What’s your favourite “I was there” GenX moment?

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JPBillingsgate@reddit

The Wanted Dead Or Alive Bon Jovi video was at least partially filmed at a concert I attended and you can see one of the people I was attending the concert with in the video if you freeze frame (it was a large group of us).

I saw a Sam Kinison show just a few months before he died.

RiffRandellsBF@reddit

Sunday and Monday.

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TJCharter@reddit

Watching Mt St Helens explode from the front yard of my home in South King County Washington.

I'd throw in watching the Berlin Wall being taken down on live t.v. was pretty amazing...i knew I was watching a historical moment that would be talked about for centuries.

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Complete_Wishbone_43@reddit

Victory Tour in Knoxville. 1985.

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sashafire@reddit

My answer as well.

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custermustache@reddit

I saw Nirvana in Dallas when Kurt got his ass kicked by a bouncer.

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GooseNYC@reddit

Live Aid at Wembley (1986?).

I both wrote a term paper on Nuclear Winter, and used it as my topic for Original Oratory in speech competitions in HS, largely because of that night.

I worked with progressively younger college students for my whole career (I stayed the same age), and my explanation of how a TV movie caused an entire generation to basically YOLO hard until the Berlin Wall fell because we were going to die in fire or ash grew less and less believable to them.

Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi in concert (separately, of course). Watched the space shuttle explode on TV at school. I was young but also remember the day Elvis died, because my mom had a crying breakdown.

I saw Frank Sinatra in concert. I've been to Ozzfest, seeing Ozzy and Tony Iommi play together. I've seen Stevie Ray Vaughn. I've seen 38 Special, Johnny Winters and Edgar Winters all in a small bar.

Filling up my gas tank for $10 a week. I miss that.

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LongoSpeaksTheTruth@reddit

Stevie Ray Vaughn

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Johnny Winters

Johnny Winter

Edgar Winters

Edgar Winter

Just sayin' ...

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bearphoenix50@reddit

Prince- Purple Rain Tour

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ssm36@reddit

This is the answer!! I went twice!! 14 years old 🫣

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bearphoenix50@reddit

Yeah, I had to camp out overnight at the record store during an Illinois winter. My mom allowed me to miss school to get the tickets, only because my friend’s older sister came with me. I was 15 on cloud nine!

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xReturnerx@reddit

gif

I was there.

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notloggedin4242@reddit

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Kukamungaphobia@reddit

Montreal riot at the Olympic Stadium at the Metallica/Guns n Roses double bill when Hetfield burned himself badly with pyrotechnics and the show got cancelled. GnR went up 2hrs later only to have Axl Rose pull a hissy fit 3 songs in and walked off stage. It resulted in a huge riot. Cop cars flipped, a mountain of GnR t-shirts set on fire, chaos and mayhem. GnR got banned from Montreal for 30yrs. Metallica came back and did a show for ticket holders when Hetfield recovered.

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Criticaltundra777@reddit

420 at university of Michigan campus. It’s not what people think it was? Yes you could smoke weed, and not get arrested but there were a shit load of cops there with guns.

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pickleball_bender@reddit

I saw Michael Jackson in 1988 in Los Angeles with my mom (RIP), and younger brother. They had actually gone the night before and my brother was so upset I wasn't there. We went back the next night, my mom bought tickets from a scalper and we have this amazing memory! ❤️

But for me, my local "I Was There" was being right in the middle of the OP Pro Riot at Huntington Beach, CA. My friends and I were 14 years old, all so excited to be there and suddenly it was INSANE; people running, cops everywhere, things being destroyed. Quite a memory!

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SeaConquest@reddit

Was it at Dodger Stadium? If so, I was there, too.

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pickleball_bender@reddit

My bad, I had the year wrong.

I was there when G&R recorded the crowd chanting part of " Get In The Ring".

The Tom Petty show at Darien Lake ( Buffalo ) with the Technicolor Lightning Show !

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Worldly_Stop_175@reddit

Tom Pettys death was the worst. For some reason, this hit hard for me. That guy was a legend. You are so lucky to have that memory and experience.

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Independent_Tough_81@reddit

That was one of the best dates of my life, especially since the tix were a complete surprise !

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IxianHwiNoree@reddit

Debut of MTV!

I was in the 2/30 infantry, 3rd ID patrolling the East-West German border in 1989. We used to place packs of cigarettes on the border stones for the East German border troops.

$5 Fugazi at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis and they let us film it and we hung out with Joe Lally afterwards.

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PrestigiousWeb7862@reddit

Patrolling the inner German Border on 9 Nov 1989

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marshdd@reddit

Not specific event but I went through Check Point Charlie (border between East and West Berlin) a week before it was removed. I remember waving at the East German guards and one waved back. Hacked off my own piece of the wall.

