Best concerts you saw in small venues BEFORE the bands became famous

[slamdunkpro]

Def Leppard in Hampton Shire London in 78 (350 people)
Limp Biskut in Baltimore (63 people attended)
Buck Cherry in Baltimore (50 attended)

The Rolling Stones at the Byoue in DC (they were already famous but it was a suprise walk on) 150 people

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

I saw Zwan last year in Mesa, AZ. They would be the next great band, but they broke up before making a second album. Too bad.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

When I was an undergrad at Boston University in the early 70's, Aerosmith used to play for free at our dorm parties.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
When I was an undergrad at Boston University in the early 70's, Aerosmith used to play for free at our dorm parties.

[/ QUOTE ]

Kurn wins.

[mikeyvegas]

I saw eminem and kidrock perform at a club in Detroit(75-100 people) before they made a name for themselves nationally.

This still isn't as cool as seeing Aerosmith perform at a dorm party for free though.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
This still isn't as cool as seeing Aerosmith perform at a dorm party for free though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly. I had a good post all lined up but read Kurn's and decided not to bother. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

I saw Mozart practicing with his piano instructor when he was a little kid.

[bernie]

Hmmm...

I'd have to say, Alice in Chains at a musicians hall in a suburb of seattle. I think it cost about $4. This was pre grunge and depression/desolation era that AIC was come to be known for. It was actually pre-Alice when they had a different name. (I still have the flyer i ripped from a phone poll)

Wasn't really a 'great' show, however. They kinda sucked. One thing they had at this time was a great groove. A year later, which was about another year before they hit, I saw them in a little local venue in seattle. They had improved exponentially.

If you ever get the bootleg of 'Heroin', it's a great disc of lots of older, more rockin' stuff like King of cats and Social Parasite.

b

[Ragnar]

I saw Steppenwolf when they were "The Sparrow" at the Avalon Ballroom. I saw The Buffalo Springfield when they were "The Herd" on campus at UC Davis. Neil Young and Steven Stills were both with them then.

My alltime was when I heard Jerry Garcia playing acoustic at a small club that held 50 or so in San Francisco. Elvin Bishop came in and jammed with him.

Kurn still wins though.

Ragnar

[TJSWAN]

Stevie Ray Vaughn,1984, at the Humboldt State University basketball gym.( Northern CA for those who don't know )
About 400 people, definately before he went " big time " Later saw him at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley and an awesome New Years Eve show at the Henry J Kaiser auditorium in Oakland. I consider myself lucky and fortunate to see him 3 times before his death.


Tim

[Philuva]

Dave Matthews at a frat party at UVA.

[James Boston]

So in the last week, you've revealed that you've seen The Dead, Commander Cody, and Aerosmith for free. Maybe we need a "Concerts Kurn has been to" thread. Yet somehow, you still like Star Trek? Strange.

[natedogg]

It's not exactly that small, and it's not exactly BEFORE they got famous. They booked the Warfield just as Teen Spirit shot up the charts, they exploded, and started playing huge venues.

Their Warfield show coincided with them topping the charts, everyone going crazy over Nirvana.

It was a wild show, pretty small venue for a band that was that big. That show was unbelievable.

natedogg

[James Boston]

My former boss saw Hendrix open for James Brown. That's a show.

[Slacker13]

I use to hang out at the Squeeze in Fort Lauderdale where Maryln Manson played almost every week in front of a hundred people on a good night.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

You can add Sha-na-na in Central Park in the summer of '70, BB King at the Filmore East about the same time, The Allman Brothers show at the Music hall in Boston that was one of their first show after Duane died, Zappa at the Providence Civic Center, Eric Clapton (with Phil Collins on drums) at the same venue, ZZ Top at the Boston Garden, The Who twice, about 20 years apart, David Crosby in '89, and I'm sure there's a couple of others lost in the ozone somewhere.

[Analyst]

Back in 1967, though technically they were already famous. Also, my brother saw the concert but I didn't so this may not count.

However, the warm-up group might qualify: Ted Nugent

[banditdad]

[ QUOTE ]
My alltime was when I heard Jerry Garcia playing acoustic at a small club that held 50 or so in San Francisco. Elvin Bishop came in and jammed with him.
Ragnar

[/ QUOTE ]

I think I was at that same show. Was it in the mid 70's? I was at Cal then.

