How old were you...
 

when you attended your first show/concert? (a gig you wanted to see, not some christian pop group your youth minister and parents wrangled you into witnessing)

I was very unfortunate on this front and didn't see a band I wanted to until much, much later in life.

How young is too young? If a show is "all ages", what do you think the appropriate age is?

My 10 year old daughter has been to a show with me and she was, by far, the youngest there. I know this all depends on the venue. The show she accompanied me to, did have a bar, but it was outside the music hall and there was no drunkenness on display.

She loves Vampire Weekend and I am taking her to see them as well (on a school night). Same type of venue.

The announcements of these plans to family and others is sometimes met with a mild disdain. I see nothing wrong with it. I'm sure many of the 'disdainers' are imagining some type of rock arena concert and the fear of her being trampled.

What do you think?

First concert with the parents was Three Dog Night at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego I was 8. Was a pot-filled, drug induced, drunken stupor. Well for my parents anyway.

My first show was at age 12/1982 my parents bought me tickets to see Duran Duran cause I was such a prissy fanboy. I was pleasantly surprised how good they are live.

The same year i got to see the initial US FESTIVAL and was blown away. We camped out on Friday and Saturday in an RV. I got to see The English Beat and Talking Heads Friday night. Was the beginning of my deep profound love for anything David Byrne. Saturday night I got to see another band that would blow me away The Cars, The Kinks also performed and Tom Petty, not a bad festival really.

I was 16 and i went to Cali Christmas. everyone there sucked except Kendrick he did a real good job. i did see trinidad james an di enjoyed his song as ignant as it is lol

I was 11 and I saw REM when they performed a free concert in downtown Toronto, outside the Hard Rock Cafe. I was with my dad and there was no drunkenness or anything like that on display as it was out on the public street and the cops were around. That was in 2001.

Here's "Losing My Religion" from the same show (no, you cannot see me or my dad in the audience, although we were fairly close to the front)

The first concert I attended was Citizen Fish, I was 2. Other than that, I think it was th bluegrass fest when I was 9.

Fred, your experiences sound fun and interesting.

BD, you've inspired me to post the show we attended. My daughter is sitting in front of the bass player, but you can't really see her.

It was 1970, I was 12, and I'm embarrassed to admit it was Iron Butterfly.

When I was about nine my dad took me to see his favorite musician, Roy Orbison. The Crickets opened (without Buddy Holly obviously). I feel kind of lucky that that was my first show since it was only a couple years before Roy Orbison died.

August 6, 1967. I was 5 and with my parents in Montreal, Canada, attending Expo '67. We saw a free, outdoor, afternoon show featuring Jefferson Airplane (I was familiar with them, as they were getting a lot of radio airplay with "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love") and an opening act I hadn't heard of called "The Grateful Dead."

The first show I saw without adult supervision, was David Bowie at Boston Garden in Boston, MA on May 6, 1978.
As soon as I sat in my seat, the person sitting to my right handed me a lit joint and told me to take a toke and pass it on down the line. My buddy and me had people handing us lit joints left and right all through the show. There were so many people smoking weed, there was a marijuana haze throughout the arena. To this day (and many hundreds of shows later) it's the most pot smoking I've ever seen occur at a concert.
Some of the songs from the show, wound up being included on Bowie's "Stage" album, released later that year.
Recently, I found and downloaded a good quality audience recording of the entire show.

I've searched for a recording of the Grateful Dead/Jefferson Airplane show, but it appears there was no recording made of that performance, either by Owsley (the LSD chemist and soundman for The Grateful Dead, who recorded most of their performances while he was with the band) or any member of the audience.
I'm hoping a recording of that concert will surface someday.

First gig I ever saw was Marillion in 1988.
The last band to play here before them was Meat Loaf 6 years earlier so I made a point of going just to experience a proper live gig rather than out of any great love of Marillion. And because my mother worked at the venue & got me in cheap.

I only knew one of their songs as did most of the audience who spent most of the gig chanting for it, I spent most of it bored out of my skull. Other memories of the gig was that my friends Dad was doing the PA and my friend was telling us how much a c*nt the drummer was, also the support act was a local band called Unique which featured two big haired synth players and a big fat bald guy on vocals dressed up in what looked like Leigh Bowrey's cast offs complete with make up.
A bit like this in fact only without the belt & lightbulbs....
http://www.bankholidaycomes.com/wp-c...bowery_01.jpeg

It was also one of Fish's last ever gigs with Marillion, maybe even his last This gig was a one off after their main tour had finished and he left a couple of months later.

I feel it's great that you are giving your daughter the experience of hearing music live. If a show is advertised as "all ages," I'd feel comfortable taking someone as young as 6 years old as long as she *wanted* to go, since I can always choose for us to leave if I feel it isn't safe (or it gets too late), and she can ask to leave if she isn't comfortable, too.

The Blind Pilot show you took your daughter to appears (from the video) to have been very mellow. I'd have felt completely comfortable taking my similarly aged child to that.

If, like you say, the venue were likely to end up being physically dangerous (due to drunken revelry, smoking, etc.), then of course I wouldn't want to take a child there out of concern that she might get hurt and because I wouldn't want her inhaling any smoke. I wouldn't want to take myself there, either!

I was 17/18 at my first concert: Frankie Goes To Hollywood followed by Duran Duran. Fun show, outdoors, no smoke.

I was 13 and I went with my parents to see Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson at their minor league ballpark tour. It was pretty fun and my first (inadvertent obviously) experience around weed.

My dad is a professional Minister of Music so for practical purposes, I'm like a preacher's kid. So it's not to surprising that I didn't see what I'd consider a "real" concert till I was in collage.

