I've just realised that I've been very lucky.

1. At a concert little hall in Bradford called the Queen's Hall (now a student pub) I saw the Manic Street Preachers on the day they released their debut album.

2. Down in the tiny cellar bar of the Queen's Hall, I went to see a jokey Irish band called The Sultans Of Ping. They had 2 support bands. One was called Monorail and were signed to a little bedroom indie label. The other (who blew everyone off stage) were an unsigned band called Radiohead. Like them so much I bought the debut EP when they got signed (The Drill EP, still got it!). Saw 'em supporting the Sultans again a year later in a pub in Leeds called The Duchess Of York (now a shop) and then the company I work for put on Kingmaker in Huddersfield & they supported them (they'd just released 'Creep' for the 1st time - it'd didn't become a hit in the UK until it go rereleased after the band's success in the USA, which they cracked first). Met Phil & Johnny that night - really nice guys.

3. Went to see the NME tour a couple of years back at Leeds Met Uni. Bottom of the bill? A new band called Coldplay. No-one went near the stage & people talked all the way through 'em but I quite liked them.


Let's hear some similar stories!

Well, I used to be great friends with a band called The Streetlight Fancies. They subsequently changed their name to The Rock N Roll Worship Circus and are now a VERY successful Christian rock band. They even got a nod in Rolling Stone!!

Well I used to work in a 2nd hand record shop in a shitty little town called Brighouse. I worked for this guy called Danny. He was in a band with his brother Richard. I played them that 1st Radiohead EP I bought & they said it was shit and really tried to talk me into returning it to the record shop & demanding a refund.

Luckily, I stuck to my guns! Danny & Richard? They went on to knock Simply Red off the top of the UK album charts with their debut album as Embrace. A band who, occasionaly, sound a bit like...Radiohead.

I was at their 2nd ever live gig and nearly every pub gig they did, lending a hand.

i saw slipknot live at this place called the super toad in my hometown (and theirs, too--des moines, iowa!) about 4 years ago. this wuz a bit before they got a record deal, from what i remember. i wuz standin at the very front by the stage, in front of one of the speakers...my ears rang for like 3 days straight afterwards.

-Incubus in '95
-Alanis Morrisette in early '95 (went to a showcase with only 30 people in the audience! 2 months before JAGGED LITTLE PILL came out)
-Norah Jones in March of '02 in a little hole in the wall

BADLY DRAWN BOY - First heard of him after his EP1 got a good review in a local magazine. I bought it and it's now worth a small fortune. I decided to see him live around October 97 at Life Cafe , Manchester.It was his 3rd ever gig. Became a "fan" instantly and went to many early gigs in Manchester.

BECK - Although he had a hit with Loser in the UK and Mellow Gold was already released I saw Beck early by European standards. I saw him at Manchester University late 94 and it was his first ever UK show.

CARMEN ELECTRA No doubt a lot of UK orgers saw Carmen support Prince at Earl's Court on the Diamonds & Pearls tour.
[This message was edited Thu Oct 23 18:08:05 PDT 2003 by pacey68]

I saw:

Radiohead, in a pub in Hitchin.

Alanis Morrisette, while on the club scene.

Muse, when they were doing small halls.

Lenny Kravitz, before Let Love Rule, in the Mean Fiddler acoustic room.

Tori Amos, again in the acoustic room

Terrence Trent Darby, again in the acoustic room (86)

Alishas Attic, doing the Subterrania Club

Daniel Bedingfield, at a variety of nightclub gigs.

That's quite funny - first band that came to mind when I read the topic was... the Manics. It was in 1992 when Motorcycle Emptiness got heavy airplay on MTV. I was surprised to see them billed for a show in the town I lived in (100.000 citizens) when doing only about 5 gigs or so in Germany - the others being the usual large cities.

Anyway - I went there and it was pure energy. Just like at your show, it was a tiny cellar

Btw, another time I went to see them was on 3rd December 1994 supporting Suede... just shortly before Richey disappeared. Sad. Very sad - to say the least.

Also, in 1984 I attended a festival right near my hometown (even less citizens: 50.000). Headlining were The Cure; next on the list Talk Talk and The Chameleons. Supporting were The Name and a band I didn't know it would become one of my all time favourites a few years later... hell, I even can't remember how they did and what they played!... The Cult.

I remember having noticed some members of a supporting band standing right next to me when The Cure or Talk Talk were on stage. Hope it was not Billy Duffy or Ian Astbury. I'd never forgive myself not being aware of what happened.

