The First Concert

Part of the gravy that comes with living in a city with a population and venues large enough to attract major acts is the opportunity to see the artists we idolize in person without having to travel a great distance to do so. Last night my teenage daughter went to her first ever concert: Muse with Silversun Pickups at Rexall Place. Being the nostalgic sort that I am, this got me reminiscing about the very first concert I attended.

I was 15 when my older brother dropped off my nephew and I at the Coliseum to see Bachman-Turner Overdrive who were my favourite band circa 1976. The 2 opening acts were Charlie Gearheart & Goose Creek Symphony and Trooper. The heavy-guitar loving crowd was in no mood for Goose Creek's hippy-dippy country-rock. Their version of Janis Joplin's Mercedes Benz generated a little polite applause but, for them, that was about as good as it got that night. Not surprisingly, Trooper went over much better even though they only had a couple of minor hits under their belts at the time. I remember lead singer Ra McGuire being particularly energetic and entertaining.

The headliners did not disappoint- me at least. The music was deliciously loud and the band's giant multi-coloured neon light gear logo above the stage was really dazzling. Randy Bachman and Fred Turner looked even fatter in person than on their album covers. Bachman's guitar solos that night were relatively brief but unquestionably brilliant. Meanwhile their other guitarist, Blair Thornton, was almost as good during his own short solos. I found it amusing that Bachman's introduction of the only 2 quieter/jazzy songs in their catalogue (Blue Collar and Lookin' Out For #1) as "two songs that are very close to our hearts" served as a cue for about a third of the audience to go for a bathroom break. They opened with Take It Like A Man, played most of the songs I wanted to hear and threw in a couple I'd never heard before for good measure. Takin' Care of Business opened the 3 song encore which ended with Stayed Awake All Night which is exactly what I did that summer night lying in bed at home with an unwipeable grin on my face and my ears still ringing.

That concert marked the first time that I smelled weed and the first time that I saw glow sticks. I got a really good view of them when some moron pelted my nephew with one that left his neck and upper arm glowing with fluorescent green spatters for B.T.O.'s entire set. I also remember The Edmonton Journal's overly negative review of the show the next evening with the headline "A lot of sameness in banana city" referring to the idiots who were chucking stuff as "dilated hockey pucks"- whatever the hell that means.

Picking up my daughter at the LRT station after last night's concert and reading her posts on Twitter during the show and this morning, I get the impression that her first concert was as thrilling for her as mine was for me. Hopefully over time it will prove to be just as memorable too.