The bare beginnings of rock shows.

[Vics53]

Going way back to the mid sixties here when I was old enough to attend some rock "concerts." Looking back it's almost laughable as to how primitive they were in terms of gear, or lack of.

The first rock show I ever went to ( I was 13 ) was for Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1966 at the the Dearborn Michigan Youth Center. This was a decent sized place used primarily for roller skating so it was one big echo chamber. The only PA used that night were the horn style speakers mounted way up in the ceiling of which you could barely hear. But hey, we didn't know! ("What's a PA?"). And the only "light show" was the centers ceiling lights.

I didn't play back then so I can't even begin to remember what guitars and amps they used but of course, nothing was mic'd up and you could barely hear the vocals. But for me it was an intro into a whole new world and it all seemed so fresh and exciting at the time.

On a larger scale, a buddy of mine saw the Beatles at the now long gone Olympia Stadium (the big red barn!) in Detroit. Said the PA on each side of the stage was roughly the size of a Marshall half stack. He said he was dead center and about 100 feet from the stage. Said he could barely hear George and John's guitars but just enough to know what songs they were playing.

What are some of the very early bare bones rock shows you went to?

 

[MarcB]

On the flip side to this..this made me recall when I played my first gig at 19 and was thrust onto the pub/gig circuit in London after joining my first band.. which was not planned and they made to join lol, as I was fledging drummer, with zero experience or lessons and previously only playing my first kit (in this band, which they bought for me!) in rehearsal rooms for around 6 weeks prior.. when the first gig rolled around..it came to the sound check .. and.. of course I had been to gigs before.. and knew of PAs etc.. but when I heard my kit through the pa that first night.. at the sound check.. I absolutely cacked my pants.. as it was at the old (now gone) George Roby pub .. (an old London music hall) and was sizeable! “Boooom”

Man.. a core fear of PAs was formed that night.. as I felt so exposed! I quickly learned my craft in the subsequent years of playing around London.
Thinking back.. how I got away with it.. I don’t know.. I guess pretending to be Keith Moon and other drummers I knew at the time.. gave me the confidence to just get on with it..ah the ignorance of youth.. lol.

Good times ..

 

[dwagar]

The first rock concert I attended, 1966, I was 14, was the Stones in Vancouver. The venue was the Forum, a hockey arena. There were about 3,000 people there.
I have no idea what they used for a vocal PA. It didn't matter because as soon as they hit the stage every girl in the place was screaming her face off so no one could hear anything. But I did find a couple of pix from the archives of the Vancouver Sun newspaper, it appears they were using Fender amps. Also, at the end of the concert it turned into a brawl with the police. Vancouver city council considered banning the Stones forever, lol.

A couple of years later (1968) I saw Cream at the Edmonton Gardens. Another hockey arena (I'm a Canadian, eh?), but better known as a boxing arena. If I recall correctly it was a pretty low ceiling for a concert. I'm guessing a crowd of about 2,000. Clapton was using two Marshall full stacks, but I'm pretty sure he was plugged in to just one. He played a Firebird that night. That was the time that the Sunn Coliseum PA was being used for vocals. It delivered the goods. The concert was ear bleeding loud. Glorious.

The next year (1969) I saw Deep Purple opening for Vanilla Fudge. Kinsman Field House Edmonton, a dirt floor arena, probably held 1,000 people. There were 2 stages set up. Deep Purple was a wall of Marshall stacks and a Sunn PA. Kentucky Woman was on the radio (we hadn't heard Hush until that concert). I fell in love with that band that night. Fudge had a bigger stage, and I believe that was the first band I ever saw using stage lights. They were so loud I think they used 2 Sunn PAs.

It wasn't long after that that crowds started getting a lot bigger, venues had to adapt with monster PA systems to project the full band. Ticket prices started to rocket up in price.

This was a cool time in rock history.

 

[Vics53]

I forgot to mention this about the Sam the Sham show I saw. There were 3 other opening acts, all local. The Underdogs and the Shy Guys. Both groups had singles out.

There was also another guy who was a solo singer, (This gives you an idea of how primitive it was back then). There he was on the stage with a record player that was mic'd up to the "PA" system of which you could barely hear. He started the record and was lip-singing along with it! Poor guy. No one paid a lick of attention to him. A real clean cut high school kid in a suit. Thinking back on it, he looked like George McFly at the high school dance when he was dancing by himself!

 

[Bob Womack]

I remember a show at the Knoxville (TN) coliseum back around 1970 where the PA went out. It was a puny PA, anyway, so I don't think the bass was going through it. While they got it going again, we had a ten-minute bass solo from the bassist whose rig was powerful enough to fill the coliseum.

Bob

 

[woordnelson]

That’s a great throwback! Early rock shows were raw and real no fancy gear, just pure energy. My first one was similar: terrible sound, barely any lights, but unforgettable vibe. Anyone else remember those stripped-down, magical gigs?

 

[Vics53]

That’s a great throwback! Early rock shows were raw and real no fancy gear, just pure energy. My first one was similar: terrible sound, barely any lights, but unforgettable vibe. Anyone else remember those stripped-down, magical gigs?

I'll chime back in. I grew up in Livonia, Michigan which is about a 30 minute ride from downtown Detroit. Around 1969, 1970 and 1971 the "bigger" of the Detroit/Ann Arbor bands used to play at this ice skating arena in Livonia. Saw Bob Seger, SRC, Third Power, MC5, Frigid Pink, Dick Wagner with his band the Frost and the Amboy Dukes with Ted Nugent there. I was 16 in 1969, just starting to learn bass guitar back so these shows (for me) were events. It was like stepping into a whole new world and the possibilities seemed endless back then.

That ice arena was one, big echo chamber with the sound bouncing back and forth everywhere. No light shows except for a big spot light or two which belonged to the arena. The mentioned bands all had decent equiptment on stage and I remember seeing a lot of Fender amps, Traynor amps and on occasion some Marshall amps. No stage monitors at all.

Looking back on it, the most memorable show was with the Amboy Dukes. Fender amps were everywhere and for the PA I remember two Dual Showman cabinets on each side of the stage! Probably sounded like total crap but for us young kids back then we didn't know any better. It was thrilling beyond description. It was all so raw, in your face and these bands played their tails off!

Magical days back then.

I'd love to read some more memories from others here.

 

[seafood]

in 1963 in SoCal ..there was a surf band that used to practice in a garage by my house..they were like a Fender ad..p bass,jag and jazzmaster all white with tortoise guards and two bandmasters and a bassman !! matching striped jackets,the coolest of the cool !! right then and there I said..this electric guitar stuff is for me !! And I just turned 73 and I am still playing every day !!