My First Time

This morning when I logged on to Facebook, I was tagged in a note called 50 Bands I've Seen. The purpose of this note was to list 50 bands you've seen live in concert. The first band on the list should be the first concert you'd been to. So I started thinking about my first time (you can all get your minds out of the gutter now - remember, this is The Set List, not The Porn List).



It was November, 1983. My sister, who is 6 years older than me, was escorting me to my first live show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. I was beyond excited. We were seeing Loverboy.



Before the mocking begins, please glance back to the date above. 1983. MTV was still in its infancy, and Loverboy were huge. They were touring to support their Keep It Up album, but their earlier music was still in heavy rotation on the radio and MTV. Working for the Weekend was their most memorable song, and honestly, who doesn't remember the cover of Get Lucky, with the butt encased in tight red leather pants? But I digress.



We sat stage left, and slightly back, in seats that might be production kills now due to the massive sets bands are using. Back then, the stage was pretty stripped down. Zebra opened the show. My husband, who is a long time Zebra fan, still laments that I was at this show and he wasn't. Since our seats were in the first row of the section, I was pretty much hanging over the railing watching the band, while my sister kept insisting that I sit back. But by the time Loverboy came on, I was almost half over the railing.



I wish I could say that, it being the first concert I went to, I remember every detail with perfect clarity. But I don't. I just remember the feeling. The feeling of being swept away by the music, with everyone else in the room feeling the same way. The energy. The excitement. It's thrilling. And it still gets me every single time.


Of course I had to have a t-shirt and tour program to commemorate that momentous event in my life. The shirt (which was sleeveless, what possessed me in November to get a sleeveless shirt?) had to be worn to school the next day as proof you were at the show. The tour program, believe it or not, I still have. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. I also have my ticket stub!


It's twenty-six years and countless shows later. This upcoming weekend I'll be heading out to another live show, and putting more bands on my list. It never gets old.