And no feeling self-conscious because your answer isn’t as cool as mine, guys.
Saturday 1st April 2023
You know who you are.
Follow Me
And no feeling self-conscious because your answer isn’t as cool as mine, guys.
The Carpenters, Starkville MS.
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The Carpenters, Seattle WA. We win, Laura Jean!
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Snap — the Carpenters with Neil Sadaka when I was maybe six. First gig I went to by my choosing was The Police in 1983.
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Carpenters here, too. Blossom Music Center outside Cleveland, Ohio, early 70s.
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Linda Ronstadt, Garden State Arts Center, circa 1978 or 1979.
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Pablo Cruise and the Doobie Brothers, St. Paul Civic Center
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the police
synchronicity tour
buffalo ny
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Joan Armatrading. Concord, NH. 81? 82?
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Cyndi Lauper in 1984
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Mine too!
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Foreigner! Foreigner 4 Tour, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 1981.
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Oops..Phoenix AZ
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I’m the same as Jen – The Police/Synchronicity Tour in Houston, TX, with UB40 as the opening band. Probably 1982 or 1983? It was a great show…
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ub40 would’ve been cool. we had the reflex (one hit wonder with ‘the politics of dancing”). i’m pretty sure it was ’84 waaaaaay at the end of the tour. buffalo wasn’t scheduled originally until a local dj started broadcasting from the radio station roof in protest. sting, apparently, was not amused.
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Love this question! The Stray Cats at the Philadelphia Zoo. I think it was around 1984.
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Shaun Cassidy, St. Louis, late 70s. Da do run run! Actually I don’t even like him, my sister did.
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Me TOO!!!!!
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The Bangles when I was in fourth grade. My dad took me as a birthday present and I wore stirrup pants and a white faux-fur vest. It was a venue with seats and the people behind us kept asking me to sit down, but I was FEELING it and had to dance.
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This is awesome.
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Beach Boys, 1973, Dallas
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The first concert not selected by my parents or my church? EMF. (Who? Exactly.) Boulder, Colorado.
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I know who EMF are…..and I even know what it stands for….. 🙂
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Very lame response: 1986 Crowded House in Royal Oak, Michigan. We did get on the touring bus of the opening act. My fifteenth birthday. (can’t remember name of opening act)
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Crowded House in 1986 was AMAZING.
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Hey now…Crowded house was and still is AWESOME. One of my favorite bands. Saw them in Atlanta a few years ago at a very intimate venue and they still put on a GREAT show. The cool thing is that everyone in the audience knew all the words to every song. Loyal fans…
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Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. Little Rock. 1976. Rock GOD.
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Bob Seger (minus the Silver Bullet Band) came to my all-girls Catholic high school in Monroe, Michigan in 1970 before he hit it big. I still can’t believe that happened.
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Billy Joel – Nylon Curtain Tour in Allentown, PA. Yes, he sang “Allentown” twice and the crowd went wild.
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Three Dog Night.
I must be more “of a certain age” than the rest of you!
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Me too Three Dog Night (with Dad)
Grand Funk Railroad/ Tampa Stadium/with a girlfriend
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Me too! I remember they put on a great show – there was a whole circus part where one of them wore clown makeup and another whole part where they all sang 1950 doo-woop. More like a stage show than a rock concert. Forever after, I felt a little let down when all Bruce Springstein did was stand there and sing.
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Me too, I’m chuckling over how many first concerts were well into the 80’s!
My first was 3 Dog Night at the Providence Civic Center in 1973. I was 13 and in love with the red haired guitarist! (: I’ve been to too many concerts to remember, but I still have that ticket stub.
(Most recent concert was Paul McC last week here in Austin!!)
I love this question Kim, it’s something I sometimes ask someone I am meeting for the first time, if they are a music lover, there’s always a lot of enthusiasm about answering the question!
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Madonna “Like a Virgin” tour. Columbia, MD (1985?)
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John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. 1986? (I was 17, a late concert goer.)
