Bands you saw in concert before they were famous

Also saw Whitesnake open for Motley Crue in the late '80s a month or so before they blew up on MTV.

 

The Strokes about a month or two before their first album was released in the States. They already had a hit single in the UK and were the world's most overhyped band at that point, so I'm not sure if it counts. Three members of their opening acts from that night ended up becoming semi-famous in their own right, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of The Greenhornes ended up in The Raconteurs and Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches (Possibly the worst band I've ever seen.) wrote the song that Michael Cera and Ellen Page sang in Juno.

 

Somewhere I still have my ticket stub from the UVa show. I think it cost me $3, plus my share of the gas from Richmond and back.

Great show, all stuff from the first two albums plus some tunes from what he said was "an album we've been working on called Jungleland," later renamed BTR. He closed with "Jungleland," and then his Gary U.S. Bonds medley.

 

In Europe I saw several bands on tour before they broke big: Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus Jones, Pearl Jam. The latter was a tough ticket but it was still only a 1,000-seat place and a couple of months before grunge blew up.

I'm not certain, but I'm fairly sure I saw an Oasis gig on one of my trips to the U.K.

 

Modest Mouse in the Black Cat in DC in 1997. Such a great show.

I'm trying to think of others but falling a bit short.

 

Not a band, but Daniel Tosh.

 

Wow - I was just about to post this. I was at the same show, which was awesome. You're right about BRMC too.

 

Actually, no. I'm in the other Carolina. All those guys just regularly passed through my town doing tours in concentric circles of cities with established fan bases. It was pretty marvelous to see them once a month, for the most part.

And Jewel was another one I forgot about. saw her open for Edwin McCain once. He jokes about it now at his shows. "At least she still sends me christmas cards"

 

Back when it was "Diamond Darrell"?

 

Jimmy Buffett in 1984 at Mud Island, Memphis. "Songs You Know By Heart" came out in 1985, which led to Buffett becoming a zillionaire.

DMB in 1994. For $5 at the New Daisy Theatre, Memphis, before "Under the Table and Dreaming" was released.

 

Jeez, this thread brought back a flood of memories about the now-defunct (?) 328 Performance Hall in Nashville. I'm pretty sure it's dead, but it was there I saw Smashing Pumpkins, Mudhoney, Uncle Tupelo, Bottle Rockets, Velocity Girl, Pavement, Lemonheads and Weezer. As for this thread, only Uncle Tupelo and the Pumpkins qualify. I didn't make it to the Black Crowes show. Too drunk on gin and Yoo-hoo to move, passed out in the back seat of a buddy's Honda and eventually puked my guts out. And don't ask me why I thought mixing Beefeater and Yoo-hoo was a good idea.

 

Details, please.