Adam Sternberg, director at entertainment agency Sternberg Clarke is launching a new charity campaign called First Gig Memory, inspired by the powerful way music connects us to our past.
The idea stemmed from a personal moment with Sternberg’s 92-year-old father, whose memory is not what it used to be. “What he remembers with amazing clarity is the first Broadway show he went to, which was Oklahoma at the age of 10 in 1943,” said Sternberg.
That moment sparked the realisation that our first gig experiences – whether a concert, play, or pantomime – often stay with us.
First Gig Memory invites people to submit short video stories recounting the first live performance they attended. For each video uploaded, a £30 donation will be made to Dementia UK, a charity partner Sternberg is excited to support.
“Music itself for dementia sufferers is a form of therapy. Not only is the memory of the past something that they can still hold on to, but it’s also usable in the present.”
The campaign officially launches this week, with Sternberg aiming to release at least one story per week – and the first video to air is Anna Peters, creative director at Evolve Events.
“Over time, the hope is to create a standalone website, a Gig Memory Bank, that contains a growing archive of these stories, potentially even from celebrities.”
While the initial rollout is simple, the ambition is big. From potential collaborations with ticketing platforms to live booths at events, Sternberg sees this as a universal project. “It goes beyond class, ethnicity, or gender. Pretty much everyone, across all cultures, has a memory like this.”
In a world increasingly shaped by AI and automation, Sternberg believes in the value of the personal. “The genuine individual memories that we have are irreplaceable.”