What was your first concert?

In terms of big acts:
David Bowie - Sydney Showgrounds, 1978. Still have the ticket.
Second one - Probably The Police at the Hordern Pavillion (1980)
I did see INXS at the Pickled Parrot Bar in Gladesville in 1980, but back then they were not big

Best one - Morphine at the ANU Bar (1993)

Worst - tough call - The Divinyls were terrible both times I saw them in Sydney Pubs in the 1980s (Family Hotel and the Cabramatta Stardust) - but only because the FoH mix was awful. Iggy Pop at the ANU bar in 1993 was singularly unimpressive.

The one that got away:
Turned up to see Nirvana at the ANU Bar in 1992. It was already full. Left. That gig is now legendary in Canberra because there was a riot, too many people inside condensation dripping off the ceiling and a glass wall was pushed out and the cops turned up.

Nirvana had booked the gig before they got huge, and honoured the contract - much like the Beatles tour downunder in 1964.

Whitesnake/Anthrax, Castle Farms, July 28, 1987

Def Leppard/Tesla, Battle Creek, November 3, 1987

Dio/Megadeth/Savatage, Saginaw, February 12, 1988

Megadeth/Warlock/Sanctuary, Kalamazoo, April 30, 1988

Van Halen/Scorpions/Metallica, Pontiac Silverdome, June 17, 1988

Def Leppard/Europe, Castle Farms, August 3, 1988

Metallica/Queensrÿche, Cobo Arena (downtown Detroit), November 25, 1988

Metallica/Queensrÿche, Battle Creek, April 14, 1989

Cinderella/Winger, Grand Rapids, May 1989 (couldn't pin down the date)

Metallica/The Cult, Val Du Lakes, July 1, 1989

Ozzy Osbourne, Castle Farms, July 7, 1989

Stevie Ray Vaughn, Val Du Lakes, August 18, 1989

Mötley Crüe/Warrant, Joe Louis Arena (downtown Detroit), December 1, 1989

Mötley Crüe/Warrant, Saginaw, March 16, 1990

Mötley Crüe/Warrant, Augusta Georgia (on my way to Florida for spring break), March 25, 1990

KISS/Slaughter, Muskegon, June 13, 1990

Whitesnake/Faster Pussycat, Val Du Lakes, June 23, 1990

Aerosmith/Black Crowes, Castle Farms, July 6, 1990

Queensrÿche (full performance of Operation Mindcrime rock opera)/Suicidal Tendencies, Joe Louis Arena (downtown Detroit), June 1, 1991

Megadeth/Anthrax/Slayer (Clash of the Titans Tour), Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), June 22, 1991

AC/DC - L.A. Guns, Palace (Detroit suburbs), July 2, 1991

Alice Cooper/Judas Priest/Metal Church/Motörhead, Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), August 3, 1991

Metallica/Metal Church, Palace (Detroit suburbs), November 2, 1991

Metallica/Metal Church, Palace (Detroit suburbs), November 3, 1991

Ozzy Osbourne, Fox Theater (downtown Detroit), February 13, 1992

Van Halen, Palace (Detroit suburbs), February 21, 1992

Iron Maiden/Corrosion of Conformity/Testament, Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), June 20, 1992

Metallica/Metal Church, Castle Farms, June 27, 1992

Ozzy Osbourne, Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), July 9, 1992

Guns n Roses/Metallica, Pontiac Silverdome, July 21, 1992

Black Sabbath (Dio)/Danzig, Pine Knob (Detroit suburbs), August 2, 1992

Guns n Roses, Palace (Detroit suburbs), April 13, 1993

ZZ Top/George Thorogood, Palace (Detroit suburbs), June 11, 1994

Metallica/Danzig/Suicidal Tendencies, Ionia County Fairgrounds, June 24, 1994


All good. No best. No worst.

Pine Knob is the best venue in Michigan for concerts. Nothing else in Michigan comes close. I guess these days they are called DTE Theater or something.

Castle Farms had the coolest history of all the venues in Michigan.

Whoa! Still have the ticket! And David Bowie - I'm green with envy.

LOL, were you a roadie? That's a LOT of concerts.

I was into heavy metal. I wish I'd gone to even more.

Not a roadie. I'd be following the same tour in that case.

I'm not sure why I stopped going to concerts. I've thought about going to concerts at Pine Knob again. I haven't done so though. Yet.

1958 - Conway Twitty. He was billed as rockabilly. His current record was C'est Ci Bon or Is a Bluebird Blue. Corpus Christi. Only 400 showed up. Down the road in Alice Texas Jerry Lee Lewis appeared at the same time. He had 8,000.

I also saw Conway Twitty. It was in Miami around 1960 at a concert called Shine of Stars. Shine was a spray on shoe polish, and a Shine label plus one dollar got you admission. There wasn't a labeled can of shine in town.

Oh, I swear the man sneered right at me.

What man? Who sneered at you? I'll come right over there and thump him. And did Shine work? Missed you the last few days, rog.

Yeah. Conway complained to the audience they ought to be dancing instead of watching him.

That's odd because when musicians here (and they are serious musicians) play, they don't want you dancing - they want you listening. My husband (who is an acoustic blues expert) frowns on me when I'm chatting with the girls. He said, if it's in the afternoon, you can chat; if you pay to get in, you listen.

But were I a musician, I'd love to see how my music swayed people. The more dancing, the better.

But, I won't dance alone, like some.

Conway did his hits first half of the show then went hardcore country after that. I didn't know any of those songs. I don't recall the audience being that enthusiastic.

Twitty, and boy did that man know how to sneer. I don't know if Shine worked or not. I don't think anyone ever bought a can. All anybody wanted was the labels. As promotions go, I guess it flopped.

Hawkwind 1979 Newcastle City Hall.

I saw Bowie in Milton Keynes.

My mates, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, were supporting him, but they didn’t get any special treatment, they didn’t even get to meet him.

first: The Who @ MSG, 1979

second: The Who @ Shea, 1982

will think on best and worst...

The Jackson Five
(Opening act: Gladys Knight and the Pips)
Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium
Fayetteville, NC
1974

Peter Paul and Mary concert at the Garden State Parkway in the late 60s or early 70s.

At that age Mary was hot hot at least to me, along with the great folk music the group product.

Wow, nice!

Bowie - jealous!