I say good for you Katsy!

My daughter is almost 12, and I've taken and will continue to take her to concerts when we can afford it (they're so damned expensive now).

15. Slayer and Anthrax. Metaaaaaal!

29 and my first concert is going to be a music festival with electronica artists(Diplo, Armin, DJ Tiesto, Afrojack, etc).

It happens in two weeks.

This still amazes me dude.

meh it happens.

I wasn't fortunate enough to go to concerts growing up in my teen years and I just wasn't really interested in my early 20s.

I was 15 when I went to see Blink-182 alone (i.e. not accompanied by a parent) as my very first concert!

first concert i ever went to was the eagles on their hell freezes over tour!

i believe fleetwood mac mighta been with them

10 or 11 for Metallica, i got a bandanna, my parents were crunkin out, my ears hurt.

I was at my first concert when I was twelve. It was with my school, so I was kind of forced to go, but I was also at a festival and a Bruce Springsteen concert a month later or so.

i know you lived ion the reno area....this was not by chance in 94-95 and in Carson City was it?

my skin has turned green from this thread....Dylan and Willie....****ing Marillion WITH FISH....eh

mine was Chicago in 83 or 84 which would make me 8 or 9.....i slept through most of it

first show that i picked was Run DMC and Beastie Boysin 87 (i think).....my mom basically said NEVER again

after that was Ministry and KMFDM in 90.....i told them i was at the library.....til 2am......i was grounded for months

as far as what i think about you and your kid going to shows....i feel it's 100% up to you and what you want her exposed to....

14 years old when I went with my parents to a Johnny Cash concert.

Nice!

I guess i was 11 when i attended my first stage show..it was a group of band from the college up skirts to perform in the local school..that wasn't a great experience.

I was maybe 9 or 10 when I saw Robbie Williams perform in Cardiff. Great, great days

I was around 21. I know because I could actually drink. It was Children of Bodom, with Black Dahlia Murder and Between the Buried and Me opening. I've always been a recluse, so I just never gave much thought to going to concerts, then I heard on the local rock radio station that this show was happening the next day, and I was totally into COB and BTBAM (it was right around the time they released Colors), so I just got it into my head that I was going to this show and I didn't care how. One of the best decisions I ever made. Got wasted, moshed, and in general just had the time of my ****ing life. Only regret is that the Children of Bodom and BTBAM tour shirts I got are now too small for my fat ass. And I'm pretty sure my mom threw out the BTBAM shirt because it had a cat skeleton on it. Cause they're not a bunch of touchy-feely vegans or anything.

I didn't know they let children in for conjugal visits.

Not sure if you can find the show on this link, but Deadheads are usually pretty good about passing recordings back and forth. I searched many moons for a Nassau Coliseum show with Branford Marsalis and eventually came up it.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...yzVuGXDBU-BsBQ

Pretty cool poster for the show also with the Terrapin.

My first concert was The Pretenders when I was 17. katsy, I like the Blind Pilot performance you posted (never heard of that band before) and agree with you and Erica that it seems a serene, secure environment in which to introduce your daughter to live music. Same for Burning Down's clip of the REM concert -- the crowd doesn't seem the least bit raucous. My daughter was 12 when I took her to her first concert, (radio station) Z100's Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden. A group of her friends from school went with us. Destiny's Child, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Maroon 5, Good Charlotte. Oh, and Ashlee Simpson. Suffice to say I was glad when we got home! When my daughter was about 16, she started going unaccompanied by me to concerts with friends. I remember her seeing her hearthrob Jason Mraz and Jimmy Eat World and Paramore at that age.

Sweet 60

My father took me to my first Dylan gig in March 1966 at Kiel Opera House, St. Louis at the tender age of nine.

One drunk black guy with a big Afro jumped up in his seat and yelled "Give the drummer some!" when Dylan was playing Mr. Tambourine Man. There was no drummer.

Nobody seemed to know who Dylan was except for the people sitting in the first 20 or 30 rows. Those people seemed like beatniks and old fashioned folkies.

A few people were dressed in coats and ties and some women were wearing evening gowns, like they were going to a symphony event. It was one of the strangest concerts I've ever attended.

Thanks for taking the time to look up that link and post it, Fred.
Unfortunately, after striking out at Archive.org, that was the second site I checked without any luck.
I already have a copy of that poster. Although, it's from their 1995 summer tour, so I'm not sure why it shows up on a page for a 1967 concert.

I also checked the Jefferson Airplane site without any luck.
It's been a year or so since I looked around for a recording of that show.
I'll have to check again to see if it's shown up somewhere since then.

They don't. My folks were visiting me. I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

I can imagine you loved The Pretenders' concert, ribbons! :)

Katsy, I was thinking more about potential hazards for children at concerts.

I realized I forgot to mention the importance of making sure children (as well as adults) have hearing protection. Older children should use earplugs and younger ones can wear special earmuffs to protect their ears at music concerts:

How loud is too loud? Any sound above 85 dB can result in hearing loss:

Fact Sheet: Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Children

^ This reminds me to learn how to activate the noise limiter on the iPod my child uses as well as on my own!

Yeah I noticed the poster was a 95 show. Seems strange that such a huge show would not be included in archival footage, but adapting stuff from 8mm to digital doesn't always insure a good transfer of sound. I'm not sure if you've ever delved into the Mchenry Library? They also have tons of info/memorabilia/archives/recordings at their site for the Dead.

McHenry Library - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I used to be a massive dead/garcia band follower along with Phish. I think i've seen Jerry Garcia at the Greek more times on his own then any other shows combined. I realized at a young age his health was declining and never missed a chance to go.