Do you remember your first concert? I do. It was an Anne Murray concert when I was four years old. My dad took me, although I wasn't too happy about it. He bribed me with an entire box of seashell chocolates, the good ones with hazelnut and praline, my favourite chocolate ever. I ate an entire box, naturally, as any four year old would, and proceeded to get sick afterwards. You live and learn, and I developed the biggest sweet tooth possible.
The next convert I went to was one of the free concerts that Festival of Friends offered; Finger Eleven. I loved them, and I was fourteen. Nothing would have stopped me from going to that concert, not even the fact that I had gotten home from a three week long cadet camp eight hours away and I was exhausted. I don't remember much about the concert, or the festival that year. But I remember the energy and excitement the concert gave off.
About a year and a half later I went to my next concert, Three Days Grace. It was a floor venue, a single priced ticket and I wanted to move as close to the stage as possible. This was unfeasible as I am 5'1" and look as threatening as a butterfly. I bought my very first concert shirt, one I still have. It was fun, and introduced me to the taste of floor seats, something I crave and long for with each concert I attend. My bank account however, told me that floor seats were out of the question.
The next concert I went to was Ozzy Osborne for the Scream tour. My dad had gotten us floor seats for that, fueling my concert addiction. It was amazing, with foam shooting out onto the lucky floor seaters a few rows ahead of us. It was amazing to see and would soon start a trend of going to concerts with my dad.
The next concert in my repertoire was Roger Water's The Wall tour, another show with my dad. Floor seats were out of the question, but the theatrics of this concert make it forever stand out in my mind. I was fifteen, and loved Pink Floyd, as I still do. The concert was beyond amazing. They built a wall during the beginning of the show, there was a robotics air plane, balloons, the wall was smashed down, a children's concert choir... the whole nine yards. It was a brilliant concert and I spent the next several years hoping each show I saw would be just as great, but those expectations were hard to live up to.
Afterwards I had taken a break from concerts, my budget was a little stretched. The next show I saw was a present from a "friend". A concert ticket to the Black Keys and the Shins. I did not listen to those bands, I was more into metal and rock, something she knew quite well. But hey, buying your friend a ticket to a concert you wanted to go to and one for yourself was a great preset, right? And of course her parents would drive and pay for that since it was a gift. The show was okay, but I didn't know the music well, didn't really like the vibe from the concert, and it rained during the majority of the show. I don't want to sound spoiled or anything, but it would be like going to a movie you didn't want to see or getting an ugly sweater for Christmas. You act grateful, eat popcorn and attempt to laugh at the romcom jokes, wear the sweater a couple times; but after all that you forget the details of the movie, put the sweater away, and try to stop feeling so ungrateful and spoiled.
The next concert I would see was Airborne at the Festival of Friends, but at a different venue than before. I dragged a couple friends (who didn't like the music but they wanted to come because they thought the metalheads were cute) and the metalheads. It was an amazing concert, but Ryan was afraid the jumping and excited fans would knock little ol' me over and hurt me. It was still a great show, and going on the centrifugal force spinning ride was just as fun.
After that I saw Black Sabbath for the 13 tour, I was seventeen and excited. I went with my dad again. It was a good show, although it lacked the theatrics that Ozzy's solo tour gave. Still, it was pretty good. My dad was a little unhappy they played more recent music (hello, the 13 tour for that CD) and less classic Sabbath.
The next concert I saw was Judas Priest at Casino Rama, I was nineteen and had college classes the next day. It was a long drive, and only complicated by the fact Will's car nearly broke down completely on the way there. We missed part of the opening band, but made it in time to see the main show. We played the casino a bit, not winning everything. After that we were starving, I remember stopping at McDonald's after and being sad there weren't any milkshakes available. I remember sitting beside Ryan at the concert, excited he was finally seeing a show with me.
