My 10- and 12-Year-Old Sons’ First Rock Concert

I’ll never forget the scene in my living room in March 2020, when my two young sons stood on top of our coffee table singing Queen songs, clutching microphones in their tiny hands. As they imitated Freddie Mercury while he belted out “Another One Bites The Dust” I realized something had shifted. The power of rock n’ roll had staked its claim on my 6- and 7-year-old sons.

Nearly five years later, my sons are now pre-teens, ages 10.5 and 12. With the exception of seeing my band Trashing Violet open for Tiffany at the District Music Hall (theater) in Norwalk, Connecticut, they had never been to a rock concert at an arena or stadium. I changed that this month when I took them to see the Queen tribute band Killer Queen at Hartford Healthcare Ampitheater in Bridgeport.

Since I’d never taken my kids to a concert, I didn’t know what to expect! But while every parent’s experience taking a preteen to a rock stadium is different, I definitely learned a few things along the way.:

#1: Traveling and parking takes longer than you think. While my children are adept at getting themselves ready for an event, it’s good to leave a little earlier than you might if you were out with your friends. Why? The good parking gets snapped up quickly. Don’t worry about them being bored: Most major concert arenas have kid stuff, or you can run around an arena or stadium just exploring it for an hour or so. At Hartford Health Arena, there’s a guest services area that gave out certificates for kids under 12 attending their first concert (my kids opted not to do this, but they might have if they were a little younger).

#2: Your kids may not be into the opening band. The Journey tribute band didn’t do it for my kids. They just sat there, kind of bored, during their opening set. If this happens to you, it doesn’t mean you should feel guilty about standing when the band plays “Don’t Stop Believing” (or whatever).

#3: You will need to bring earplugs! I am so used to concerts that I completely forgot to do this! My ears are permanently damaged, so I don’t notice normal concert volume much anymore. But I should have known better and brought them for my kids!

#4: Snacks and drinks are a fortune. Budget accordingly for that $18 lemonade or that $5 Pepsi (we ate beforehand, so that helped save a little cash).

#5: There are creepy, drunk adults lurking everywhere. Unfortunately, we sat next to an older gentleman whose drinking and inappropriate behavior started impacting our experience. I switched seats with my child, and when that didn’t help (and the drunk dude moved seats to badger me with questions about my children), I had to ask security to move. They were super flexible and helpful and offered to escort me to my car after the show.

#6: You can search for the set list in advance. Some people call it cheating, but this was a gamechanger for me. The kids knew when to look forward to their favorite songs, and how many of their less-favorite songs they’d have to wait through to get to the good stuff. Most bands don’t change the structure of their highly choreographed stage act, so using a tool like Setlist.fm is great when making decisions like whether to stay for the encore (or try to get a head start on the trek to the parking lot)

Have fun at the show with the kids! You probably don’t need to be as nervous as I was about their experience, or worry if they’re not standing up (and everyone else is) during the band’s biggest hit. The memories of the time they spent with you will be the thing they come back to for the rest of your life.

Marisa Torrieri Bloom is the editor and founder of Rockmommy.