How old were you when you went to your first gig.

PurpleJay

I was 16, it was 1988 and me and my mate went on a bus trip to Birmingham NEC to see Kiss. The trip was run from a record shop in the nearest town to us about 8 miles away and my dad dropped us off for the bus and picked us up again. I had wanted to go to the Monsters of Rock festival the year before as Bon Jovi were headlining but my parents said no as I was only 15. I saw them in 1989 though at Milton Keynes bowl and again in 2006

bluenoseam

Think it's also pretty fair to add that while my Mum allowed me at 17 to go traipsing off to T in the Park (like she could have stopped me anyway, Foo Fighters & Green Day on the same day, i'd have needed to be in a coma to miss that!) she wouldn't let my sister go to a festival until she was nearly 21 and even then worried herself senseless until she got home, understandable given it was Leeds & some of the bands playing there!

Dark_Star

1st gig was Men At Work then The Police..ahem...more years than I care to recall...used to go home by train on my own as friends lived elsewhere & we'd meet at the gig. Remember getting the packed midnight train home & sitting opposite a little old lady with a shopping trolley who looked "safe". Hang on, it's midnight WHY is a little old lady out with her shopping trolley....*doh*....

There was a lot of 80's lightweight drivel that I refuse to admit to:p

Since then....Aerosmith/Bon Jovi/Def Leppard//Bruce
Springsteen/Nickelback/Guns n Roses (several incarnations)/ Velvet Revolver/Stranglers/Boomtown Rats/Prince/Michael Jackson/Genesis/Chris Rea/ZZ Top & probably more I can't remember

Most of the time I would tell the parents what they needed to hear rather than actual travel arrangements. Went a bit pear shaped when we missed the last packed tube to a mainline station & ended up kipping in a station all night awaiting the 1st train out. Mum not impressed with 2am call. Also...we had no A-Z so navigated by bus shelter maps (no all night buses either)...was a long walk from wembley *sigh* Those were the days..

Ames

PurpleJay wrote: »

I was 16, it was 1988 and me and my mate went on a bus trip to Birmingham NEC to see Kiss. The trip was run from a record shop in the nearest town to us about 8 miles away and my dad dropped us off for the bus and picked us up again. I had wanted to go to the Monsters of Rock festival the year before as Bon Jovi were headlining but my parents said no as I was only 15. I saw them in 1989 though at Milton Keynes bowl and again in 2006

I wanted to go to Monsters of Rock when I was 15 too and wasn't allowed. We drove past Donington the day after the festival and my evil parents kept going on about it, offering to take a detour so I could see where I could have been.

The next year I went to the Ozzfest at Milton Keynes with a friend, then the year after I went to Metallica's Big Day Out there, but having learnt my lesson I just bought my ticket and told the parents I was going. They were ok about it by then though.

**curlywurly**

Took my daughter to her first gig when she was 2. The Tweenies. If you watch the DVD of The Tweenies Live, we are on it! (much to my husband's dismay)

MessyMare

I was 12, went to see Alice Cooper at the NEC with my then bezzie mate Ben. Six rows from the front, woohoo! These days (at 24) I tend to go gigging with my mum, last band we saw together was The Enemy, had an ace time (she know more about new music than I do!)

trillion

Magazine in maybe 1977 or 78. I'd have been 15.

I dragged my kids around gigs and festivals for years.
I think the OP was more concerned about her son doing it independently though, including travelling etc.

I will always be grateful to my dad who used to work from an office in Tulse Hill a couple of days a week.
From the age of about 14, he'd let me 'go to work' with him, slip me a pound note, drop me at Brixton tube station and tell me to be there waiting at 4pm for a lift home and then basically let me wander the streets of London alone for 8 hours.
I think it did more than anything I can think of to make me independent, resourceful and altogether unafraid of going anywhere or doing anything - even on my own.

My 50th birthday present to myself is 6 weeks interailing round Scandinavia and the Baltic in April and May with the intention of catching as much metal music as I can fit in!

trillion

judyjetson wrote: »

Lost my shoes at one gig (Hanoi Rocks I think) and almost lost my eyebrows at a Rammstein gig a couple of years back to a flamethrower!

My son's first arena gig was Rammstein when he was 7, Buck Dich and all.

Sadly, it didn't have the desired effect and all he listens to now is d'n'b and shouty black guys!

Mupette

16 and it was Erasure, aged 36 i went back to the same place to see them again, and this year for an intimate gig, although it wasn't so intimate and it was too packed too hot, no air con.

I always wanted to see Pet Shop Boys as their videos showed big glam shows, but it wasn't until the uni tour did i see them which was bare bones but Bristol student Union where i saw it was a small gig and i was at the front...

I saw them once more a few years back at Swindon for a small version of their tour but it was still fantastic with the gold cowboy (don't ask).

I regret i never had a chance to see Prince, and most of the 80's band although Duran Duran / Spandau were never on my list.

late 80's/90's i got to see Nenah cherry's sister, and a few acts that were around at the time for a radio launch (pirate went legal)

Roni Size a few times, but usually bump into him in a supermarket doing the shopping, old friend from way back.

See Hawkwind more times than i can remember even at thier 40th Anniversary gig. this is because OH and his best mate are huge fans and often see them several times a year. the Porchester Hall 40th gig was brilliant, staff were brilliant with me in a wheelchair and insisted on helping me every time i moved about, even had band members come up and ask me if i was ok (boys are jealous and ask who it was - i don't know)

And saw a very stoned Matthew Wright there too :rotfl:

I guess as parents we know what gigs can be like, I've never been to a HUGE stadium gig, and its probably just as well, i like to go see the performer not a tv screen of them miles away.

DS had the time of his life, and is planning his next trip god help us.

snowflake86

First proper gig was Placebo at 17, in Manchester. Parents drove me up there and picked me up after. Went to see them again a year later when I started uni, this time in London, I'd got the train down there, and was due to get the last train back to uni, but managed to miss it, so had to very sheepishly call the parents and ask them to come and get me from Northampton (only train that night that was heading in vauguely the right direction!) I wasn't at all phased by it, and would have probably slept in the station if my mum hadn't called to check I was on the train (She'd said all along I'd miss it!).