The next concert was again in the tradition of going with my dad. We went to see Motley Crue and Alice Cooper, an amazing and theatrical performance. I knew the expect this though. Alice Cooper performs, not just sings. It's amazing to watch him at a concert, to watch all the theatrics going on at the time. It was amazing, and then followed by Motley Crue's amazing drummer perform while moving on a mini roller-coaster-like set up and playing upside-down. I loved that concert, I loved every minute of it. I loved going out to dinner with my dad and his friends and being treated like an adult. Although being nineteen might have helped. The most hilarious part of the concert was a guy we dubbed Pokey-Guy, who spent the entire concert poking my dad and I on the back to drunkenly tell us the same story over and over. Pokey-Guy was on the same train home, went to Mohawk where I hid and ran from him as he didn't clue in I wasn't interested in him romantically. He poked my boyfriend on the back and would shout out hello to him based on a band shirt, the usual metalhead greeting. However he took it too seriously.
My next concert was Black Sabbath again, with Ryan and a classmate who never quite finished paying for her ticket, and would then ask me to pay for her food that night. Then spent the rest of the show complaining because the seats weren't the best quality. Oh well, people who don't pay for tickets shouldn't get a say about the quality. The show itself was amazing. We may not have been able to see the band well, but the music was loud, powerful, and I could feel it shake my chest. At that concert we ran into two friends of ours, Sean and Julie. Julie will be going to my next concert with me, but I'll get into that later.
The next concert I went to was one I had waited seven years to see. It was Iron Maiden, a band I wanted to see for my thirteenth birthday, at Darien Lake. My dad had to inform me that our passports expired and we couldn't get new ones in time to see them. My heart broke, but when the opportunity appeared next I jumped at it. My dad bought him and I tickets and I bought tickets for Ryan, Will, and Dave. Coincidentally the tickets I bought for the guys were only a few rows behind us. This concert did not go on long enough. I wished it could have lasted longer, hoping the next song that played wasn't the last. My favourite song was Hallowed Be Thy Name, and damn they played it. Bruce was jumping all over the stage, full of energy. There were theatrics, a powerful voice, and amazing music from one of my favourite bands. This concert was one I had waited years for, hoping Bruce would be okay from cancer when he got sick, hoping that I would be able to afford a ticket when they came up. It was a concert that did not disappoint. This was a concert to remember, held in my heart with Roger Waters. This was a show that concert junkies crave.
And my next concert? That has yet to happen. I'm going to see Slipknot and Marilyn Manson with Julie for my twenty-first birthday. This concert is one I've been looking forward to for a long time as well, and one I bought tickets for as a spur of the moment plan.
The next convert I went to was one of the free concerts that Festival of Friends offered; Finger Eleven. I loved them, and I was fourteen. Nothing would have stopped me from going to that concert, not even the fact that I had gotten home from a three week long cadet camp eight hours away and I was exhausted. I don't remember much about the concert, or the festival that year. But I remember the energy and excitement the concert gave off.
About a year and a half later I went to my next concert, Three Days Grace. It was a floor venue, a single priced ticket and I wanted to move as close to the stage as possible. This was unfeasible as I am 5'1" and look as threatening as a butterfly. I bought my very first concert shirt, one I still have. It was fun, and introduced me to the taste of floor seats, something I crave and long for with each concert I attend. My bank account however, told me that floor seats were out of the question.
The next concert I went to was Ozzy Osborne for the Scream tour. My dad had gotten us floor seats for that, fueling my concert addiction. It was amazing, with foam shooting out onto the lucky floor seaters a few rows ahead of us. It was amazing to see and would soon start a trend of going to concerts with my dad.
The next concert in my repertoire was Roger Water's The Wall tour, another show with my dad. Floor seats were out of the question, but the theatrics of this concert make it forever stand out in my mind. I was fifteen, and loved Pink Floyd, as I still do. The concert was beyond amazing. They built a wall during the beginning of the show, there was a robotics air plane, balloons, the wall was smashed down, a children's concert choir... the whole nine yards. It was a brilliant concert and I spent the next several years hoping each show I saw would be just as great, but those expectations were hard to live up to.
