Gossamer Tiger's blog: "Music"

I watched the Netflix movie, The Dirt. It's the story of Motley Crue's rise, fall, resurgence, and retirement. It was good. It shed a lot of light on things that I thought were not what they were. The history was all stuff that I already knew with a few exceptions.

I grew up listening to them. I got there through a very perverse set of backward progression. It was the early 80s. I had snuck into my older brother's room and went through his closet. In that closet, I found a tape. It was Twisted Sister. The album was Stay Hungry. I "borrowed" it. I put it back. It was a couple months and I snuck in again. I found Shout at the Devil. When I listened to it, I was blown away.

I joined the Columbia Music Club. I ordered all the Crue stuff that I could. By the time Dr. Feelgood came out, I had already heard everything else. It came out. I bought it with what little money that I had. I knew, right then, that I needed to see them live. I heard on KSHE95, our local rock station, that they would be playing the Checkerdome, I convinced my mom and dad to give me the money to go see them. They only agreed to it if my oldest brother would take me.. He agreed to it. He was the only one who had a car.

We went to the show. This was '89. St. Louis, MO. It was my first concert. I will never forget it. It was the defining moment in my life. I knew, right then, that I wanted to be on stage playing. I wanted to be like them. I took up guitar. At the time, I wasn't playing anything. I had played something since I was nine. My mom (RIP), found 150 dollars and bought me my first guitar and amplifier. That was 30 years ago. I'm still learning to play.

What was your first concert and how did it change your life?