while(true) - FIRST CONCERT EVER

In this First Concert Ever segment, the alternative/progressive metal artist, while(true), talks about the story of his first experience with live music. You can check out the story below:

Back in the summer of 2009, I was a 17-year-old living with my dad and stepmom in a tiny, rural town in south-central Illinois. My parents were strict, limiting and keeping a close eye on any form of media that I consumed. Their strictness grew over the years, eventually resulting in my coming home from school one day to find out that they had thrown away my collection of Nine Inch Nails and Korn CDs. During this period of my life, I spent a lot of time cooped up in my room writing and recording shitty metalcore. During Christmas and summer breaks, I would visit my mom and stepdad in Kokomo, IN. I always looked forward to these visits, with my visit during the summer of 2009 being especially notable.

My stepdad’s taste in music was very much in line with the stuff I was interested in at the time. Anytime I’d visit, I’d explore his CD collection or peruse Kazaa on the family computer for something new to listen to (sorry for the viruses). He’d also often surprise me by taking me out to do cool stuff. When I showed up to visit that summer, he surprised me with tickets to Mayhem Fest. I hadn’t been to a live show up until this point, so I was pretty stoked—especially since Killswitch was playing on the main stage and they were my favorite band at the time. I can still vividly remember showing up to the festival and waiting around for Whitechapel to kick things off. Before the band went on, I took note of how loud the music was that they were playing over the PA. I remember thinking to myself: “I guess this is pretty loud. Is this how loud the bands will be?” I wasn’t prepared for how loud the bands would be. Whitechapel kicked in, three guitars and all, and it blew me away. I honestly don’t remember much else about the side stage acts. My memories of the fest mostly revolve around how tight Killswitch sounded and one particular moment where Mike (the bassist) locked eyes and pointed at me because (I’m pretty sure) he noticed me singing along.

The festival was an awesome and inspiring experience for teenage me. That next year, I got together with a few friends to form a band and we started playing out. Looking back, being in that band with my friends fostered some of the greatest experiences of my life. We all eventually went our separate ways, and I moved on to form new bands, one after the next over the course of the next decade+. Lately, I’m playing guitar for a couple of bands in the St. Louis area (shout out to Oakwood Grove and Ego Death) and have recently assembled a lineup for my main musical focus, being while(true). We’re currently prepping to play out by the spring of 2025.

Keep up with while(true) on Instagram.