What was the first concert you ever went to? What's the best concert you ever went to?

I’m embarrassed to say that my first concert ever was Loverboy. The band I’ve seen the most times is Pink Floyd. The concert that I was most excited about was Pearl Jam. The concert that I hated and drank myself into oblivion over was Jimmy Buffet. The most over hyped was Lollipalooza (number 3 or 4). The concert that was most out of character for me that I enjoyed was John Denver. The most interesting social/cultural observation was the Grateful Dead. The best I ever saw was Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds at Duke University (without the band).

I dont remember my first concert, but the best was David Bowie. It was when his Diamond Dogs album came out. What a performer! He came out over the audience in a bucket like they use for electric poles. He was right over my head and I could see his black finger nail polish.

@chyna Bowie is at the top of my list as well. The first time I saw Iggy, Bowie was playing keyboards for him. We had first row seats…it was amazing.

First: Bryan Adams. I was in junior high and I went with my parents. It was just after Robin Hood Prince of Thieves came out.

Best: Nine Inch Nails at Red Rocks. I proposed to my (now) fiance there.

First was Jackson Browne (who im named after) when i was 6 or 7. Best hmmmm thats a hard question i cant even remember half the shows ive been to. Some of the best shows ive seen however were Rob Zombie, Justice, Buckethead with That1Guy, and David Bowie. They are all great in their own ways, but i dont think you could really compare any of them to each other.

My first concert (that I can recall) was around age 8 or 9, when my 4th Grade class was taken on a kind of “Field Trip” to the Masonic Temple auditorium, for a classical music concert, in conjunction with other 4th Grade classes throughout my Iowa community.

Part of the purpose for this, was twofold:

1. To introduce us to the joys of the classics (which I genuinely love), and to

2. Show us how proper Ladies & Gentlemen conduct themselves at concerts.

This was prior to the concert staged at Woodstock, which was attended by all kinds of “proper Ladies & Gentlemen,” of course, all of whom behaved exactly the way they had been taught in their own 4th Grade classes. [coughs]

Rob Zombie shows are always fantastic. So are Manson shows.

Now I wanna go to one…

My first concert was Blink-182—I was a HS senior and had to lie to my parents.

Best concert was Radiohead at the Gorge, right after “Hail to the Thief” was released…general seating was the pit and I could almost touch them, it was AWESOME!!

First concert: Bruce Springsteen. It was just shy of 4 hours long with no warm-up band. Spoiled me silly. I didn’t know that was not normal until I’d been to several more shows by other folks.

Best concert: Patti Smith. I would pay to see her again and again and again. Just wow! There’s something to be said for musicians who have been playing together that long. It was the real concert experience -one show with these people this particular night. That’s a feeling I find it hard to describe. Pearl Jam in San Diego 2006 was a close second. They were really great at the Gorge, but San Diego was better. We were hugging strangers during that show. I’ll see them over and over, too.

First: Metallica at Madison Square Garden.

Best: NKOTB and Tom Petty (all three, but lawn seating in the rain was particularly fun)

My first concert was George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers at Perkins Palace in Pasadena in December 1981. The best concert – by far – was The Kinks. They are amazing. FYI, the worst was The Police back in the 80’s – boring as heck! It probably didn’t help that we were in nose bleed seats at the Forum and could only see Sting’s shadow.

Whatthefluther, I would LOVE to see your answer to this question!

Worst concert: Robert Plant back during his first solo tour. Joan Jett was the warm-up band and she was awesome, but Plant came on and he was pretty much phoning it in. He was horrible. He kept motioning trying to get this girl to take her top off, and he was just creepy. I went in a Robert Plant fan who thought Joan Jett was alright, and I left thinking Robert Plant was a dick and Joan Jett was a goddess. Go figure.

@cyndyh We have similar tastes: Patti Smith is awesome.

@deaddolly: That woman gave me chills, and I think I fell for her guitarist that night. :^>

My first concert was some free summer concert at the local pier.
School of Fish and other random small bands were playing.
I think I was still in grade school at the time.

Best concert was probably Gorgol Bordello at Bottom of the Hill.
I’ve seen them since, but the energy at that show was crazy.

First concert: Bruce Springsteen

Best concert: Hard to say. I’ve seen a lot of good, live music. The one that immediately comes to mind is Dinosaur Jr. Watching J. Mascis play live is a life-altering experience. I’d have to look back at my ticket stubs to refresh my memory, but they’re in a box somewhere.

