What was your very first concert?

[RossHolloway]

Are you from Kalamazoo RossHolloway? I'm from there though I didn't go to her show in 83. Didn't even know about it.

Yea, I grew up in the Kalamazoo/Plainwell area. Still have family there.

[BobC]

Timmy--that Rufus show was decades ago. I saw Chaka a few years ago here in Austin and she was fine--in great voice, and obviously not messed up.

I should relate the story of the time I was cussed out by Donnie Osmond.

[davidr]

I was not there but it was supposed to be the best,also their first performance at the Royal Albert Hall to coincide with the release of 'Reach Out - a great description of this in Sharon Davis' Motown book.

[tamla617]

i saw chaka in 79, i think chaka lp[[i'm every woman) was her current album, at the hammersmith odeon and she was outstanding.

[BobC]

Tam--to this day, "Love Has Fallen On Me," "Some Love," and "Roll Me Through the Rushes" are three of my favorite songs. I consider them some of the most memorable songs and performances of the 70's. I also love "Papillion" and "Clouds" from the following album, but after that there seemed to be more and more filler on each record.

[jillfoster]

I should relate the story of the time I was cussed out by Donnie Osmond.

I wanna hear this NOW! LOL I loved your story of Ross and Boy George, and how she shoved you aside. First concert? Heart... 1984. I was 15 years old, and was offered a hit off a joint by a third year med student. I still wonder to this day if he's out there somewhere tokin between patients.

[glencro]

Diana Ross in Rotterdam, 1997. I was starstruck when she came out....

I saw her for the first tiem last summer and the concert was INCREDIBLE!!!

[Penny]

You know I don't remember who I saw in my first concert. That is kind of embarrassing. My boyfriend and I used to smoke weed when we'd go to concerts consequently I don't remember everything too well. I hope that doesn't offend anyone here. I was a different person then. Don't smoke pot!

[BobC]

Jill--that was partially what got me interested in the Supremes story. I was working in a night club in Buffalo as a waiter, and Mary Wilson played there about a month after I "met" Diana Ross. I ended up meeting Mary after the show, and she was really nice to me, so it started me thinking hmmmmm. One Supreme shoved me out of the way, and another was really nice, so I'll bet their story is really interesting--and it was!

[nosey]

Don't remember my first show but it had to have been the Uptown @ 1966. I have to admit, my girls and I went to those shows to meet guys and there are only a few shows that I pretty much remember as we stayed downstairs in the lounge area most of the time getting our mackette on. LOL! But I was there!

[CliveR]

Little Eva and Brian Hyland [[!!), Woolwich, London, 1964, followed soon after by Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins + the Animals [[first live performance of House of the Rising Sun), then Bo Diddley, Everly Brothers and Rolling Stones [[yes, 3rd on the bill!) at Lewisham, London.......all recounted in my book- "Really Sayin' Something- memoirs of a Soul Survivor", if you don't have it yet, still available from Amazon and Bank House Books [[has anyone heard from Bankhouse Dave recently?)
Clive R

[jaybs]

THE FOUR TOPS! I was just 14, told school I had a dentist appointment and Mum I had an away football game and would be home late. Left school at 3pm and went to the railway station and got changed out of my school uniform [[ordinary clothes were hid in my sports bag) and travelled for the first time on my own to the Big City of Liverpool!

Even sat in what is still an amazing theatre The Empire I was so afraid but then soon went when The Tops came on stage and when LEVI first sang I was relaxed, never then did I think 6 years later I would be interviewing them on the radio for the first time, always playing their new releases [[even when not on the play list) that I would get the radio station to promote their concerts regularly and to know Levi personally. What a GIFT!

[texassoul]

Tam--to this day, "Love Has Fallen On Me," "Some Love," and "Roll Me Through the Rushes" are three of my favorite songs. I consider them some of the most memorable songs and performances of the 70's. I also love "Papillion" and "Clouds" from the following album, but after that there seemed to be more and more filler on each record.

Totally agree! If you have the chance to see Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, don,t you dare miss it! BTW BobC, hello from Houston. P.S. Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes were the 2 best concerts I've ever seen.

[nosey]

After some thought, I remember my first show. It was 1965 @ the Uptown seeing the 5 Stairsteps. My boyfriend at the time was from Chi Town so we were snuggled up in our chairs thinking we were so in love while the Steps were singing World of Fantasy.