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nizzernammer@reddit

The first two (or was it three?) Lollapaloozas

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Majik_Sheff@reddit

Only a handful of schools had an actual live feed of the Challenger launch. Ours was one of them. Before that day I had never seen one teacher cry. That day I saw three.

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ErNz77@reddit

We went out to the playground because we were in Southwest Florida and you can see launches on a clear day.

I just remember seeing it & thinking is that what it's supposed to look like, I thought they go straight up & the cloud was crooked.

Cool. I watched people dancing on the wall on Tv live when I was a college freshman. Then went to my 9 am Friday poly sci class and the teacher only wanted to talk about that.

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InkyRedRabbit@reddit

I was in Berlin that night. I happen to be traveling around Europe at the time with a friend, heard what was happening and took a train from Amsterdam to Berlin. We walked around all night, saw the east Germans awed by appliances and tools in the windows of West German shops. McDonalds ran out of food and at 5am was there when the cranes started to dismantle the wall. I was 19 at the time and will never forget.

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MRenaeH@reddit

My brother was also in the Army then and there when the wall fell, too. He brought me back a piece of the wall.

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I think the root of the musician income problem predates streaming and downloads, though. I think the real root of it is how the record companies write their contracts. Reading how Steve Vai approached the marketing of his first solo album, Flexable, is quite interesting.

But, due to how the contracts are written, older players are still touring, probably as much because they need to make more money as it is their continued love of performing.

He was forced to pay a fine and the statue was torn down just recently.

Good show, glad I was there

Then there was the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 1989 just as a World Series game between San Francisco and Oakland was kicking off. Wild times.

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RevereTheAughra@reddit

One of my first concerts was U2 at the Oakland stadium right after that free show in SF, and Bono invited the artist on stage to deface his set (as payback? something?). It was super annoying and the artist wrote gibberish and I decided that I no longer liked Bono. Great show though.

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SuitablyFakeUsername@reddit

I was there too. Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders opened. Great show!

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RevereTheAughra@reddit

My husband to this day will claim that the Pretenders sucked that show. I don't know wtf he's talking about. Don't remember the Bodeans, lol.

On Monday, November 3, 1980, I played “Hail to the Chief” with my high school marching band for Jimmy Carter as he did a final campaign stop in Ohio the day before losing the presidential election by a margin of 10 to 1 electoral votes, thus ushering in the Reagan Era.

Like, how the fuck did my life get there? I didn't ask or plan for any of that to happen. It wasn't a goal, but holy hell, there I was.

To me, life was complete at 27, I got to sing background for her, and then got to sing WITH her and got to meet and chat with her, it was 2 days of just non-stop star struck and lemme tell ya, I don't care about celebs.

People say that you should never meet your idol. I did, she was incredibly kind, generous, and patient with all of us there. She was exactly who I imagined her to be.

I won't forget that, ever.

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mladyhawke@reddit

I saw miles davis at ravinia, i saw gg allin's second to last show, I saw duran duran five times, and I watched rapeman when they recorded budd

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Mr-and-Mrs@reddit

Phish Great Went festival - drove 3,000 miles to get there, and 3,000 miles back. The ride there was a lot more fun.

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DocSportello1970@reddit

Attending the concert at Castaic Lake, California on Sept 26, 1992

sven_bohikus@reddit

Ramones at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh 1986 up front and in the pit.

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EarlyAttention8323@reddit

At 15, I went to woodstock 94

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redrich2000@reddit

Nirvana 1992 Big Day Out in Sydney.

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viking12344@reddit

Not favorite but biggest was challenger explosion. I was in 11th grade,skipping school at the volunteer fire Dept drinking beer with other derelicts. We were just floored.

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Jef_Wheaton@reddit

Certainly not my "favorite", but definitely a Gen-X moment since most millenials were still children...

I stood on the smoking remains of two of the world's tallest buildings and helped dig for survivors.

First ever concert with 70,000+ so many bras and boobs!

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dollarbill1247@reddit

Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN.

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Moist-Sundae-1116@reddit

Lollapalooza’s 1 & 2, Prince Triple Threat Tour with The Time and Vanity 6.

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NightingaleNine@reddit

I marched on Washington DC in 1993 for gay rights. Saw the AIDS Quilt laid out on the National Mall.

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SheToldMe@reddit

Most of my "I was there" moments were well after I grew up and was able to create the moments I wanted to have. Currently my most "I was there" moment would've probably been The Eras Tour in 2023.

My Doc Martens had dried/cracked at the time so a lot of dust got into my boot. When it started to rain my boot insides were pure mud.