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They played at my school’s Spring Fling (Penn) – 1984.
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Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes probably the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, NJ but maybe Convention Hall, Asbury Park.
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Me too! Only it was at the Count Basie theater in Red Bank. Southside Johnny was sick so Bruce Springsteen sang that night. I was really bummed out because I loved Southside Johnny so much.
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Three Dog Night, 1972, at the old Met Center in Bloomington, MN, where the megamall is now (which, coincidentally, I have never visited and never plan to…) 🙂
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Bay City Rollers, at the Kentucky State Fair, probably 1976. *shameful*
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Ditto – in Connecticut. S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night!
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Carpenters, Westbury Music Fair, NY Circa 1975
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James Taylor. Waikiki Shell. 1985?
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Harry Connick Jr. at the Orpheum Theater San Francisco (1991?). I was not allowed to go to concerts until I was 18. I went to this one begrudgingly with my best friend who was addicted to love songs, and came out smitten with Harry!
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John Denver at Madison Square Garden. Starlight Vocal Band was warm-up. 1975, I think.
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It was either David Bowie at Madison square garden or Diana Ross in Central Park in 1983……can’t remember which came first. OMG..
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The Monkees in 5th grade with mom
Led zeppelin 70 or 71
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Debbie Gibson! I was 7, and my Dad brought me as a birthday surprise 🙂
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My college boyfriend insisted we see Debbie Gibson….he was tall, handsome, fun…and maybe just a little gay…
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Bob Dylan at the NJ Meadowlands. Sadly he was already in his deeply Christian mode, and even the ambient smoke from the crowd didn’t make his delivery more entertaining. Ah well! My second concert was Springsteen at the same venue. Don’t judge.
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I’ll see you Captain & Tennille and raise you a
Barry Manilow, Champaign, IL, 1983.
Ohhhh, how I loved his music! I was a senior in high school and got to meet him because I was in choir. I was overwhelmed by his greatness, he was gracious and sweet to the stammering teenager. He still ranks as the skinniest man I ever met.
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Donny and Marie – outdoor Starplex Theater, Dallas, 1978. I was 8 and I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
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The Monkees reunion tour, 1986.
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OMG I saw them during that tour too. At the Greek theater in LA with my mom and dad Weird Al Yankovic as the opener. Mickey Dolenz spun around and fell off stage and into my mothers lap in the second row. I was embarrassed and really psyched at the same time.
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Kate Bush, Hammersmith Odeon, 1979 (I think). Cool, then not cool for a long time, and by now probably cool again.
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Super cool! Now and then.
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Wham! mid 80s in Fort Lauderdale. Followed just a few weeks later by A-ha. It was eight grader heaven!
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Slade at the Felt Forum, 1974; the opening act was Aerosmith!
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Sister Sledge at 6 Flags over Texas on a trip with the high school band
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Beach Boys and Pablo Cruise at Giants Stadium. Not only my first concert but the statium’s first concert as well. I’m thinking 1977 but not sure.
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Patti Smith at the Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT, 1976.
But my first concert at a big venue was Jackson Browne at the Nassau Coliseum, a year later.
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The Kinks, New Brunswick, NJ March 3, 1979. The concert was recorded for the “One For the Road” live album. So, that was me you hear enthusiastically screaming!!
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Berlin – 1985.
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INXS!!!!!!!!!!
Pittsburgh, PA
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GRASSROOTS in middle school 1973
Eagles in outdoor stadium in 10th grade 1975
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The Who. Chicago
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Love the Who, seen them many times.
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Cheap Trick at the Allentown Fairgrounds in 1978. Two or maybe three carloads of us drove 2 hours to catch the show. So much fun! I’m so excited to be taking my teenage son to see his first concert – The Rolling Stones on June 21st in Philly.
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Howard Jones and I believe the opening act was Limahl but that’s a complete stretch of my synapses. It was an epic concert, I have to say.
