My First

I remember my first rock concert. I was in 7th grade living in upstate New York. My family had moved to New York from South Dakota making me the new kid in town (reference The Eagles). It was a very big change to say the least. But it was a small town, so being new kind of got you a lot of attention. The "cool" guys in school approached me and asked if I wanted to go to a concert. I was clueless and said "what do you mean"? They said "you've never been to a concert?" which at that point I just tried to dodge the question and seem aloof. So I asked my folks and miraculously they said sure.

The band was The Doobie Brothers. Funny thing was that I actually liked them a lot. I loved their song "Black Water". It was one of the few songs I had really wanted to learn the lyrics to so I could sing along to that one part that was acapelo. The concert was great, I'll never forget it. It marked a lot of "firsts" for me as a kid. It was the first time I saw people smoking pot upfront and close and could smell it. It was my first concert t-shirt. And it was the first time I saw lighters being used to call the band back for an encore.

You know, when you're a kid experiencing stuff like this, it feels like this massive, amazing discovery that you want to share with everyone. Like you're the first kid to know that rock concerts rock. What's odd is that the song that actually reminds me most of the concert is "China Grove" not "Black Water". I suppose it's because I have a picture in my mind of the band playing this song during the concert. They also did a great version of "Jesus Is Just Alright". So when I call this my first "Doobie", I'm of course referring to the band...or am I?