Led Zeppelin 1977
The first concert I ever saw was Led Zeppelin, at the Capitol Center in Landover, MD (since torn down to make way for a shopping mall):
My father had once said, "if that Led Zeppelin ever comes around, I'll get tickets". And so, when they went on tour in 1977, I nagged him until he did. He was probably the oldest person at the show (the Capital Centre was two hours away, and I was too young to drive). My friend Stuart and I were probably some of the youngest. Tickets were a whopping $7.50!
And even at that early age, I was an entertainment technology geek. And I have proof--see the photos below (sorry for the quality, I took these using a 110 camera, the negatives are beat, and the prints were on my wall for many years). Boy have we come a long way! PAR cans, DC300's, tons of horns aimed all over the place, hand made dry ice foggers, all provided by Showco, if I remember right. Years later, I actually applied to Showco for my senior project, and I thought it was so cool that they actually responded to some high school kid, so I proudly kept the letter for many years (it's probably in a file around here somewhere). I don't honestly remember how it sounded, but I knew every song inside and out. I do remember that someone threw a sparkler onstage (there used to be tons of (audience) fireworks at shows!) and Robert Plant kicked it down into a flash pot and it blew up pretty much right under him.
Anyway, here's the PA:
Monitor world:
And I have more photos here.