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Paul Young, in NYC, the summer of 1985. I think he played at The Beacon Theatre. John Taylor from Duran Duran made a guest appearance, which was pretty thrilling at the time…
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The Pointer Sisters with my Mom and older sister at Meadow Brook Theater in Rochester, MI. To this day, whenever I hear “Jump (for my love)” I break out into some sort of early 80s dance move.
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Barry Manilow. My mom had to go with me so I’m gonna say it was 1980 or 81.
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Chicago and the Beach Boys.
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The Commodores in Chicago! LTD opened and it was FANTASTIC.
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I think I might win for the most uncool…Neil Sadaka in the early 1970s I think. Edmonton Alberta Canada. I have no idea why.
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Wow! That does out-uncool mine. My hat goes off to you.
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The Sparks and Rick Springfield, Universal Amphitheater, circa 1982.
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Duran Duran
7 and the Ragged Tiger Tour
Got a set of wee buttons with each band member’s photo for my jean jacket. I still remember how cool I felt.
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Oh, how I wished to see that DD tour!
Mine was U2, Joshua Tree Tour, 1987.
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i would have killed to see Duran Duran and that show. I came on the DD scene quite late. I was ten or 11 when they were really popular and I was 14 when I fell madly in love with them. I got flack for that. Everyone was already heading into hair metal territory in Detroit. But oh how I loved them. And still.
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ARRRRRGGGHHHH!!! Still a sore spot. My big sister went but I (2.5 years younger) was deemed to young to go in spite of my eternal love for Simon.
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I wasn’t allowed to see them as I was deemed too young (12/13 at the time) but I have seen them three times since then with the lastest being last year. I am not ashamed to say that they are up there as one of the best live bands I have seen, even after all these years.
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It was either Adam Ant or Bow Wow Wow — both in Seattle around the same year, just can’t remember who came to town first. I was in high school and my friends loved new wave music.
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Ha, mine was Adam Ant, Massey Hall, Toronto, 1982.
(I usually lie and claim my second concert was my first- The Who, on their “farewell tour” in ’82. Those magnificent bastards are still on the road!)
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Barry Manilow when I was in 7th grade. I loved every minute of it.
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Jimi Hendrix. San Antonio. 1968.
He. Blew. My. Tiny. Little. Small. Town. Mind.
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You are SO lucky!!! Wow.
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Blood, Sweat & Tears with my father in a high school auditorium in Rockland County.
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I LOVE THIIS. MORE PLEASE.
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Were we at the same concert? Captain & Tenille in Houston, maybe 1978. I think it was at the Summit.
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Yes, `78, because I was 12. How funny!
Venue escapes me, although I certainly saw my share of perfectly awful rock shows at the Summit: Journey, Genesis, the Dead, etc etc.
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That same year they rode on a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and I was one of the employee- dancers alongside them. She was so sweet to us. Uncool but a class act!
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How funny! When I found your website I asked myself “How do I not know this woman?” We are about the same age, grew up in Houston, and seem to be aesthetically related 🙂
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Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Washington, DC in 1983 or 1984. I went wearing my gigantic “RELAX” t-shirt, neon pink capris and lavender high-top chucks. Good times…
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The Cars in Utica NY- probably 1979 or 80- so long ago I can’t remember!
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My parents took me to see ELVIS in 1975 at the State Fair Coliseum in Jackson, Mississippi. I was six-years-old.
I remember my dad putting his hands over his eyes and saying “I can’t watch. He’s going to have a heart attack any minute . . .”.
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Shaun Cassidy, BAY-BEE. I was 6. What can I say? I was into the hard stuff at an early age.
Da Doo Run Run FOREVAH.
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Joe Cocker & Leon Russell,Chicago,1971.
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Now that is awesome.
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Billy Joel, in Providence, when I was maybe 13, definitely in the late 70’s. I think my older sister took me. I bought a concert t-shirt which I loved. It would be cool to find it now, but I think it’s gone forever!
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p.s. Actually, a Captain and Tennille album was the first one I ever bought!
