember your first concert, and you always hold that concert as the gold standard.

Les from the band Standby Brothers/Rock and Indie/Standby Brothers Lable

Les is in a band with his brother Steve, though they do most everything together, going to their first concert was not one of the things they have done together. In 1974 Les saw the Dobbie Brothers at the Montral Forum. He was 17 at the time and drank at the local brasserie before the concert, and went with several friends. It was what people would imagine when they thing of a typical 70’s concert Lighters in the air and a crowd singing to the lyrics. He specifically remembers the entire forum singing to the Dobbie Brothers classic “Black Water”, here are a few lines;

Ol' Mississippi, she's callin' my name
Catfish are jumpin'
That paddle wheel thumpin'
Black water keeps rollin' on past just the same
Old black water, keep on rollin'
Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me
Old black water, keep on rollin'
Mississippi moon, won't you keep on shinin' on me

Him and his friends where wated on alcohol, but not so wasted they couldn’t remember the words to the classic rock song. As the band played, the stood, clapped, and sang aloud to the classic tunes of the Dobbie Brothers, and said it was one of the greatest nights of his life.

Chris BrainGell writer/Article Writer

My first concert was rush in either 82 or 83. Even though I was only about 14 I was quite the partier. Before we entered the LA coliseum I was already pretty wasted on whatever booze my older friends had given me. Booze wasn’t my problem though; I could always hold my liquor. We went in and I remember quite a light show, I do remember Rush being cutting edge in their music and with their stage shows. I remember the place smelled like reefer madness was let loose. Though I have smoked it off and on through the years, it has never really been my drug of choice. I much prefer Alcohol, back then shrooms, and even pills like black beauties before I would reach for a joint. That night though, the stadium was filled with people freely passing joints. At first I declined, but my older friends insisted I take the strangers joint. While the band played, I timidly toked at the joint. I was holding my booze just fine. After several tokes I started feeling funny. Soon I felt like I was on some funky acid trip. I don’t know what happened next or how I got there, but I woke up after the concert on the bathroom floor of the LA coliseum with people walking over me. Soon my older friends came, scooped me up, got me in the car and took my sorry ass home. I attended concerts after that, but never took anything from strangers, and made sure I had my own party supplies. One concert I went to was Areosmith at the Meadowlands Arena in NJ in 1986, and stayed stone cold sober, and only because I was pregnant. The rest I partied at, but I made sure the control was in my hands, not in somebody else’s. To this day, I do not know if I was slipped LSD, acid or some other funky drug in that joint, but for a first concert, that was one bad trip.

Steve from the band Stand by Brothers/ Rock and Indie/Standby Brothers Lable

Steve is les’s brother and they have a band together up in Canada. Though he can not remember exactly how old he was when he went to his first concert he says he was around 16 years old. Like so many Kiss was his first concert as well. Steve saw them at The Forum in Montreal with about 4 or 5 friends from high school. Back in the 70’s in Montreal you could walk into a tavern and they did not really care if you where of age or not, so Steve and his buddies pounded a few beers before heading to the Kiss concert across the street who’s opening act was the emerging band Cheap Trick. They were down on the floor right in front of the stage and he remembers it be incredibly loud. So mainly all he was able to hear that night was the Muffled music and hardly any vocals or clear guitar solos. They where so close to the stage that they got up close and personal with Gene Simmons famous Blood-Spewing bass solo. So close that after Gene wiped himself off with a towel of fake blood mixed with Gene spewed sweat, Paul Stanly kicked it off stage and directly into one of Steve’s friend’s faces. The band got a kick out of it as did the teenage boys. Too bad the kid’s parents didn’t know much about Kiss’s stage act, because when their son got home he had fake dried blood all over him and his parents freaked out. Steve knows that his friend kept that dried up, fake blood and sweaty towel on his wall for years, and thinks he probably still has it tucked away someplace. But If your going to have a great first concert experience, I say that is one of the best ones you can have.

I would like to thank everyone that took time out to answer my questions. I had some pretty great answers to choose from. Only a couple didn’t make it in. This was a blast to write. It’s cool to see that each and everyone written about is still rockin in some way.

Written By: Christi Broekemeier