What was your first prog concert?

humor4u1959 wrote: I'm from Michigan too! I live in a suburb of Detroit. And the device you're referring to that Emerson played is the ribbon controller from a synth. It's a like a long, thin, bar. He slides his hand up and down, creating weird sounds. But, it's NOT a theremin. It's from a old Moog, I believe.

Thanks for clearing that up, neighbor. Prog has long held sway in the Midwest, I've found.

humor4u1959 wrote: The.Crimson.King wrote: humor4u1959 wrote: My first prog concert was Genesis on 'The Lamb' tour. I saw them on Thanksgiving of 1974 when I was 15. It was incredible! Wow, what a great start!  Has anything you've seen since matched The Lamb? As a matter of fact, yes. The Lamb was tremendous from a theatrical point of view. However, Genesis made a big mistake by starting the tour before the album was released. So, they played 90 minutes of music no one had heard! That's all they played, plus 2 encores - The Musical Box and Watcher of the Skies. The Musical Box was the most dramatic thing I've ever seen done live. Very emotional, with the organ and the old man mask at the end. But, musically speaking, Procol Harum was the best live band I've seen. I like them better and Brooker has a much better and stronger voice than Gabriel. I've seen Genesis 4 times and Gabriel solo 4 times as well. So, I like them both. But, Procol Harum moves me the most. And Gary Brooker & Co. are still doing it to this day. Check 'em out on You Tube. They opened for Yes on last summer's tour and I'm told they blew 'em off the stage. I did see Yes too, in 1978, and they sounded awful live.

The Residents' 13th anniversary tour - London October 1986

The.Crimson.King said:
At one point in the show Keith was having some problems and a road tech came out and was working on his setup between songs. Keith steps up to the mic and says, "I'm having a little organ trouble...bet you can all get into that.   


When I saw them, Keith did a solo during “Hoedown” on a theremin or like device, handling it in a “shocking” manner! More organ trouble?

The.Crimson.King said:
My 1st prog concert was July '76 : Yes and opener Gentle Giant at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I remember getting there at about 4am to get a good spot in line. This was the Yes solo album tour with Patrick Moraz and I still remember him doing this incredible organ solo. The Roger Dean stage design was the 3 headed hydra and was the last tour Yes had an elaborate stage.


Didn’t get the chance to see Yes until the 1991 Union tour. They came to Indianapolis while I was there in 1977, but it was after I had to move on, this being the Navy. Luckily they were playing in the Norfolk, VA area, but I was new there, and poor planning brought on by own inexperience made me miss that one. Next chance was the Big Generator tour in 1987, but several dates, including the one in Grand Rapids, MI, were cancelled due to Trevor Rabin’s health issues (his gallbladder, if I remember correctly). So if there was THE tour to catch them on, it had to be Union!

Bill Bruford was a busy chap around that time; he’d just played in the area about 6 months before with Earthworks.

humor4u1959 said:
My first prog concert was Genesis on 'The Lamb' tour. I saw them on Thanksgiving of 1974 when I was 15. It was incredible!


Ooooo! SO green with envy!!!!

I so wanted to see Genesis on the Lamb tour in the spring of ‘75, but didn’t know anyone who was going and otherwise lacked the wherewithal to get there. A little over a year later they returned to the area, sans Gabriel…still didn’t get the chance.

The.Crimson.King said:
I saw Steve Hackett in '92 at a small club in Northern California. The best part of the show for me was the encore...Steve came out alone with a classical guitar and played about 20 minutes of unaccompanied classical pieces.


Even greener!!!! He might have played in GR on that same tour, but his management missed the mark so inexcusably. He’s well aware he has plenty of fans in west Michigan, where he likely would’ve sold out a decent-sized hall.

My first prog concert was Genesis on 'The Lamb' tour. I saw them on Thanksgiving of 1974 when I was 15. It was incredible!

First prog concert was two days ago in Toronto. Saw Yes and it was absolutely incredible. I think all the hate that Jon Davison gets is so unnecessary. At this point, he is so much better off in the band than Jon Anderson, as the hostility between him and everyone else is awesome. Davison is the perfect replacement (much better than Benoit). His voice on the Going for the One songs was absolutely perfect, I couldn't have imagine seeing a better first prog concert.

This thread deserve some

celestialsound wrote: Progressive Nation 2009: Scale the Summit (How I got into them) Bigelf (meh) Zappa Plays Zapps (incredible) and of course, Dream Theater

I've just bought my ticket for Steve Hackett(july the 26th).Coutdown has begun!

Progressive Nation 2009: Scale the Summit (How I got into them) Bigelf (meh) Zappa Plays Zapps (incredible) and of course, Dream Theater