‘I was mesmerized’: From Kiss to The Monkees, Manitobans relive their first concerts

What was your first concert? CTV News has put that question to viewers and some familiar Manitoba faces.

Bruce Haining remembers his first concert vividly.

It was a balmy July night in 1977. Haining spent four hours lined up outside the late, great Winnipeg Arena.

At last, the doors opened.

“Pandemonium,” he recounted.

It was rush seating and the queue understood the proverbial assignment.

“I remember being off my feet as the stampede pushed through the front doors. Scary feeling as you had no control of movement,” Haining said.

He sprinted through the concourse along with the rest of the mob. He was firmly planted on his feet when four men, clad in a cacophony of leather, spikes, and black and white face paint, hit the stage, engulfed in thick fog.

The audience went wild as Paul Stanley wailed “I Stole Your Love.”

It was Kiss’ third concert in Winnipeg, this one for the “Love Gun Tour.”

“A fantastic concert,” Haining said.

Among the highlights – Gene Simmons breathing fire.

The audience sang every word with the band they had waited hours to see, Haining recalled.

“Songs were belted out in sequence from the 1975 Kiss ‘Alive!’ double-album which everyone knew so well.”

‘The show was fabulous’

CTV News put out a call to our viewers to submit their first concert experiences, and they did not disappoint.

Alex Todd recalled catching the bus with her crush when she was 14 to see Chicago play at the old Winnipeg Arena in 1972. A first date and a first concert rolled into one, she had never experienced anything like it.

“The show was fabulous and I was mesmerized by all of the instruments and the ‘big’ production numbers,” she said.

“Very different than hearing the band through my record player.”

To this day, she still smiles any time someone mentions Chicago.

The old barn was also the backdrop for Linda Ericsson’s first concert at 11. She walked with her sister from their West End home one chilly April afternoon in 1967 to see The Monkees – the once fictional now real band that was giving its first Canadian performance that day.

Tickets had gone on sale that morning and sold out within hours, a ’67 Tiger Beat magazine article reported. Management sold an extra 500 tickets for standing room only.

The Monkees hid in fake amps, bursting out when the lights came up.

“It was festival seating,” Ericsson said.

“I didn’t end up sitting with my sister. Not sure how we found each other when the show was over, but we did.”

The Monkees left town that night as a blizzard hit the city.

Chantal Kreviazuk, who has played more concerts than she can count, didn’t attend her first until she was in her late teens.

“I grew up in an evangelical Baptist home. My parents were hyper, hyper protective, so I wasn’t really allowed to go to concerts,” she said.

Having once watched in envy as her brothers went to a Police concert, she finally got to attend her first concert when Sting returned to town with his “The Dream of the Blue Turtles Tour.”

“When I say I was a Sting and Police fan, that doesn’t even begin to describe it,” she said.

The show was worth the wait.

Imagine Kreviazuk’s surprise when days later, a grumpy looking Sting wandered into the lounge where she had a gig playing the piano. He ordered a stiff drink, Kreviazuk said. She approached, eager to sing his praises before taking the stage to sing, herself.

“He wasn’t very happy to meet me,” she laughed. “He wanted his alone time at the bar.”

For his first concert, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham saw INXS in the late ‘80s from the upper deck of the Winnipeg Arena, just to the left of the giant portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

“The late Michael Hutchence was the lead singer, and I just remember that being a fantastic concert.”

103.1 Virgin Radio’s Ace Burpee first concert depends on your definition of the word. His first big stadium show was Iron Maiden at the old arena.

“But the truth is, there’s this guy from out where I’m from, Wandering Wayne Wazny, and I saw him perform at a festival in Cooks Creek, and I consider that my first concert because the guy’s awesome.”

Live music creates lasting happiness through connection: study

These vivid live music memories, that seem to come flooding back the moment a certain song comes on the radio, are not just a common experience, but a common psychological reaction.

