What was the first concert you went to?

A quote from www.rockall.com… Gene Pitney: "He'd tour the U.K. twice a year, often for a month at a time, on packages that included such fellow performers as the Kinks, the Troggs, Peter and Gordon and Joe Cocker."

Syncopating Sandy at the Hippodrome about 1948-50 I was treated by a girl a good 5 years older than me.

Great minds think alike . an oldie but a goodie.

First would have been Elton John at Cov Theatre about 1974.A few years later couldn't stand him and was seeing the likes of The Buzzcocks at the Theatre.

In the fifties not many US artists came to the UK, but I remember that when Bill Haley and the Comets came a few of of my schoolmates got tickets to see them at the Gaumont Cinema. I did not go, but I did go to see The Crickets at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester on March 16th. 1958, with my mate, John Probert. It cost us 10/-, 5/- for the coach ticket and 5/- for the concert ticket. Absolute magic from a great group. I recall that midway through the concert, a girl came running past us, heading for the stage, screaming "BUDDY". Two of the concert security blokes grabbed an arm each and, lifting her up off the floor, took her back to her seat.

CovKid41. I went to the Bill Haley concert at the Gaumont Cinema, very good show. You mention a friend named John Probert. I wonder if he is the same John Probert that I knew at the time I attended Stoke Heath Primary School. The John I knew then lived in Alliance Way, Stoke Heath.

PP Arnold backed by The VIP's (Keith Emerson & co) at Tudor Club (Mercer's Arms) in 1966, Long John Baldry with Rod Stewart & Julie Driscoll at Jazz Club (Leofric) also 1966. Free, Fairport Convention, Family, ELP & Steppenwolf at Lanch, Stones at Cov Theatre, Meatloaf 3 times, Liverpool Scene & Edgar Broughton at Mothers in Erdington, Springsteen at St James's Park Newcastle, and Blind Faith in Hyde Park. Best was probably Yes at De Montfort in Leicester in 1974 and again at Sheffield Town Hall in 2014 and they were still brilliant.

I can't remember exactly which came first but I went to a few gigs at Warwick University students union in 1982 and saw various two tone and punk bands including Selector and one called Splodgenessabounds.

Supertramp, Joan Armatrading, The Movies: All at the one gig at the Coventry Theatre 1975 - talk about value for money!

Some great names appear in the previous posts! My earliest theatre experiences were mainly pantos at the Hippodrome in the 60's (Frank Ifield, Ken Dodd, Des O'Connor etc), except for some Saturday attendances at the Belgrade Theatre for black and white screenings of Ivanhoe, William Tell and similar. I was also involved in early stages of drama, again at the Belgrade, when we all emulated trees growing and swaying in the breeze. I suspect these were school holiday activities? My real 'concert' experiences started in the early 70's in the folk scene around Coventry's venues; doing floor-spots at the YWCA "The Gate" (Folk and Gospel) in The Butts, and then various pubs around the area. I was lucky enough to 'crash' a lot of BBC concerts in the late 70's/early 80's while working at Broadcasting House. Having a BBC pass opened up many areas of entertainment, although earplugs were essential, even in the control rooms. Maida Vale studios were even better with the likes of The Pretenders, Kenny Ball and various jazz combo sessions. I could go on but I think I might overdo the 'first concert' aspect of this thread!

Not sure that it was my very first, but one of the earliest was to see an ageing Marty Wilde gig at the Belfry. I seem to remember at that time that they were allowed to stay open late by giving free food. That night it was curry and rice, but not a lot got eaten!!!!

After uncovering some old diaries, I discover that I saw Pink Floyd at the Locarno on 4th May 1967. I noted that their performance was not fully appreciated by the audience.