My First Gig: 98° by Kate F

Author: Kate F

Hello ladies and gentleman of good musical taste. I am ashamed to tell you that my first concert was 98°. I kind of like to think of them as the indier boyband; everyone else loved NSYNC or Backstreet Boys, and I loved my boys from Ohio. But even though my reasoning for liking them is beyond me now, it was at that first concert that I understood what a fantastic live show could do for you. You know what I mean... usually, the show will be more than halfway over, and suddenly the band begins to play the song you've been waiting for all night. At that moment, there's nowhere you'd rather be and nothing on your mind except the lyrics running through your head. Maybe it's the moment when the chorus kicks in, or the drums really take control; but I know we've all been there, had that moment of 'wow.' Sadly my first wow was hormone-induced and surrounded by hundreds of screaming girls, but it did the trick.

Musically, I've progressed. But emotionally, I'm still at the same place in many ways. It's a bit harder for me to lose myself at gigs then it used to be, I don't quite know why. Maybe they're not as new and exciting anymore, or I've just grown more cynical. Either way, it makes the moments when a band just 'gets you' even more amazing. One of my most perfect examples is Oasis at the Chicago Theatre 2002. All I can remember is a spotlight on Noel, and after he yelled at everyone for trying to sing along (as you do), the most gorgeous song I've ever heard live. It was the Noel Gallagher does Ryan Adams doing Liam Gallagher version, and although some people can't stand it, I was mesmerized. Every word sounded the different, and the meaning seemed personalized, like Noel was singing to every individual in the audience yet we were all together in awe. I can still picture exactly how I stood, how he looked, how it sounded, more than two years later. That's 'wow.'

I can't help but think this probably sounds horribly cliché. But maybe there's something in that. There are no words strong enough to put my point across, so I'm stuck using a word my six-year-old niece uses regularly. But if you've had a 'wow' moment, you know what I mean.

Now, I've been to gigs that I've genuinely enjoyed that lacked this extra touch. They are in no way disappointing or unsatisfying; but I don't think I'll remember them twenty years from now. I will however remember hearing the first chords of Boys Don't Cry and feeling shivers extremely abnormal for a warm summer's night. That is, after all, a feeling I'd never want to forget...

I just wish one of those memories wasn't my thirteen-year-old crushes singing 'The Hardest Thing'. Eh, at least I've progressed.