The Steel Guitar Forum

My first concert was the Grateful Dead, with the New Riders of the Purple Sage (and opening, R.J. Fox out of Detroit). THe New Riders played- without any pedal steel player! Just the four other instruments-
since Garcia had been ill the night before and that show was moved ahead to the next night- The Dead however, were all that I had hoped for. I had been a listening fan from the start, having been turned on to the first album by no other than PigPen's kid brother (however, that experience went in one ear and out the other, since the next record we played was the first Jimi Hendrix album!)- A year later, I bought Anthem of the Sun, but, being as I was just a wee tad, I was never able to get out of the house to any of the Avalon or Fillmore West shows going on at the time- in fact I had to fib about going camping just to make This show! This was over the Memorial Day weekend, 1971, and -I hate to break this to any of the hardcore Dead fans on the board who get thier Gospel from Deadbase, but, Deadbase is Dead Wrong about the set lists from both of these shows- they have listed the first set from the second night where the first night should be, and the second night's second set where the first should be! Confusing? Well, you'd be upset too, if you had the photographic memory I have...
The biggest memory of the evening, however, was the free "liguid refreshments" we were offered out of a big garbage can set up at the midle of the dance floor ("you gotta be LAME not to know what THAT is!" I said to my friend)- I got me a cup of this, glorified "bug juice" we called it, and had a couple of sips- All you needed! The man next to me asked for a sip himself, and then downed the whole cup! And THEN he had the nerve to ask what it was... heh heh heh. Well, like Ken Babbs used to say, "This batch is for the Tigers, and This batch is for the Little Kiddies..." and like I said, you had to be lame not to figure it all out.
Apparently many people however, were just that lame, and there were a record nmuber of bad trips treated at Mt. Zion hospital that night!
But me and my friend, being fifteen and seventeen respectively, we managed to make it home safe and sound hitching a lift down Geary Blvd al the way to our snug harbor down the Peninsula...
The Grateful Dead were certainly something of an obsession for me for about the following twenty or twenty five years, but (a big but here, for you hardcore Dead freaks) I was always more interested in advancing my own musical life than dedicating myself to traipsing around the world forever, ever after them. But- for a first concert experience, I got all I paid my two bucks for, AND MORE!

Cool thread....

My first concert was in 1972 at the Capital Theater in Passaic N.J. and was Edgar Winter and White Trash with Rick Derringer on guitar. The whole big band with all the horns. Blues, funk, gospel and rock all in one show. Great show!

My first concert with a Pedal Steel player was around the same year and at the same venue. It was Poco with Rusty Young. This was back in the day when Rusty was still playing steel all night, and was still doing the folding lawn chair trick, playing the Bear, full Leslie cab etc. Jim Messina, Richie Furay, Tim Schmidt and George Grantham. That evening, I totally lost interest in playing guitar and decided my instrument was Pedal Steel.

Larry,

If you remember, the Light Show at the Capitol was Pig Light Show, my brother-in-law was Pig. I don't remember that how but was probably there and working. Great times.

Vanilla Fudge,`66 or`67,at the Lambertville Music Circus,Lambertville,NJ.Later that year,same venue,I saw the Buddy Rich Big Band for the first of probably 30 times.He was the most riveting,awe-ispiring musicianI`ll ever live to see.....miss ya,Buddy.

aaaahhhhh,,,,eeeerrrrr, would you believe Liberace?

When I saw the guy however he was not yet into his flamboyant dress thing and prancing around the stage with his pink hanky. With that being said, the was without a doubt very talented and put his entire life into his music.

I think my first concert was the Rolling Stones at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, around '65-'66? I can't recall much of the concert (except it being really loud with lots of screaming girls). Mostly I seem to recall standing outside for hours on the sidewalk, waiting for tickets, or maybe we had them already and were just waiting to get in? Vague... I would have been only 13 or 14 at the time.

Larry,and Michael I saw Poco at the Capitol at about that time and they were the opening act for the Tony Williams Lifetime with Jack Bruce on bass.

MY first real show was the shower of stars at Birmingham AL.Around the late 60's it had Lou Cristy,Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs,and one other but they had a Steel player with the Pharoahs and I knew then that was the sounds I wanted to make but took me about 20 years to get one to start out on been at it ever since




TOMMY YOUNG
MAX-TONE MODIFICATIONS

First show was Eric Burdon and the Animals followed soon after by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. It just took those two shows and I was hooked on live music forever.

I grew up in a university town in northern California (Davis) that was more or less at the outer edge of the 'local turf' for a lot of the San Francisco bands. So, between that and the fact that the university regularly brought in national acts as well, I got to hear a lot of great music with amazing regularity.

The first steel guitar I heard live where I actually took notice of it was a Poco concert. Rusty Young killed me! I've just never been the same since...

First concert (as such, seen from the front row):
Rolling Stones, Providence, RI, circa 1964.

