My First Concert: Vol. 1
Everyone’s first concert is so memorable that they will never forget it. Over the next couple of months we’ve decided to share our first concert experiences with everyone. Ben and I will start and then we’d love to have our readers write about their first concert. If you’d like to write about your first concert for us contact us at [email protected].
Mushroomhead, Dope, Twisted Method and one more opener I can’t remember Fall 2004 House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio
In 2004 metal bands who wore crazy masks or makeup were all the rage. Mushroomhead, who you may or may not know, was from Cleveland and they were the less famous, but possibly scarier, version of Slipknot and Mudvayne. If you were into metal and from Cleveland seeing Mushroomhead was like visiting Mecca, you had to do it once in your life.
I remember listening to Mushroomhead for the first time and thinking "this is the music that gets played in insane asylums." With lyrics like "If it was up to me I'd free Charles Manson" I think you can see why I thought that. I'm not sure if anyone has ever used this term but Mushroomhead is like straight up psychotic-murder-core. Oh did I forget to mention that one of their songs ends with at least a minute of people screaming like they were about to be killed, cause yeah that happens in "Never Let it Go". In other words Mushroomhead is literally the music that's played in your nightmares. As a fearless 16 year old, trying to prove I was dangerous and tough, this band was right up my ally.
Two of my friends who are also into metal, Matt and Greg, and who are noticeably bigger, stronger, and tougher than me also went to the show. The openers were cool. I really liked Twisted Method and thought Dope didn't quite live up to their namesake. Both of them were standard metal bands (screaming, down tuned guitars, double bass drum pedals), you get the picture. During their sets my friends and I mostly hung out in the back of the crowd and enjoyed the show.
Before Mushroomhead came on we decided to move closer to the stage (obviously). We ended up almost exactly in the middle of the venue. Great spots (or so I thought). As Mushroomhead's gear was set up I started getting really excited. I couldn't wait for these make-up wearing psychopaths to take the stage. It was like climbing the first hill on a roller-coaster. I couldn't wait for the drop.
The second Mushroomhead started playing the entire middle of the venue exploded into a huge mosh pit. Below is my thought process for the first minutes of Mushroomhead’s set.
For about the first ten seconds I thought “this is awesome! My first mosh pit.”
For the next five seconds I thought “whoa I’m not sure I can handle this, there are some pretty big dudes here.”
For the next ten seconds I started hyperventilating and thought “OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m going to die here.”
For five seconds after that I got a hold of myself and thought “ok I can get through this, let me just get to the back of the venue.”
Then for the next minute I fought my way to the back of the venue and took another full minute to catch my breath.
After a few songs, and my near death experience, my friends found me and we enjoyed the show from the back of the crowd. Mushroomhead was even more insane live then I had imagined. Their makeup was more intense, their fans were all crazy (so it really felt like an insane asylum), and they played their songs faster and heavier than they recorded them. They played all their best songs, “Solitaire Unraveling, Sun Doesn’t Rise, Kill Tomorrow”, and overall it was a great concert.
Looking back, and seeing how my musical tastes have evolved, it’s funny that my first concert experience was Mushroomhead. These days instead of seeing Slipknot and Lamb of God I’d rather see LCD Soundsystem and Radiohead (OMG I hope I can see both of them in 2016!). Seeing Mushroomhead was a great experience though. I’m glad I went through a serious metal phase when I was a kid. Those were always the most passionate and energetic shows I ever saw, and even though I got hurt on a few occasions I don’t have any regrets.
Eric W. Hoffman