Pre concert rituals

Just thinking about this subject today, since I'm about eight hours away from seeing Raven for the first time. I remember back in my youth, a concert was like a national holiday. Weeks before the show night, all the kids would start getting amped up and talking about possible set list and things. The closer it got and you could almost smell the adrenaline. Then the day of the show, there was always the pre show party, usually at the guys house that had the car we were all going to cram ourselves into. It was almost ritualistic, especially day of show. We'd all blast some metal all day long, smoke some weed, drink some beer, roll some joints for the show, and go.

Now here I am almost fifty and I no longer do any of that stuff. Been to so many shows, it's lost its special feeling it used to generate. Don't get me wrong, I still love going to see bands play, but it's no longer a holiday.

So what did/do you guys do when you're about to see a concert? Anything special to you, or just another day at the office?

In "the day" I would morph into whatever that show mandated for me to hook up with the ladies. I ain't ashamed. But, come 87-88, I was pure crossover/thrash and would wear my colors to things like the Iowa Jam [Poison/Winger] or Hall and Oates or my pops even took me to see Eric Clapton [Phil Collins on drums, Robert Cray on Bass - MAN, I wish I would have appreciated that more at the time] - Took him to see Vile/Kublai Khan/Impaler/Plasmatics the next week, but you all know that story. Other than that? I guess I would panhandle a couple of buck for Maddog, Smokes, and 2 for a buck BK burgers. If I had my "in", whether that be tix or guestlist, or devious plans - I was set!!

Quote :

my pops even took me to see Eric Clapton [Phil Collins on drums, Robert Cray on Bass - MAN, I wish I would have appreciated that more at the time]

Wow.  I bet that was a great show and I also bet I'd have had the same attitude and regret not appreciating the talent on display.  Alone, I'm not really a fan of any of those artists (we all know I hate Phil Collins solo music) but there's no denying the instrumental talent of that trio.

tohostudios wrote:

Quote :

my pops even took me to see Eric Clapton [Phil Collins on drums, Robert Cray on Bass - MAN, I wish I would have appreciated that more at the time]

Wow.  I bet that was a great show and I also bet I'd have had the same attitude and regret not appreciating the talent on display.  Alone, I'm not really a fan of any of those artists (we all know I hate Phil Collins solo music) but there's no denying the instrumental talent of that trio.

Yeah - it was great. The whole show everybody was doing the hippie thing - dancing like butterflies, etc. For the encore, at the very first note of Cocaine, EVERYONE on floor rushed the stage and it was absolute pandemonium. I was like, "YEAH - NOW I GET IT!" haha. Looked over at the old man and he was just beaming that I was so into it.

Pre concert ritual? normally for me waiting in line

My friends and I would usually get together and drink beer. Some of them smoked weed (I just never really got into that). And we'd blast some metal!

Nowadays we just go grab a bite to eat or hit a record store beforehand.

I can relate to the beer and weed ritual from my early concert going days, before I gave all that stuff up I would follow a similar ritual before doing other things like food shopping or going to work!

Nowadays I only really go to the very occasional show and I regress into the nerdy excitable child I never really stopped being.

In all honesty, take a huge dump so I don't have to miss any of the show. Then I pound a couple of beers.

The only other thing is familiarize myself with the band's newest album so I know the new songs. I used to (back in the day) listen to that band almost exclusively leading up to the show but now I have a different perspective on music.

You have to remember - it was the late 70's early 80's.
I HAD TO SEE Ozzy - Angus - Eddie Van Halen -
there was none of this computer stuff.
You relied on mags and maybe a glimpse on TV -
All these bands had a mystery about them.
No one knew the song list - lol -
I HAD TO SEE Grim Reaper - Armored Saint - Sword -
Young people will never know that magic in the air vibe.
Concerts - no matter the venue - were serious events -
Even seeing KIX ' Midnight Dynamite ' tour - Rough Cutt - Black and Blue
It was over the top stuff when the lights went down.
Dokken - Dio - Accept - Loudness - etc etc - GLAD i was there !
I salute you seeing RAVEN ! That must be like seeing Anvil !

Glower wrote:

You have to remember - it was the late 70's early 80's.
I HAD TO SEE Ozzy - Angus - Eddie Van Halen -
there was none of this computer stuff.
You relied on mags and maybe a glimpse on TV -
All these bands had a mystery about them.
No one knew the song list - lol -
I HAD TO SEE Grim Reaper - Armored Saint - Sword -
Young people will never know that magic in the air vibe.
Concerts - no matter the venue - were serious events -
Even seeing KIX ' Midnight Dynamite ' tour - Rough Cutt - Black and Blue
It was over the top stuff when the lights went down.
Dokken - Dio - Accept - Loudness - etc etc - GLAD i was there !
I salute you seeing RAVEN ! That must be like seeing Anvil !