First concert with a steel player:
Jimmy Payne and the Payne Gang, Camp Ross Service Club, Korea, 1968: John Bechtel on steel.

Michael,
Wow, that sure brings back some great memories! I sure do remember the Pig light show. At the time, it was the one that all others were measured by. I remember it got so popular the promoter (John Scher if I remember correctly) listed the Pig Light Show as a feature on the bill with the music. Great stuff indeed!

Stu,
Small world eh? If it was Poco in north Jersey and it was the 70's, then I was more than likely at the show. I was in my early teens at the beginning of the 70's so a lot of times I didn't get to stay past the opening acts.
Man, Anchorage...you managed to put some distance between you and NJ!

Larry,Actually I'm from Queens...We might have Hmmph Borrowed a car to get to Jersey that night.

My Mum and Dad took me to the Harrow Granada to see Roy Orbison and Freddie and the Dreamers it was in the mid sixties I guess, it was a package tour, I think Lulu may have been on.

First concert I went to without my parents would be Jimi Hendrix at the Royal Albert Hall,

First steel guitar would probably be Glen Campbell from the Misunderstood, followed by Gordon Huntley with Mathews Southern Comfort, both at John Peel Radio 1 live sessions.

My first concert was in about 1966 and featured the great Buck Owens and the Buckaroos at the Civic Center in Great Falls, MT. Merle Haggard was also on the show and I think Charlie Pride, who lived here, also did a song. I was in about the 7th or 8th grade. That show left an impression on me that lives on today. I have always been a huge fan and that show led me to begin to play the steel at about 38 years of age. I will never forget it.

I just remembered an earlier concert than the one I listed in my first post.

"The Who" at the Electric Circus in Philly, 1968 or 69.

"Tommy" was just released. They performed that and many of the songs from "Live At Leeds".

We sat on the floor and Daultry swung his mike above our heads. It was an excellent high-energy show.
A classic Rock band in their prime!

First Concert I remember: NY Philharmonic in DC w/ Leonard Bernstein "Young People's Concert" 1963 or 64 maybe?

First Rock n Roll Concert: Triple bill- Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs, Tommy James & the Shondells,The Royal Guardsmen; Greensboro NC 1966(?)

Next R&R concert: The Monkees, w/ opening act The Jimi Hendrix Experience; Greensboro NC July 12, 1967...

First live Pedal Steel: POCO Washington DC, free concert on Mall 1969

======================

"We can't all be Sam the Sham...some of us have to be Pharoahs..."

My first was at The Norfolk Arena (Va.) headlined by Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton. Also on the bill was Minnie Pearl and Stringbean. Along about that time I also saw a multi headliner show at the same venue with Ray Price, Conway Twitty, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and Coyboy Copas.Steel all over the place. But the first band with a steel after that was Poco.

1st concert I remember:
Mstislav Rostropovich at Interlocken, I must've been in grade school.

1st rock concert:
J Geils Band, Either the Love Stinks tour or the Freeze Frame tour. I was probably in 8th grade. Big Stadium, They sucked.

1st concert with steel:
Oddly enough, that same J Geils show featured Red Rider as the opening act. I didn't find out for many years that the strange "guitar on a table" that the guitarist in that band played was in fact a pedal steel guitar!

I grew up with my Dad having his own band & that's where I fell in love with the steel but my first big concert was Little Jimmy Dickens, Sammi Smith & Waylon in Scranton, PA around 1970. My 2nd was Tom T. Hall & Johnny Paycheck at the same venue. I was too young to remember the steel players on either show. It's pretty cool that years later I got to play for Tom T. for 8 years until he retired from the road.

That's funny, my first concert was Little Jimmy Dickens too. I never will forget watching him stand there (on a box) signing pictures and shaking hands until everybody in line got what they came for. Very classy. It was about 1975 if memory serves.

My first concert was Siouxsie & the Banshees in 1986, I wa 14 year old. Unfortunately, they didn't bring their pedal-steel...

I can 't remember the first time I saw a PSG on stage. It was probably even after I had my own.

mine was Deep Purple, and the New Riders

Mine was ZZ Top...I saw them play first time when they were just a Garage Band in Houston, Tx. , a friend of mine lived about 3 houses down from where they practiced in I believe where the Drummer lived...around early 1969 or so...went to their first Concert in Corpus Christi, back in 1970.

Stevie Wonder and the Rolling Stones (Keith Richards on psg), late 60's. Before that, I saw Roger Miller in California with Thumbs Carllyle on guitar and on bass none other than Buddy Emmons, around 1963.

First concert was a gospel music concert with the Happy Goodman Family in 1975. Gary Dee was the steel
player. Awesome band!
Soon after, I saw Ronnie Moore with the Original Hinsons and Gary "Beaver" Dillard with the Kingsmen.

In the 80s, I saw Tiny Olson with Watson and Bobby Hempker with Loretta. Later, Hughey with Gill.