[motony]

jaybs & nosey, great stories...Clive how was Little Eva in '64?I saw her late 80's & she was great...sang & sounded just like the records.

[nosey]

I met/saw Little Eva in 1964 while she was appearing on Bandstand. We met up in the bathroom and she had on a short prom dress wearing a tiara and I'll never forget, she was complaining that her feet hurt! She was cute as a button and was very down to earth. She came across as just a regular girl; no airs.

[ollie]

Can't really remember exactly the first gig i went to, but i do remember 1979 a Kiss concert in Philipshalle. Not my taste today anymore but i was young and foolish. 12 years old to be precise.
The first time i was really impressed and happy to be at the gig was when in 1985 Curtis Mayfield came to town, with the 'We Come In Peace' song in his bag. He also performed, 'Don' Worry If ...' 'Move On Up', and some of the Superfly songs. I was amazed by so much funky creativity, beauty and soul. He could sang all the high notes pretty easy.
Then James Brown, Parliament/Funcadelic, P-Funk All Stars, Bootsy, and Prince where among the baddest gigs i was present at.

[BobC]

Jill--I used to be a waiter at a nightclub in Buffalo in the late 80's called the Tralfamadore Cafe. I worked in the restaurant on the first floor, and the actual nightclub was upstairs where the acts and bands would perform. One night, Donny and Marie were playing the upstairs nightclub. We had a tiny little gay guy named Gene that we called "Waiter to the Stars" because it was his job to bring whatever food the celebrities wanted upstairs before they performed. Well, little did we know that Gene was in love with Donny Osmond--Donny was his life-long idol. Anyway--Donny and Marie ordered chicken wings, and Gene walked up the back stairwell to deliver the food to his idol. About a minute later, Gene comes flying back down the stairs, crying hysterically. To this day I am not sure exactly what happened, but Gene got so nervous meeting Donny that somehow he managed to dump the whole tray of RED chicken wings all over Donny's bright white costume!! What made this a very bad situation was that Donny had to do one show at 8, and another at 11, and he only brought two costumes with him--and now one was ruined! Donny was henceforth forced to do two shows in the same sweaty, stinky costume! I was sent up on a peace mission, bringing Donny a new tray of wings--and I was so young and dumb I actually agree to do it! Donny was livid, and quite nasty! He was so furious that he didn't even notice that I wasn't Gene [[Gene was about 5'4" tops I'd guess, and I am 6'2", 220 lbs) and bellowed "DON'T SPILL THIS ONE ON ME, YOU IDIOT!!!!!" or something to that effect.

Hee hee! Do NOT make me tell you about waiting on Rick James!

Howdy, TexasSoul!

[jive_turkey]

The Commodors in Tuskegee, Alabama 1985

[jive_turkey]

Hee hee! Do NOT make me tell you about waiting on Rick James!

Howdy, TexasSoul![/QUOTE]



Please do tell!

[BobC]

Oh alright. Since you're forcing me...

I was working dinner shift at the Tralf the night Rick James was filming a video in the nightclub upstairs [[I think this was shortly before he was arrested and went to jail, and I never knew what song the video was for). My friends told me that earlier they had sneaked into the nightclub to watch the filming, but there was so much weed smoke you'd think their was a smoke machine running! You could get a contact high just walking in!

Anyway, my girlfriend at the time, Kathy, was really beautiful and was working as a hostess at the Tralf and I was up front talking to her. Suddenly the doors fly open and it's frikkin RICK JAMES, shucking off attitude, Jherri curl juice dripping, and he's followed by an entourage that absolutely reeked of weed! All the women looked trashy but in a very show-bizzy way! Rick just swaggered over to me and my girlfriend and demanded a table for [[something like) 30 or forty people, without a reservation, on a Saturday night! When he noticed how beautiful Kathy was, he asked her "Yo--does your boyfriend drive a LIMO?" not realizing I was her boyfriend. "No I don't" I replied, staring at him, and he just started laughing!

Somehow we managed to scrape together enough tables for Rick's trashy entourage, and he ordered ten bottles of $45 champagne--and proceeded to tear up the place! They were laughing, carrying on, obviously very high, swapping spit right in front of horrified patrons! As I was waiting on Rick and company, Rick suddenly grabbed me by the arm, gesturing towards the champagne, and said "YO!! This champagne! Is that the best chit you got?" I responded no, we had Dom Perignon, but that was $100 a bottle. "TAKE THIS CHIT AWAY!!" he commanded "And bring me ten bottles of THAT chit!" As if we had ten bottles on Dom just sitting around in the kitchen! But somehow, someway, by begging the other restaurants in the area, we managed to scrape together ten bottles of Dom, and Rick never even said thank you! He ordered me around like Kunta Kinte for about two hours, until I was about ready to rearrange his greasy curl with a tire iron! Amazingly, though, he ended up giving me a huge tip and complimented the owner on my service!

