Your first concert

[rockpile]

I think i'm the only person in the world who has never been to a concert. I have never had an interest in enough songs from one artist to attend a concert. I'm not in awe of any music artist out there right now either.

 

Do you like music?

 

I am not in awe of music artists, but live music is what it is all about. It can be an obscure trio at a dinner theatre, some guy plinking keys in a dive club. When done right it is different every time.

 

I put down 75 cents to see an unknown band once and it was Aerosmith before they were a hit.

 

Concerts with Leon Russell, Taj Mahal, David Bromberg, Jetro Tull, Grand Funk, the Who, the Clash, Holy Smoke, Santana, Dave Matthews, Bela Fleck, Dave Brubeck, Rusted Root, Weezer, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Goldfinger, The Band...

 

Hell, Taj Mahal did one show solo (piano, guitar, dobro, banjo), the next time I saw him it was funk band, the last time it was jazz/blues fusion band.

 

The Jefferson Airplane played until the arena turned off power to their amps.

 

The Crash Test Dummies put on a show that makes their CDs seem inadequate.

 

Bela Fleck and his Band came on stage with Dave Matthews Band to jam to "Ants Marching" in the encore.

 

Jethro Tull chanted and only a few of us picked up on it and joined in to "A New Day Yesterday".

 

John Bonnamasso played a Hendrix style version of that same Tull song.

 

An obscure local band was playing in Niagara Falls, and Neil Young joined them for a few songs - IN A RESTAURANT!

 

This stuff cannot happen in a recording studio!

 

Only listening to music and never seeing it performed live is like watching people have sex instead of having sex! You are missing the heart, passion, and soul of the music!!

[rockpile]

I must be the oldest concert goer here.

 

First >>> Dave Clark 5 at Kleinhans.. 1964 or 1965...

 

Fav in Buffalo >> Led Zeppelin 1973 at the Aud ......Guess Who at Darien Lake

 

Fav in College>>> Allman Brothers (Duane's last concert 1971),,,warmup was Luther Allison and he was incredible

 

Latest fav >>> Trans Siberian Orchestra...entertaining as all get out

 

Until I saw this, I thought I was old!

[rockpile]

Probably the best was Commander Cody at the Tralf, sometime in the mid 80's

 

I saw Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen and The New Riders of the Purple Sage on the same Bill at UB in 1971.

 

To get high that night, you only had to breathe!

[MarkyMannn]

Anyway, taking this thread dwon memory lane, who remembers Talus? Found this about Stage One on a website. Holy Chit, U2 opened for Talus at stage one...wow

 

Brothers Danny & Rocco Oliverio on drums at the Poor House East in Williamsville, NY. Years later it would be a showcase room called Stage One. Groups such as U2, The Police, The Ramones, Aerosmith, Judas Priest and more would play there. U2 actually opened for Talas when they first came to America.

 

We must be of the same age and time. Your other post in this thread about the Niagara St bar and Pegasus, that was McVans at the corner of Niagara and Hertel. Huge old place, a real dump, expensive prices and hot waitresses. I seem to remember them as all sisters too. Had to see Rasputin there too, a KISS cover band complete with the dress too. Just awesome.

 

Spell it right, Talas. At the Barrelhead, He&She's, Afterdark too. Kleinhans reunion concert. Missed the one at the waterfront a few years back. Check out Billy Sheehan's web site for old Talas pictures, he has a ton of them, sure to bring back memories. Billy S

 

Rocco still plays locally, check out "Ron Rocco's 9 Lives" is his band

 

If you have an interest in local cover music, this is the BEST

[MarkyMannn]

First concert was Billy Squier with Ratt opening. I believe I was in the 6th or 7th grade at the time and went with my older brother. At the time I was very impressed and had a blast.

 

Ex bass player of Ratt lives and plays in Buffalo. Recent Buffalo Music Award "BMA" winner. Joey

 

Silver Extreme is a great local band, go see them

 

All you people here, get out and support the local music scene!!! Too many people's typical weekend is just going to some restaurant and stuffing themselves with food you shouldn't be eating any way

[MarkyMannn]

I saw The New Riders of the Purple Sage on the same Bill at UB in 1971.

 

They are coming here in a couple weeks, Club Infinity I believe it is

[MarkyMannn]

Fav in Buffalo >> Led Zeppelin 1973 at the Aud ......

