This week I talked to Razorcake founder and lifelong punk Todd Taylor, and we spent some time talking about his first punk show. I couldn’t fit his answer into the story, but it’s really good:
“I can't tell you who played. I remember it was in a public storage. I think it was sort of like a hesher band because I remember of people with long hair playing. There was somebody standing in front of me, who had this two-part earring. Like one part went in the front one part went in the back. I felt this tap my shoulder. I looked over and the guy next to me just smiled. He then ripped the earring out of the guy in front of me’s earlobe and then punched the guy.
That's what I remember about that show the most. And it was really hot.”
Do you have any concert moments that defined you? I wanna hear about them.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana in high school in Phoenix. Beastie Boys in college (also in Phoenix). So many Lollapaloozas. Random bands I had never heard of at the Casbah. Mind blowing performances and I had so much fun with friends, dancing, laughing and cheering. I MISS CONCERTS SO MUCH.
At Coachella in 2007, Manu Chao played before Rage Against The Machine, which was RATM's first reunion show. At the time I thought, wow, tough slot, because the crowd was huge and seemed mostly there for RATM. But a guy standing next to us kept saying how tough it would be to follow Manu Chao and Radio Bemba, as he'd seen them before and said be prepared to be floored. An hour later, I was in total agreement. They absolutely delivered. Amazing show under tough circumstances. A couple years ago I looked his set up on YouTube to see if maybe it was being in the moment and if I saw it again it would be less than I remembered. But no, it was great show.
I should also note, for me, live concert #1: Oingo Boingo at the SDSU OAT on the Dead Man's Party tour. I was 14. I've been a live music fan ever since. I miss shows. Thanks for the topic/thread!
My most memorable concert was the first Coachella Festival on Oct. 10, 1999. It seemed implausible to drive to the desert for a concert, but how could you not go when Tool and Rage Against the Machine were headlining? It was SO hot that day (and night), but the concert was intense especially since Maynard sang during the Rage concert (I think Zack de la Rocha had a throat/voice issue?). It was my 18th birthday, too, so my parents had paid for mine and my sister's tickets, loaned us the family minivan, rented a Motel 6 room for us and our friends, and gave us gas and coffee money for the drive back to San Diego. After the concert, all of us piled into our room - two people to a bed, people on the floor, and someone in the bathtub. It was tiring, exhilarating, and unfortunately set me up for a lifetime of high standards when it came to concerts. I'm a suburban mom now, so I feel like such an old-timer when I describe the then-new festival to my younger cousins and students...
But, it was absolutely, without a doubt, my most memorable concert ever. And this is after going to the 1997 VANS Warped Tour the last time it was at Hospitality Point (The Aquabats arrived on stage via speedboat!), the 1999 Smokeout Concert with Cypress Hill and the Deftones in San Bernardino, going to the first Street Scene at Qualcomm, and basically every time I went to the old SOMA (how do you forget the bathroom ALWAYS flooding at each show?)...
I tell this story a lot, but my first concert was the Ramones at the Wax Museum in Washington, D.C. in 1984 when I was 15 or 16. My mom took me and my younger brother but we had to pay for our own tickets. The opening band had a song with the line "I'd love you if you didn't smoke" and all these punks threw lit cigarettes at the singer.
I think my first concert was Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger, and Sum 41. It was the wet dream lineup of a 14 year old in like 2001 or whatever year it was. I think Ryen Schlegel was there, but I can't remember how I got a ride to the venue. It was at Bricks, in Salt Lake City, I think. One of the old venues that isn't around anymore. Getting close to the artists and hearing their blown out guitars and shitty vocals was pretty life affirming. It was the first time I saw behind the artifice of recorded music, all the bells and whistles of the studio are gone and its just the musicians on stage. In the case of those three bands, not-so-great musicians (although RBF had a killer horn section). I will always love that experience of hearing a band live after getting used to their songs on record: seeing them sweat, sing out of key, improvise through disaster. That's what I really like about music anyway, the imperfections. So I grew up and my taste changed (though it probably didn't improve very much) and to me the bands worth watching don't always play very well but what they play is a real-time snapshot of who they are at that moment. That's why I like instruments more than like pre-recorded tracks. The artists can leave you with some kind of performative, human impression that makes you think to yourself, "I can be a shitty musician too..." and that's really what makes the world go 'round.
It wasn't a huge concert by any means, but awhile back after having just moved back to San Diego, I saw a band called Blackwitch Pudding. Magical wizards with giant amp stacks, it was an incredibly fun night despite the small amount of people in attendance. But I think it was a defining moment specifically because of those folks who turned out, members of the San Diego music community who had came to support a love of live music as well as the opening act. It wasn't until later that night when I discovered some of them were in a mutual facebook group, which has led to wonderful friendships. I haven't attended a concert alone in San Diego since that night thanks to this community, and have gotten to know so many local bands and musicians who are so incredibly loving and supportive. I miss everyone so much.
Styx. 1998. Marathon County Fairgrounds. Rained delay for two hours. It was getting muddy in the dirt patch in front of the stage. An "old guy" (probably 40ish) was standing alone in front of us in the rain. He stood their alone not talking or drinking or doing anything. Just waiting. He kind of looked like Mario (of the Mario Brothers).
