Yes... If someone wants to start out playing guitar, it is best to start playing acoustic guitar first. It helps develop the needed dexterity and fingertip pressure needed to play. Once you get pretty good on acoustic, then you can move over to electric. Once on an electric, you won't believe it at first, but, you will literally fly on the guitar fretboard, like you've been playing 20 years or so. It is also important not to rush right into playing electric. Believe me... I've seen many people "rock out" on an electric,but when you hand then an acoustic guitar, they can hardly play it at all.
I will ~kinda~ disagree with you on this... with the acoustic and the higher finger pressures often needed it can, and often does, frustrate new players... if you like blues get a strat, metal? get a les paul or an Ibanez, country? telecaster or acoustic, etc...... imho, for a new player, get the guitar used in your favorite music... you'll be able to learn some tunes and play some of your favorite music easier and it will keep your interest easier instead of providing one of us more experienced players with a great pawn shop or craigslist deal... :D I went electric first, I'm glad I went this way...
I've seen a lot of shows as Grand Rapids hosts a ton of concerts of all sizes. I also worked for a company that hosted most of the local radio stations bandwidth at one time, which meant a lot of free tickets. Two of the most memorable right off the top of my head are... 1. Korn at a small venue about 10 years ago. Just the right amount of intoxication and a ton of energy in the building. We had to be there early and were allowed to hang out on stage while the band warmed up. Fieldy was a pretty funny dude to bs with. 2. Andrew Ripp in a front room at a bar with maybe 75 people. I enjoy the small shows with just a man and a guitar, especially before they make it big.
little known tidbit about srv, when stevie was 15-16 he got a job playing for a band as a .........bass player they didn't need a guitar player and srv didn't own a bass guitar.. he played a strat set up with very heavy strings and tuned low to sound like a bass setup. ala his fondness for heavy strings 13-54 i think they also have better tone, but your fingers will hurt . i have a couple of strats with them they do help on certain brighter sounding pickups and on the fender super reverb amp when turned past 5 or 6
I've seen a lot of up and comers in clubs and in the late 90's I saw Kid Rock (Staind opened) at the Erie Street Market in Toledo, OH. It's a friggin farmers market but hey, they had to get their start somewhere... I've been to many, many concerts in my day. I started going to them in 1978 (REO and Blackfoot) and to this day the show that stands out in my mind as the best is Pink Floyd at the Pontiac Silverdome. I serioulsy don't know how it could be topped or who could do it...
