Favorites in Music

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Music has always had a big impact in my life from listening to rock on a transistor radio to going to symphonies. Do you have a favorite group or artist? What about your first or favorite concert?

Julie: I have lots of answers to this. I love going to listen to classical music, and have heard Yo Yo Ma play Bach, a sublime experience. I’ve attended Messiah sing alongs at Trinity Church that will always be a favorite memory. I remember listening to Bohemian Rhapsody on my round transistor radio, and falling in love with Queen. Over the past forty-three years I’ve seen Springsteen more than a dozen times. Lots of different choices here, but they all can be added to my favorite list.

Edith/Maddie: First concert has an easy answer for me: the Beatles! They played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on August 28, 1966 when I was thirteen. My two older sisters and I were huge fans and knew we wanted to see them live. Tickets were wildly expensive at six dollars a seat (I know…), but we three, plus a friend each, came up with the funds. Even though my oldest sister had her driver’s license, our dad volunteered to drive us all in the Rambler station wagon from our Pasadena-area suburb . During the concert, he sat in the car and caught up on his reading. We screamed and also despaired of hearing the music because of all the other screamers. Seeing the Beatles live was, if not life-changing, a major moment in my young life as a music-loving girl.

Sherry: I love that you saw the Beatles, Edith! I’ve heard other people say they couldn’t hear them because of all the screaming. My first concert was also my first date. It was a double date and we went to see the groups Sugarloaf (Green-Eyed Lady was a big hit) and Crow (who sang Evil Woman). I’m still friends with the boy I went on the date with and the other boy (well, they are both men now). And whenever we are together we talk about that experience.

Barb: My first concert was a bust. The Strawberry Alarm Clock in Kingston, PA. The band was fine, though I don’t remember a single song beyond Incense and Peppermints, but the arena was mostly empty. My mother made me go and take friends because it was a fundraiser for the Junior League. (Talk about a mismatch of sponsor and act! No wonder the arena was empty.) I sat there resentfully thought the whole thing. Luckily, as an adult I have been to many wonderful concerts with acts large-the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, Billy Joel and Elton John– and small, so the whole concert format has redeemed itself in my experience.

Jessie: I have two favorite music experiences and they are both related to home. Two years ago my youngest son gave me a Christmas gift of a pair of high-quality headphones and a dev-amp. I listen to masters of recordings I love through the streaming service Tidal and it is enchanting! It almost sounds like the artist is singing directly into my ears. The effect is especially convincing on old recordings where the quality had not yet become so polished. I’m listening to What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong as I type this! My other favorite experience is to listen to jazz, Parisian cafe music, or bossa nova out on the patio or in the screen house during the warm months. The sound of outdoor speakers carries on the wind and our nearest neighbor has commented how much she enjoys the music I generally play on Sundays as I sip coffee and plan out the upcoming week.

Liz: My first concert was Whitesnake…and my friend and I had to be escorted by my father because we were like, twelve. But, it was awesome. Those were my hair metal days. After that, in my twenties, I became obsessed with the Goo Goo Dolls and have been seeing them in concert for about 27 years. They make me so happy and I love their music. But also like Jessie I love jazz and cafe music out on the deck during summer, even just at night when I want to chill with some tea and a book.

Readers: How about you? Favorite group or artist? Favorite concert?

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Published by Sherry Harris

Sherry Harris is the author of the Agatha Award nominated Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series and the Chloe Jackson Sea Glass Mystery series.

32 Thoughts

  2. Ahhh music…now we’re talking!

    I love music and I have tons of acts that I like. And I go to shows as much as I can, though I’m still an amateur compared to some people I know. One music friend has the nickname of “The Road Dog” because he doesn’t just go to a boatload of concerts, he goes EVERYWHERE to see them. He lives in western Massachusetts but he goes to festivals all over the country and even on the Monsters of Rock cruise. And that doesn’t even include the other countries he’s gone to in order to see shows.

    So my favorite band is Savatage. They started off as more of a typical heavy metal band but starting with their Hall of the Mountain King album they started transitioning their sound to more of a symphonic metal style. I’ve seen them three times in concert and got to meet various members of the band each time. They’ve been mostly inactive for nearly two decades but according to an interview with main man Jon Oliva, there will be one final album coming out next year. I can’t wait.

    I am also a huge fan of Iron Maiden. I’ve seen them a few times in concert and buy every release they put out. They are just incredible.