I wanna say Nirvana in Matt Apter's basement(?) Such a great time to be alive.

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m_t13@reddit

Mud everywhere. Surreal environment. Did the vide they were shooting ever air? I’d love to see it.

I hear tales of Nirvana after party. I wasn’t that cool.

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Rook_James_Bitch@reddit

No video. [Best I can do]. I might actually be in that photo. I was on that side of the courtyard.. I haven't looked closely enough yet.

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Agent7619@reddit

Alpine Valley August 27, 1990.

April 8, 1993, I stood on Cocoa Beach at 1:30AM to watch the launch of STS-56. Shuttle Discovery shook the earth and looked like the sun was rising early. A sight we'll never see again.

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Dog1andDog2andMe@reddit

Reunification of Germany in Berlin 🇩🇪 1990

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Cotatiadam@reddit

Weird Al’s movie VHS in the theater

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Fritzo2162@reddit

I…was….there…..SCREW BATMAN!

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My first real concert was Smashing Pumpkins, 1996. Melon Collie tour. First show got rescheduled because of the drummer's drug issues, if I recall correctly.

I also got to go to Lillith Fair, 1997 I believe. Walked in to Martina McBride on the small stage singing "Independence Day" with an army of lesbian couples just a dancing away in front of her 😂

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Top_Jump_6387@reddit

Lilith Fair ‘97 Chicago here! Indigo Girls, Jewel, Emmylou Harris… it was such an amazing day!

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ornerydad75@reddit

One of my peak concert memories!

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I played parentally-approved hookie from 4th grade the day the Challenger exploded.

https://www.rhcplivearchive.com/show/october-19-1991-ames-ia-1029

Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam opened for RCHP

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Yep215@reddit

I saw that show in Detroit. It was amazing.

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Ronabo@reddit

I got to see Eazy E & N.W.A plus Too$hort in June 1989 at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. This was historic because they were arrested for obscenities and fined $100.

Phish played Gamehendge at my first show (7/8/94) and I was entirely clueless.

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SameDimension1204@reddit

Watching Manny Pacqiuo fight Marco Antonio Barrera in San Antonio. Could not give away extra tickets then. After few years, my friends couldn’t believe they missed the opportunity to watch Manny fight

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Infinite-Ask-7285@reddit

Same. AB’s the same.

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xReturnerx@reddit

Don’t have any real big deal moments but I was at Metallica’sfirst concert after the fire, it was pretty awesome.

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Since we're going with concerts..

Jimmy Page at the Ritz (Webster Hall) on a last minute free ticket. On his Outrider tour.

U2 Rattle & Hum concert, "When Love Comes to Town" Lancaster Park, Christchurch, New Zealand

89, 90 from memory

Band was at their peak but also had BB King doing a set before joining U2 on their set

Ardija opened I think

Not that into U2 since but was an amazing experience

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eternallycynical@reddit

That was the last U2 album I owned. I also loved it.

I would have enjoyed that I think.

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not9oclocknews@reddit

Same!

They played a lot of older hits, I Will Follow, New Year's Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday, etc.

Only other one I wanted but they didn't was Two Hearts , pretty good going I reckon

FYI, Lancaster Park was a huge sports stadium, probably > 50 000 in attendance

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Salt-Ostrich9731@reddit

Trafalgar Square Nelson Mandella Day Concert. Got to see the man speak, Labbi Siffri, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Billy Ocean, REM, among others.

I have 2.

Pink Floyd, The Wall, Nassau Coliseum 1980. My aunt took me at 10 years old.

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drmanic@reddit

Tibetan Freedom concert in SF at Golden Gate Park in ‘96. Ridiculous lineup

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Riding in an elevator with Chris Farley in the early 90s. He was super nice and had a great smile

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monkey_monkey_monkey@reddit

August 1992 Metallica/Guns n Roses show at the Big O in Montreal.

James Hatfield got severely burned by pyrotechnics and Guns n Roses took to the stage late, Axl behaved like a petulant child and walked off the show telling the crowd they'll get their money back (spoiler alert, we did not).

Boop-D-Boop@reddit

lol, you just reminded me of one, I saw them two nights in Louisville ky. And the cops harassed the dead heads in the lot.

Oh damn. That's a cool story. I bet that blew your mind at 14.

Same.

deagh@reddit

I'm not sure this counts, because it was on television, but the very first time I ever heard a Queen song was watching Live Aid. So THAT was my introduction to Queen.

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Kalorama_Master@reddit

NYC - Right after undergrad, best job possible, apt in SoHo, being single as our civilization peaked before 9/11 and AI

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lovelyb1ch66@reddit (OP)

That sounds amazing!