She: Another milestone down. Koss went to his first concert last week.

Z: If your parents take you there, does it really count as your first concert?

She: Of course it does.

Z: I don’t know. If you’re not only with your parents, but also surrounded by your friends and their parents in the audience, does it really count as your first concert?

She: He thinks so. Of course it does.

Z: I’m not sure that going to a San Marcos High fundraiser at The Granada really counts as going to a concert.

She: What do you mean? There was a warm-up act, there were lights, there was staging, there were roadies, there was music by an internationally acclaimed pop star. It was totally a concert. A concert with a real band, not just one of those freebies in a park.

Z: With a live auction between acts?

She: OK, that was a little unusual. But Koss was entertained.

Z: Yeah, but he asked if they always did that at concerts.

She: I hope you said no, and that there wasn’t usually a silent auction either.

Z: As much as I enjoyed Sara Bareilles — and I did — I’m not sure it can really count as Koss’ first concert.

She: Why not?

Z: First of all, there was no waving of lighters. Or even cell phones.

She: I did kind of miss that.

Z: And there was absolutely no danger associated with the experience.

She: How does that make for a real concert?

Z: It doesn’t have to be Altamont, but there should always be an edge to rock ‘n’ roll.

She: What was your first concert?

Z: My friend, Chuck, got tickets for his Bar Mitzvah, and took me to see Gordon Lightfoot at the County Bowl.

She: And that was dangerous? Gordon Lightfoot?

Z: I had no idea what the music was — but I smelled a kind of smoke that I had never smelled before.

She: Oh. Yeah. There is that. My first concert was Bob Marley and the Wailers at UCSB. Lots of ganja love from the crowd.

Z: It’s not like Koss had to worry about what to do when someone passed him a joint in the middle of The Granada. That seems like a pretty essential part of the first concert experience.

She: I’m guessing he would have no idea what a joint was, and that you didn’t either.

Z: Sure, but Chuck knew. He had knowledge.

She: You’re right. We should stop exposing our kid to things and stop teaching him stuff, and he should get it all from his friends and on the street.

Z: Even more impressive was my second concert, which was also a Chuck Bar Mitzvah gift — a No Nukes concert at the Hollywood Bowl. His mom dropped us off and told us where to meet her after the concert.

She: It does seem like everyone remembers their first concert. I posted something about this on my Facebook page and got 61 comments in five minutes.

Z: First concert is a big deal — except when your parents take you.

She: Well, I wanted to go, too. Plus it’s not like I’m just going to go drop him off somewhere with thousands of strangers. I took him to a new friend’s house the other day and I did a complete background check on the parents and wrote down all of the their license plate numbers before I left him there.

Z: That sounds exactly like my Hollywood Bowl experience.

She: Except Chuck’s mom is probably still writing those license plate numbers down.

Z: Yes, dear.

— Share your first concert memories with She and Z by emailing leslie@lesliedinaberg.com. And follow them on Twitter: @lesliedinaberg. Click here for previous She Said, Z Said columns.