What and when was your first heavy metal concert?

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Permalink Reply by Dee on November 23, 2008 at 3:11am

First concert ever was Pink Floyd in Germany. Omg it was amazing. Shortly after that Pantera

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Permalink Reply by Iffy on December 22, 2008 at 2:17am

My first concert experience was OzzFest '05, when Black Sabbath was headlining. It was pretty much the single greatest thing in my life at that point. I was going crazy, jumping up and down, banging my head--just into it! My favorite moment of the night during their set was they were playing "Fairies Wear Boots" and then suddenly, like as if they were masters of the elements, it began to rain heavily, thunder and lightning. And it was hot all day long, so the rain was like a gift from the rock gods above.

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Permalink Reply by Frisky_dingo on February 28, 2009 at 9:27am

yeah my first real METAL concert was BEHEMOTH in my hometown of katowice. I heard that they are huge now in the USA and South America, is it true?

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Permalink Reply by Zombie Messiah on August 12, 2009 at 7:41am

Since there isn't a concert I will go to in my near future I'm going to reminisce by rambling about my first heavy metal concert and how it was the highlight of my life during 2001 to 2004. I am going to make jokes heavy metal, and music culture in general, as I saw then and how I see it now and complain about my life back in the day.

To skip to the point scroll to the bottom of my rant to the Just the Facts section.

The When:

It was the early 2000s and the world was new and full of false hope. KaZaA was introducing wild and untamed music with computer viruses (what's spy ware?) to impressionable youths.

At that time, I was attending 'college' and had three roommates. One had a tattoo of his last name in Old English on his left man boob, the other liked to practice gangster dance moves while making fun of my hair, the other was a Hip-Hop DJ (equivalent to me now being a metal guitarist because I like metal and own electric guitars) who didn't like his girlfriend talking to me. Suffice it to say, all of them don't like metal because 'You can't even understand them." I didn't have other options in who to go to the concert with. I took night 'classes' with Moms, Dads, other nerds (really, who wants to befriend a nerd?), a sweatpants clique made up of three women: one 17 year old bitchie bitch (bitched about too much news coverage on our first day of school: 9/11/2001), a stuck up chick 20 something, and a 30 something woman who was oblivious that the other two called her fat behind her back.
I couldn't go with my co-worker that told me about Brujeria and their concert, after finding out I liked Rage Against the Machine, because like everyone says. "Don't trust whitey."
My options for having someone to go with to the concert were void.

I went to the concert alone.

The Who (not the band 'The Who' that sings my all time most hated classic rock song "Who are you?")

My first heavy metal concert was headlined by Brujeria. The band before them was Bad Acid Trip. Local bands that sold the most tickets to the show got to be the other opening acts.

The concert was in Ventura, CA at the Ventura Theater. Tickets were $26.

This was my first concert of any kind (not counting High School plays to 'Celebrate Equality by Celebrating only the flashy aspects of the cultures of the towns Two Major Minority Groups').

Before the concert I only listened to at most 3 complete Brujeria songs. These were KaZaA songs and I couldn't be certain if the songs name, origin, or if they were actual Briujeria songs. I did not own Brujeria albums or merchandise. I did not know anything about members of Brujeria beyond their gimmick of being Mexican Satanic Drug Dealers Zapatistas that practiced their music in the Mexico's north border desert mountains. A band so bad ass that Subcomandante Marcos leader of Mexico's Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) likes the band and wears their t-shirts.

This is what I happened that night:

Bought the tickets the night of the show. Got in line.
Emptied my pockets before going in and having some big dumb security guy near my age think my flash drive on my key chain was some sort of weapon. I was rescued from going up to the top of the parking garage to put my assault weapon away by three other far less intimidating and far smarter security guards who calmed his rage into a growl and a blank stare by telling him. "It's Okay."
I was told that cameras were not allowed, then told cameras were okay when they saw my $5 disposable camera.
I got inside and wished I didn't leave my 'navaja' in the car. I mentally planned my attack against anybody who would 'get all in my business' for not wearing a black t-shirt with a fiery logo on the front and some tour dates on the back. I wore a big dark gray jacket with a wide florescent light gray line that went all the way around. You know, because if you are wearing a jacket and don't smile people will leave you alone since you most likely have a gun.

I didn't go to to concert to see the opening bands. I never heard of any of them before the show, so I sat in scraggly loner section (the balcony) to wait for Brujeria to sing about Satanic Drug Cartel Worship, Communism, to say 'Si!' to 'un poquito de hongo (a lil' bit of shrooms)', and 'No!' to 'el polvo (drugs you snort)', killing whitey with any of the numerous machetes that decorate the home, and Mecosaurio (Sperm Dinosaur).

After Bad Acid Trip's singer attracted some balcony dwellers by simulating sex with a cheesy looking female corpse, after he band threw stuff back at the audience, and got off the stage; I went down into the pit.

I stood right at front, next to the 12 foot stack of amps that were on the pit floor to the right of the stage. I thought I'd make it too obvious that it was my first concert if I touched the amps that were only a foot away with a 4 foot high railing separating the show and the fans. I didn't mosh, since I didn't know what that was exactly and if I wanted to fight I had room mates.

