What Bands Did You See Before They Were More Widely Known?

JOEJOEJOE

A few of mine:

RATM in 1992 at a small club in L.A. right after they got signed

Metallica opening for Saxon at the Whisky in Hollywood in 1982

Slayer opening for Bitch at the Roxy in Hollywood in 1983

HughFreakingDillon

Cage The Elephant opened for QOTSA in Winnipeg 2 years before their debut album came out. I called my wife between bands, and she asked how the opener was, I said "they were energetic AF, but I didn't catch the name, something about Elephant". 

Merkin Baller

Limp Bizkit opening for Faith No More in September of '97. 

The singer was annoying, but Counterfeit and the Faith cover were awesome... then in the next 6 months or so Fred Durst became Fred Durst and that was the end of that.   

brianlux

Great  thread idea, JOE!

Journey.

I saw Link Wray in 1974 who was quite well known by then.  The opening band was not: Journey.  My reaction to Journey at the time was totally negative.  I had never heard of them and was anxious to see and hear Wray live for the first time, so that didn't help.  But what really got to me was what I saw as pompous posturing by a bunch of guys with beauty salon hair styles.  In retrospect, if I kind of wish I had paid more attention to their musicianship.  I would still have been put off by the macho affectations of the band members, but I might have appreciated their musical skills a lot more than I did at the time. 

The Alarm

Though still not widely known in the U.S., I saw the alarm when they opened for U2 at the S.F. Civic Center in June of 1983.  Their first record, the self-titled EP, had just been released and this show was their first U.S. performance.  Before the show started, some of their new EP was played over the P.A. and I even though I had no idea what that music was, nor realized I was about to see the band itself, I was really digging it.  A short while later, that very band came out and simply wowed the audience with their very cool acoustic style politically tinged punk rock.  Fond memories of that show!

June 1st San Francisco Civic (First ever live photograph of The Alarm taken in the USA by Helen Mesquita)

https://thealarm.com/the-alarm-hit-the-usa-with-u2-1983/

The Go-Go's

I saw the Go-Go's in an old somewhat rundown theater on Market Street in San Francisco a few months after the release of their debut album, Beauty and the Beat.  The girls were young, hungry, and eager to play, and they came out and just hit it with super great energy.  That's was a fun show!

goldrush

I saw Radiohead open for James in December 93. Pablo Honey was out, and Creep had already hit, but they were still a support band in a small, half empty venue.

eeriepadave

Some good ones here

https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/246624

rw160510

I saw Linkin Park open for Deftones in early 2001. Also saw St Vincent open for The National in 2007, Marry Me hadn’t been out that long.

HughFreakingDillon

eeriepadave said:

Some good ones here

https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/246624

thanks for that. loved @dankind 's cousin's band. 

brianlux

eeriepadave said:

Some good ones here

https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/246624

Whoa!  I do indeed envy a man who has a mind like a steel trap, Dave.     I would never have remembered starting that thread, lol.

eeriepadave

brianlux said:

eeriepadave said:

Some good ones here

https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/246624

Whoa!  I do indeed envy a man who has a mind like a steel trap, Dave.     I would never have remembered starting that thread, lol.

I had this page bookmarked and I remember commenting on it before. Although it is kinda old.

ekwipt

HughFreakingDillon said:

Cage The Elephant opened for QOTSA in Winnipeg 2 years before their debut album came out. I called my wife between bands, and she asked how the opener was, I said "they were energetic AF, but I didn't catch the name, something about Elephant". 

Saw them on that same tour in BC and knew they were going to be enormous. They had an arena who’d never heard of them completely in awe. After their set they watched the whole Queens show from the side of the stage and looked like they were having the time of their lives. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another opening band make that kind of impact. 

toolie

I saw the Rainbow Butt Monkeys (before they became Finger 11) in a bar in 1995 and they were awesome. That first record was their best.
Also saw Nickleback in Red Deer Alberta before they were famous. They were pricks. We actually went to see the headliner (Jar, later to be known as Flybanger) and NB was opening. Never had the urge to see them (or hear them) again. 

pjl44

I saw this apparently infamous Rammstein set on the 1998 Family Values tour. I do remember it being very horny and pre-Great White in the sense that the pyro seemed pretty intense for an arena show.

https://www.revolvermag.com/music/see-rammsteins-infamous-1998-family-values-show-landed-members-jail/

Zod

It's a bit embarrassing.  It's Nickelback.  Friend of mine's friend from mountain biking was the drummer for a bit before they got big.  Saw them play at a few bars on Vancouver Island before they starting working their way up.  I liked them back then, still dig their debut curb

Foo Fighters kind of had notoriety when they started due to Dave Grohl being in Nirvana, but they smalled small venus for a number of years before opening for other bands then getting to arena's.  Got to see them at the beginning of the colour and the shape tour at the Student Rec Centre at the University of British Columbia.  Held maybe 1000 people.  Pretty cool to see them toward the beginning of the rocket.

brianlux

brianlux said:

eeriepadave said:

Some good ones here

https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/246624

Whoa!  I do indeed envy a man who has a mind like a steel trap, Dave.     I would never have remembered starting that thread, lol.

Ummm, no wonder I don't remember starting that thread... I didn't.  When I opened it, my response was at the top of the page.  But that was page two. 

OK, I'm going to go hide now.   

josevolution

Psychedelic Furs saw them here on Long Island at a bar or club My Fathers Place only a couple of hundred people 

brianlux

josevolution said:

Psychedelic Furs saw them here on Long Island at a bar or club My Fathers Place only a couple of hundred people 

Wow, cool! 

