Do You Remember Your First Live Show?

On Saturday, Sloan got to enjoy a pretty cool experience. “Disney on Ice” came to Spokane and she attended one of the several shows that took place in the Spokane Arena. Sidney accompanied Sloan and they met up with my sister and her two kids. I drove my wife and daughter to the Arena and watched as children decked out in Disney princess dresses and other costumes emerged from every vantage point of my periphery.

Sloan (dressed as Mouana) with her cousins outside the Spokane Arena before they entered the facility to watch “Disney on Ice.”

During the show, Sidney sent a couple different videos of Sloan and Mikayla (her cousin) having the time of their lives. They were pointing with excitement and singing at the top of their lungs. As I watched the videos, I thought, this is something that Sloan will probably remember.

With small children, you always do wonder if they will remember certain events and experiences decades in the future. Although I can’t say with absolute certainty that Sloan will in fact remember “Disney on Ice,” I have a hunch that she will. Why? Well, my first live event that I remember came when I was a 4-year-old.

I have mentioned before that I was a big WWE (back then WWF) fan as a kid. Sure, I know, kind of embarrassing. But I can’t escape that part of my childhood that manifested very early on in my life. By the time I was 4 it was evidently such a big interest of mine that my dad took me to the WWF “Superstars of Wrestling” show when it rolled into the old Spokane Coliseum in 1991.

I was such a pro wrestling fanatic that I had a WWF bedspread and sheets.

The memories are still clear in my mind. I remember sitting in our seats and my dad pointing over to the section right next to us and seeing my next door neighbor and best friend, John, with his dad. I remember a street clothes-clad Andre the Giant hanging out ringside and banging one of his crutches inside the squared circle. I remember Jake Roberts grabbing his infamous snake and chasing Earthquake around the ring with it.

I still have our tickets from the WWF Superstars of Wrestling show we attended in 1991.

But what I remember most of all was the main event when the Undertaker made his entrance. When the lights in the arena go off and that chilling music is played while a shadowy figure makes his way to the ring, the impression is not lost on a 4-year-old. I was lucky to have my dad right next to me!

Undertaker would wrestle my favorite WWF superstar at the time, the Ultimate Warrior, in a body bag match. Undertaker managed to get most of Ultimate Warrior into the body bag except for one hand. That lifeline was all the Warrior needed to dig deep and escape from what looked like a certain defeat. As you can probably guess, Ultimate Warrior ended up winning the match.

For as many events from my childhood that I don’t remember, it is kind of neat that I remember my first arena live show. Perhaps Sloan will too. I hope so. Don’t Blink.