The title for today's post is a little bit clunky, and it's resisted my attempts to unclunkify it. But I was thinking the other day about performers I've seen in concert, and wondering how many times my first concert experience with a given act was also the first time I'd ever seen anyone play that act's music live.
For example: I don't think I'd ever witnessed anyone play a Prince song live before I saw Prince and the Revolution in concert, but I certainly saw a million bands play Beatles and even Wings songs waaaaay before I went to a Paul McCartney show.
So! Let's look back at a few of the performers in my Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery and determine whether of not my first [artist name here] concert was also my live introduction to [artist name here]'s songbook.
THE ANIMALS
Seeing the reunited Animals--Eric Burdon, Alan Price, Hilton Valentine, Chas Chandler, and John Steel--was a dream come true. This was around 1983. Before that, I'm reasonably certain a great Rochester, NY combo called the Insiders included some Animals covers in their live shows.
But we can go all the way back to the early '70s for my first exposure to Animals material played live. When I was in middle school, circa 1972 or '73, a student assembly in the auditorium presented a variety show during one school day. I don't remember much about it, except that I think there was a representative of one of the armed services branches singing "Don't Rain On My Parade," and there was most definitely a teen band from one of the Central New York high schools, plugged in and playin' "House Of The Rising Sun."
This was my first live rock 'n' roll experience, and I loved it. My classmates were nonplussed, but I was in freakin' Heaven. I wish I knew who that teen band was; I wonder if any of its members went on to do more, and if I ever saw any of them in later incarnations. We'll likely never know. Though anonymous, my virtual ticket stub gallery started right here.
THE BEACH BOYS
I didn't see the Beach Boys until the late '80s, and common sense dictates I must have already seen someone perform an "I Get Around" or an "In My Room" or the like.
I can't think of a single specific instance.
Nonetheless, I'm gonna go with common sense. There's no way the Beach Boys in concert could have plausibly been my introduction to Beach Boys songs played live.
KISS
Tabula rasa, baby. KISS was my first concert, and none of the school assembly or wedding bands I'd seen prior to that show ever exhorted an audience to rock and roll all night and party every day.
IGGY POP
In the early '80s, a Brockport, NY bar band called the Party Dogs regularly included Iggy's "Funtime" and the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" in their live sets.
TINA TURNER
I think the band at my brother's wedding reception in 1973 played "Proud Mary," but their performance used Creedence Clearwater Revival's original arrangement rather than aping Ike and Tina Turner. I think. Anyway, if we don't count that, I doubt I saw anyone attempt any Turner classic moves before I saw Tina Turner in the late '80s.
That's three outta five where my first concert wasn't my first chance to hear one or more of an act's songs performed live by...somebody! We'll revisit this topic in a near-future post.
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