Bands you saw early on who became big?

[Lammycat]

Hey Lammy, wasn't it Mojo Nixon who played at your 5th wedding?

Jello Biafra, actually. 

[remphish1]

i saw a few shows at the Rat, but nobody who later blew up big.

 

 

well, in a moderate way, i did see Mark Sandman play there in a band called Candy Bar, which was an interim band between Treat Her Right and Morphine.

Loved Sandman! Fortunately got see Morphine three times and even met him I miss them a lot a true original!!

[mountain bed]

I saw RHCP in some little cement block hole-in-the-wall called "Hoosier Ballroom" in 1986. They had 2 LPs out (S/T & Freaky Styley?) about that time. The place could not have held more than 150 people. All ages. Thelonious Monster opened. They were, without a doubt, the most disorganized, unprofessional band I've ever seen. My garage band at the time would have sounded like a great band compared to what I saw LOL.

 

The Peppers were the most crazy fun energetic band! The vibe between Flea & Anthony was amazing.

[Doctor B]

Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for The Who at the Omni in Atlanta, 1973 (maybe 1974).  They played an encore. I was in college in Atlanta then and many of us had heard Skynyrd on local radio and had familiarity but had not seen them. The Who were great but had issues with all the Quadrophenia recorded tapes during the show. Read later that the 2 groups competed nightly for best performance.  Hard to believe Skynyrd used to play in front of a giant confederate flag. 

[leatherman]

All in Atlanta:

 

Blind Melon at the Masquerade in 1992, way before No Rain hit MTV

Smashing Pumpkins opening for Drivin N Cryin at the Roxy while in town recording Siamese Dream

Wilco opening for The Jayhawks right around the release of A.M.

 

 

[Sir Stewart]

i saw a few shows at the Rat, but nobody who later blew up big.

 

Does Seven League Boots count?

[tinnitus photography]

no.

neither does Powerman 5000.

[lost highway]

I don't know what counts as big, but I saw bands that were unknown who became pretty successful, although not mainstream.

 

When I was in high school I saw Alkaline Trio with 25 other people.  They kept touring and coming through every six months or so, and every time the audience tripled.

 

I saw At the Drive in with probably about 40 other people.

 

I saw Foo Fighters play to about 200 people at a small theater, sometime in 1995 or 96.

[kidsmoke]

A couple of favorites...Bruce Springsteen in 1975, at UC Santa Barbara, and Elvis Costello at the Whiskey on the Sunset Strip....'77 or '78. There was an obnoxious drunk, a big guy, throwing himself all over, bashing into people in his snockered state. He was directly below Elvis, front and center at the stage edge. Midway through the show, tiny angry Elvis had had enough of him. Elvis bent and picked up the guy's tall drink glass which he'd set on the stage, and then Costello, all unruffled coolness, poured the whole drink over the drunk's head. The guy was so soused he just stood and took it in stunned, sputtery shock. Then a moment later he snorted like an enraged bull and lunged at the stage. Elvis gave him an unimpressed look, took a step back, and snapped the top half of the glass off against his mic stand, then held it out toward the drunk, white-knuckled and ready to take him on. I still have that image burned in my brain.

Security came from all corners at that, and hauled the fool out into the street. Elvis tossed the broken glass down and it rolled beneath the drumset and the show resumed. What a phenomenal show that was! I'm still surprised that at show's end, when I asked a roadie if he'd fetch me the glass, he shrugged and handed it to me! There was a second show that night, after ours, and I still remember emerging from the club onto Sunset, where a long excited line waited, carrying a broken half-glass and getting some very odd looks!

 

I still have that treasured little artifact!

[Fritz]

This is such a cool gig story!

 

A couple of favorites...Bruce Springsteen in 1975, at UC Santa Barbara, and Elvis Costello at the Whiskey on the Sunset Strip....'77 or '78. There was an obnoxious drunk, a big guy, throwing himself all over, bashing into people in his snockered state. He was directly below Elvis, front and center at the stage edge. Midway through the show, tiny angry Elvis had had enough of him. Elvis bent and picked up the guy's tall drink glass which he'd set on the stage, and then Costello, all unruffled coolness, poured the whole drink over the drunk's head. The guy was so soused he just stood and took it in stunned, sputtery shock. Then a moment later he snorted like an enraged bull and lunged at the stage. Elvis gave him an unimpressed look, took a step back, and snapped the top half of the glass off against his mic stand, then held it out toward the drunk, white-knuckled and ready to take him on. I still have that image burned in my brain.

Security came from all corners at that, and hauled the fool out into the street. Elvis tossed the broken glass down and it rolled beneath the drumset and the show resumed. What a phenomenal show that was! I'm still surprised that at show's end, when I asked a roadie if he'd fetch me the glass, he shrugged and handed it to me! There was a second show that night, after ours, and I still remember emerging from the club onto Sunset, where a long excited line waited, carrying a broken half-glass and getting some very odd looks!