 

Few years later Led Z was touring and coming to Buffalo. I had some of the first tickets sold when ultimately they cancelled due to Plant's child's death. My favorite all time band and that was the closest I ever came to seeing them

 

First concert, Deep Purple at the Aud in '73 promoting the Machine Head album. Others I saw:, Kiss, Bad Company, Stones, Kansas, Aerosmith, Chicago, Doobie Bros, Rush............then sat out the concert scene for like 25 years, last year I went and saw Bon Jovi, excellent!

 

Damn, I guess I really found a thread I got a lot to add to

[The Dean]

Few years later Led Z was touring and coming to Buffalo. I had some of the first tickets sold when ultimately they cancelled due to Plant's child's death. My favorite all time band and that was the closest I ever came to seeing them

 

First concert, Deep Purple at the Aud in '73 promoting the Machine Head album. Others I saw:, Kiss, Bad Company, Stones, Kansas, Aerosmith, Chicago, Doobie Bros, Rush............then sat out the concert scene for like 25 years, last year I went and saw Bon Jovi, excellent!

Damn, I guess I really found a thread I got a lot to add to

 

 

Wow, you had an excellent thread-streak of promoting local music and the you went an threw your credibility into question with THIS? Freakin' Bon Jovi?

 

 

I wish there was a head-shaking smiley.

[bbb]

I've seen Springsteen 14 times, The Who and Seger 7 each, and others like Stones, Rod, Mellencamp, etc. 4-6 times each.

 

Who has seen the same band (non local) the most times?

[The Dean]

I've seen Springsteen 14 times, The Who and Seger 7 each, and others like Stones, Rod, Mellencamp, etc. 4-6 times each.

 

Who has seen the same band (non local) the most times?

 

 

I don't know. Who?

[bbb]

Yeah, you're right - I wish there was a head shaking smiley.

[Chilly]

That's understandable. They were, after all, blue.

 

What? I was who?

[smokinandjokin]

I've seen Springsteen 14 times, The Who and Seger 7 each, and others like Stones, Rod, Mellencamp, etc. 4-6 times each.

 

Who has seen the same band (non local) the most times?

 

I think for me it's the Allman Bros, probably about 11 or 12 times.

[TPS]

BEST

Pearl Jam - '04 HSBC

 

I'd always like PJ but never saw them until then. That definitely was one of the best shows I'd ever seen and got me officially addicted...

[TPS]

Do you like music?

 

I am not in awe of music artists, but live music is what it is all about. It can be an obscure trio at a dinner theatre, some guy plinking keys in a dive club. When done right it is different every time.

 

I put down 75 cents to see an unknown band once and it was Aerosmith before they were a hit.

 

Concerts with Leon Russell, Taj Mahal, David Bromberg, Jetro Tull, Grand Funk, the Who, the Clash, Holy Smoke, Santana, Dave Matthews, Bela Fleck, Dave Brubeck, Rusted Root, Weezer, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Goldfinger, The Band...

 

Hell, Taj Mahal did one show solo (piano, guitar, dobro, banjo), the next time I saw him it was funk band, the last time it was jazz/blues fusion band.

 

The Jefferson Airplane played until the arena turned off power to their amps.

 

The Crash Test Dummies put on a show that makes their CDs seem inadequate.

 

Bela Fleck and his Band came on stage with Dave Matthews Band to jam to "Ants Marching" in the encore.

 

Jethro Tull chanted and only a few of us picked up on it and joined in to "A New Day Yesterday".

 

John Bonnamasso played a Hendrix style version of that same Tull song.

 

An obscure local band was playing in Niagara Falls, and Neil Young joined them for a few songs - IN A RESTAURANT!

 

This stuff cannot happen in a recording studio!

 

Only listening to music and never seeing it performed live is like watching people have sex instead of having sex! You are missing the heart, passion, and soul of the music!!

 

F'n great post!

I'm going to find something to go to this weekend just to honor its sentiments.

[stinky finger]

1st concert....Foreigner....8th grade

 

Favorite.....Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985, I believe......showed started at 10:00AM w/ Black Sabbath.....I loved BS growing up, but they were awful that morning.....I was both thrilled and surprised that Zepplin played in the states as opposed to Wembley, England where other bands had played. Phil Collins had played in Wembley earlier in the day then boarded the Concord to fly over to the states and promptly introduced Zepplin and stayed on to play drums. What a thrill.

