First Concert

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Steppenwolf, Gentle Giant and Peter Frampton at the Boston Garden in 1974.

Jazz: Bobby Hutcherson at Sandy's Jazz Revival in Beverly, Mass ....late 70's.

[kh1958]

Charles Mingus--Southern Methodist University, McFarlin Auditorium, November 19, 1974

First blues concert, a few months later--Freddie King, at Mother Blues in Dallas.

Second jazz concert, Dizzy Gillespie at Mother Blues, 1975. (Also, James Clay and Marchel Ivery at the Recovery Room in this time frame).

Edited March 28, 2010 by kh1958

[sidewinder]

Not sure if this counts, but:

Ahmad Jamal at The Pershing (January, 1958) - my mother was pregnant with me.

If that doesn't really count, then I'd say:

Miles Davis at The Plugged Nickel (December 22, 1965) - My mom's 40th birthday -

I managed to spill a drink all over her new dress. :blush2:

Awesome - you were at disks 1 to 3 of the Plugged Nickel Box Set?

There's quite a bit of audience noise in that box - I'll listen out for your mum cursing..

Edited March 28, 2010 by sidewinder

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Jazz: Bobby Hutcherson at Sandy's Jazz Revival in Beverly, Mass ....late 70's.

What others were you lucky enough to see at Sandy's?

[Jim R]

To the best of my recollection, my first concert was probably Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops. I'd guess I was 8 or 9, so probably around '64 or '65.

Good lord, Jim. I always imagined you as somewhat older than me (based on your breadth of knowledge and even-handed judgment).

..."Breadth of knowledge"? ..."even-handed judgement"? No no, Bev. You're thinking of Jim Sangrey.

[A Lark Ascending]

I hope that didn't sound sycophantic, Jim. Just an indication of how much I've gained from your posts. When it comes to jazz guitar and things Brazil I know I'm going to be pointed the right way by reading what you've got to say (Seeline is my other Brazil touchstone).

[gullickd]

Hello! My first jazz concert was Ahmad Jamal at Big Al's Bar in Miniappolis in June of 1964. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that. I was sixteen. With Chuck Lampkin and Jamil Suliman.

--Devo

[GA Russell]

Growing up in New Orleans, we had reasonably famous locals play at our high school dances. The first that I went to had Benny Spellman ("Lipstick Traces") in 1964.

My first jazz concert was I think 1967 - Roland Kirk in a parochial school gymnasium jamming with locals including Ellis Marsalis and Alvin Batiste. I also saw Mongo Santamaria with Hubert Laws in the band at Al Hirt's club on Bourbon Street about that same time, so that may have been first.

Edited March 28, 2010 by GA Russell

[Free For All]

Hello! My first jazz concert was Ahmad Jamal at Big Al's Bar in Miniappolis in June of 1964. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that. I was sixteen. With Chuck Lampkin and Jamil Suliman.

--Devo

Hey Devo- welcome to the board! I see you're in Iowa City, you probably know my buddy Brent Sandy.

[Larry Kart]

The first live jazz performance I heard was a Sunday afternoon Jazz at the Philharmonic concert at the Chicago Opera House on October 2, 1955, with a lineup that included Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie, Flip Phillips, Illinois Jacquet, Lester Young, Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, and Buddy Rich. [Probably Ella Fitzgerald and her trio, too, but I don't recall that part.] I know the date because that concert was recorded and much of it eventually was released (I have it on a mid-1970s reissue titled "Blues in Chicago 1955"). Pretty standard JATP fare of the time, most interesting in hindsight for Pres' IMO moving attempts to cope at what was a physical and emotional low point for him. He would be hospitalized a month or so later for alcoholism and depression and then would recover to make "Jazz Giants '56" and "Pres and Teddy" in January 1956.

What I remember most about the concert was waiting for the curtain to go up. It was like we were going to see Zeus, Moses, and Apollo.

[BFrank]

Frank Zappa and The Mothers, Sea Train and The Insect Trust at the Fillmore East, May 1970. Flo & Eddie were in the band, but this was a year before the Fillmore 1971 album. Hmmm, might have been April. I was 14...

THAT'S a great first show.

I saw Frank the next year when they recorded "Another Band from LA" at UCLA.

What I remember most about the concert was waiting for the curtain to go up. It was like we were going to see Zeus, Moses, and Apollo.

Considering the lineup, you WERE!

[Chuck Nessa]

First saw the Mothers in 1968, had a personal invite to speak with Frank and he was a complete asshole, trying to drive a wedge between me and Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie, because I was a "white businessman". I will never forget this.

[mjzee]

First saw the Mothers in 1968, had a personal invite to speak with Frank and he was a complete asshole, trying to drive a wedge between me and Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie, because I was a "white businessman". I will never forget this.

I think he was the kind of guy who did things like this to elicit reactions, which he'd then use as material.

[marcello]

Hey, a asshole is a asshole!

I think as far as hearing live music in a club, it might have been Cannonball.

