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HMXers' First Concerts: Part II

Filed under: Behind the Scenes / 9 comments

If you've read Part I of our HMXers' first live concert article series, you may have thought to yourself, "Man, they all have awesome stories." If your first concert was average, fear not - not all of us had mind-blowing first concerts. The rest of us had vaguely normal first-time experiences.

"The Radio 104 'Earth Day' show in Hartford around 2000. I was 14 and didn't have any idea who any of the bands were (Goldfinger, Nine Days, and Vertical Horizon were among them). I was there because I was extra excited to be able to hang out with my older brother and his friends. There was an incredible amount of literal mud slinging. Vertical Horizon refused to take the stage, and the show closed down early. I'm pretty sure it was the last Earth Day show the radio station put on." – Whitney Sternberg, QA engineer
"Violent Femmes open for P Funk at Tufts University, $5.00 show, freshman in high school. – Tim Zylicz, G&A coordinator
"My first show was the Offspring during their Smash tour, whatever year that was; I was in 4th or 5th grade. My brother and I went with a few neighborhood friends and our parents, who probably regretted the decision by the time the band finished 'Bad Habit,' corrupting our young little minds. I got to stay up past my bedtime, and go into school the next day with my new t-shirt from the show, so obviously it was great." – Joe Kelly, Composer / Sound designer
"The first live concert I attended was R.E.M.'s Green tour in 1990. I was 14 and my sister was going with her friend and I begged her to bring me. Until I discovered Green, I had no actual taste in music - I pretty much only listened to goofy novelty albums. Suddenly, I realized I was into "Alternative Music", or, as we called it back then, "Post Modern Music". I listened to that cassette so many times that all the writing wore off of it." - Jeff Chausse, Web director
"I saw Smashing Pumpkins on the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness tour. And it was a school night. – Nate Stoddard, QC coordinator
"First" concert was Kenny G . . . a guy's got to do what a guy's got to do." – Kevin McGinnis, Senior artist
"My first concert was a Barenaked Ladies show during their Maroon tour. I think I was 13 or 14. Honestly, I wasn't even a fan at the time, and my sister dragged me to the concert. However, they put on a really good show, and I ended up becoming a fan. I ended up seeing them a couple more times, and they were just as good every time." – Tom Brown, QA tester
"My first concert was R.E.M. on 9/11/99. R.E.M. blew away the crowd, this being the last show of the Up tour. The stage was filled with neon signs that were a chaotic assortment of weird images that suited the Up tour quite nicely. It still stands out as one of my favorite performances ever, if only because I got to witness 'Radio Free Europe' played for the first time in years. Stipe sang 'Leave' a capella while the rest of the band was offstage getting ready for the enormous encore, and man... I can't even describe how awestruck I was. They ended the encore with 'It's the End of the World As We Know It,' just to make sure everyone's voices were thoroughly destroyed. I know mine was." – Brian Crombie, IT support assistant
"I saw Harry Connick, Jr. and His Funk Band at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The tickets were a present from my parents for my eleventh birthday." - Christine Jandreau, Production assistant, web
"Either Foreigner or Loverboy, I can't remember which was first." – Matthew Nordhaus, Senior producer: design

Stay tuned for Part III and share your concert stories in the comments.

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Witticus...

When I was 14, my first concert was 3 Doors Down in a cold windy field in Ft. Gordon, Ga. It was 2002, right befor their 2nd CD came out. It was cool, because it was the first time I could ever rememeber a band actually playing in Augusta, let alone one I had heard of.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Bungo...

My first real concert was Bruce Springsteen on the very last night of the Born in the USA tour. He and the E Street Band played for about three hours, and it was simply mind blowing. I was a freshman in college, finally getting into music, and this concert showed me what I'd been missing in a huge way.

Friday, February 27, 2009

cscwell107...

Weird Al when I was like 7 years old. It was a free concert and it was awesome.

Friday, February 27, 2009

rockdawg-1965...

The Tubes 1982 or some such. Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. Full White Punkes on Dope show with mud wrestling.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Anthrax78...

My first concert was Anthrax with Exodus opening. It rocked!!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

AlacrityFitz...

First concert was the Dead... but the first concert I LOVED was Dead milk men in Berkeley and a month later NiN with Divaid Bowie... It was a good month

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Branr...

Back in the early 80's I went to a concert at a local school in Winston-Salem, NC, and saw the dBs with Chris Stamey, and a little-known band that was in town recording called R.E.M.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

TommyGunn54...

My uncle is possibly the coolest uncle in the world. I was in 8th grade, and he started talking to me about the new Metallica album (St. Anger...I know, it was a terrible album, but at that point in my life I knew no better.) He gave me a "Master of Puppets" CD, and I instantly loved it. I listened to it countless times. Once he found out I liked it, he got tickets for Metallica's "Madly In Anger with the World" Tour...fantasti- c- show. I only wish I had as much appreciation for Metallica then as I do now.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Dark_orchestra...

My first concert was when I was 10...or 11. Either one of those. Clutch came through to boston, and my dad and a couple of his friends were going. He asked if I wanted to come and I said of course. It was quite a show. I was in the very front row of people, like 5-10 feet from the stage. Through the show, the lead singer Neil kept on looking at me, as if shocked to see a 10 year old kid in front singing to all of their songs. My dad had to act as a barrier sometimes so I wouldn't fall into the mosh pit, which would sometimes move near us (when he told me this, I thought it was a big pit in the floor that moved around, which I though was pretty cool).

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

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