[MarkyMannn]

Wow, you had an excellent thread-streak of promoting local music and the you went an threw your credibility into question with THIS? Freakin' Bon Jovi?

I wish there was a head-shaking smiley.

 

Well I'm just "Living on a Prayer"

[R. Rich]

First was Kiss at the AUD in 1978. My Uncle took me and I've been a fan ever since.

 

 

Kiss was the first group I got to see on my own, when I was 'bout 10 and they were playing @ the 'Gloo in Pittsburgh (Civic Arena). I've seen them perform 5 or 6 times live, I believe.

 

Favorite ever? Tough call. There have been so many good shows I've seen over the years that I can't narrow it down to one. Here's a few:

 

Luther Vandross ('bout 10 times total)-RIP

Gerald LeVert (once w/ group, once solo)-RIP

Ahmad Jamal (once)

Overdose (once)

Public Enemy ('bout 5 times)

BB King (once, but he's playing here in August and we have tickets)

Sade (once)

Run DMC (3 or 4 times, I think)-RIP Jam Master Jay

George Clinton (once)

Living Colour (twice)

[Kelly the Dog]

Greatest concert ever has a story behind it...

 

I am a huge Warren Zevon fan and had seen him live several times, usually in bars, including one great show at The Tralf. I heard somewhere that he was going to play in LA (this was a few years ago) but couldn't find out where the show was. I searched everywhere and I knew the date but it wasn't listed. It got to be one of those obsession things where I wasn't going to be denied finding out where the show was even if I didn't go, and then, on an obscure Zevon online fan site I saw one reference to it, at a place called, IIRC, "Studio 55" in Hollywood.

 

I had never heard of the venue and looked it up but there wasn't any listing for that either. This was getting too weird. Then I called information and got the number for it. A woman answered with just "hello" and I asked about tickets for tonight's Warren Zevon show. She seemed a little surprised and then explained that there were no tickets, Studio 55 was a recording studio, and tonight was just a radio promotion where 50 lucky listeners were given passes to see Warren warm up for a European tour he was about to go on just after he released his latest CD, which has one of the greatest titles ever, "Life'll Kill Ya." I said, damn, that sounds awesome. She asked who I was going to go with and I said either my girlfriend or this other friend I know who loves Zevon. The woman said she owns the recording studio and that if I came by myself, she would just leave my name at the door and let me in for free. That I sounded like a real fan.

 

So I go to the place, and there is a line out the door because they haven't let anyone in yet. I am the only one on the guest list and they let me in first. The woman says hi but she is super busy and that's the last I saw of her the whole night. The thing is a tiny studio which had a lot of history, apparently Elvis recorded one of his famous songs there. It literally holds no more than 50 people and there is a tiny stage in a recording room the size of your living room. It's also catered and there is free wine and beer and food.

 

I am standing right in front, the closest person to the small stage, no more than two feet from Zevon when he starts to play guitar. It's just him and a piano and about three different guitars. The thing lasts for a couple hours and it's just awesome. He's joking with the people there, including me, and it's unbelievable to see a guy like that two feet away, live, with amazing sound. But that's not even the best part.

 

He starts to play this song which was on his latest CD, but just plays a guitar part without singing. I recognized it but he just played it as an instrumental, the whole way through. As soon as it was over, he pressed his foot down on this little button on some contraption at his feet, and then started playing the song again, but a different guitar solo. It quickly became apparent that he recorded it live and it immediately played back over the sound system in a loop. So the earlier version he just played could be heard over the sound system as he played the new version. But he still didn't sing.

 

Then he did it again.

 

Pretty soon, people understood what was happening and it was friggin' awesome. The fourth time he played the guitar, he started to sing, and all three of the earlier versions played over the sound system at once so it sounded like a four piece guitar band. It was by far the coolest and best musical performance I had ever seen. Everyone around just had their jaws on the ground, as he's a tremendous musician as well as performer and songwriter.

 

That was quite a night.

[smokinandjokin]

Greatest concert ever has a story behind it...

 

I am a huge Warren Zevon fan...

 

That was quite a night.

 

That sounds like it was effing awesome.