Welcome to “Experience” - the 24tix.com community blog. This is a place for 24tix.com users to share their live music experiences, read about others’ experiences, and comment about the excitement and passion that is felt by attending a live music show. To get the ball rolling, we have asked several prominent figures in Utah’s music scene to write about their favorite concert moments. We will be posting a new entry every Thursday for the next eight weeks, during which time we will be asking you – our users – to submit your experiences. Put some thought into your submission and be rewarded! Your submission could score you a pair of tickets from 24tix.com. One lucky winner will be chosen each week, so get typing! Share in your experience and read what others have to say about why live music matters.
For more info about submitting your experience, visit 24tix.com/experience.
Shon Taylor, co-founder of 24tix.com:
"I remember seeing Ministry on their The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour in 1989 or 1990. I was 14 or 15 years old at the time – and while it wasn’t my first show, it was definitely the show that helped to define the live music experience for me. My friend Jong and I couldn’t drive so we caught a ride with his older brother to the show. It was my first time going to The Speedway (the club back in the day) and, having heard stories about the place, I became anxious as we parked the car under the dark freeway overpass. There were tons of older kids out in front of the club, smoking and wandering into and out of the darkness. I didn’t know what I was supposed to wear to a show, especially this show. I naively wore nice pants and a buttoned shirt which was in total opposition to the fetish-wearing Goths and Punks gathered outside the Speedway.Making our way inside the club, Jong and I both maneuvered our way towards the stage completely unaware of what to expect as the opening band came on. I can’t remember who opened that show now, but I do recall one of the members (a man) being clad in bright green bikini bottoms with torn fishnets over the top, screaming and jumping around the stage. Holy shit – this was live a show! It wasn’t just a band playing through a set list of their songs. It was a performance.
After their performance, we made our way all the way to the front of the crowd, pressing up against the chain-link fence that Ministry used to separate themselves from the audience on this tour. Before Ministry took the stage, the PA blared the sounds of a boat harbor, which was prevalent on their latest album. Everyone filed in to the dark concrete warehouse, smashing us against the fence and stage. I remember a woman smoking a cigarette next to me in the crush and its glowing tip moving dangerously close to my eye.
When Ministry finally took the stage, it was amidst a fury of excitement, taunting, and ovation. Fire cauldrons roared with flames on either side of the stage as, what seemed to be a ridiculous number of musicians, flooded the small stage. Al Jourgenson taunted the audience, spitting at them through the fence. And the audience spit back; the loogie barrage passing over our heads.
Soon Ministry let loose with one of the most intense performances I’ve ever seen. A combination of metal and industrial music pounded and an insane dance pit formed. We were caught in the whirling mass and danced through the entire set. We left that night soaked in sweat. The smell of my “nice pants” the next morning is impossible to describe.
My friends and I spent the next several years going to every show that we could, gladly watching every shitty opening band with the same excitement as the headlining act. Punk rock gave us a place to be ourselves and the idealism that I found in the punk scene has shaped who I have become nearly twenty years later."
Thanks for taking the time read my experience. I look forward to reading about your live music experiences. Welcome to our community.
--Shon
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