26 Shows between December 1991 and April 1994 before one made the list. I'd like to think that you have to have some experience before you can truly appreciate anything. That many shows under my belt before i really decided that this was something i truly loved to do.
I think it's cliche to use your first show (Metallica at Nassau Coliseum) in any sort of list like this. Megadeth/Suicidal Tendencies at the Ritz didn't make the cut because i wasn't that into S.T. at the time. It was also my first general admission show that i had no business attending as i was 14 and it was a 16 and over show (i did almost die in the pit the first 3 seconds of the show).
Going through the ticket stubs for this little project, i came across an entire row (3 shows) of amazing shows, that really meant a lot to me that were disqualified because of opening acts. These shows were fundamental in my changing tastes at the time, and i feel deserve some kind of mention.
The summer of 1993 there was a bit of a dry spell, or maybe we just were not quite savvy enough to figure out about shows. I mean, we knew to buy the village voice every week (yeah, once upon a time it actually cost actual money), but for us metal head kids, it seemed like we didn't have much going on. One week we picked up the Voice and saw an ad that we just could not, for the life of us, figure out. You see, we had been to Roseland a couple of times. Danzig on the How The Gods Kill tour and Pantera on the Vulgar Display of Power tour. These were big shows for, at the time, HUGE bands. This ad had some band none of us had ever heard of headlining TWO nights at the ballroom. How could this be? Well, we had to find out what all the hubbub was about, and besides, it was only $5 (this would also be the first time i would go to the Irving Plaza box office to buy tickets. Even 15 year old Matt was not going to pay a svc charge on a five dollar ticket).
On Saturday September 25, 1993, i walked into the still black and white striped Roseland Ballroom, sat through two opening bands i did not quite understand (unrest and the spinanes), and saw FUGAZI...and i knew everything was about to change. The friends i went with were less than impressed, but i felt a door opening.
Tuesday November 4, 1993 would be the first show i ever would get in trouble for going to. You see, we bought our ten dollar tickets for the show with two bands on the bill. Each band only had one record out, how late could this show possibly go? Then when we arrived, there were two more bands on the bill. Gotta love the CMJ music marathon. I remember calling my mom from the bank of pay phone that used to be between the men's room and the pin guy in the basement of Roseland, she was pissed. As was I. At least i got an early start on the Stabbing Westward hate. After them, and State of the Nation (who were surprisingly good) was Quicksand. Now i had seen Quicksand once before, opening for Megadeth at the Ritz. I hated them. In all honesty, any band that was not Megadeth that night was going to be hated, and Quicksand being what they were, well, i was with the majority that night. My friend had talked me into giving Quicksand another chance, and coming off state of the nation, they fit really well. I became a fan that night. The headliner took the stage. They were coming off a critically lauded run on that past summer's lollapalooza tour. The Roseland Ballroom was packed to the gills (again, gotta love the cmj music marathon), and Rage Against the Machine powered through a just shy of an hour set. While i had been sweaty at shows before, this would be the first time i had to just throw away my clothes afterwards.
Ten days later. The New York Coliseum. A building that, at the time was already a relic, being used as a flea market every other weekend, and now is long gone with the Time Warner Towers on that sight. A general admission venue out of need for a building bigger than Roseland to fit the crowd that Nirvana would draw that night. Imagine seeing Nirvana in a giant sized version of your high school cafeteria. The people who designed and built the New York Coliseum, clearly built all the public schools in NYC. Even the clocks were the same! (also when the hell have you been to a venue with multiple analog clocks on the walls?) The breeders opened and were the one hit wonders they were at the time, Half Japanese was the first band on that day and were just terrible, noisy in the not good way, squandering their prime slot playing before 7,000 people. Seeing nirvana live was a treat, I'm very glad i had the opportunity, i didn't know it would pretty much be my last. This show is most meaningful less because of the bands, and more because of the friends i made that night. We would somehow run into another group of kids from our school and sort of merge cliques for the night. After that i spent more and more time with these slightly punkier kids, who introduced me to more and more bands outside of my sphere, and pretty much got me into hardcore. They would, years later, move on...but i'm still here.
Show number 3 on the list...later today or tomorrow.
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