Concerts? I can't remember at all.

[ejp626]

I was taken to classical concerts growing up, but probably no one terribly famous. I was only becoming aware of pop music in high school, which is when I got my own radio. Pretty much nobody came through Kalamazoo, MI, and I was envious of a couple of kids who managed to get to see U2 in Detroit during the Joshua Tree tour.

However, I do recall during my high school days, Maynard Ferguson put on a pretty awesome show after a marching band competition held in Soldier Field. It must have been the first year I was with the band, since we didn't make the finals; thus, we were in the stands. The second year, we made finals and performed in the late afternoon/early evening, but I can't recall if they had an act close the competition. Maynard should count, even though I wasn't paying to see him.

First rock concert was probably the Grateful Dead coming to Ann Arbor while I was in my first or second year of university.

[mjzee]

Frank Zappa and The Mothers, Sea Train and The Insect Trust at the Fillmore East, May 1970. Flo & Eddie were in the band, but this was a year before the Fillmore 1971 album. Hmmm, might have been April. I was 14...

THAT'S a great first show.

Yeah, thanks. I had been listening to the Mothers for about 2 years at that point. Asked my parents if I could go with my older brother; they were dubious, but said yes - I'm still amazed at this. We bought tickets in advance for the late show, which started at 11:30. After synagogue Saturday night, we took the subway to the Lower East Side with a friend of his. My brother and his friend separated from me while we were on line - he said someone outside the Fillmore gave him a pair of orchestra tickets. So I sat by myself in the balcony. I remember Joe's Lights, the aura of the Fillmore, and the great sound system. I went home alone, and got home around 5 AM.

[kenny weir]

[Rooster_Ties]

Boy, this first one is going to date me (or haunt me) -- probably both! (What can I say, I was born in 1969.)

July 2nd, 1986 - Julian Lennon, Municipal Opera in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri.

(The summer between my junior and senior years of high school.)

My first JAZZ concert that I claim was the Either/Orchestra, circa 1989/90? (at a bar, The Cherry Street Brewing Company, Galesburg, IL) - roughly my sophomore year of college (probably had both John Medeski and Matt Wilson in the band at that time ).

The first jazz concert I actually ever heard was just a month or so before the E/O concert above -- Ed Shaughnessy and some "Tonight Show All-Stars" combo (sextet or maybe septet), at the Orpheum Theater, also in Galesburg.

The first "real" symphony performance I remember ever going to (something OTHER THAN a field-trip to the St. Louis Symphony during the day, while I was in jr. high school, or some local philharmonic of no real note) was The Chicago Symphony, circa 1989? - and I remember they played Mahler's 1st, "The Titan"!

The first "real" symphonic CHORAL concert I ever went to was at an American Choral Directors Association convention up in Chicago, circa 1990 - a double billing of Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms" and the Poulenc "Gloria".

Edited March 29, 2010 by Rooster_Ties

[Larry Kart]

First saw the Mothers in 1968, had a personal invite to speak with Frank and he was a complete asshole, trying to drive a wedge between me and Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie, because I was a "white businessman". I will never forget this.

I did an interview with Zappa and the Mothers for Down Beat at about that time (they were playing the Ravina Festival). Not only was he an asshole, but it also was clear that some members of the band (Don Preston, for one) thought he was an asshole.

[Free For All]

Let's see.....I think my first concert was at the Iowa State Fair around 1967, when my cousin was a member of the singing group "The Young Americans"- remember them? I was very star-struck with my cousin and that might have been when the desire to pursue performance started.

Also on the bill that evening was Tennessee Ernie Ford, who told some dirty jokes, at least to my tender young ears. I always liked him.

I think my first jazz concert was Stan Kenton around 1972.

Also Return to Forever in '73 or so. I remember that concert, there was major pot smoking going on. Culture shock to this tender Iowa youngster!

[JSngry]

Also on the bill that evening was Tennessee Ernie Ford, who told some dirty jokes, at least to my tender young ears. I always liked him.

Also Return to Forever in '73 or so. I remember that concert, there was major pot smoking going on. Culture shock to this tender Iowa youngster!

Somebody must've loaded 16 tons...

[Free For All]

Also on the bill that evening was Tennessee Ernie Ford, who told some dirty jokes, at least to my tender young ears. I always liked him.

Also Return to Forever in '73 or so. I remember that concert, there was major pot smoking going on. Culture shock to this tender Iowa youngster!

Somebody must've loaded 16 tons...

Yeah, I owe my soul to the company store.

[JSngry]

Does Saint Peter know this?

[JohnJ]

Roxy Music at the Rainbow Theater in London in 1973. Still remember all the glitter and platform shoes.

[Jazzmoose]

Emerson, Lake and Palmer in Atlanta in 1974, I think.

Same band, Savannah GA. I thought it was '73, but you are probably right. Opening act was called PFM, I think, and I remember absolutely nothing more about them. God, what a show...