- First Show - Oakland, CA – AC/DC – 1988. Man, I wish I had the ticket stub to this. My friends’ dad took us as a surprise for his birthday. We were in the nosebleed seats, but it was incredible. There were cannons onstage. At this moment I gave my ears to the Devil.
- First Show Alone - Frankfurt, Germany – Weezer - 1994. I was 14 and just entering the 9th grade. The Blue Album had just come out and was probably the best thing I had heard that year. I actually rode out to the show alone but stayed the night at a friend’s house. The venue was tiny and packed and had the best vibe.
- First Cassette - San Rafael, CA – Slayer/Misfits – 1988. You knew this one. I have the tape on my arm. I got it from some big kid at Joey Pappendeck’s half pipe. Side A was Slayer’s Reign In Blood and Side B was a Misfits’ Walk Among Us. It was probably the scariest/coolest stuff I had ever heard.
- First Time I Was Surprised by Music - Eatontown, NJ – Wu-Tang Clan – 1993. I was given this by a friend’s older brother. It was a really crappy dubbed cassette with just the “W” logo on it. I had heard Hip Hop before, and I liked it. I liked Public Enemy and NWA because they were intense and kinda bad. But I had never heard anything like this. The grimiest beats ever with 9 dudes rapping over it about comic books and ninjas. With Kung Fu samples. This didn’t leave my tape deck for days.
- First Time Something Bad Happened ata Show - Offenbach, Germany – The Offspring – 1994. I got mugged on the train home. I had bought my first merch ever, I had saved for everything. I bought a shirt and a cd. It didn’t even make it home. But my friend Craig fought two of them and we got home safe enough. We found 120 Deutsche Marks on the way home too. Bonus!
- First Pit - Frankfurt, Germany – Sick of it All – 1995. I might be wrong about the actual location. This was SOIA’s first huge tour and it was for Scratch The Surface. I remember the music didn’t give me an option. I had to be on the floor, in the middle of it. I actually saw SOIA nine years later at a skate park in Germany as well. A guy broke his neck at that show and my eye got messed up pretty bad. That was one of the last pits I was ever in.
- First Time Music Consumed Me - Washington, DC – Converge - 1998. I hated school. Music sucked. I had no friends. Converge’s Petitioning The Empty Sky came out with the opening song “The Saddest Day” came out and destroyed everything. I almost listened to nothing but underground music after this for years. I was obsessed.
- First Time I Used Music to Accomplish Art - Darmstadt, Germany- DJ Shadow - 1996. I started to delve into other forms of music, mainly being hip hop and certain forms of electronic music. DJ Shadow’s “Entroducing” was a staple. The beats were mellow and entrancing and perfect for losing myself in art. I’ve zoned out to the songs “Organ Donor” and “Midnight In A Perfect World” countless times.
- Favorite Band to Sleep on my Floor - Kansas City, KS – Cursed - 2005. Cursed was an awesome band from Canada. Total in your face hardcore. Their singer Chris Colohan is a horror movie nerd and knows a ton about true crime and serial killers. We stayed up all night talking and in the morning he left me a list of movies and a note actually signed in blood (he laughingly admitted it was from a scratched mosquito bite).
- When Music Meant the Most - Baghdad, Iraq- Too many bands – 2008. This is what got me through so much. I can’t have one memory without a soundtrack being there. A million different genres, and even more songs. (Read my Top Ten Songs for Operation Iraqi Freedom 2007-2009)
Dude, Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers is what really got me into rap. It was really only a few months ago. I liked a little rap beforehand, but that album really got me looking into rap as another genre of music to really search for. That shit is the only stuff next to listening to metal that really sounded fucking badass to me. Just every aspect is fucking sick all the way through
Easily their best album. Nothing compares to that or the first solo albums that came out around then.