Wednesday, December 10, 2008

You know, or perhaps you do not, I love finding out what peoples' first BIG concerts were. My friend Dave and I - completely by coincidence - share the exact same first concert, even though we met 20+ years past the performance date. And I just found out last week that my Dad's first concert was Janice Joplin, in 1968, at The Fillmore in San Francisco. He alleges that she drank an entire 5th of Southern Comfort during the performance, and the more she consumed, the better she got. Not shocking to hear, but truly amazing that he was there to witness it.

I've sat lock-jawed and wide-eyed through concerts by Prince, REM, Duran Duran (cough-cough), Jimmy Paige and dozens of other legends as they've taken the stage and hammered the house into the floor. But one Sunday, 3 years ago, a close friend called to see if I was available that night to catch Bruce Springsteen at Dodgers Stadium, as he'd won two tickets on the radio.

I like Bruce. Many of his songs blow my mind, yet I do not consider myself a fan. But that night, wading in the mass ocean of 50,000+ fans, he set the stadium lights ablaze and invited everyone to sing along to a little diddy you might know.

To this day, the most amazing concert-going experience in my life. So...what's YOURS?

4 comments:

fatozzig said...

Since I’m mostly a country girl, my first concert was Alabama in Bakersfield, CA, at the county fair. Went with The Hub, who was then The New Boyfriend, my brother and ex-sister-in-law, and a couple they were friends with. Had a great time.

My first rock concert was again with The Hub (he corrupted me in more ways than one), and we went to see Blue Oyster Cult in Bakersfield. I couldn’t hear for 3 days afterward. When I told my parents the name of the band I saw, my mom’s comment with bulging eyes was, “Cult??”

aartilla the fun said...

that song gives me goosebumps! even just now on youtube! (the bruce song).

the first concert i ever attended was Blur in chicago at the riv. it was pretty cool except some kids misunderstood the music and started moshing; i am very short so i got kinda pushed around which wasn't fun. we didn't have much in the way of live music in Dubai so Blur popped my cherry. i will always love Damon Albarn for that reason.

The best experience might be Beirut; his music makes you feel like you're amongst gypsies at harvest time. A bunch of kids in front of us started dancing, hand in hand, in a circle. And another bunch of us sang at the top of our lungs, in harmony and all, not to be outdone by the brass section blaring every cell in my body backwards. It was AMAZING.

-x-
aarti

Miki said...

.....in response to your comment......

Sigh. I heart Portland. :)

And thanks, for the most part I have been doing very very very well. This is a most minor setback for me. Keep warm. Say hi to Ann and big holiday hugs to both of you.

Stephanie said...

I don't know why you're coughing about Duran Duran.

It's a toss-up between Amy Grant at the Worcester Centrum in 1985 (cough) (in my defense, I was 12 and didn't even know who she was) and (hands-down) Neil Young solo in 1989. Yes. Yessiree.