[banditdad]

I admittedly have an unfair advantage living in L.A., but in the last 35 years I have seen in small venues: The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Stones, Warren Zevon, Elvis Costello, Alice Cooper. The Knack, (are they famous?), used to practice in my garage and I knew Danny Elfman when Oingo Boingo was just starting out. I worked on a movie called the Forbidden Zone his brother directed and he scored.

On another note I used to see Steve Martin pre SNL & Andy Kaufman pre Taxi.

[astroglide]

this thread makes me want to kill myself. better music and no AIDS, what more can a person ask for.

[Ragnar]

banditdad asks re my Jerry Garcia Elvin Bishop post, whether the show was in the mid 70's--no it was 70 or 71.

Ragnar

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Kurn wins.

Maybe not. This mas get me disqualified.

It was the Summer of '69, right after I had graduated from high school. A friend of mine had tickets to a big concert up on a farm in NY State that was starting the next day and wants to drive up. I had been listening to the news reports and argued that we'd have to park 10 miles from the show and according to weather forecasts, probably have to spend a night sleeping out in the rain. My friends listen to the logic of my arguments and we decide not to go to Woodstock. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[James Boston]

That rules. If I'm ever at Foxwoods, I'm buying you a beer.

[Ragnar]

The one that got away for me was Altamont. Of course I was on the other coast from Kurn. Some of my friends went. Fortunately I didn't.

Ragnar

[Clarkmeister]

[ QUOTE ]
this thread makes me want to kill myself. better music and no AIDS, what more can a person ask for.

[/ QUOTE ]

No internet and no holdem either

[astroglide]

i don't know if you're joking or not, but i'd trade that in a second

[kdog]

Kurn, reading your posts is like flashback /images/graemlins/smile.gif I've got a similiar Woodstock story(made Watkins Glen though) and have seen most on your list including Aerosmith in the UMass Dartmouth gym and Zappa with the Mothers at the old Boston Tea Party. Best one for me though was Zepplin at the Newport Jazz Festival in '69.

[banditdad]

[ QUOTE ]
banditdad asks re my Jerry Garcia Elvin Bishop post, whether the show was in the mid 70's--no it was 70 or 71.

Ragnar

[/ QUOTE ]

They must have done this a lot. I was at Cal 74 & 75 and saw Garcia in the same venue. I also went to a Dead & NWPS show at UCLA that started at 7:00pm and my GF and I finally left at 2:00am AND THEY WERE STILL PLAYING!! Them were the days.

[Bubbagump]

I saw Rob Zombie open for Testament at Axis in Boston. This was when he was still with White Zombie and well before they really took off. It was a great show and also pretty funny. Testament was on probably their biggest tour to date. They were playing a lot of big venues opening for somebody else (can't remember who) but they were still playing small clubs whereever they could. As a result, they were travelling with a sound system built for really large venues. Because of all the sound gear Testament had managed to cram into this club, White zombie was given next to no room on the stage. The band could harly move. Rob made a couple of comments regarding this during his set, but it was mostly in jest. They still played great.

Bubbagump

[turnipmonster]

I went to music school (in 2001!) with Alex Skolnick from testament, who is now a short haired jazz guitarist.

--turnipmonster

[Bubbagump]

What school was this? I know he moved to NYC some time after leaving Testament, but I don't know if it was before or after he went to school. I met him a few years back after a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in Providence. We talked about the jazz stuff he was playing now. Unfortunately I still have not had a chance to hear any of it.

Alex, was and still is the quintessential (sp?) guitarist IMO. He is AMAAAAZZZZZING! And it doesn't matter what style he is playing. He is one of the most well rounded musicians there is. And he's a really nice guy to boot /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I graduated from Berklee in '94. What instrument do you play. What kind of stuff did you study in school?

Bubbagump

[turnipmonster]

I went to the new school for jazz performance, and play guitar and compose/arrange for jazz orchestra (I hate saying big band). aside from that I mostly play jazz gigs and accompany singers and stuff like that.

alex sounded really good playing pretty much anything every time I heard him play. really dedicated musician. he is a really nice guy, and was very cool about the whole testament metal guy thing. I used to read his columns in guitar mags when I was a kid.

--turnipmonster