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David Cassidy
Madison Square Garden
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I think I love you. So what am I so afraid of. 🙂
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One more for David Cassidy. ’72, I think? I was 10. Denver, don’t remember the venue. Do remember the white fringe.
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Bruce Springsteen…”Tunnel of Love” tour at the Forum in LA. With my Dad.
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Bon Jovi in The Spectrum, Philadelphia. 1988
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Me too! Bon Jovi, ’88, I was 13 years old, and man, do I still wish I had that concert t-shirt. Jon’s face (okay, hair) taking up nearly the entire shirt with a neon-orange and lime-green checked border around it. Wicked awesome.
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Blue Oyster Cult at the Poughkeepsie Civic Center in the late 70’s with a group of friends.
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U2 – first US tour. San Francisco Cow Palace. Had no idea how cool it would turn out to be. My father took me – taking much of the shine off the occasion. The first concert I took myself to was RUSH. Followed by years of great concerts – David Bowie, Tina Turner, Robert Plant, Rolling Stones, REM, Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Rod Stewart and on and on…
Reading all the responses is making me feel a little misty for the past. SNIFF. I had NO money in high school and college, yet I could always scrape together enough for a concert.
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Richard Marx and Henry Lee Summer at Foellinger Theater in Fort Wayne, IN. I think I was 13 so it would have been ’87 or ’88. I went with my sister and one of her friends but had to sit with our cousin. The most memorable part was not the concert, but the ride there and back when I heard Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction for the very first time and was instantly smitten.
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Oh lord… Richard Marx (and his illustrious hair) was the prom date for one of the girls at my high school in 1988. Her mom was his manager or something, so he was doing it as a favor. He looked mortified the entire night and even though my alt-rock, too-cool-for-school, always-wearing-black friends with rat tails/purple hair/weird piercings were decidedly not fans of his music, we felt kind of sorry for him because the girl was parading him around like a famous blow-up doll.
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Status Quo, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney. 1978
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Whitney Houston at the Peoria (IL) Civic Center, ca. 1985 or 86. I had to chaperone my sister and her best friend, lest they run off with bikers or sailors or some such.
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Ramones – Hollywood Palladium 8/14/81. It would have been Cheap Trick at the Forum on New Year’s Eve 1979 but my father wouldn’t let me go.
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Howard Jones, 1985, Radio City Music Hall.
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Journey with Bryan Adams as the warm up band. Circa 1983, the Meadowlands. It was awesome!!!
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The Monkees and Beach Boys touring together, 1985 or ’86, I think. I’d been watching the TV show and remember being disappointed that they all seemed terribly old to my young eyes.
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My first concert that I attended on my own (without parents) was Pearl Jam/Smashing Pumpkins/Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Roseland Ballroom in November of 1991. I still count it as one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.
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Good lord, I’m old…Sonny & Cher, twelfth birthday, 1972.
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The Association and Spanky and Our Gang, Cobo Arena, Detroit 1967
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The Sha-Na-Na at Wolftrap. 1976. So deeply uncool. Even – or especially – at 14 years old.
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Sting “Dream of the Blue Turtles” tour in 1985 with my first bf, both strangely anticlimactic
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Arlanta Rhythm Section – 1980. Jefferson Starship – 1981.
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ARS – Atlanta Rhythm Section here too. Also, with my Mother, Olivia Newton John in 1980.
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John Denver, 1974, in utero, my mom was 8 months pregnant, so I’m counting it 🙂
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Nazareth and Aerosmith – Rochester, NY – 1976
Steven Tyler was the sex!
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Eric Clapton, Yale Bowl, New Haven,1974. He came out in a bathrobe, it was raining and he opened with Let It Rain. Burned on brain. loving all the responses today. Nice walk down the lane of memories.
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Love it! Mine was Tiffany (arena, not mall tour).
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Kim, we must’ve caught the same tour. Captain and Tenille. Yup. Guess I’m as cool as you.
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Duran Duran at the Hampton Coliseum (VA) in 1984. I screamed through the entire thing.