Finally, the band came on stage. Tommy Shaw and the guys blast into "Renegade." Mario puts his head down. Right arm up. Hand contorted into the Rock N Roll devil horns. Arm starts pumping. This continues for the next several hours. Between songs he'd stop the arm pumping, but the HORNS STAYED UP!
Unbelievable display of stamina. Unbelievable show. Weird Al headlined the next night. Life was good.
One of the great punk concerts I saw in San Diego back in the day was at Soma when it was just a warehouse behind the Children's Museum. What an awesome place for concerts! Unwritten Law opened up for House of Suffering. It was intense, to say the least. Loved the energy that night. I remember stepping out into the cool night air and feeling like something was different, like something had shifted. The world is more clear when your heart is ripped open like that.
But probably the most epic experience at a concert has to be when I saw Pavement, Mudhoney and Sonic Youth at the Del Mar Fair. It was in one of those giant halls and when Mudhoney started to play, the entire room began to sway as one. I still don't know what song it was (not a big fan of their repertoire) but it slowly built up into this massive collision of energy and everyone, hundreds of people, were completely in tune with their music and one another, I never felt anything like that, before or since. It was incredible. Needless to say, Sonic Youth was a big bore after that.
I could also mention the night I saw Rage Against the Machine at Iguanas in TJ on Columbus Day! Coming to understand how anger can be turned into medicine. Or seeing Primal Scream at Iguanas. Or Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Or anyone else at Iguanas, for that matter. Anyone who went to Iguanas back in the day will understand what I'm talking about.
I'm like 10 days late on this but I saw Chem Bros and Fatboy Slim at Red Rocks in like 2002? The Chemical Brothers were SO LOUD that it reverberated my entire brain. To this day I have never heard anything louder and I was upfront for a Foo Fighters show inside the Pepsi Center. I think it rearranged the molecules in my body, that. combined with the venue. was top-notch. I'll never forget that one.
I also saw The Wombats in a tiny dive bar in Colorado Springs about 8 years ago. It was like Soda Bar size and the place was packed and every single person sang their hearts out and completely let loose. One of those great shows where you leave drenched in sweat, ears ringing, and feeling better about humanity. Dear lord, please let us have concerts back.
i saw parquet courts at the empty bottle (about the size of the casbah) in chicago in 2014 for a lollapalooza after show by myself. they were the first new band i truly fell in love with and it was my first time seeing a band i really liked at a small venue since blink 182 in 2003. also the first time seeing a band by myself. lolla after shows start at like 1130pm but i was going to a neighborhood and venue i hadnt been to before and got there at like 9. there were maybe 10 people in the venue. i chatted with some people to kill time drinking cheap beer and by the time the music started i was 2 feet away from the mic. moshed all night and my money has mostly been going to music since.
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana in high school in Phoenix. Beastie Boys in college (also in Phoenix). So many Lollapaloozas. Random bands I had never heard of at the Casbah. Mind blowing performances and I had so much fun with friends, dancing, laughing and cheering. I MISS CONCERTS SO MUCH.
At Coachella in 2007, Manu Chao played before Rage Against The Machine, which was RATM's first reunion show. At the time I thought, wow, tough slot, because the crowd was huge and seemed mostly there for RATM. But a guy standing next to us kept saying how tough it would be to follow Manu Chao and Radio Bemba, as he'd seen them before and said be prepared to be floored. An hour later, I was in total agreement. They absolutely delivered. Amazing show under tough circumstances. A couple years ago I looked his set up on YouTube to see if maybe it was being in the moment and if I saw it again it would be less than I remembered. But no, it was great show.
I should also note, for me, live concert #1: Oingo Boingo at the SDSU OAT on the Dead Man's Party tour. I was 14. I've been a live music fan ever since. I miss shows. Thanks for the topic/thread!
My most memorable concert was the first Coachella Festival on Oct. 10, 1999. It seemed implausible to drive to the desert for a concert, but how could you not go when Tool and Rage Against the Machine were headlining? It was SO hot that day (and night), but the concert was intense especially since Maynard sang during the Rage concert (I think Zack de la Rocha had a throat/voice issue?). It was my 18th birthday, too, so my parents had paid for mine and my sister's tickets, loaned us the family minivan, rented a Motel 6 room for us and our friends, and gave us gas and coffee money for the drive back to San Diego. After the concert, all of us piled into our room - two people to a bed, people on the floor, and someone in the bathtub. It was tiring, exhilarating, and unfortunately set me up for a lifetime of high standards when it came to concerts. I'm a suburban mom now, so I feel like such an old-timer when I describe the then-new festival to my younger cousins and students...
But, it was absolutely, without a doubt, my most memorable concert ever. And this is after going to the 1997 VANS Warped Tour the last time it was at Hospitality Point (The Aquabats arrived on stage via speedboat!), the 1999 Smokeout Concert with Cypress Hill and the Deftones in San Bernardino, going to the first Street Scene at Qualcomm, and basically every time I went to the old SOMA (how do you forget the bathroom ALWAYS flooding at each show?)...