 

I still have that treasured little artifact!

[Chez]

I almost forgot this one.  I saw The Kinks play in Champaign, IL in 1980 (maybe 1981).  The opening act was a band called Johnny Cougar and the Zone.  They sucked.  Johnny Cougar was aping Springsteen and failing miserably at it.  Two years (or so) later, Johnny Cougar changed his stage  name to John Cougar Mellencamp (and subsequently dropped the whole "Cougar" nonsense) and became the next big thing -- though I've never been much of a fan of his.

[nalafej]

I love that they thought "and the Zone" was a good idea.

[NoJ]

Liz Phair's first big show in Chicago at the Caberet Metro

[dmait]

Gov't Mule's tenth show ever, 9/16/94 at the Paradise in Boston. No more than 75 people there. The band stood outside the tour bus after the show talking to fans. Not exactly unknowns but ...

[nalafej]

Gov't Mule's tenth show ever, 9/16/94 at the Paradise in Boston. No more than 75 people there. The band stood outside the tour bus after the show talking to fans. Not exactly unknowns but ...

 

They had a tour bus at their first gig? How did they pull that off (most bands start with a van)? I'm not familiar with their origins, was Warren famous before that band started?

[calvino]

They had a tour bus at their first gig? How did they pull that off (most bands start with a van)? I'm not familiar with their origins, was Warren famous before that band started?

 

Warren and Allen Woody were in the Allman Brothers Band for good few years by 94, so they had a constant money source by then.

Record company may have chipped in, too.

[nalafej]

Warren and Allen Woody were in the Allman Brothers Band for good few years by 94, so they had a constant money source by then.

Record company may have chipped in, too.

 

Makes much more sense now!

[douglish]

• U2 in 1983 at The Bronco Bowl (a bowling alley/theater) in Dallas with a 3,000 seat capacity that wasn't even close to sold out.  Bonus that The Alarm opened.  To this day, one of my favorite concerts ever.
• The Sugarcubes in 1988 at The Roxy in Hollywood for their (and Bjork's) first North American appearance if I remember correctly.
• The Smashing Pumpkins in 1991 at The Whiskey  A Go Go in Hollywood.  Gish had just come out.  Hole, Courtney Love's pre-Kurt Cobain band opened.  Didn't realize until The Smashing Pumpkins got on stage that I had been talking to James Iha, their guitarist, for much of the Hole set with Billy Corgan standing on the other side of him.  Had no idea who they were at the time
• Radiohead in 1993 at the Palladium in Hollywood.  Creep was their big song of the day, the really interesting thing is that Radiohead was the OPENING band... PJ Harvey was the headliner
• Arcade Fire in 2005 at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto.  Funeral had just been released and they were getting a lot of attention in Canada... luckily I was living in Toronto at the time and got to see them in this small venue... they were very much more theatric earlier in their career, another of my all time favorite shows

[remphish1]

 

• U2 in 1983 at The Bronco Bowl (a bowling alley/theater) in Dallas with a 3,000 seat capacity that wasn't even close to sold out. Bonus that The Alarm opened. To this day, one of my favorite concerts ever.
• The Sugarcubes in 1988 at The Roxy in Hollywood for their (and Bjork's) first North American appearance if I remember correctly.
• The Smashing Pumpkins in 1991 at The Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood. Gish had just come out. Hole, Courtney Love's pre-Kurt Cobain band opened. Didn't realize until The Smashing Pumpkins got on stage that I had been talking to James Iha, their guitarist, for much of the Hole set with Billy Corgan standing on the other side of him. Had no idea who they were at the time
• Radiohead in 1993 at the Palladium in Hollywood. Creep was their big song of the day, the really interesting thing is that Radiohead was the OPENING band... PJ Harvey was the headliner
• Arcade Fire in 2005 at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. Funeral had just been released and they were getting a lot of attention in Canada... luckily I was living in Toronto at the time and got to see them in this small venue... they were very much more theatric earlier in their career, another of my all time favorite shows

Nice list! I used to talk to James Iha a bunch nice guy!

[suites]

Just remembered. Bon iver open for wilco in Florida a few years back.

[tinnitus photography]

i don't like them, but i shot Vampire Weekend in 2008 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I think the room holds about 300-400.

 

[Moss]

SRV opening for Berlin at Red Rocks, played after Talk Talk.

 

Thom York playing Solo acoustic in a park in San Francisco right around the time of Creep being a hit, 1993. Played with mighty mighty bosstones and a few others. Pretty small crowd.

[Winston Legthigh]

i don't like them