First in the long series never to have another installment, First Ten …
Hi, Gheorghies. I am still alive, just been laying low and finally returning back to some resemblance of normalcy. Anyway, someone asked me a little while ago what was the first concert I ever attended. This got me thinking, could I list out my first ten shows? My first thought went right to The Cars show I saw in NH, but I was quickly reminded by my mom about my real first show. Now for your enjoyment, not really, it’s just filler. Prepare yourself for some poor grammar.
#1 - Shaun Cassidy - Some point 1977
Mom’s favorite artist at the time. Took me and my bothers to the show. Somewhere in VA/DC area – might have been wolf trap. Vaguely remember being at this show but remember that damn album cover with him wearing the cheesy ass sweater next to a piano.
#2 - The Cars - 1980 Summer NH – Hampton Beach SeaShell Amphitheater.
#3 - O.M.D. - Warner Theater DC 1984 (Set list)
First true concert where it was only my older brother and myself. He was a new driver and our parents let us drive into DC for the show. He’d never driven in DC before and proceed to blow through stop light after stop light until he realized the lights were on the sides of the streets. I do remember the opening band had major equipment problems. They had to restart/reboot their sequencers multiple times. This cut into the OMD set.
#4 - New Order /A Certain Ratio- DAR Constitution Hall DC 1985 (Set List)
Another journey into the district
with my older brother. I was disappointed with the show. This was in the early
days where they played everything in time with a computer for some of the sound effects and Bernard Sumner was drunk and sounded awful. It was a mess of a show.
#5 - Howard Jones Merriweather Post MD 1985 (Set List)
I actually did not like Howard Jones at the time, and still don’t. But my older brother and I began hanging out with some local kids who were also into new wave/punk music around this time. And one of the kids loved HJ’s music. So we got roped into this show. I’ll never forget getting a ride home in George’s Audi GT Coupe hauling ass back to Middleburg on all the back roads. I always wanted to own one after that ride.
#7 - Kix - Patriot Center VA Dec 1988 (Set List)
I know, wtf. Background, I worked construction in the summers with my older brother. He was invited to go to this show by some of guys we worked construction with. He bailed and I went in his place. These guys were in their late twenties. So not the best role models. Had my first pre concert beer. I later found out they were doing a ton of blow but thankfully they didn’t offer that to me. Memory of the actual show – probably typical heavy metal/hard rock show, i.e. girls wearing barely nothing, even in December.
#8 - Red Hot Chili Peppers Vanderbilt University April 14th 1989 (No set list)
I applied to a bunch of schools and got into a fair number, humblebrag. Little known fact, I was recruited to play soccer at Vandy after getting into their engineering school. My very trusting parents let me go on a tour of colleges with two other HS classmates that included a stop at Vandy. All three of us got, they went, I didn’t. One of the other guys’ older brother was attending Vandy and we strategically planed our arrive on campus for a Friday to enjoy the weekend. We ended up crashing at his apartment for the weekend.
The show: Vandy had a spring concert
that happens every year called the Rites or Spring. At this time the bands
played on the President’s lawn, basically an area like the sunken gardens or quad. Each of the guys from RHCP
came out wearing only a sock covering their genitals. Mother’s Milk hadn’t come
out yet, so all the music was the older punker stuff and they were just an amazing
fury of sound. At one point Chad, the drummer, shoved a drumstick up his ass
and then threw it into the crowd. First time moshing. We bought beer, served in half gallon milk jugs, from the bar near the football stadium as we enjoyed the show.
#9 - New Order/PiL/Sugarcubes - MerriweatherPost, MD July 1989 (Set List)
Amazing summer day. Forgot that PiL and Sugarcubes were the supporting act until I found the ticket stub. Drinking beers didn’t help my memory on this one. One of the last two shows before heading off to college.
#10 - The Cure - Capital Centre MD Aug1989 (Set List)
I have the ticket stub but not many memories good or bad. But this place was always loud, even for Caps games. Last show before hitting the Burg.
Honorable mentions: My memory seems to age like a fine Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler, poorly, but I know there were trips to the original 9:30 Club and The Bayou in there somewhere before heading to WM in the fall of ‘89. I can’t find any ticket stubs and I can’t jog my memory by chatting with my brother. He’s on another not speaking to the family walkabout. Got to love family.
But I can clearly remember him cursing up a storm as we circled
930 F Street NW trying to find the 9:30 Club for the very first time. Only to finally
figure out it was a complete hole in the wall and we’d driven by it 10 times.
After struggling to find parking for another 30 minutes we showed up 45 minutes
missing the first act completely. The actual band and show we went to see are in
a fog in my memory probably never to be retrieved. Must have been a crapy show.
Spotify playlist with a song from each head liner can be found here:
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7 comments:
I enjoyed reading this and trying to figure out the author before making it to the bottom of the post. My first show was The Monkees w/ The Grassroots and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap.
First show with friends was Aerosmith 89. First show where I drank with friends beforehand was Bob Dylan '90. I don't think I drank as much as Bob did though.
i may have had a beer before seeing the cult at hampton coliseum in 1990 . . .
Dave, I'll have to add that ticket stub to the post at some point today. I came across that one while digging through all the other old stubs.
successful mini summit with the oracle of the orf this weekend. i coached in a soccer tournament in virginia beach and stayed at chez whitney. good hanging with him and his peeps, and got to see his oldest for the first time in forever. she waits tables in a bar. so, apple near the tree and all that.
I grew up 20 minutes from (what is now called) The PNC Bank Arts Center. We would hit as many summer shows as we could. The Summer of ‘91 was the epic concert year for me and my high school buddies. It was the first summer that:
a) some of us were 17 and able to drive,
b) we could consistently get our hands on some sort of booze, and
c) b/c of the first two points, we consistently had females around who enjoyed our company
I think that we went to Doobie Brothers, Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Buffet and Steve Miller Band. There were party balls, fights, lost tickets, aggressive PDA and all sorts of other teenage nonsense. We always had lawn seats and were probably the worst people to have around you. Every show was a crapshoot, in terms of what would happen.
And on the way home, we would stop at the Exit 98 rest stop and eat pickles from the Fixins’ Bar at the Roy Rogers. Good times.
Your crew would’ve been awful to sit next to but not the worst I can think of. Brady/Shirley/Hartman/Brad The Townie circa 1993 would’ve been worse.
You left GP (“Crackbaby”) out of that group. Pretty sure I saw his lowlight in life - vomiting on his own crotch while sitting Indian style on the ground amid a mixed crowd, and then saying “Nah, it’s cool. I can still hang. I don’t need to get up.”
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