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Peter, Paul and Mary with my parents. Such a wonderful memory!
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America at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC!). 1978
Lawn seats.
On a blanket.
With Bobby M. First French kiss. Yum.
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Rick Springfield, 1982. Mesa Amphitheater, Mesa AZ
Poured rain and we didn’t care one bit.
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Nice idea Kim, I love this!
My first was The Who, Jethro Tull, It’s a Beautiful Day at Tanglewood. The Who did Tommy. I remember listening under the stars. Summer camp took us, we sat on the lawn and my young mind was amazed by all the wine and joints passed around.
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Credence Clearwater Revival-Houston Tx 1972.
No, Elton John in 1971. Also Houston. And for some reasons those were the only concerts I went to…I’ve seen CR three times and Elton John 4 times…and not much of anybody else.
Did see Kiss in maybe 1976 when I took the 5 and 8 yr old boys next door. Their mother promised them they could go but wanted nothing to do with the going to see them. Basically my friend and I spent the evening trying to keep people from handing these kids doobies.
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Garth Brooks at the Rock County Fair in Janesville, WI. It was a save-your-spot-via-blanket-on-the-ground, before-the-fame-hub-bub-type of concert. In a true act of generosity, my older brother let me go with him and his friends and my mom took all her coins to the bank so we could buy the tickets. I cherish the memory! 🙂
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Bachman Turner Overdrive!!’
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George Michael, Faith tour, 1987. I wore a single dangly-cross earring made from the metal charm I yanked off my mom’s bible.
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Okay, this made me snort-laugh. Love!
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I saw that too! And my boyfriend was jealous because we girls were going on and on about how hot he was. Ha!
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Richie Havens at the Capital Theater in Port Chester, NY. It must have been 1973.
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Oh, dear. The first big, grownup, contemporary music concert? I think it was Genesis, 1992, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan. I went with the church youth group.
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David Bowie, Serious Moonlight tour, 1983.
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Corey Hart, 1987. This was in my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; we didn’t get a lot of concerts so when somebody came to town, everybody went. I was in grade 8 and this pretty much blew my mind.
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Sting, dream of the blue turtles (first solo album), in 7th grade, with two mom escorts, gloucester, ct.
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Janis Joplin. June 1970. Louisville, KY.
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Jethro Tull at Tampa Stadium, 1976. So many illegal things were in evidence. Tsk tsk tsk…
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Robert Palmer, 1988, at the Tulsa River Parks Amphitheater. The weather was so hot and muggy and we were right there on the water – as soon as the sun went down and all the stage lights came up it was like a Biblical plague of locusts. It looked like every bug in Tulsa was trying to get at those lights. So when he sang “Addicted to Love” at the end of the show he changed the lyrics to “Addicted to Bugs.”
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That’s hilarious.
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The Commodores, at the Summit in Houston, 1979.
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Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive Tour ’77. At a converted slaughterhouse on the outskirts of Paris.
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I saw that tour! My first date in a CAR. Did Hall and Oates open?
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MC Hammer with En Vogue. Late 80s, early 90s?
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A ‘festival’ near Wigan in Lancashire in 1972: Dr John the Night Tripper, Country Joe McDonald and the Greatful Dead. It rained all the time.
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Rolling Stones 1981 Boulder, Colorado and Heart opened for them. To be honest, the Stones wouldn’t have been my first choice, especially attending said concert with my brothers and our seats overlooked the OD infirmary. Yikes! About a month prior, I first heard Grace Jones, but was still processing that and definitely wouldn’t have the opportunity to see her live in Colorado. Yet, if it weren’t for such music by the Stones, Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie, I probably would never have gone onto Blondie, Bauhaus and beyond. Thanks for the “memory lane” opportunity and reading all the cool responses.
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It wasn’t my 1st but I saw this! The one and only time I’ve seen the Stones. Sniff.
