Brooke Champine

My first concert experience began in Albany, New York around the age of 8/9. An ecstatic third grade me received tickets to the Hannah Montana and The Jonas Brothers concert for Christmas. While this was nearly 13 years ago for me, I still remember quite a bit from that show. I remember how loud it was in there, my little ears could only take so much. I remember Hannah Montana’s epic entrance to the show, and her performing my favorite song at the time, “Rockstar”. I remember taking photos with my friends in front of the tour bus and eagerly looking through the newspaper the next morning to see the coverage of the show in print. I later kept the newspaper clippings and concert ticket and put it in a scrapbook, which I still have to this day. 

My love for music and live music began at a young age, as did my love for photography. All three of these things have followed me to my twenties - I went to college and earned my Bachelor of Science in Music Business, I attend as many concerts as I can manage every year, and I am growing my photography passion into a full-time business (and yes, that includes concert photography too). See how it all connects? I believe that this first concert experience at such a young age helped piece all of these elements together for me later on in life and will continue to. 

Danielle Abram

My first concert was probably when I was around 6/7 and went to go see *NSYNC in Connecticut. I remember being super excited to see the boy band, and thank goodness there were screens! I can remember the band “flying” out above the crowd, while squirting water guns at people. Even though I was on the lawn, I swore that some of the water hit me. There was also a big moment where Justin Timberlake blew a kiss and my babysitter said, “He blew that kiss to me,” and I truly believed he had. 

Even though I listened to the top 40 growing up, I always had a love for music and this concert started it all. People look at me like I’m insane when I tell them I’ve been to over one hundred concerts, but concerts are my happy place. In eighth grade, my sister played me A Day To Remember’s cover of “Since You’ve Been Gone,” and it opened up my eyes to all the different genres of music. You’ll bet your ass I’ll go see *NSYNC or One Direction if they ever do a tour together again, but I also love my small and intimate shows in Atlanta more than anything.

Samantha Andujar

I believe my first concert experience was The Maine. It was at Six Flags in New Jersey and at the time they were running a summer concert series. I remember me and my sister being so hot that day, since we had just been on a bunch of rollercoasters and had already been there since the park opened. 

Waiting in line was probably the most torturous thing there was. I wanted to see the guitarist Jared Monaco so badly. At the time he had been the reason I wanted to learn to play guitar, so seeing him live was really the cherry on top of the cake.  The wait was worth it and it ended up being one of the most memorable concert experiences I ever had outside of One Ok Rock. 

The Maine always had a reputation for putting on amazing, but personal shows for their fans no matter where the venue is, and this was no different. This was definitely a time where I would say I was inspired to do more in music and one of the many reasons that made me want to pursue a career in music journalism.

Andy Katz

It has been eighteen years since my first show experience (I am NOT including Zootopia in 2000, which had Christina Aguilera and Macy Gray on the bill, among many others). I was in seventh grade and my buddy’s older brother had a punk band that opened up for A Wilhelm Scream at this venue called Krome, in South Amboy, New Jersey. My memory is a little faded considering how long ago it occurred, but I remember being enthralled with how packed it was. His mom stood alongside us as we watched his brother lead his band through a blistering set of songs inspired by the likes of the Descendents and Blink-182. I was terrified, overwhelmed, and absolutely inspired.

After his set concluded, we watched a few songs from another band or two (I don’t remember who played). A Wilhelm Scream played last. I only remember studded belts, the smell of cigarettes, stage dives, and thinking, “Wow, that’s crazy, and I’ll never, ever do any of that.” We then went home and ate pizza, chugged root beer, and listened to New Found Glory, while playing Mario Kart 64. I can’t think of a more pop punk way to end the night.

Cover photo by Briana Bonilla