My first concert was Backstreet Boys…(lol)
And, so far, the best concert(s) I’ve been to has to be between Projekt Revolution when Linkin Park played, or the Radiohead In Rainbows show.

First concert was the Dead Kennedy’s at the Mabuhey Gardens in San Francisco. The whole SF punk thing was exploding and you just knew it wasn’t going to last.

My favorite concert has to be Kraftwerk at the Warfield in SF. Besides having loved them since I was 12 and finally getting a chance to see them, it was a joy to watch their equipment go bezerk and see them laughing about it. Electronic music from humans. Nice.

My first real concert was a reggae concert where I saw Bounty Killer, Shaggy, Buju Banton, and alot of other great reggae singers and it was awesome! I’ve been to an Eagles concert at MSG, that was really good…but I have to say the best concert I’ve ever been to was the Rock The Bells concert at Jones Beach with A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Redman + Method Man, Nas, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Wu-Tang, and others…WOWW!!!!!!!

1st- weird al
best- daft punk @ coachella

My first concert was in 1988, INXS at the height of their Kick tour and it was an incredibly good show. Since then I’ve seen many great shows, and there are 4 shows which I have a hard time saying which is my favorite.

One would be the first time I saw Pantera (saw them 5 times), they were co-headlining with Megadeth, and White Zombie was opening. At the time, Pantera was towards the end of their Vulgar Display of Power tour (which is my favorite Pantera album), Megadeth was towards the end of their Symphony of Destruction tour (which is either my fovrite or second favorite Megadeth album), and White Zombie was just becoming known, having just released their La Sexorcisto ablum (also my favorite of their work). So for me, it was like seeing 3 of my favorite bands at the height of their careers.

Next I’m going to mention a concert which matched the intensity of the aforementioned show, for a completely different reason. This one was Elvis Costello in 1999 (whom I’ve seen 4 times). He did not have an opening act, and he was backed only by his pianist Steve Nieve. Basically it was just voice and piano, and the occasional guitar, very vocal driven show. It lasted 2 1/2 hours and he did 35 songs. Obviously not as aggressive as the metal show, but every bit as intense. Also in a very intimate setting (about a 4,000 seat theater).

Third was the White Stripes in 2003, they did have an opening band (Whirlwind Heat) which was OK, but they came out and just did straight forward rock and roll for 2 1/2 hours, 33 songs, and during their Elephant tour, which was easily my favorite Stripes album. Again, extremely intense, about an 8,000 seat theater with great acoustics, and after the show, being 4th of July weekend, there were fireworks overhead when we got out, topped the night well. It was the only time I’ve seen them, but it won’t be the last if I have anything to say about it.

Last one I’ll mention was 2007, the second time I saw Prince. It was his 7/7/7 show, and he concentrated on almost a greatest hits show. He also did about 2 hours, 45 minutes, and ran through 30 songs (many covers). He pulled out Wendy Melvoin from the Revolution at the beginning of the show, and Sheila E on drums at the end. And just like the other 3, the intensity was amazing.

I don’t think I can pick one as my favorite, but if a gun were put to my head, I’d have to pick the Elvis Costello show. My reason has nothing to do with the performance though. It happened to be the nigh my wife an I got engaged, so I’d have to go with that.

And two of these shows…Elvis Costello and White Stripes were SO good, I tracked down bootleg CDs of them so I can listen to them whenever I want.

First concert: 1988, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince with opening band Technotronic. Beat THAT!!!!!

i forgot my first concert. :(
But i would kill for (plane) tickets for these bands:
Metallica
Pearl Jam
Tool

I think my first concert was Steve Miller Band, somewhere around 1976. Country Joe MacDonald was opener and Mr Miller was so intoxicated that they were sort of propping him up and singing over him. The best concert I saw was the Eurythmics, Annie Lenox is awesome.

big gig? Iron maiden.

first concert Dave Mathews Band. best concert Tom Petty

I think my first concert was the Allman Brothers at the Beacon with my dad (he goes several times a year).
Not sure which one was best, but I went to a killer Of Montreal concert on Friday at Roseland Ballroom. It was insane. At one point the lead singer came out on a horse. And the first encore song was Smells like Teen Spirit (it was amazing), and Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT came out for it. Incredible.

My first concert was also the Backstreet Boys (ahahaha!) Man… Ew.

The best concert I’ve been to so far is Tool. The second the show was over I wanted to go again. I hope they come back soon.

