Have you ever seen a band play live before they became famous?

[BCRanger10]

Have you ever seen a band play one of their earlier shows at a coffee shop, bar, or local venue before they got their big break? Whom did you see and just how early was it?

[Lliam]

The closest I came was seeing some British bands on their first tours of the U. S.
For example:
- I saw Black Sabbath open for Grand Funk Railroad in an auditorium in 1970. Few people, including myself, had ever heard of Black Sabbath before then. But Sabbath immediately became a headliner.

- I saw Yes open for Black Sabbath in 1972 when few people, including myself, had heard of Yes. Yes was a headliner from then on.

I had a friend who lived near Van Halen and saw them play at a party when they were still a garage band.

[FunkyMonkee]

We played a few gigs with The Cynics before they hit it small.
We might've played a gig with Rusted Root right before they hit.
My guitarist's other band opened for The Monkees shortly before Davey died.
I'd almost bet there was at least one other band we either played with or that I saw before they got big but, I can't recall who. I KNOW we played a gig with a band that I thought was terrible and THEY hit it big but we didn't!! Some day, I'll remember who they were. If I remember correctly, some of the audience hated them, too. They couldn't wait for them to get off so we could play.

[FunkyMonkee]

There WAS a band we played with in the mid `80's called, X-15. They promised to pay us $100 to open for them on afternoon. We did, they stiffed us, they sucked, they got singed to MCA weeks later and changed their name to, The Jets, did 2 albums and were never heard from, again!!

[Anonymous]

I met an older guy who saw Nirvana before they got famous

[BCRanger10]

I had a coworker once who saw Nirvana earlier on. He said it was the worst show he'd ever seen.

[Opinion Owner]

I love Lake of Fire

[Finchie40]

Yes , Dream Theater , I use to see them before they got famous playing at clubs and bars and I become friends’ with the band

[BCRanger10]

How was that? They sound phenomenal on recording. And Petrucci is a MACHINE.

[Finchie40]

They are awesome and very talented , I am a huge Rush fan , I have been ever since I was 11 years old. A friend of mine told me to check out Dream Theater since i was a die hard Rush fan , So when Dream Theater was playing at bars , my friend and I would go see them and of course they covered Rush as well and I became a fan of them since and met them a bunch of times to the point they know me by name. I use to pay 10 bucks to see them play at a bar or club and I was blown away every time. When they started to get famous I was still going to see them and then getting backstage , I have so much signed memorabilia from them

[NathanDavis]

I'm waiting for them to get famous... lol

[BCRanger10]

Who's that?

[NathanDavis]

no spoilers!

[spartan55]

I saw the Foo Fighters at some city festival. It was around 97-99... they didn't even play on a stage, it was some tractor trailer I think. They were freakin great!

Also saw Megadeth at our university amphitheater that held maybe 5,000. This was 90-93 ish. They were amazing even back then.

[DryGermanGuy]

I heard two or three hobby bands play, which I thought were excellent and should become famous. But it did not happen, apparently the German music market is hard.

[AngryCarl3]

Yes, I saw Marillion before they released their debut album. There was already a buzz about them because they had done a session on the Friday Rock Show but they were still touring small venues like our local nightclub.

[exitseven]

I saw Bob Seger play at a venue the size of a high school gym. I saw Jimmy Buffet play at a place that was a picnic area and I sat at a picnic table and had my feet up on the stage

[exitseven]

I worked with a guy who saw Aerosmith play at the opening of a new shopping center

[molonski2]

AC/ DC at the Beaumaris town hall , I was 15 or 16 .

In Australia all the famous bands started in pubs , so there were others also.

[spartan55]

The Bon Scott version of the band I aesume, which I prefer.

[molonski2]

Bon Scott yeah , but the band would never have survived with Bon who had a death wish , I'm 65 years old and I was 15 or 16 , I think 15 , $3 AUD entry ( super high then ) packed hall , lot of violence , would not cut it today , drugs and cigarette smoke..
Pretty horrible , but the band was great.

[spartan55]

Sounds like a scene. I've been to a couple outdoor concerts that were violent and I feared for my safety. Metallica and Rob Zombie. Especially Rob Zombie... whoa 😳

[molonski2]

Yeah this was inside , but they were just violent times of " Sharpies " " Skinheads " and " Skegs " - Beaumaris was all skegs , so people came to fight , and ACDC had an aggressive following , but could be any band really..

[Godihateyou]

Hundreds of times. Some of my favorite bands are bands that never made it out of the local scenes. By far.

[Anonymous]

Skid Row, back when they were opening for Bon Jovi. They hadn't quite popped yet.

[Xawyx-2]

On TV? Yes. Alive concert - Nope.

[Jen_oic]

Nope