MARNEY – FIRST CONCERT EVER

In this First Concert Ever segment, the indietronica duo, MARNEY, talks about the stories of their first experiences with live music. You can check out the story, after the break.

Thomas- My first concert was Rush at the Staples Center in 2002 with my dad. It’s a pretty funny story because I was in 5th grade and all I ever really listened to was pop-punk bands like The Offspring, Blink-182, and Boxcar Racer (which I still love and listen to all the time). My dad is really into progressive rock/metal and bands like Yes, Genesis, and ELP, and him taking me to see Rush was basically his way of saying, “this is what real music is.”

Considering how young I was and the fact that I had never seen a show before, it was all just so overwhelming. I truly didn’t know what to expect because I had never seen live music before. Even though I was sitting on the side of the stage, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing; the energy, the loudness, the crowd, THE MUSIC. I remember being totally blown away by everything but, I didn’t really realize it fully until I started playing guitar at age 13. Once I picked up the instrument, I started to realize how genius Rush is and how much I appreciated it.

If it wasn’t for that show and for my dad having me branch out into music I was unaware of at the time, I probably wouldn’t have ever pursued music or being in a band. Though I play in an alt/pop band, I have a strong love for rock and metal music and I think I can attribute a lot of that to my first concert.

Crystal- My first concert was Green Day at the Pepsi Center in 2009 on August 15th with my band from high school! I grew up in a small town called Durango in the state of Colorado and my dream for years was to be able to see a live show. Music was what really saved me through my entire life, especially my adolescence, but we never really had any bands come through our small ski-resort town. I always look back and think about how crazy it is that my first concert was when I was 15. I remember my old bandmates telling me that they were taking me with them to see Green Day for my birthday. I couldn’t believe it!

We got there early enough to see AFI (one of my favorites) and my blood was coursing so fast. Green Day came on after and the energy of the crowd and the band together was enough to solidify the fact that I wanted to be in a band. I will never forget when Billie Joe told the seated crowd to storm the stage against the security which caused my band and I and the rest of the audience to run as fast as possible towards the stage. I, then, was about 3 rows away from the front feeling absolutely high off of the show. I cried when I left.

Like Thomas, I will always attribute that show to being a big reason why I love playing shows and writing music. If I can ever make one person in an audience feel the way I did then, I’ve done something incredible.

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