    My newest “favorite” band is Illusory. They are a band out of Greece and two years ago when I heard their phenomenal masterpiece album ‘Crimson Wreath’, I was just blown away. How much do I love the album? I reviewed it for KNAC.COM, then it was my album of the year. I own it on cassette, vinyl and two copies of the CD. I even did an email interview with the band. And I’m Facebook friends with three of the six members of the band. I was even alluded to because of my review in a documentary they released. And when they recently reissued their first album for its 10th anniversary, they said they’ll be sending me a copy of it. Now if only I could get to Greece to see them live.

    There’s so many more bands I could go on forever about but for now, we’ll stick to these three.

    Because I write for two music websites, I keep active in the music community. Not as much as I would like because I have other stuff to do as well but I get to hear stuff early. I’ve had two musicians send me demo tracks of stuff they are working on for upcoming projects to get feedback from me. I hear some bits of news early too. My friend owns a record shop a couple towns over but he also plays in a band that is making some headway. They’ve opened for a number of name acts in the local area but they are hitting some high water marks in the coming months as they are going out to LA to play the legendary Whisky A Go Go club on New Year’s Eve opening for L.A. Guns. And then in March, they are opening 4 of the first five dates on the first leg of the Metal Church North American Annihilation tour. Who would’ve thought this would happen back in 1989 when we were in high school and this music was brand new?

    First concert – Believe it or not…The Statler Brothers with Helen Cornelius. Yep, a country concert. I had a blast. Met Helen after her set and Harold Reid stopped the show so I could take a photo of the group with my Kodak Instamatic camera. It was pretty cool!

    First rock concert – Survivor. It was awesome! I got to high five singer Jimi Jamison during the encore of “Eye of the Tiger”.

    Coolest concert: Kiss. I’d never seen them in concert when I got offered the chance to go through the opening band’s guest list. It was very cool to walk up to the will-call window and say, “I’m on the band’s guest list” (not saying it was the guest list for The Dead Daisies) and have all the people behind me wondering who the hell I was that I was on the guest list for Kiss they assumed. HA! Plus the show was fantastic.

    Best concert – I’ve seen Queensryche 9 times (#10 is in April 2024) but my favorite shows from them will always be during their ‘Empire’ tour when they played the entire ‘Operation:mindcrime’ album. I own that album on cassette, vinyl and at least two CD editions and when they released a live album called ‘Operation: Livecrime” I bought both versions of it (CD/cassette…with the VHS tape)

    Most transformative concert: Beth Hart at the Wilbur Theater in Boston, February 23rd, 2017. The way I describe Beth Hart and her music is: Imagine Janis Joplin, if she had survived all the drugs. A bit simplistic but that’s the 10-second pitch. She has rock, soul, blues, r&b and a little gospel sounds all mixed into her music and she is absolutely incredible. And when I saw her on this nice, I was just blown away by how amazing she was. You can check out this link for my review of that concert (which I think is one of the best things I’ve ever written) to get the full thrust of just how much I loved this show: https://classic-rock-bottom.ning.com/forum/topics/a-night-at-the-wilbur-beth-hart-live-in-concert

    I saw just seven shows this year as I’ve been off from concerts for three years because of the pandemic. But I’ve got five shows scheduled for next year already with two more possible if I can afford the outrageous ticket prices since I can’t get press passes like I do for other shows where I get in free.

    Ahh music, I love thee so!

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      1. Sherry,

        You took the time to read the Beth Hart piece? Wow, thanks! Like I said, I think it is one of the better pieces I’ve ever written since I started writing online 18 years ago. Let me know what you think of her music when you get the time to listen to her.

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  3. Oh, how I remember the transistor radio. And my parents made sure to get me one with an earplug. 🙂

    First concert was to see Kenny Rogers and the First Edition back with Ruby Take Your Love to Town was considered rock ‘n’ roll instead of country. Living in a medium sized town, it was a huge deal when they came to town.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net.

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    2. Kay, I would’ve loved to have seen Kenny Rogers in concert back when “The Gambler” was making him a huge star. I came across a special concert on some TV channel a few years back (just before he died) but I had to turn it off because it was not very good. Still, I have a couple greatest hits collections of his. And I watched the movies that he starred in based off of “The Gambler” and “Coward of the County”.

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  4. The Hubby and I saw Tony Bennett – he was amazing. Also George Strait and we just saw a group called Post-modern Jukebox that was fun (80s and 90s songs set in a 1930s style).

    The best concerts have been with my sister. Years ago we saw Kenny Chesney. More recently Billy Joel and Garth Brooks.

    I’ve also enjoyed a couple with The Girl when she was younger. Taylor Swift back when she was new on the country scene, and Fall Out Boy, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would.

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  5. The best group in the history of the world is KC & the Sunshine Band! The minute i hear a note of one of their songs I start dancing, no matter where I am. (I’m a total disco queen, if you haven’t figured it out.) I’ve been to amazing concerts in my life, but the most recent was one of the most fun – KC and also the B-52s on the B-52s Farewell Tour – which might not be a farewell since they were having so much fun!