Eisha Naidu, a post-doctoral associate at Duke University in Durham, N.C., studied this very phenomenon.

She and a team of researchers set out to explore why live music experiences feel so powerful and whether they offer psychological benefits after the moshing and crowd surfing is over.

They hypothesized crowds taking in the same live music experience something called collective effervescence – a sense of connection and transcendence that happens in big, emotionally synchronized groups.

“If you’re in a group and everyone’s feeling the same feeling, it’s something important to pay attention to,” she told CTV News.

“It really triggers that kind of primal thing in our brains.”

The researchers spoke with hundreds of people in four different studies about their past live music experiences, the elements that resonated with them and their experiences with group connection, overall.

The data’s biggest takeaways – this collective effervescence felt by a crowd taking in a guitarist’s face - melting solo or an entire orchestra performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, can create a deep sense of connection and meaning, and even contribute to lasting happiness.

“I think it’s really interesting, especially in today’s day and age, when we’ve moved so far from how we were in our evolutionary past, where we used to live in these groups,” Naidu said.

“I think it’s really important for us to find these ways of socially connecting in our world, especially now, when it’s kind of more difficult than it used to be to get that.”

Whether it’s the social connection or a connection to the music, the Manitobans past and present who shared their concert experiences with CTV News seem to echo Naidu’s findings.

“Some people, even in my family, they can remember every concert they went to, the time of year, the openers, where they went for dinner that night,” Gillingham said. “I’m not like that, but I do remember that concert.”

“Music is like a reflection of being alive and being present,” Kreviazuk mused. “So we hold these memories so, so dear and we can put ourselves in that moment. It’s spectacular.”

CTV viewers on their first concerts

“My first concert was Streetheart in 1979 at the old arena.” – Brunel Lionel

“Bobby Vee. This was back in the day when the star stayed on stage after the concert to sign autograph books. (No, I no longer have the ancient autograph book).” – Judy Herscovitch

“My first concert was Men at Work, Oct. 18, 1983, at the old barn. My friend bought me a ticket for my 18th birthday a couple of weeks before the concert. It was a great experience, although I wasn’t ready for all of the funky smells in the air inside the arena (weed).” – Janet Antonation

“I was on a family vacation in Finland in 1977 when Elvis died. During that same vacation, I also heard the music of a Swedish Group that struck a chord - albeit a Swedish one. As we know, that Swedish group eventually hit it big and began a tour which included a date in Montreal in 1979. My first concert was that Swedish group which we know as ABBA. Still a favourite!” – Debbie Ristimaki

“I was 18 and went to see Nazareth. I was sixth row from the speakers and couldn’t hear anything for two hours after that concert. The concert was great!” – Janice L.

“We went to our first concert in August of 1967. We saw Herman’s Hermits, Blues Magoos and The Who all on the same bill!! We remember The Who wrecking all their equipment on the stage when the show was over. Seemed so crazy!” – Hank and Belle Monita

“My first concert was 1963. Gary Lewis and the Playboys. I was 11 years old. It cost $3. It was a special concert for his Dad Jerry Lewis’ cause, muscular dystrophy, and all I cared about was that they sang “This Diamond Ring.” – Mary Hnatiuk

“For me my first concert was on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1975, when I saw Irish rock legend Rory Gallagher at the Convention Centre here in Winnipeg. I went with my older brother who played and he got Rory to autograph his Fender Stratocaster for him! The lead band was Shooter who proved no big deal but Rory was magnificent! Irish rock at its authentic best; you could practically smell the cigarette smoke and whiskey. I still have a copy of the poster that was run for the concert and am a fan of his to this very day over fifty years later!” – Frank Winkler

“My first concert was the Rolling Stones in Montreal, summertime 1972. It was extremely hot in the Montreal Forum. We were sitting in the upper decks and the workers were hosing us down with water so we could stay cool. A few people passed out. The sound was a little muddy and we couldn’t see very well, but it was a great show.” – Howard Schulman