By the time I saw the Furs, they had caught on a bit already. The first time I saw them was at the Warfield theater in San Francisco, and the second was at the Kabuki Theater in San Francisco's Japantown.  Both  shows were good, but not great.  They had a wall of sound that made the songs seem very muddled.   But the Kabuki Club show was memorable for two reasons.  First, the friend I went with and I were walking down the street outside the venue when suddenly the band's guitarist, John Aston, stepped out of a bar and starting walking toward us.  As we passed, he looked at me and kind of facially snarled, raising the side of his lip and growled quietly.  It was totally harmless and very punk.  After we got passed him a bit, I turned and said, "Alriiiight!".  Then, just moments later, we got to the venue entrance and this limo pulled up, and out hopped Richard Butler looking very  suave in a silky grey suite and open necked shirt.  Off to the side, a very stylish and beautiful woman started waving and called out, "Oh, Richard, Richard!  It's me, I'm (so-and-so), you know, (so-and so's) friend!"  Butler dramatically through out his arms and declared, "Oh yes, of course!  Eeeeeeeveryone is my fiend, hahahaha!" and then he dashed off into the venue.  That was so funny and cool!

HughFreakingDillon

toolie said:

I saw the Rainbow Butt Monkeys (before they became Finger 11) in a bar in 1995 and they were awesome. That first record was their best.
Also saw Nickleback in Red Deer Alberta before they were famous. They were pricks. We actually went to see the headliner (Jar, later to be known as Flybanger) and NB was opening. Never had the urge to see them (or hear them) again. 

haha. I also saw nickelback before they were big. Playing the Sunday afternoon at a summer festival in bumfudge manitoba. 

mookeywrench

Arcade Fire at First Ave in Mpls

Modest Mouse sorta, at the Showbox 6 months before releasing Good News....

Tame Impala at 2010 Sasquatch festival, they replaced some other band at the last minute and played the smallest stage mid-afternoon.

Macklemore during a free show at easy street around 2009. Didn't know who he was and didn't go to see him, but he was performing and I had to wait for him to finish because he was blocking the album artists A-M

Gern Blansten

HughFreakingDillon said:

Cage The Elephant opened for QOTSA in Winnipeg 2 years before their debut album came out. I called my wife between bands, and she asked how the opener was, I said "they were energetic AF, but I didn't catch the name, something about Elephant". 

same...saw them open for QOTSA on the anniversary of Q's first album. They played the Vogue in Indpls....1500 capacity venue. Was awesome.

Gern Blansten

Merkin Baller said:

Limp Bizkit opening for Faith No More in September of '97. 

The singer was annoying, but Counterfeit and the Faith cover were awesome... then in the next 6 months or so Fred Durst became Fred Durst and that was the end of that.   

I'm not sure of the year but it was probably 97 or so...saw Limp on a side stage at Ozzfest I believe. They blew me away.

jwhjr17

Gern Blansten said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

Cage The Elephant opened for QOTSA in Winnipeg 2 years before their debut album came out. I called my wife between bands, and she asked how the opener was, I said "they were energetic AF, but I didn't catch the name, something about Elephant". 

same...saw them open for QOTSA on the anniversary of Q's first album. They played the Vogue in Indpls....1500 capacity venue. Was awesome.

Saw CTE opening for Stone Temple Pilots in 2010 at Roy Wilkins in St. Paul.  We liked them immediately.

mookeywrench

Thought of some more...

2003 White Stripes with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs opening.

2003, the Decemberists

Also in 2003, I saw the final show of Carissa's Weird. Half the band went on to become Band of Horses.

lastexitlondon

I saw obituary and sepultura in the marquee club in 1991 small club absolute carnage 

Zod

lastexitlondon said:

I saw obituary and sepultura in the marquee club in 1991 small club absolute carnage 

I only ever got to see Sepultura 2.0 :(   I wish I'd gotten the chance to see the original band.

I did get to see Soulfly play Nailbomb in it's entirety so that was something (I love the live Nailbomb album).

lastexitlondon

They did back to back nights . I was at school and went to both nights back to school each day. I felt like a complete legend. I got my ticket signed and my hi top boot signed by Paulo. Absolutely magical 

mickeyrat

lastexitlondon said:

They did back to back nights . I was at school and went to both nights back to school each day. I felt like a complete legend. I got my ticket signed and my hi top boot signed by Paulo. Absolutely magical 

I worked a landscaping job with the road manager for obituary in  94 when I lived in tampa.

lastexitlondon

lastexitlondon said:

They did back to back nights . I was at school and went to both nights back to school each day. I felt like a complete legend. I got my ticket signed and my hi top boot signed by Paulo. Absolutely magical 

It was 1990 just found the ticket.

lastexitlondon

mickeyrat said:

lastexitlondon said:

They did back to back nights . I was at school and went to both nights back to school each day. I felt like a complete legend. I got my ticket signed and my hi top boot signed by Paulo. Absolutely magical 

I worked a landscaping job with the road manager for obituary in  94 when I lived in tampa.

Cool

ComeToTX

i'm another that saw limp bizkit early on.  either late '97 or early '98 with sevendust.  i saw deftones right before around the fur came out,  my morning jacket in early 2003. black keys at a club show in 2004.

brianlux

Another band I saw early on was the Violent Femmes.  I saw then in a seedy club in San Jose California.  They came on an hour late.  It was a very warn night, a crowed club full of restless punk rock fans.  I'm fairly certain if they had waited to come out much longer, violence would have occurred.  I often wondered if all that was carefully orchestrated?  They put on a killer show (but no one was actually murdered, lol!)