Ah well, and of course there was the Kiss concert in 1980... supporting: Iron Maiden.

Wolf

P.S.: daned, you really got me unpackaging all of my ancient (well, sort of) ticket stubs. Whoah... all this dust keeps me coughing...

being from atlanta, we used to go see rem and the b52's in clubs well before they were signed to labels. a couple of friends are still tight with peter buck.
i saw the bangles before they hit, and interestingly enough, they did an interview on one of the college radio stations, and they spent a large portion of the interview slamming to go go's for being all made up, and "girly", and then as soon as they hit, they followed suit.
i saw jewel before she hit, i really don't care too much for her stuff, but she was really charming.
the one i missed and regret, was in 1978, my brother said,"let's go see this band, they're really going to be big" but i hadn't heard of them yet, so i didn't go. it was the police's first american tour, before they hit.

medoc2003 said:

That's what I was going to say! I saw REM and the Satellites at the Arts Festival in 81! Along with Baby and the Pacifiers, Pylon and Heathen Girls (who I later joined when they were Face of Concern). It was awesome to see all those bands forfree.

Also:
Stone Temple Pilots at a free pass show before their first record. Totally different sound. The producer made them who they are, in my opinion.

Urban Dance Squad in 1989.
The lead singer, Rudeboy, was complaining that no record company would sign them.

noepie said:

I saw them too around that time. But seriously, when was Rudeboy NOT complaining?

Another band I saw before they made it: Pavement. Wait, they never really made it, and thanks to that, they stayed real!

Brian Adams (supporting ZZ Top in 1991, he sucked ass already!)
Fun Lovin' Criminals (supporting Garbage in 1996, back then FLC were cool, now they suck)
Smashing Pumpkins before 'Siamese Dream'
and some more...but I am hungover now...

Oh Yeah, Badly Drawn Boy & Muse!

I saw Badly Drawn Boy after EP3 came out. It was at the Manchester D*Percussion event, he played in the beer garden at Dukes 92 bar. I was so drunk, the railing in front of the stage was the only thing keeping me standing. I've got some amazing photos of him, which look like they were taken on the stage

Muse, I caught really low down the bill at the new bands stage at Glastonbury 1999 (I think) just after they'd released 'Cave'.

God, the stuff you forget!

Er... Electric six.

I know it's not a great one!

Talking Heads at CBGB'S a few months before their first album came out.
Everyone knew they were going to be big.

Erm, its more a case of 'After they were famous!...'. I saw Chesney Hawkes and Jason Donovan at my Student Union. Being Salford University, e were 4ever in Manchester's shadow 4 booking live acts. Clearly!

Nirvana on the Bleach tour. It was in '89 before the Nevermind album ended the hair metal era for good.

It was a small venue in Detroit called St. Andrews and my friend insisted I see this punk rock show.

It was fuckin awesome and at the end they trashed everything on the stage. Punk rock it was then they started to believe the hype.

thedoorkeeper said:

Wow. WishI would've been there for that.

Did you ever see Living Color at CBGB's before they did MTV?

I've seen several bands at club shows in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, NC before they made it. From REM to Dave Matthews to Hootie and the Blowfish.

The best one, though, was Living Colour. Within a 2 year span, I saw them with about 40 people (they owned a van) to 200 people (nicer van) to 1000 (old bus) to 5000 (nice tour bus) to opening for the Rolling Stones in front of 80,000. Got to meet them on a couple of occasions and even hang out with the band after the show.

I saw Si*Se back in 2001 when they opened up for David Byrne at the Bowery in NYC. But then again, that band hasn't really taken off yet. Let me think of some others & I'll get back to y'all.

Sebadoh at 1st Avenue supporting Firehose. October 91.
Weezer supporting Lush at 1st Avenue . 1994.
Ash supporting Elastica at Manchester University circa 93.
Norman Cook at The International , Manchester 89. ( Before he became Fatboy Slim )
Brand New Heavies supporting JTQ Manchester Uni.

I actually got to hang out with No Doubt at a showcase show here. Gwen was really hot...now she's just a beauty

No Doubt opening for the Skatalites a long time ago. I can't even remember the year.

I've seen a ton of bands who would fill stadiums today in small clubs. Radiohead, Oasis, The Verve, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janes Addiction.

Slave2daGroove said:

Co-Frickin Sign to that

I would loved to have seen Slipknot, Tori Amos, No Doubt, and Nirvana in the early days.

Bruce Springsteen in a townie bar in Newark, Delaware, early 70's.