I guess my main point in writing this thread was more towards the younger people that go to shows these days. I was kind of wondering if they have the same feelings us old farts had back then. You described what I was talking about perfectly. I was wondering if that old magic was gone, or I was remembering them as a more magical event than they actually were.

Far as seeing Raven for the first time goes, it was a really great show. Such a shame they don't have a bigger following though. Not very many people showed up, but I was up front banging my head like it was 1984 all over again. Whats really sad is, the following week I went to a show my nephews band opened, for some other local bands, and there was twice the amount of fans there for that. It's great to support your local bands, but really sad to see legends like Raven play to a crowd of a hundred or less people. Satan was even worse, probably less than 50 people showed up for that.

Makes me wonder sometimes. You go to these sites, like this one and other metal forums, where kids seem to love all these older bands, but doesn't seem like they show up at the concerts. Raven was $12.00, no excuse not to show up for that. They played a good hour and a half, sounded great, and had great energy, playing a ton of classics from back in the day. Sometimes I just don't get it.

In all honesty, I think it's a nostalgia thing. WE have had a few younger metal heads here before but they don't really last. And I know a few guys at work that are half my age and like Maiden, Priest, Dio (the stalwarts of the genre) because their parents listened and got them into it. But none of them really go to shows. One of the other managers at work (in his mid 30's) is the total opposite- he buys no music at all but sees about 20-25 shows/ festivals each year. I think it's only the mid 40 to mid 50 year old guys who "keep the flame alive" so to speak. We still buy the music, go to shows, wear the band shirts, purchase music mags, post on message boards, etc. I have a hard time believing that there are middle aged house wives posting on music message boards about Kelly Clarkson or Maroon 5 and buying boots of their shows and getting into heated debates about the different eras of their fave bands or which lead singer was best.

Back in the day, we would take public transportation to the Spectrum. The last stop on the subway dropped you off right at the front door of the building. By the time you got to that last stop, practically everyone left on the train was going to the show, so it was a party the whole ride. I think back now and feel sorry for people that were riding it home from a hard day of work and had to deal with a bunch of drunken hooligans.

I miss those days.

The trick was - not getting the tickets -
but how to get there - and who would go -
I had the Boston Garden - close - by train -
Then Worcester Centrum - far away - car / much highway -
when your 16 - or there abouts - you had to find a driver -
I wished I had been two years older -
some shows slipped through my hands -
I remember WHITESNAKE put out that s/t album.
They were trying to be the headliner -
place was half filled - and they ducked out eventually.
I hear that happened with Crue - with new singer.
Even KISS - some of those albums SUCKED.
Dokken was the best opener - during Lock and Key tour
everyone went wild for them -

I've never really had any apart from getting washed and ready. Of course, concerts that interest me don't really tend to come anywhere near where I live now (most of the venues that allow metal have closed, and with the nearby venues that are still open these days, you'd be lucky to find one that will allow pop-punk, let alone metal.

But getting washed and ready, if you can count it that, is about it. Either that, or making sure I have a metal shirt on (I always do at the local shows).

Glower wrote:

The trick was - not getting the tickets -
but how to get there - and who would go -
I had the Boston Garden - close - by train -
Then Worcester Centrum - far away - car / much highway -
when your 16 - or there abouts - you had to find a driver -
I wished I had been two years older -
some shows slipped through my hands -
I remember WHITESNAKE put out that s/t album.
They were trying to be the headliner -
place was half filled - and they ducked out eventually.
I hear that happened with Crue - with new singer.
Even KISS - some of those albums SUCKED.
Dokken was the best opener - during Lock and Key tour
everyone went wild for them -

I can totally relate with needing a driver and wishing I was a few years older. I missed so many shows because I couldn't get a ride. I had a friend with extra tickets to Twisted Sister back in 1984 but I couldn't find anyone to take me to the venue. I almost talked my mom into taking me from Vegas to California for the US fest in 1983, but she chickened out at the end and she wouldn't let me go with anyone else.

Luckily for me I got a car on my sixteenth birthday, so I was able to do what I wanted. I still missed a ton of shows, cause I was always broke, but at least I was able to hit a few here and there.

UNCLE SAXON'S KICKASS CDS wrote:

my pops even took me to see Eric Clapton [Phil Collins on drums, Robert Cray on Bass - MAN, I wish I would have appreciated that more at the time] -

I saw that tour in Oakland. Phil was maybe the biggest musician of the 80's.. He pulled Clapton out of the gutter, Helping write songs, Produce and play on his two comeback lps.

I  do not remember Robert being on bass. Killer band.

I still totally respect Phil playing drums on that tour. He did not sing or play anything from his solo or Genesis. Just playing drums. So cool..  A true musician & great drummer..