Minnesota musician dads remember their kids’ first concert

You remember your first kiss, don’t you? How about the first date with your future spouse? And, of course, you can’t forget the day your child was born.

Musician dads remember something extra special to them: the first concert they took their kid to.

With Father’s Day approaching, we asked several Minnesota musicians to share their stories about their child’s first concert — not by Dad’s own band. These fathers had incredible taste, taking their kids to see Bruce Springsteen, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Prince, among others.

Abby was 9 when I took her to see Taylor Swift at the X [in 2012]. Just like everyone her age, she was obsessed with Taylor, and I pulled every string that I had to get her backstage. The magic of the night, watching Abby sing every word to every song, seeing her face light up when the larger-than-life character walked into the room and gave her a hug, all of it is lodged in my memory as if it happened last night.

But the most incredible part happened a week after the concert. Abby got a letter in the mail from Taylor — a handwritten letter directly to her that referenced the conversation the two of them had backstage that night about the dress Abby was wearing. Wow!

Abby Hawkey, 22: I remember the room being decorated with red flowers and curtains along the walls. There were cardboard cut-out versions of her music video posters along the wall at the entrance.

Taylor was beautiful and very nice. I complimented her white flowery dress, and she said she liked my black and gold one, too. I remember her being very tall, taller than my dad by several inches.

Then I asked if I could hug her and she said “Yes.” So I did. I remember feeling very excited and surprised and overall just extremely giddy and happy.

Now when I look back on it, I feel grateful for being able to go to the concert itself and to meet one of my favorite musicians because of my dad.

My only child, Eli, was born and raised in New Orleans. Music was everywhere all the time; he had been to Jazz Fest three times by the age of 6. He had seen Bob Dylan and Tom Petty from my shoulders as a small child and probably does not remember any of it.

I took Eli and my brother’s son, Mason, to go see Kendrick Lamar at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans [in 2017], and this is really what Eli would call his first father-and-son concert. The show started and Eli and Mason started jumping up and down in unison, and it was on. Kendrick was alone onstage, one man, one microphone, and it was amazing. We weaved our way to the front of the crowd and stayed to the very end. We were transfixed.

To top off the evening, we got some root beers in the lobby of the hotel.

In 2000, I took our 8-year-old son, Wilson, to see Bruce Springsteen at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

No one forgets their first big concert, especially that moment when the lights dim, the music stops, and the crowd roars. Then, the magical payoff when the lights go up, the first song kicks in, and the arena explodes. That sequence still gives me the chills. I barely glanced at the stage for the first 10 minutes because I had so much fun watching Wilson wide-eyed and on the edge of his seat.

Wilson is now a professional musician. He plays in his own band, Dad Bod, and also with me. We’ve covered a Springsteen song together — a full-circle moment.

Wilson Zellar, 32: My memories of the night are somewhat vague. I know I started out thinking it was very cool, then slowly began to check out as the concert wore on.

Although he may have been too young to remember (at age 4), my son Brandon’s first concert experience was at the 1989 Umbria Jazz Festival where his mom (Ginger Commodore) and I had a chance to perform, opening for Dizzy Gillespie. The next night, we took Brandon to see Miles Davis.

The first concert Brandon really talks about was seeing drummer Dave Weckl at the old Dakota [in Bandana Square in St. Paul]. Thanks to my part-time job as part of the sound crew there, we were able to meet and hang out with many of the great drummers including two of his favorites, Elvin Jones and Dennis Chambers.

In a 180-degree twist, our drummer son is now in the position where he is flying his parents to various venues around the country to see him perform including at Madison Square Garden with Mint Condition and opening for Prince on the Coming 2 America Tour.

Brandon Commodore, 41: I remember very fondly being at that festival in Europe with my family. I wasn’t a big fan of a lot of jazz music when I was young, but I certainly knew of — and was a fan of — Miles Davis. I don’t honestly remember much of the performance, but what I remember is the experience as a whole. I’d never seen anything like it, that many people in one place all to hear music — instrumental music at that. I’d only ever seen crowds like that in videos of Michael Jackson or Madonna concerts.

I also remember it being very late at night, way past my bedtime, waiting for the chance to catch Miles as he was walking by. We were waiting at a barricade, and he finally came by, his clothes were soaked in sweat, and he had a towel draped over him. Everyone was going crazy, yelling his name, asking for pictures and whatnot. He acknowledged me, not for long, but enough so I knew, and he kept it moving.

Thinking back, it definitely felt special. I met Miles. And that would become the norm for me, thanks to my Pops working at the Dakota. I would go on to meet many of my heroes. My dad made sure I had access to everyone he had access to.

I will never forget taking Jing Jing to see Cloud Cult at First Avenue. She was probably around 6 or 7 and she had to perch on my shoulders the whole time to see anything. She hoped the show would never end. It was a wonderful night, and the best part was seeing her piano teacher onstage, Sarah Jane Perbix.

I think the year was 2009. The Bad Plus was performing at a summer festival somewhere in the United States and both of my children, Ella, age 8, and Otis, 4 at the time, were with us on tour. After our set, we realized that none other than the Flaming Lips were playing on the big stage in another area of the festival and we hurried to see them.

The show began with Flaming Lips typical psychedelic mania, and my children watched with impossible glee as the band deployed giant Teletubbies, human hamster balls and confetti bombs that rivaled the Times Square World War II surrender celebrations for the entire show. My little kiddos’ brains immediately fell out emptying out years of tireless jazz and instrumental music programming by their hopeful father.

My son Hugo Robert and I have gone to many concerts and venues since he was born — from Sinéad O’Connor when he was 4 to his personal favorite, Foo Fighters at First Avenue in 2002. But the first big show was at Edgefest in Somerset, Wis., in 1999. It was his 11th birthday, and he really wanted to see the Offspring, so off to Somerset we went and a great afternoon of music and a birthday celebration!

The first concert I took my son Jason to was Prince at the Mill City Music festival in downtown Minneapolis in 1998. At the time he was 7 years old and our family group, the Steeles, had been working with Prince. He and I were backstage during this performance, and Prince brought some kids onstage to dance with him. Jason ran out from backstage and immediately began doing splits onstage. Prince and all of us were surprised and amazed.

Jason Steele, 33: I remember my dad walking me backstage and security letting us through and saying “We got J.D. Steele, let him through.” I was getting a firsthand view of people knowing my dad is an artist and what that meant.

At one point, Prince was going out onstage and two other kids were holding his hand, and his other hand reaching out towards me, then my dad gave me a little nudge to go out there. I grabbed Prince’s hand and next thing you know I’m onstage dancing to the music.

And the next day at school my elementary teacher said she saw me onstage.

The concert gave me an understanding of what my dad gets to do for a living. As a kid, the show was inspiring and also let me know that I like the stage and how possible it is to be a musician from the Twin Cities. And that my dad is one of the coolest guys around.