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Alabama 1982
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It was the spring of 1990 in San Francisco and I went to see The Dead Milkmen. Who? They had a couple of popular songs such as “Bitchin’ Camaro” and “Punk Rock Girl”. My dad sublet office space to an indy concert promoter and got tickets for me and and I was able to go backstage and meet the band. I was also able to party with them after the show in various San Francisco clubs. I was barely 15 and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Luckily my dad let me go to just about any concert I wanted to while I lived with him and San Francisco in the early 90’s was amazing.
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I LOVED loved the Dead Milkmen. The lyrics to “Stuart’ still run through my head at inappropriate times. ‘He was a daredevil! Just like his old man!’
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I realize Linda Ronstadt was my first solo concert, i.e., without my mother. My father traveled a lot and, when he was out of town, I would accompany mom to the GSAC throughout the 70’s to see the likes of Liberace, Paul Anka, and Lena Horne. Oh, and then there was opera. Lots of opera. At the MET, starting in 1974 or so. Eight performances a year for about five years. (I had asked for a subscription for my 13th birthday . . .)
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Brooooooooooooooooooooce, Darkness on the Edge of Town tour, Cleveland, 1978, with my big brother! I remember crying during “Born to Run”.
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I just wanted to say that I have a friend who saw the Rolling Stones at the NYC Palladium (the one on 14th St) in 1965, age 14, because her best friend’s dad was the promoter. I’m pretty sure that was her first concert (although she also invaded the Plaza Hotel with a bunch of other Beatles fans a few years earlier).
She’s not really a blog reader but I thought she deserved a mention!
Thanks Kim, it has been so much fun to reminisce and read everyone’s comments!
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Bonnie Raitt at Wolf Trap around 1977, but I was there with my dad (he is the fan) so I don’t count it. My first show was Boston at the Capital Centre in Landover, MD. Can’t remember if it was the Sammy Hagar Band or Ten Years After that opened.
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1979, btw for Boston.
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Captain and Tennille. It’s been an something I’ve had to admit to my entire adult life. Nice to know I’m not the only one.
Just to top it off, my second was REO Speedwagon.
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1983: David Bowie (Let’s Dance Tour), opened with Madness and the Go-Gos at Anaheim (now Angels’) Stadium.
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Now I feel less embarrassed…Black Sabbath, Chicago, 1980 — Heaven & Hell Tour. Made quite an impression, although for the life of me, I cannot recall the circumstances of why I went. To this day, however, whenever I get super frustrated or angry, War Pigs is my go to song.
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James Taylor in Central Park with my mom. He was her favorite. I hated him, but she promised me a concert t-shirt, which was very important back then. It was the late 70s and I wanted to die when she yelled at the people on the next blanket for talking and smoking pot.
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The Jam in Spring, 1982 at Perkins Palace in Pasadena, CA (RIP)
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Ok I am very jealous. I did see Paul Weller solo though in Chicago about 10 years ago.
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Country Joe and the Fish, San Diego, in ’68 or ’69.
Fish Cheer anyone?
“Gimme an F …!”
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Elvis, 1975, in Asheville, NC. It was after this show that Elvis shot the motel TV because Robert Goulet was performing on a program.
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That is awesome.
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1983, Peter Gabriel, Security Tour, Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Following hours of deliberation, I wore baggy ankle-length army-green pants and a white button-down shirt (my late dad’s) cinched with a red channel-quilted sash belt. Unfortunately, I think I was still growing out an Olivia Newton-John “Let’s Get Physical” cropped ‘do that had been permed.
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Huey Lewis and the News, Alpine Valley, 1984-85? I went with my friend, her little brother, her mom, and her aunt. Good times!
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The Gogo’s/Flock of Seagulls. Oh the hair at that show!
Philadelphia Spectrum circa 1982 or 83
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I think I have you all beat: Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, at one of the amusement parks in SoCal. I was about 7 or 8. I like to think my taste in music has improved a bit since then.
