I went to Ozzy the other night with my girlfriend and her niece who is 12. This was mainly for her because she is not only a great kid, but a total metal head. It's sparked a bit of a discussion on the Houston Press blog about first concert experiences. http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2011/01/yngwie_and_ozzy_nothing_beats.php "How long will it be before I get my hearing back?" My girlfriend Cathy's 12-year-old niece, Jade, asked me that question Monday night after the final strains of "Paranoid" had finished reflecting off the walls of the Toyota Center. "It will probably be a couple days," I said. For Jade, Ozzy Osbourne was her first real concert experience. She had been to shows at the rodeo, but those are nothing compared to seeing the "prince of ****ing darkness" in person. Hearing her question, I felt an odd symmetry knowing that 27 years earlier, I asked the same thing of my best friend's older brother at my first concert. Late one night in the summer of 1984, my ears were ringing badly. At barely 15, I had been to a handful of rodeo concerts in the Astrodome, but those were with my parents, an experience only slightly more rock and roll than going to the circus. I was a big music fan and the music I loved the most was heavy metal, so I went with my best friend and his older brother to see Yngwie Malmsteen and Talas at legendary Houston music venue Cardi's. I remember the smell of the smoke in my clothes and that high-pitched squeal in my ears, both experiences I would repeat dozens more times throughout my life. I have very clear memories of the songs that were played, where we were standing and what the stage looked like. To this day, I cringe when I think that familiar location at the corner of Westheimer and Fountain View is now a karaoke bar. On Monday night, I got to witness that thrill of seeing live music in person for the first time. Like the 15-year-old version of myself, Jade loves music and has amassed an amazing store of knowledge on the subject. At dinner before the concert, she was thumbing through the iPhone of Cathy's friend, Jennifer, and paused on a song by the Alan Parsons Project, who she thinks is "cool." When I asked if anyone knew what Parsons had done prior to forming that band, Jade quickly responded, "Pink Floyd." I would have been amazed that she knew Parsons was the engineer for Dark Side of the Moon had I not already seen her answer similar music trivia questions numerous other times. And she wants to know more. "Which song is this?" she asked at the beginning of "I Don't Know." When I told her, she said, "Oh, yeah, from Blizzard of Ozz." Watching the fingers of guitarist Gus G blazing across the fretboard on the big video screen during the solo for "Flying High Again," she leaned over and asked, "Why doesn't Ozzy play with Randy Rhoads anymore?" She thought it was "sad" he died in a plane crash but didn't want to know the details because she hadn't reached that part in the Osbourne autobiography yet. Did I mention she is reading it? During the show, I caught her glancing my direction and looking around at the rest of the crowd as we all banged our heads in unison and flashed the "devil's hand." Slowly, and with some caution, she joined us. Talking to Cathy later, I thanked her for getting the tickets and inviting me not just because the concert was great (it was) but because I felt like I got to relive the first concert experience through Jade. From the grand spectacle of the noise and lights to the annoying reality of long T-shirt lines, the tangible realization for her that this was actually happening hit me when she asked, "Is that really Slash?" In Jade, I recognize a fellow traveler, someone who approaches music with the same joy and childlike curiosity. When I was an awkward teenager, confused about who I wanted to be, music gave me focus. It helped me to see that there were other people out there who were like me and feel less alone. When Cathy asked Jade weeks ago what her friends thought about her going to the concert, she said they didn't know who Osbourne was. Rocking out with a crowd of screaming metalheads on Monday night, I hoped she might be experiencing similar feelings of belonging, and I thought about Dewey Finn in School of Rock saying, "One great rock show can change the world," especially the world of kids like Jade and kids at heart like me.
12 year old metal head...wicked! Props for the School Of Rock reference! Mine... 86, Depeche Mode, Astroworld Twas awesome!
Green Day, Insomniac Tour, probably 95/96. at the astro arena I think. I enjoyed it but was a little intimidated.
Great read. I think mine was also Depeche Mode at Astroworld but it was in 89 or something with O.M.D. opening for them. That was pretty awesome too.
It was around 1987 for either Rush for Hold Your Fire or Jethro Tull for Crest of a Knave. I was 16 or 17 at the time. Both concerts were at The Summit. :grin:
My Dad took us kids to see the Jackson 5 at the Arena Theater back in the 70's. I don't really count that because I was just a dumb kid and didn't really know what was going on. But how many people can say they saw the Jackson 5? First real concert was Night Ranger at Astroworld. I remember seeing the drummer set up on the side of the stage (instead of the back) and he was singing. I said to myself "man, THAT'S what I want to do."
I was at that Night Ranger show. They played there twice and I saw them both. Was yours the one with Starship opening? God help us.
I always have to wear earplugs at concerts. After 30 minutes of loud noise, I often get a somewhat painful reverberation feeling in my left ear. It happens at parties sometimes too, with lots of people talking loudly at once.
Well if we don't count the rodeo performances I saw, then I guess my first show at a club type thing was the all ages Judy's show. After that Big Country was the first concert I saw, and The Kinks were the second.
I saw The Church at the coliseum -- Peter Murphy (Bauhaus) opened. This was my first real show -- I did see Elvis at the rodeo when I was really young, but didn't understand the significance at the time. I think he died less than a year later.
That sounds familiar, but I'm not sure. What I DO remember is that they ended with Still Rock in America and they dropped this HUGE American flag in the middle of the song and the place went crazy. LOL. Astroworld putting on concerts was really a great thing. It made it possible for kids our age to go to concerts that we otherwise wouldn't be able to go to if they were at, say, the Summit. Never got to see them live, but we used to listen to them every morning on the way to school. Guyana punch, ah ooohhh Funny, one of my friends plays in a band with a guy that played drums with them for 3 years. The guy that stands up when he plays.
Frank Zappa, Hofheinz Pavillion, October 11, 1975, general mayhem and champion baton twirler onstage One helluva great show.
Was there also. Pretty impressive being on the floor of the dome. SRV opened the show if I recall and was blistering.