However, just for the sheer beauty of it, I loved going to the Vans Warped Tour in George, Washington at the Gorge. I felt high and no drugs were required. The main stage is set against what looks exactly like a mini Grand Canyon and it’s just overload for your senses. If a band I love were to ever go there, I’d probably just stand there in some kind of trance-like state.

@DrasticDreamer haha! backstreetboys? eheh they were pretty big when i was 12 i think. all of my female classmate went crazy for them. shit i wish i could go to a Tool concert…

First concert was HUM. This was after they had broken up and got back together to play a few shows for old times sake. I happened to catch one of them, and it was amazing!

Best concert would have to be the HUM concert, or Wreckage Before March. WBM is still rather small, but they put on one heck of a show, and are amazing live. Still though, seeing HUM back together, playing live, putting on a show, and doing a dang good job of it, was amazing as well. Can’t decide.

Who I really really want to see though is The Smashing Pumpkins. They’re probably the greatest band of all time. I never got a chance to in the ‘90’s, but now that they’re back together, and I actually like the new band line-up over the old, I can’t wait to get a chance to see them.

Hmm. Can you count a weekend folk festival as a concert? Cause that was probably my first. If not, it would have be the Australian band Jet, who were fairly average, and the lead up was Little Birdy, the lead singer was absolutely shit faced, but could still sing perfectly normally.

The best concert I’ve ever been to, and this is actually the best thing I’ve ever done in my short life so far, was Iron Maiden, in February this year. I broke the skin on my friends arm with my nails from squeezing so hard because I was so excited as we were waiting, and I almost weed when they came out on stage. Luckily I didn’t, that could have been awkward… we were almost definitely the youngest people there, everyone else would have been at least twice our age. It was f**king awesome.

my first was probably some country concert my mum brought me too. she used to loveeeeeeeeeee her country music, oh man. the first concert i chose to go to was britney spears, i believe, or aaron carter. (i’m not ashamed btw haha).
the best? oh my god, i’ve a concert junkie so this is pretty hard. peachcake was incredible. i will never ever forget that, i’ve never felt so involved in something, or just genuinely happy. i can’t explain it. of montreal was breathtaking too. like, breathtaking as in both beautiful and hilarious and just generally entertaining.

@shrubbery – I won tickets to see Jet a few years ago, which included a pre-show soundcheck and a chance to meet the band and have them autograph my CD. They were actually pretty good live, and they had the Vines opening, in a small club, so it was a pretty decent show.

@MooKoo – I’ve seen the Pumpkins live 2 or 3 times, I’m honestly not a huge fan of their albums, but they rock much harder live than they do on CD

@dalepetrie – Every one that I know that has seen them live, says the exact same thing. Their live is absolutely amazing! I’ve got a lot of their live stuff, and I think it’s even better than an actual album with some of the shows I have.

I’m also jealous that you got to see Jet. lol Another favorite of mine they are. I had a chance to see them about a year ago, and I regret not going every time I listen to them. =( lol

As far as I know, Jet is still together, so hopefully you’ll have another chance.

Hmm. They were good, but not fantastic. Eskimo Joe were better. Maybe I just saw them on a bad night. We are a small city down the bottom of Australia, maybe they didn’t feel like putting on their best for us :P it was still an awesome night though. and the lead for Little Birdy could still sing amazingly even though she was so drunk. I would have rathered the Vines as a lead up though, I’m jealous of you.

It was a small club (used to be owned by Prince), a lot of energy, great acoustics, and they genuinely seemed to be happy to be there.

That does sound a lot better than ours. It was in the city hall, over 18s down the bottom and us youngens upstairs on a balcony around the edges. Maybe it was just too big and too separated. Though it was the same for Eskimo Joe and they did sound fantastic. But yeah. Maybe it just wasn’t the right atmosphere for Jet. Yours sounds much better and I’m glad you had a great time.

It’s not that they’ve broken up or anything, it’s that they never come around these parts. lol Same with The Smashing Pumpkins. Alabama just isn’t really a concert kinda’ state sadly. If I want to see someone in concert, I’ve got to take a couple of days off work and out of school, which isn’t the easiest thing to do. =/

Well, when you graduate, you can always move! :)

Heck yeah! lol

If you can handle the sometimes soul crushing cold weather (may be hard if you’re from ‘bama), where I live up here in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, we get basically every concert imaginable. I really like everything BUT the weather here…in terms of culture, we’ve got dozens if not hundreds of live music venues, tons of museums and other cultural activities…there’s always something to do here, and the best part is, unlike other big cities that have as much to offer as we do, we are far cleaner and less crowded. It’s like having the charm of a small town atmosphere with the cosmopolitan aura of a big city.