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This has brought back a lot of memories. I remember being in high school (long before cell phones) and knowing exactly when tickets for the Morrissey show in Berkeley went on sale and not wanting to miss out. So I waited by one of the pay phones in the cafeteria with a roll of quarters to call the ticket hotline as soon as they put the tickets on sale. I think the people from the ticket hotlines knew me by name since I went to so many concerts in high school.
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Devo, Sonoma County Fairgrounds, followed shortly by Huey Lewis and the News.
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The B52s 1983 (I think) at Poplar Creek, Hoffman Estates, IL. The opening act was a juggler.
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I too was a Bob Dylan first-er.
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Styx Grand Illusion Tour in Birmingham. It was a Camp Fire girls outing. We kept our Camp Fire group going from first grade through HS. Around eight grade our focus became eating chips and onion dip and going to concerts:)
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I usually win this question among friends, but clearly won’t win it here. But still: David Bowie, Glass Spider Tour ’86
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The Jackson 5, Portland, OR, 1973! I was 7.
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Rod Stewart, San Antonio, 1979
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Sly and the Family Stone Madison Square Garden !972. Gladys Night and the Pips opened the show!
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First concert in a venue was Ozzy Osbourne with Black Sabbath at the Nassau Coliseum On LI. Opening act? Lynyrd Skynyrd! 1970 something, lol.
Billy Joel was around to listen to as well in Rosyln before he hit the big time.
Nothing like a live show…
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I was fifteen & my Mother bought tickets to the Rolling Stones show in Seattle. My parents then let me drive from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA with my college age brothers and their friends for the concert. We got in at 5am and they even let me skip school to sleep in. Thanks Mom & Dad!!
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B.B. King played at my high school located in the middle of nowhere. Why he was there I’ll never know….must’ve had bad debts or something.
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INXS in 1998. My best friend won tickets on the radio. So much fun.
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Oops, make that 1988!!
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New Kids on the Block. UNO Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA. 1987 or something like that.
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Ha – yay! Was looking for a NKOTB one 🙂
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Huey Lewis and the News – circa 1982 at the Petaluma Fairgrounds. I loved it!
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I was around 10 years old, give or take, when my parents brought me to see Neil Diamond. It was involuntary.
When I was 14, my best friend and I talked our dads into taking us to see Missing Persons at The Beacon. This was in 1984. Or 1983. Someone passed my friend’s dad a joint and he took a hit from it. My dad, on the other hand, slept the entire time.
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REO Speedwagon in 1981. It was one of my first dates and I ended up seeing just about every stadium rock band that came through in the 80s. Then I went to college and discovered punk rock and my mind was blown!
First concerts are memorable. I took my son to see Gogol Bordello when he was 10 and he fell in love with live music. Now, at 12, he’ll only listen to rap though.
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The Who, 1982 Oakland Coliseum
The Motels Monterey, CA the same week.
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U2, Joshua Tree Tour, 1987, at Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium. My cool older brother wouldn’t let me go with him and his friends, so I had to go with my dad’s secretary (I was desperate!) and her son….who turned out to be cute, so no loss there. Still have the T-shirt.
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Day on the Green at the Oakland (CA) Coliseum in 1983. The Police headlined along with Thompson Twins, The Fixx, Oingo Boingo and Madness. Long live the ’80s!
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Shaun Cassidy, at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver. (Oy!)
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With my parents: Willie Nelson – Michigan State Fair (late 70s or early ’80s???)
Without my parents: Echo and the Bunnymen w/ The Leather Nun – Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor (1988). I was really sick, but was NOT going to miss my first chance at going to a show without my parents.
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Nassau Coliseum, NY 1982 or 1983-
Squeeze Singles 45 tour, with REM and The English Beat opening. It was life-changing for this 13 year old!
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mid-’70s
“YES” in Passaic, NJ with my high school boyfriend. Very, very cool.
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Men at Work, at the Grand Old Opry at the now-defunct Opryland theme park in Nashville, maybe 1983?
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Carlos Santana and Eddie Money at the Boston Garden in the 70s.