    I also got a kick out of Pitbull/Kesha concert I once went to at the Hollywood Bowl. Kesha opened. After her set was over, the audience pretty much left and was replaced by a completely new audience of Pitbull fans. It was wild!

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  6. That’s the way uh huh uh huh I like it…that immediately popped into my mind when I saw K.C. and the Sunshine Band! They definitely make me want to dance too! The Hollywood Bowl must be an amazing venue to watch a concert!

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  7. My overall favorite has to be Jimmy Buffett. I’ve loved his music for a good 40 or so years now. I’ve read all his books, which have been a big influence on my own writing. I got to see him in concert 7 times, I think, which is the most of any artist for me.
    While people love the party vibe of his music, I absolutely adore his gift of storytelling. It’s astounding the tales he could tell in a 3 or 4 minute song!

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  8. The first concert I attended was Charles Aznavour, the Edith Piaf protege who performed swoon-worthy ballads and cafe songs about lost love. Our high school French teacher arranged to get tickets for our advanced class, such a special treat! Aznavour, crooning about forbidden affairs and impending middle age seemed like the height of worldly sophistication to us sixteen-year-old girls. I still love his music.

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  9. Queen is one of my favorite bands. My first concert was Judas Priest. My favorite concert was probably Bryan Adams. aprilbluetx at yahoo dot com

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      1. Having seen Judas Priest before the pandemic, they are still killing it and man the volume made me glad I’ve been wearing earplugs the last few years.

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  10. The first concert I went to was a Beach Boys concert. I was a freshman in high school and this was a big first date for me. It was also the night of my first real kiss from a boyfriend. A couple of years later I went to a Rolling Stones concert, but it was so loud and noisy and so many people screaming, I never heard any of the music. Therefore, I never went to another large concert. I have been to several more local ones and they have been wonderful. The three that stand out the most are seeing The Happenings in a little theater, and the Kingston Trio in an outdoor theater, but was in a small park, and Peter, Paul and Mary at a political fundraiser. Wonderful memories. I should add I’ve been to symphonies and many organ concerts.

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  11. Since I listen to Christian music, most of my favorites are people you’ve probably never heard of. I think my first concert was Don Francisco. But it may have been Sandi Patty. Two current favorites are Josh Wilson and Jason Gray.

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  12. Thanks for the fun comments! I loved Chris Botti, Sergio Mendes and Kenny G. Concerts. I am looking forward to attending the Yuma Wang concert in LA. She plays the most wonderful Rachmaninov Piano Concerto #2, which is my favorite ❤️ Merry Christmas to all 🎅🏼. Luis at Ole fit Travel

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    1. Sorry for the fat fingers…Yuja Wang is a world renowned virtuoso pianist. (Yikes!) Luis at Ole dot Travel

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  13. My first concert was a gift from my aunt/godmother during the summer before my senior year in high school (1965). She took her daughter and three of us cousins (all around the same age and all girls) on a trip through Texas from Corpus Christi to Salado to Fort Worth/Dallas and then to Houston to see the Beatles in concert. This was at Sam Houston Coliseum on August 19, 1965, for the price of $5.00 a ticket. We had fabulous seats very close to the stage on the left side. The screaming and crying girls were over the top. We had one redhead behind us that besides the crying and screams was pulling out clumps of her hair and saying, “Ringo” over and over. My oldest cousin threatened us that she would hit us if we screamed. The Beatles stayed at the Sheraton Lincoln Hotel. They had a whole floor, and the elevator did not let anyone out on that floor. A friend of my aunt’s (where we stayed) ha part ownership in the hotel, so after they left, she got us into their room before it was cleaned. I have a fork and a letter from the hotel to them welcoming them. Then we flew to Mexico City to meet my mother who had a Fulbright Hayes Grant to study Spanish at the University of Costa Rica. She had been gone for a month. That was an awesome experience. I haven’t been to many concerts, but I went to the best.

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  14. My sister who is older by four years got to see Elvis. She and I have gone to four Neil Diamond concerts (she has seen him several times more). My husband and I saw John Denver in concert in Fort Worth and the group before him was the one that sang the song “Afternoon Delight.” I have seen Kris Kristoffersen three times. Once in a dinner theatre in the round that moved in Plano, one at the Fort Worth Symphony with Kris and Willie Nelson and then in Denver, Colorado with Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings. Those are the only concerts I have been to, but they were wonderful. We get lots of concerts here in Georgia in Alpharetta, but Hubby Dearest and I don’t go. Too many people.

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