The Commodores Live in Shreveport in 1977 was My First Concert

Hot off the charts and selling out arenas everywhere, The Commodores were a huge hit in 1977 with songs like Brick House and Easy. I have to say at 14 years old they were my favorite group and when I heard they were going to be in concert at The Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, LA., I begged my parents for ticket money. My best friends, Andrew and Mike, joined me and we were dropped off by one of our parents for our first concert ever.

We managed to get tickets on the arena floor only four rows back so we were ecstatic and prepared to spend the entire time on our feet or standing in our chairs. I remember being especially excited that the opening group was A Taste of Honey who sang another favorite song of mine, Boogie Oogie Oogie. The other opening act was Ashford & Simpson so it was a night of classic funk music.

The Hirsch Memorial Coliseum was about a 30 minute ride from our neighborhood in South Bossier City but so many of my friends and classmates made it to that concert. It was a huge event. Prior to that concert we had only danced to Commodores music at school dances and at The Youth Center on base at Barksdale Air Force Base.

I had never been in such a crowded place before without a parent or guardian so I felt a new freedom down there towards the front of that concert. Dancing around and yelling with my friends I remember that night as being a non-stop party. I have fond memories of the women from A Taste of Honey wearing evening gowns while playing electric guitars and I thought they were the hottest girls ever. Actually, with a reminder of that visual, they were the hottest girls ever.

I also remember Lionel Ritchie playing the piano and singing while seemingly floating on a cloud of smoke twenty feet high. I was intrigued by all the technical surprises the show offered. I'll never forget that night and how huge the auditorium seemed, how long the crowd was and how live entertainment was so much better than playing a record.