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Loggins & Messina. But my claim to fame was scalping a ticket by myself to see Bowie’s Station to Station tour at MSG.
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Men At Work! I think 1983 at Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel NJ!!
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Are you telling me you actually saw the Captain and Tennille LIVE? I owned that very album, and let me tell you it was my prized possession in what was it, 1979? I liked it so much that I taped the album cover to my bedroom wall…only I neglected to take the actual record out before doing so. The record fell on the floor and cracked (I’ll refrain from comments along the lines of love not keeping that vinyl together.) Heavens, I hadn’t thought about C&T in ages. My sister and I both sported Tennille cuts.
(First real concert was Duran Duran in 1984.)
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Awesome replies and stories. My first was the Stones in 1981 at the Superdome in New Orleans with my dad. I was 11 years old, on the floor of the dome, 20 feet from the stage and at least 2 feet shorter than everyone else. I couldn’t breath very well but will always think my dad was the coolest.
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John Denver, Universal Amphitheater, 1974. Was taken out of camp for the night to attend. Waiting hours before Ticketron opened at Sears to buy tickets. Concert recorded and can be heard forever on “An evening with john Denver.” Will always cherish the memory!
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ME TOO!!! Captain and Tennille in Spokane, WA circa 1974 (??) during the World’s Fair, which brought some big acts to town. Also saw Neil Sedaka during that time, holla. First “cool” concert: Kansas. Lord, does this make me feel old. And kinda lame.
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Oops, I’ve been corrected. First was Helen FREAKIN Reddy. Oy. Capt and Tennille was later.
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Heart, 1980, Seattle. 11 years old, with parents and aunt and uncle.
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Styx, Germany, 1980. I was three!
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Not sure if this counts, The Spin Doctors at The Salisbury School. I think it was 1990.
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I saw John Farnham at the Perth Entertainment Centre around 1988. I was about 10-11 and wore a black denim pinafore dress. He was my first ‘pop-star’ love although he was quite ‘old’ at the time. He then made way for New Kids on the Block in my heart 🙂
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Led Zeppelin, Madison Square Garden, June 1977
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Jethro Tull, 1975, at the Capitol Center in D.C. with my boyfriend (we were both 16).
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U2, 1984. Aragon Ballroom, Chicago. Just before they exploded and had to play stadium shows.
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Elvis!!! In Ft. Worth, Texas!!! I was 10!!!!
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The Cure at the Southern Star Amphitheater in Houston, TX. 1984
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Carpenters! In our high school gym in Longview, Texas. Thought I was remembering/making something up, but turns out, google says there was a concert in Longview, Texas high school gym in 1976! I was 12. Haven’t been home since 1989 except for reunions but wow, we had the Carpenters. Love your answer, too.
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Def Leopard and Ozzy at the Morris Civic Center. It was the tour Ozzy bit the friggin birds head off. The 1st show my mom finally let me go to and with all boys no less. She thought the guy takin me looked safe Lmao. I had tix to see Ted Nuggent 3 times before that but she would always ground me just before the show. I did finally see him near 30 yrs later at the Hard Rock in Orlando.
Love reliving so many memories this brought back. I’ve been hunting to remember who it was I saw Bon Jovi open up for in Ft Wayne 86 I believe but it wasn’t 38 special. He had just become a super heart throb and we were pros at grabbing front row there. I had to elbow some chick to get off my back numerous times. We were crushed on that wall. Literally. Security had to pull us up to exit by way of the stage so we could get off that floor when he was done. I ended up with bruises from head to toe even the backside of my arms from trying to hold our spots. Crazy time.
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Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Tour, 1974
The Forum, Los Angeles
I was 13 and still remember what I wore. Yellow jeans with star studs on the pockets (bedazzled by yours truly). I stood up and sang the whole time, much to the dismay of the grown ups around me. It’s still hard for me to contain myself when my love for the music goes so deep – fortunately singing along is more encouraged these days 🙂
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New Edition at Westbury Music Fair, NY in August of ’85. Opening act was UTFO.
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