@dale, funny that’s what I think of Seattle except for the overly-cold part. There are a lot of venues here for all sorts of music.

@cyndyh – yes, you swap overly cold for overly rainy…other than that, it’s a pretty good comparison though I suspect our job market might historically be better than Seattle’s

It’s actually not even overly rainy. It’s more days of drizzle and less inches of rain than a whole lot of other places. It’s usually not enough rain to stop you from doing anything. I think the job market depends a lot on what you do.

First concert= The Eagles (Hell Freezes Over tour)- I was in the 6th grade.

Best concert is tough to pick, but probably Radiohead at Bonnaroo…. if not I would say My Morning Jacket this past year at Bonnaroo, they played for 4 hours.

SO PUMPED ABOUT THE PHISH SUMMER 09 TOUR!!!

My first concert was Dave Matthews. But the best band to see by far is Phish. Nothing compares to the atmosphere of a Phsih show, and musical and improvisational talents of the band. Anyone who is a fan of rock music should pay every last dollar they have to see Phish during their tour this summer, it will change your perception of the band, and you perception of what a live performance should be.

First concert: Dwight Yoakam ( with my best friend and her great grandmother)
Best concert was by far The Eagles, it was absolutely amazing.

at a music festival where i went to a family force 5 concert. so cool and intense except for the fangirl trying to get in front of me by sticking. her. armpit. in. my. face. and. screaming. in. my. ear.

When I was 8 years old I saw Andres Segovia perform in Boston. The best concert was the Moody Blues at Portland Maine in 1994.

First concert: Madonna . . . Who’s that Girl world tour at the Madison Square Garden.

Best concert: Earth Wind & Fire . Everybody were on their feet, dancing all night.

I hope to get to see the Black Eyed Peas concert coming in Feb 2010 at Madison Square Garden.

My first concert was Donovan at McCormick Place in Chicago, and my favorite concert was the Grateful Dead in 94 at Soldier Field.

My first ever was The Tea Party. But I only went to it because Econoline Crush was opening for them and I was madly in love with them as a teen. (During Surefire and Affliction, and not all that crap they came out with after.)

Well, the first one was when I saw Iron Maiden in 2006.
The best one is probably when I saw Metallica 3 nights in a row in Copenhagen!

A violin recital

The first concert I went to was David Cassidy when I was 7. My friend’s mom took a bunch of us little girls to the show for her daughter’s birthday. Her little brother also came along. This group of us kids, plus 2 other boys played “Partridge Family.” I was Tracy and had a real tambourine. One of the girl’s dads, made her a keyboard out of a big cardboard box with masking tape for “keys” and one of the boys had a real drum kit and the other boy used a broom as a guitar. We would lip synch to the records. It was great fun.

The 2 best shows I ever went to was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young in the early 90’s. And a rare show by all 4 of the Monkees in late 90’s.

My first concert was Uriah Heep, at Western Springs, Auckland, 1974, the ticket cost $4.50.

My first concert was Survivor and Molly Hatchet. LOL

But one of the best shows I’ve ever been to, was when the Misfits opened for Megadeth on the Youthanasia tour. Great show!

My first concert was probably Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” tour. I worked in the industry for many years, but the best, for me, was George Harrison, with Ravi Shankar Family and Friends as opening act. I had heard Shankar’s Indian classical work on the “Bangla Desh” album, but this tour featured Shankar, Alla Rakah, Ali Akhbar Khan, and some other eastern musicians. The Shankar opening included some western musicians: Tom Scott, Klaus Voorman, and many others. It was world music before the term was coined.

My first was Elvis in Las Vegas. He was great, but he had someone singing the final key of all the songs for him.
My favorite was probably Elton John performing alone with a percussionist. He was remarkable.
I also really enjoyed seeing Eric Burdon in a very small club.

Probably my most favourite concert was Bruce Cockburn, Auckland 1983, an acoustic concert, very intimate, everyone seated and just Bruce playing his guitar, I had only just discovered him as a musician and the concert sold me completely.

Just recently went to see Megadeth with Rob Zombie. This may have just taken the lead for best concerts ever!

Update: I went to a OneRepublic concert and it was absolutely amazing! Worth the 3.5 hour wait!