I tell this story a lot, but my first concert was the Ramones at the Wax Museum in Washington, D.C. in 1984 when I was 15 or 16. My mom took me and my younger brother but we had to pay for our own tickets. The opening band had a song with the line "I'd love you if you didn't smoke" and all these punks threw lit cigarettes at the singer.
I think my first concert was Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger, and Sum 41. It was the wet dream lineup of a 14 year old in like 2001 or whatever year it was. I think Ryen Schlegel was there, but I can't remember how I got a ride to the venue. It was at Bricks, in Salt Lake City, I think. One of the old venues that isn't around anymore. Getting close to the artists and hearing their blown out guitars and shitty vocals was pretty life affirming. It was the first time I saw behind the artifice of recorded music, all the bells and whistles of the studio are gone and its just the musicians on stage. In the case of those three bands, not-so-great musicians (although RBF had a killer horn section). I will always love that experience of hearing a band live after getting used to their songs on record: seeing them sweat, sing out of key, improvise through disaster. That's what I really like about music anyway, the imperfections. So I grew up and my taste changed (though it probably didn't improve very much) and to me the bands worth watching don't always play very well but what they play is a real-time snapshot of who they are at that moment. That's why I like instruments more than like pre-recorded tracks. The artists can leave you with some kind of performative, human impression that makes you think to yourself, "I can be a shitty musician too..." and that's really what makes the world go 'round.
It wasn't a huge concert by any means, but awhile back after having just moved back to San Diego, I saw a band called Blackwitch Pudding. Magical wizards with giant amp stacks, it was an incredibly fun night despite the small amount of people in attendance. But I think it was a defining moment specifically because of those folks who turned out, members of the San Diego music community who had came to support a love of live music as well as the opening act. It wasn't until later that night when I discovered some of them were in a mutual facebook group, which has led to wonderful friendships. I haven't attended a concert alone in San Diego since that night thanks to this community, and have gotten to know so many local bands and musicians who are so incredibly loving and supportive. I miss everyone so much.
Styx. 1998. Marathon County Fairgrounds. Rained delay for two hours. It was getting muddy in the dirt patch in front of the stage. An "old guy" (probably 40ish) was standing alone in front of us in the rain. He stood their alone not talking or drinking or doing anything. Just waiting. He kind of looked like Mario (of the Mario Brothers).
Finally, the band came on stage. Tommy Shaw and the guys blast into "Renegade." Mario puts his head down. Right arm up. Hand contorted into the Rock N Roll devil horns. Arm starts pumping. This continues for the next several hours. Between songs he'd stop the arm pumping, but the HORNS STAYED UP!
Unbelievable display of stamina. Unbelievable show. Weird Al headlined the next night. Life was good.
One of the great punk concerts I saw in San Diego back in the day was at Soma when it was just a warehouse behind the Children's Museum. What an awesome place for concerts! Unwritten Law opened up for House of Suffering. It was intense, to say the least. Loved the energy that night. I remember stepping out into the cool night air and feeling like something was different, like something had shifted. The world is more clear when your heart is ripped open like that.
But probably the most epic experience at a concert has to be when I saw Pavement, Mudhoney and Sonic Youth at the Del Mar Fair. It was in one of those giant halls and when Mudhoney started to play, the entire room began to sway as one. I still don't know what song it was (not a big fan of their repertoire) but it slowly built up into this massive collision of energy and everyone, hundreds of people, were completely in tune with their music and one another, I never felt anything like that, before or since. It was incredible. Needless to say, Sonic Youth was a big bore after that.
I could also mention the night I saw Rage Against the Machine at Iguanas in TJ on Columbus Day! Coming to understand how anger can be turned into medicine. Or seeing Primal Scream at Iguanas. Or Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Or anyone else at Iguanas, for that matter. Anyone who went to Iguanas back in the day will understand what I'm talking about.
I'm like 10 days late on this but I saw Chem Bros and Fatboy Slim at Red Rocks in like 2002? The Chemical Brothers were SO LOUD that it reverberated my entire brain. To this day I have never heard anything louder and I was upfront for a Foo Fighters show inside the Pepsi Center. I think it rearranged the molecules in my body, that. combined with the venue. was top-notch. I'll never forget that one.
I also saw The Wombats in a tiny dive bar in Colorado Springs about 8 years ago. It was like Soda Bar size and the place was packed and every single person sang their hearts out and completely let loose. One of those great shows where you leave drenched in sweat, ears ringing, and feeling better about humanity. Dear lord, please let us have concerts back.
i saw parquet courts at the empty bottle (about the size of the casbah) in chicago in 2014 for a lollapalooza after show by myself. they were the first new band i truly fell in love with and it was my first time seeing a band i really liked at a small venue since blink 182 in 2003. also the first time seeing a band by myself. lolla after shows start at like 1130pm but i was going to a neighborhood and venue i hadnt been to before and got there at like 9. there were maybe 10 people in the venue. i chatted with some people to kill time drinking cheap beer and by the time the music started i was 2 feet away from the mic. moshed all night and my money has mostly been going to music since.