I like going to concerts to watch bands play great music. I might mosh the day going to concerts becomes so common that I can only have fun coming up with more 'hardcore' ways to spin and bump into people.

Before Brujeria took to the stage a guy wearing a sleeveless shirt appeared on stage came out and started playing a guitar on stage. I thought this was Brujeria and was planning on cheering, but the two single 'yeah!'s I heard were enough to teach me this guy wasn't part of Brujeria. I later found out, that roadies exist and their job may include setting up musical equipment and testing it in full view of the waiting audience.

After Brujeria took the stage, I randomly took pictures of Brujeria's founder and the legendary brutal 7 and 8 String guitarist Asesino. I took picutres of the band member closest to me on stage, Brujeria's main guitarist, Asesinoo. while he was either turning or facing to the center. When he was facing my direction I just stared at him trying to figure out how this short fat Mexican wearing a leather mask and his 7 string (I counted) guitar is kicking in the teeth of every part of society I hate. I also watched and listened to his guitar playing and thought, 'I can do better' and later I bought and still own a 7 string Ibanez guitar who's pick guard section still contains the remains of a large melted candle. It gathers dust from the depths of Hell!

I didn't know the difference between the devil sign and Spider-Man sign. So, I kept my hands at my sides in a way that would seem cool (slang term at the time) and looked at others throwing it up. I tried to sneak an attempted devil sign in between the light show flashes. I tried to imitate a guy I saw headbanging, but I ended up look like I had a twitching problem. To cover this I would rub my neck as if my neck hurt and I was not twitching, but trying to pop my neck.

I thought Asisino was going to be be laughed at and ruin the show when almost knocked over his microphone stand (he sings in some songs) with his guitar, but luckily the Guitar Gods said, 'Though Shalt Rock!' and brought the stand back from the brink.

I now know Asesino as my MySpace friend, Dino Cazares NEW DIVINE HERESY ALBUM OUT NOW! I help with his music. He asks me to watch his music videos and to check out (slang for 'buy') his latest album and I provide feedback with positive criticism by telling him (HIS CURRENT BAND) FUCKING RULES! I'm not in his 'Top Friends List' because he doesn't like to brag. Like only the truly brutal metal guitarist, we both also file six string guitars under grampa guitars.

What disappointed me about the Brujeria performance was that singer looked goofy in an outfit several sizes too small.
I was also upset after an Asian looking guy brought out to hold up the Si! or No! sign in conjunction with the song 'Consejos Narcos' and made fun as he did a 'me know karate' bow. It brought memories of being discriminated against. I don't like anything that would make me part of the creation of the same racial hate.
The biggest disappointment was discovering Brujeria wasn't as bad ass as I thought.
The crowd threw back the dismembered parts of a pinata (pin-ya-ta) woman Brujeria said was for sex.
Brujeria only dodged the flying cardboard and kept playing. When their song was finished. Some off stage guy got a mic and told us to not throw things.
This was a big let down not because I was duped into believing their gimmick's ideaology and thought they were looking for an excuse to behead someone and rape the neck hole, but because the previous band, Bad Acid Trip, actually threw back what the audience threw at them. Later on the BAT website, I read that the concert people turned off a system the band used to hear each other to punish them for having balls. I don't know what the system is or why they needed it, but I do know and remember who they are.

After the show, I went to an official Brujeria merchandise booth and was asked if I wanted the shirt that only had the Brujeria logo in the front or if I wanted the shirt that had the Brujeria log on the front and with a giant pot leaf in the back when translated verbatim to English reads "I'm a pot smoker! Beat Your Mom!". I I asked for the for the just the log shirt, but when I got home I noticed I got the shirt with the Brujeria battle cry. It was the only metal shirt I owned so I wore it to my 2nd heavy metal concert when I went to see my cousin's hardcore (?) band play in a high school heavy metal concert at an old theater. The back of the shirt was making me out as someone more than just a Brujeria fan: I don't smoke pot, and I don't care if your mom gets beat up (maybe she should have used her jab more).

Today, I don't worship political bands that have message that I don't relate to or political lyrics that are very vague like "Five fisted fistagon!" from a Rage Against the Machine song. I don't support bands that are overtly racist in their songs. Brujeria's song 'Consejos Narcos' says that it's okay kill whitey and it's okay to do drug deals with them, but you don't do business 'con negros'.

The reasons I didn't voluntarily go to a music concert until the Brujeria concert are:

I was poor(er) and hated music.

I hated all music until I saw the Rage Against the Machine music video for the song 'People of the Sun' in my high school history class. Everyone I ever knew in high school liked and emulated that times current musical trend Gangsta' Rap. Everyone was from the West Siiiide and ballin' and shot callin'.

During my elementary school years, music I was exposed to the radio playing music like MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Selena, Boys 2 Men, Kris Kross banjo or accordion powered, and Micheal Jackson's Dangerous / HIStory era. Back then every shorty wanted to be a thug, and guys wished they had a rabbit in a hat with a bat.

Luckily before high school, I discovered I wasn't a Crip or a Blood, much to the chagrin of my Mexican friend that wanted me to be a Blood like he was because Bloods were stronger than Crips, even though Crips were scorpions.

Just the Facts

What Band?: Brujeria.
Where?: Ventura Theater in Ventura CA
When?: Sometime between 2001 and 2003.

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