Ollie Wade – FIRST CONCERT EVER

In this First Concert Ever segment, the singer-songwriter, Ollie Wade, talks about the story of his first experience with live music. You can check out the story, after the break.

Thinking back to my first ever concert makes me laugh because it seems so random to me. I think I was 12, soon to be 13, and my best friend and I got taken to see Nickleback at the Wembley Arena in London by my friend’s older cousin. I remember being so excited and slightly nervous as I had no idea what to expect. My first time inside an arena, my first ever concert and as soon as we got near to the venue – a whole new type of atmosphere. It was was electric, almost like a cup final at a football game for your local team.

It was just after they had released ‘Rockstar’ and it was still popping off in the charts, so they were super popular at the time. I had known of them before though from their earlier albums,’ Silver Side Up’ through to, ‘All The Right Reasons’ which I was obsessed with and knew every song, meaning that I considered myself a fan and I knew a fair few tunes in their catalog.

The show was honestly brilliant. Although way too young to have a beer at the time, I felt drunk from the atmosphere and the euphoria of singing at the top of your lungs to your favorite songs – without being judged or heard for that matter. Heavily distorted guitars, live drums, and Chad Kroeger running around commanding the stage (as a frontman should) were all ingredients to make this a perfect first live concert experience. I even vividly remember being so excited about a T-Shirt Cannon that they got out – firing merch into grasping hands and being desperate to grab a T-Shirt that was probably five times too big for me. Everyone was on the same page, there to have a good time and to share their love for live music.

Although in a completely different genre myself these days and I would hardly still call myself a Nickleback fan – the experience stuck with me and lit the spark in me to need to go and see more concerts and live shows. I had seen the level at which a bar could be set and just how happy a live show could make so many people. I started to dream of being that person on a stage one day, with people singing out my songs, and I would have never thought in a million years that it would turn into reality. You just really can’t beat live music.

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