My Hard Rock Past

Aerosmith
Opening Act: Guns N Roses
Spectrum Arena
Philadelphia, PA
Friday, August 5, 1988
Section 26, Row 9, Seat 7
$16.50

AC/DC
Opening Act: Cinderella
Spectrum Arena
Philadelphia, PA
Saturday, October 8, 1988
Section 30, Row 9, Seat 12
$17.50

I don't even like any of these bands anymore. I saw Aerosmith on the Permanent Vacation tour. I knew that album, and maybe I was familiar with Walk This Way. Keep in mind, I was still only 13 at this time, and had only been watching MTV for a little over a year. A's mom Debbie was our chaperone. I think she liked some older Aerosmith songs, but hated GN'R.

Guns N' Roses were just starting to get popular, I knew Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child of Mine, but that was it. I didn't like them yet. By the time their next studio albums Use Your Illusion I&II were released, I was a fan and saw them again on that tour. Then I started to dislike them again, and that seems to have stuck. I bought a (bootleg?) tshirt with Aerosmith on the front and GN'R on the back and a program. Years later, I found out that my young cousin Naomi was an Aerosmith fan, so I mailed all my Aerosmith stuff to her.

AC/DC - I have no idea on this one. Wikipedia tells me it was a tour for the Blow Up Your Video album. I think A wanted to go, and we went to all concerts together. A's dad took us to this one. Cinderella was a Philly area band that signed to a major label, so they were like local heroes done good. Cinderella had already released their debut album Night Songs. This tour was for their second album Long Cold Winter. I had copies of both albums and was excited to see them.

Both of the headliners in these concerts put on good shows, lots of spectacle. But my next few concerts were much more exciting.