Great Concert Memories - My 1st concert - part I

In keeping with the non-theme of my blog, I'm gonna talk about something new today. I want to talk about my 1st concert memory.

This isn't strictly speaking, the 1st concert I ever saw. I'd seen Herman's Hermits and Gladys Knight with the Temptations at the State Fair growing up. What I want to talk about is the 1st concert I ever went to with just friends, and no family along for the ride. So what was my first big concert experience? It was the 2002 Van's Warped Tour at Flo-Rite Park just outside of the Twin Cities.

A little context: this was the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. I was a band, choir, and theatre geek who had never been very adventurous. I did not drink at all in high school, I never missed curfew, my first car wreck occurred in a mini van at under 25mph, and I had a paralyzing fear of girls. I was the antithesis of punk. So when my best friend asked if I wanted to go to the Warped Tour, it was more out of musical curiosity than anything else. (the fact that we'd be riding with two girls I may or may not have had a crush on at the time had nothing to do with it)

I hated punk music too. Or, to be accurate, I hated punk music as I understood it. I was raised on classic rock, grew up with 90's alternative pop, and was in the middle of a serious nu-metal phase. The concert I would have picked included Staind, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and Metallica. To me, punk was what whimpy skateboarders listened too and contained prepubescent vocals over poorly played instruments. (That's right, the future swim team captain questioned the toughness of skateboarders) The focus of my hatred of punk was a band called AFI. Now, I'd never heard anything AFI had ever done, but the kid in the trumpet section in band who I thought was a bit of a tool happened to wear an AFI sweatshirt rather frequently, so AFI sucked by association.

Despite my feelings about Punk, I decided to go. I'd get to spend the day road tripping with friends and I finally get to see a band formed after the 1960s. Also, the worst band in the world would beat a summer day pushing carts in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I don't recall much of the ride there. Growing up in far northern Wisconsin, it's a very long drive to anywhere worth while to a teenager, so we left around dawn, and I vaguely recall Burger King cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I got to hear some of the bands we'd be seeing that day, including AFI. I was a little surprised that they didn't sound too bad. Maybe this day wouldn't be so bad, but I still had my doubts.

part II coming soon!