The journey begins here but it could have started differently. My first concert experience was supposed to have been Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bebop Deluxe at The Paladium theatre in New York City but yours truly skipped a day at Saint Francis Prep high school in Queens, got caught and got grounded delaying my introduction to live music until Queen and Thin Lizzy played Madison Square Garden on a Saturday night in February, 1977; I had just turned seventeen and a lifetime passion for the live music experience was ignited.
The lights went down at the packed arena, a seen wailed and two red emergency lights rotated on eithe side of the stage while Thin Lizzy broke into “Jailbreak”. Summer of 1976 was the summer of Frampton Comes Alive and Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town”. It was a golden age for rock and roll with so much great music from the 1960’s in the can and so many mythic recordings yet to come. There was no internet of course so album covers gave you the glimpse into the mystique of a band and the young fans proudly extolled their favorite bands on boom box radios as part of their identity. “The Boys are Back in Town” could have been about almost any neighborhood; the story was an anthem that could belong to anyone and everyone. Thin Lizzy was a great rock and roll act to open for the legendary Queen.
Queen opened with the hard rocker “Tie Your Mother Down” and it kicked ass. We sat mid level slightly left center and were mesmerized. The show was a perfect combination of sight and sound with a then state of the art light show which made “Now I’m Here” an illusion with Freddie Mercury appearing as if by magic beneath alternating spotlights on the MSG stage. Queen was a great live act with many familiar songs but the best was yet to come; Led Zeppelin was to take over New York City in June and I managed assay for one of the toughest tickets this city had seen to that point.
Killer Queen
Rock on!
GQ
This was the concert that set me on the path of rock ‘n roll and changed my life at age 12. I went because I had heard Bohemian Rhapsody and was obsessed with the song. My friend and I bought cheap tickets from a scalper (nosebleed seats). A person in our row had binoculars and let us look through them. I couldn’t believe what I saw: a man with black eye liner who was like a panther strutting across the stage in a flesh-colored leotard, I had no idea that night that I would see Queen live another 22 times.
I almost didn’t go to this concert. It was a rainy cold February Saturday in NY and all I wanted to do was stay home. My good friend Simon had 4 tickets and he begged me to take one of them. I was not a Queen or Thin Lizzy fan. Man, did that change. One regret I will never have in my life. I am 65 years old with many concerts attended. This is in the top 3 and probably is the best.
THAT was My 1st concert. Thank you for describing what you remember. I too remember! My mom took me, she loved Queen too! I was 12. My older sister brought the first Queen album into the house. Gotta give her some creds. Went on to see them 10x over the years. 8 with Freddie, 1 Paul Rogers and 1 Lambert. Also a thrill to bring My Son to the last one. We WILL We WILL keep Rockin Queen!