In Loving Memory – FIRST CONCERT EVER

In this First Concert Ever segment, the alternative band, In Loving Memory, talk about their first concert ever. You can check out the feature, after the break.

Naveed Stone – Vocals
I’m pretty late to the concert game. My first concert experience was the Bamboozle Festival in 2011. I was 15 years old and at the time, I had been fully immersed into the world of metalcore and post-hardcore. Even though my high school had thousands of kids in it, I rarely found friends who shared the same music tastes as me, so I often felt pretty alone due to being out of touch with mainstream pop culture. That’s why when I went to the Bamboozle Festival, I was immediately overwhelmed by how many people there were that were so passionate about this music and the subculture. Everywhere I looked were kids wearing band tees or dressing like their favorite artists, and it set such an amazing atmosphere. In that one day, I saw many of my favorite bands at the time, including Attack Attack!, Black Veil Brides, Chelsea Grin, and I See Stars. My poor little 15-year-old voice had blown out for the first time by the end of the day, after singing and screaming along to so many of my favorite songs. But the most important takeaway from that first concert experience was definitely the realization that the world of music that I had fallen into is truly a community that brings together people from various walks of life, and that is the atmosphere I want to be a part of and make my mark in.

Jon Conway – Guitar
My Mom raised me on VHS tape performances of The Moody Blues when I was just a toddler. In 1999, when I was only 5 years old, my parents took me to see my first concert, The Moody Blues at Jones Beach Theater on Long Island. Seeing the way they can make these sounds come from their instruments, and be able to portray the thematic elements of their music in a live setting truly got me going on the path I’m still taking. After that day, my parents bought me a start-up guitar to learn and practice on. I’d go back to those Moody Blues VHS tapes day after day, and imitate everything from their stances, to their playing style, to the faces they make during key moments of their set. It made me understand that the performance as a whole is all part of the art form that is music. Since then, inspirations have changed and grown, and I still continue to strive for excellence.

Vito Racanelli – Guitar
My first concert experience was seeing Billy Joel in 1998 at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York. I started playing piano at an early age through my love for Billy Joel but this my first opportunity to see him live. It was amazing to see these songs I was learning and playing actually being performed in front of me, as well as thousands of other people. The idea that I could do this someday became implanted in my head. I was truly engulfed in the musical performance and the concert experience in general. Even though I moved from piano to guitar years later, that initial feeling never left me and I knew what I wanted to do from that day forward.

Thomas Diognardi – Drums
My first concert was in 2008 to see Iron Maiden. Me and Jon (our guitarist) had gotten into Iron Maiden together and had been fanboy-ing over them for a couple of years at this point, so we decided we’d see them together. The show was at the massive Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City, so needless to say we were accompanied by thousands of other Iron Maiden fans. I remember being astonished that there were so many people that loved the same band that I do, and we hadn’t even made it inside yet! Once we actually made it inside and I saw my heroes hit the stage, I couldn’t believe they were in the same room as me. Seeing over 20,000 people lose their minds to my favorite songs was something I’ll never forget. I also remember seeing how much fun Iron Maiden was having on stage and how insane their live performance/stage set was. That was definitely an experience that validated my desire to want to pursue music seriously. After that concert, Jon and I jumped right into that serious pursuit and formed what would become our first band.

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