Teenage Kicks: Houston Radio DJs’ Unforgettable First Concerts
Everyone remembers their first concert. It’s more than just music—it’s the sound, the lights, the crowd and that overwhelming feeling that you’re part of something bigger. For many of us, it was the night we truly felt rock and roll for the first time. The nerves, the excitement, even the ringing in your ears afterward—it all becomes part of a story you never forget.
For the Houston’s Eagle air staff, those first concerts shaped the way we hear and love music today. Here are our memories of those nights that started it all:
Lana Backman: Nelson
My very first concert experience was seeing Nelson when I was 15 years old, and it’s a memory I’ll never forget. The show took place at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, which already felt magical and larger than life to me at that age. I went with my best friend, and since we were still too young to drive, our parents had to drop us off at the venue and then pick us up afterward. At the time, that small detail made us feel both slightly embarrassed and yet incredibly grown up, because for those few hours inside the amphitheater, we were completely on our own in a sea of music fans.
The excitement of the crowd, the thrill of the lights coming up, and the energy when Nelson took the stage made me feel like I was part of something bigger. It was pure teenage freedom, wrapped in music.
Jennifer Tyler: Leif Garrett
My family moved to Houston from the Midwest in March of 1978. I thought my life was over at that point. I cried the entire first week I spent in the 8th grade at what was then Wunsche Middle School in Spring.
Took a bit, but I started to make friends. A red-haired girl named Dena and I really hit it off. We had a lot of the same interests, including teenage heartthrob Leif Garrett.
Our freshman year of high school, she told me Leif was going to be at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Dena asked if I wanted to go and explained her parents were going to take us. I was thrilled not only to see my first real concert, but to check out the rodeo as well.
On Sunday, Feb. 25, 1979, Leif Garrett, riding high on his hit I Was Made for Dancin’, made a memorable entrance at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo inside the legendary Astrodome. In a bold theatrical move, he charged across the dirt floor of the stadium on a white horse, waving a breeze-whipped Texas flag, while his band played The Yellow Rose of Texas. The crowd—reportedly around 35,000 strong—erupted in cheers as he made his dramatic rodeo debut.
It was the best day ever for 14-year-old JT. I got to see my teenage crush live and fell in love with HLSR as well.
Doug O’Brien: Elvis Presley
My first concert ever was an iconic one. I was just a few years old and have a vague memory of the moment. My mom and dad went to see Elvis in the Astrodome at the rodeo in 1970. I have this snapshot of a memory of me on my Dad’s shoulders, and seeing “The King” in his white jumpsuit. I couldn’t have been luckier than to have that moment be my first concert.
My first concert that I paid to see with my own money isn’t quite as thrilling. It was around 1981 or ’82, and we had moved to Red Lick, Texas. Don’t worry, I know you haven’t heard of it. It’s a little community outside of Texarkana.
My parents moved us to this little place where my Dad had grown up. The biggest venue in town was the concert hall at Texarkana Community College, which had about a thousand seats. I’ll stop stalling about the concert. It was Air Supply.
I met a girl, and my Dad drove us to the show in our old pickup truck. Awkward as it was, it was a good show. In my defense, I saw other artists there, including Reba and comedian Jerry Clower. The best, by far, was Uriah Heep and Cheap Trick in 1983. My cousin and I went and couldn’t hear much of anything for 3 days. I couldn’t even tell if my ’76 Nova with a 350 engine and big pipes had started after the show. Had to put my hand on the dashboard to feel the vibrations before we could leave.
I’ve been lucky and enjoyed every moment of my early concert days.
Scott Sparks: Alice Cooper
SHREVEPORT, 1977 — You’re in 7th grade. Hormones are raging, bell bottoms are swaying and your parents gave you permission to join your friend Ronnie (driven by his mom from Longview), and have no idea what they just dropped you into. Inside Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, the lights go black and then BOOM: A thunderclap of guitars and fire explodes across the stage.
Enter: Alice Cooper.
Let’s get real, as far as first concerts go, this wasn’t some mellow folk act or polite radio hit parade. This was shock rock royalty at the peak of theatrical madness. You’re standing there, 12 years old, as Alice struts out in a top hat and blood-stained tuxedo, dragging a fake corpse across the stage. There are snakes. Guillotines. Strippers with fangs and you’re thinking, “Is this even LEGAL?”
But the music? Absolute bangers. School’s Out felt like a personal rebellion anthem. I Never Cry hit you right in your budding teenage angst and No More Mr. Nice Guy? That was a declaration of war on boring adult life.
Other kids were stuck with Barry Manilow or Neil Diamond for their first shows. You got the full horror-glam-metal spectacle of Alice Cooper’s “King of the Silver Screen Tour” complete with pyrotechnics, movie projections and enough eyeliner to make your grandma faint.
It wasn’t just a concert, it was a baptism by fire into the world of rock and roll.
Ask anyone who was there: That night changed my DNA. It made you cooler. Tougher. Ready to handle anything, because if in 7th grade you could survive decapitations, fire and a snake-wielding rock god, you could survive middle school, your first heartbreak and your first hangover.
Alice Cooper, 1977. Shreveport. Best first concert ever. Period.
