In honor of the upcoming NIN / Jane’s Addiction show here this summer, I decided to recall my first outdoor concert experience.
So let me set the stage… I began to veer towards alternative / rock music when I was about 14ish. It was about the time I put down the violin and picked up the electric bass. Music became one of the more important things in my life…
When I found out Jane’s Addiction was coming to town, I was dying to go as I couldn’t stop listening to Ritual De Lo Habitual. I also collected anything about the bands I loved from many guitar rags as well as the typical Rolling Stone… But no one else in my friends or family was really into them, so I resigned myself to letting it slip away.
Then I got a surprise. My brother’s wife’s company had a season pass at Deer Creek, and no one from the company wanted to go see Jane’s Addiction. So he offered to take me. As an FYI, he’s the more “hip” brother who taught me how to play bass.
Bonus, the tix were in the VIP box seats. Quite a way to have your first concert experience at the local outdoor venue…
We got there, and it’s a good size outdoor arena with a large lawn section that was closed for this concert (I’ve seen or heard of another concert with the lawn closed since). We took the seats and unenthusiastically watched the opening act, The Rollins Band. I was completely unmoved. by their performance which seemed like more noise than music.
Jane’s Addiction came on to a very enthusiastic crowd that rushed the stage very shortly into the opening song to pack the pit area up against the stage more than I’ve ever seen since. It was quite a surreal experience for me at that age. My concert experience up to then had been quite limited, and this was completely different than I imagined.
But I took it all in and relished in seeing all the songs I’d built up to epic status in my head. Three Days… Mountain Song… Stop… Been Caught Stealing… Pigs in Zen… It was an awesome show that showcased the musical talent at work with Perkins and Navarro standing out the most.
I’d end up going back to Deer Creek (which is now Verizon Wireless Music Center) later the next summer for Van Halen / Alice in Chains… Quite a different show, and not as good… But that’s for another time.