Afterwards I had taken a break from concerts, my budget was a little stretched. The next show I saw was a present from a "friend". A concert ticket to the Black Keys and the Shins. I did not listen to those bands, I was more into metal and rock, something she knew quite well. But hey, buying your friend a ticket to a concert you wanted to go to and one for yourself was a great preset, right? And of course her parents would drive and pay for that since it was a gift. The show was okay, but I didn't know the music well, didn't really like the vibe from the concert, and it rained during the majority of the show. I don't want to sound spoiled or anything, but it would be like going to a movie you didn't want to see or getting an ugly sweater for Christmas. You act grateful, eat popcorn and attempt to laugh at the romcom jokes, wear the sweater a couple times; but after all that you forget the details of the movie, put the sweater away, and try to stop feeling so ungrateful and spoiled.
The next concert I would see was Airborne at the Festival of Friends, but at a different venue than before. I dragged a couple friends (who didn't like the music but they wanted to come because they thought the metalheads were cute) and the metalheads. It was an amazing concert, but Ryan was afraid the jumping and excited fans would knock little ol' me over and hurt me. It was still a great show, and going on the centrifugal force spinning ride was just as fun.
After that I saw Black Sabbath for the 13 tour, I was seventeen and excited. I went with my dad again. It was a good show, although it lacked the theatrics that Ozzy's solo tour gave. Still, it was pretty good. My dad was a little unhappy they played more recent music (hello, the 13 tour for that CD) and less classic Sabbath.
The next concert I saw was Judas Priest at Casino Rama, I was nineteen and had college classes the next day. It was a long drive, and only complicated by the fact Will's car nearly broke down completely on the way there. We missed part of the opening band, but made it in time to see the main show. We played the casino a bit, not winning everything. After that we were starving, I remember stopping at McDonald's after and being sad there weren't any milkshakes available. I remember sitting beside Ryan at the concert, excited he was finally seeing a show with me.
The next concert was again in the tradition of going with my dad. We went to see Motley Crue and Alice Cooper, an amazing and theatrical performance. I knew the expect this though. Alice Cooper performs, not just sings. It's amazing to watch him at a concert, to watch all the theatrics going on at the time. It was amazing, and then followed by Motley Crue's amazing drummer perform while moving on a mini roller-coaster-like set up and playing upside-down. I loved that concert, I loved every minute of it. I loved going out to dinner with my dad and his friends and being treated like an adult. Although being nineteen might have helped. The most hilarious part of the concert was a guy we dubbed Pokey-Guy, who spent the entire concert poking my dad and I on the back to drunkenly tell us the same story over and over. Pokey-Guy was on the same train home, went to Mohawk where I hid and ran from him as he didn't clue in I wasn't interested in him romantically. He poked my boyfriend on the back and would shout out hello to him based on a band shirt, the usual metalhead greeting. However he took it too seriously.
My next concert was Black Sabbath again, with Ryan and a classmate who never quite finished paying for her ticket, and would then ask me to pay for her food that night. Then spent the rest of the show complaining because the seats weren't the best quality. Oh well, people who don't pay for tickets shouldn't get a say about the quality. The show itself was amazing. We may not have been able to see the band well, but the music was loud, powerful, and I could feel it shake my chest. At that concert we ran into two friends of ours, Sean and Julie. Julie will be going to my next concert with me, but I'll get into that later.
The next concert I went to was one I had waited seven years to see. It was Iron Maiden, a band I wanted to see for my thirteenth birthday, at Darien Lake. My dad had to inform me that our passports expired and we couldn't get new ones in time to see them. My heart broke, but when the opportunity appeared next I jumped at it. My dad bought him and I tickets and I bought tickets for Ryan, Will, and Dave. Coincidentally the tickets I bought for the guys were only a few rows behind us. This concert did not go on long enough. I wished it could have lasted longer, hoping the next song that played wasn't the last. My favourite song was Hallowed Be Thy Name, and damn they played it. Bruce was jumping all over the stage, full of energy. There were theatrics, a powerful voice, and amazing music from one of my favourite bands. This concert was one I had waited years for, hoping Bruce would be okay from cancer when he got sick, hoping that I would be able to afford a ticket when they came up. It was a concert that did not disappoint. This was a concert to remember, held in my heart with Roger Waters. This was a show that concert junkies crave.
And my next concert? That has yet to happen. I'm going to see Slipknot and Marilyn Manson with Julie for my twenty-first birthday. This concert is one I've been looking forward to for a long time as well, and one I bought tickets for as a spur of the moment plan.
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