[Ramone Verona]

I not only believe you, but it's obvious rick was here to remind us of how not to be "mr. bad example".

[BobC]

It was an astonishing experience. Unlike most celebs I've met, Rick was EXACTLY the way you'd think he'd be.

[splanky]

I'm not exactly sure but I think my first concert was Jr Walker and the All Stars at the Apollo Theater in Harlem opening
for the brand new hotness of The Jackson Five. Michael was a friggin beast on that date! All of the girls in the audience were pissing in their panties and I was as impressed as I was jealous... I have met more celebs than I can remember
and have known a few personally but reading through this thread I have to say one thing:

NOSEY! You met Little Eva?!!!! Now how dang cool is that?.....

[bankhousedave]

I went to my first live gigs in 1967. My mother used to wait outside with the buggy, obviously. First shows were at the Princess Theatre in Torquay and featured The Moody Blues, John Maus [[Walker) and Sue and Sunny. Then, the following week, Procul Harem - the week they went to number one. In October/November time, I went to the Hammersmith Odeon for the Blues Festival and saw Son House, Little Walter, Odie Payne, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Buddy Guy, Sarah Vaughan and many others - and met most o them afterwards. Litttle wonder I have never been the same since.

[BobC]

Who's little Eva? Is that a code word for Little Richard?

[splanky]

BobC...I thought you were kidding for a second and then it occured to me you may be
either too young to know or from somewhere other than the US or UK...Anyway,
Little Eva was Carole King's babysitter and a friend of The Cookies who backed her
on most of her recordings after she graduated from singing occassional demos to having
a big hit with The Locomotion. On this Shindig performance she's backed [[not nearly as
well IMO) by the Blossoms...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xufxK...eature=related

[dvdmike]

The Motortown Revue of 1963 at the Regal in Chicago, I was 8, so my cousins took me. The second concert was The Beatles at Comiskey Park in 1964. A school friend's dad could get tickets to stuff like that. We had decent seats, but we couldn't hear the music too well over the screaming girls.

The first concert I went to at a rock venue, I was 14. I saw Vanilla Fudge, Muddy Waters and The Rotary Connection at a place called the Kinetic Playground on Lawrence Avenue on the North Side. This was in early 1969. Later, that year I went back to see B.B. King, Albert King and Santana. I was supposed to go back again later in the year, but there was a fire and concerts for the rest of the year were cancelled.

[BobC]

I seriously never heard of her. I thought you were kidding. Oh well--now I know

[nosey]

Splanky, it was a brief encounter in the ladies room! Her pointy toed shoes were giving her a fit ala Pearl Bailey. LOL!

[KevLo]

Hi this is Kev-Lo

Sly And The Family Stone along with others At the Harlem Cultrual Festival Harlem N.Y. in 1969

[JimBagley]

I saw Tony Orlando and Dawn at the Valley Forge Music Fair when I was 11. It was May 1974 and they mentioned that they had a summer variety show that was going to air on CBS in a couple of weeks.

[dvdmike]

One of the worst concerts I ever went to was Blood, Sweat & Tears at the University of Illinois at Chicago around 1976. I was looking forward to seeing this show and the day of the concert, I was walking on the campus and these guys were walking behind me. One of them said, "What a great day it is to be David Clayton-Thomas." I turned around and that's who it was. Then in the opening number, he told the guy handling the lights to turn them down some. "If you was as high as I was last night, you'd know what I mean." I was immediately turned off by this, not to mention that they didn't perform any of their popular songs except "And When I Die." I was very disappointed.

[muzicmuse44]

Great Question! It was 1973 and i saw two concerts close to the same time so I can't remember which one was first. Both were at the Philadelphia Spectrum. One featured Earth Wind & Fire, Rare Earth and a group I can't recall. The other featured Masterfleet, Ripple, Graham Central Station and Tower of Power. TOP was the the final act, but GCS turned it out!

[arrr&bee]

The howard-1962-roy hamilton,the shirells good show.