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I love smaller indie type gigs and always seek them out but I don’t think I’ve seen by that have propelled to selling out stadium type levels. I know Ed played a lot of free shows before he was a name. Anyone see him in Camden or anything? Pretty sure Blur played some free stuff at Clacton Pier.
A mate of mine flew to London to watch Oasis last year after watching them play in front of 100 people in a small venue in Cleveland in the mid 90s which I thought was awesome.
I don’t have any super cool stories like that really. Although In terms of festivals and thinking about the most famous star on the planet these days, I do remember Taylor Swift (still a teenager at the time I think) at V festival in around 2009. She was a a country gal back then and on really early in the day, no one was really paying loads of attention. Quite funny to think now she moves nations economies with her tours.
Wolf Alice opened for the band I played in in 2012. Just the frontwoman and guitarist, an acoustic duo at that stage playing lo-fi indie-folky stuff. Had a beer outside the venue with them afterwards, they were saying they'd got a drummer sorted, just needed to find a bassist and they'd be looking to start doing some bigger venues.
Wished them the best of luck. Can only assume I forgot for a moment it was bass I play.
They were on the main stage at Glastonbury two years later.
I was not.
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 19:51 - Feb 15 with 809 views
They never achieved MASSIVE recognition but I saw Terrorvision play Colchester Arts Centre to a few dozen kids(at the age of 18, I was one of the oldest punters there) in 93.
A year later they were the act below Pulp at Reading. And they played with the same level of commitment to those few dozen kids as they did at Reading.
I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
Dire Straits at Colchester Institute just before Sultans of Swing was released as a single (Nov 78). I leaned against the front of the stage with my beer plonked down in front of me. When I went to the bar for another I returned to the same place against the stage. No queue at the bar!
I went to one of the dress rehearsals for the London Olympic Games. Before it began, there was this peculiar ginger bloke with a guitar sitting on a stool playing nondescript music. ‘Who is that ginger w@nker?’ Said I. The music was bland but he seemed quite good and I said ‘this must make a change from playing in boozers and at weddings. Must be tough scraping a living like that.’
It was Ed Sheeran.
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:06 - Feb 15 with 716 views
Up until 2 minutes ago I thought i had seen Bjorks first ever UK performance,ridiculously In front of 100k people supporting U2 at Wembley stadium but Google has sadly just said she did a small gig at the forum 2 days before🥲 she was shaking and looked terrified but her vocals were amazing! Can't remember what year early/mid 90s I saw the Dust brothers( to become the Chemical brothers) supporting Primal Scream at the UEA
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:10 - Feb 15 with 681 views
Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:06 - Feb 15 by Daninthecampo
Up until 2 minutes ago I thought i had seen Bjorks first ever UK performance,ridiculously In front of 100k people supporting U2 at Wembley stadium but Google has sadly just said she did a small gig at the forum 2 days before🥲 she was shaking and looked terrified but her vocals were amazing! Can't remember what year early/mid 90s I saw the Dust brothers( to become the Chemical brothers) supporting Primal Scream at the UEA
Bjork solo maybe, but I’m sure she toured here with the sugacubes?
Michael Gove. I went to the filming of some late night channel 4 show, which was presenting while still a journalist. Think it had other future 'stars' involved too, but can't remember the name, cos I'm old and it was literally decades ago.
Sorry, know thisbt quite in keeping with rhe thread but sod it.
[Post edited 15 Feb 20:24]
Has anyone ever looked at their own postings for last day or so? Oh my... so sorry. Was Ullaa
Saw Depeche Mode when they were called Composition of Sound at Crocs in Raleigh early 1980 - I was into XTC, Human League, Kraftwerk, YMO, Jean-Michel Jarre, Eno, etc, at the time and a mate said this lot might be worth listening to, even though they'd attended a rival Basildon school.
They weren't the worst thing I'd heard, but never thought they'd get as big as they did!
[Post edited 15 Feb 20:25]
You are the obsolete SRN4 to my Fairey Rotodyne....
Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 19:52 - Feb 15 by vapour_trail
My old boy booked both the Beatles and stones to play Dublin at the club he ran in the early 60s.
He told me they were both shite.
And he said I had bad taste in music.
That's a coincidence, my mum was a professional singer and played at Ronnie Scotts in the early 60's.
When she married my dad she gave up her career, but after a couple of years of marriage she used her contacts to book a few acts. She was good friends with Glen Dale so booked The Fortunes. She also booked the Stones and my old man loved them.
But she stopped booking after putting on a Tom Jones show. They couldn't give tickets away and he played to a half empty hall. A few months later he released It's Not Unusual.
FREE IRAN FROM THE MULLAHS - FREE PALESTINE FROM HAMAS - FREE LEBANON FROM HEZBOLLAH
I saw Stone Roses in a uni bar in 1989 and had Ian Brown right next to me singing as he got on the dancefloor, he couldn't sing. I also saw Hothouse Flowers busking in Covent Garden back in the day.
[Post edited 15 Feb 20:36]
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:34 - Feb 15 with 487 views
At the second Futurama festival in the Queens Hall, Leeds back in 1980 I saw a laid back band with an over energetic lead singer late in the afternoon who only had a couple of singles out in Ireland at the time. U2 went on to become quite big. The previous afternoon and even earlier, maybe second act on I caught Soft Cell and later that evening but by no means top of the bill Vice Versa who changed their name to ABC a year or two later.
I've mentioned this on here a few times but back in 1975 or '76 I saw Graham Parker and the Rumour play to forty eight people in the Manor Ballroom and it was one of the best gigs I have been to. Also saw Thin Lizzy there in, I think, 1972 when they had had a hit single 'Whiskey In The Jar' the previous year but it looked like they were one hit wonders and only two or three hundred people turned up. I think it was 1975 when I was sitting in the Swan and a desperate roadie came in asking if anyone wanted tickets to see Man at the Gaumont (great band but times were leaving them behind by then so the freebies were to get some atmosphere in what would otherwise be an almost empty venue) so me and the then girlfriend took him up on the offer. Man were showcasing a new album 'Maximum Darkness' but I didn't enjoy them as much as the three or four other times I had seen them. ON the way back we passed the Manor where a band I had never heard of were on so I said 'just follow me' and blagged my way in past the bouncers with a smile as if we had just popped outside for a few minutes. It worked and we got to see the last ten minutes of Judas Priest, not my thing but everyone else there was going nuts.
Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:34 - Feb 15 by vilanovablue
I saw Stone Roses in a uni bar in 1989 and had Ian Brown right next to me singing as he got on the dancefloor, he couldn't sing. I also saw Hothouse Flowers busking in Covent Garden back in the day.
[Post edited 15 Feb 20:36]
Always a favorite band on the juke box in pubs growing up with my mates, never thought I’d end up seeing then play multiple times, remember being shocked at that press conference. From Heaton Park to MSG.
Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:34 - Feb 15 by WeWereZombies
At the second Futurama festival in the Queens Hall, Leeds back in 1980 I saw a laid back band with an over energetic lead singer late in the afternoon who only had a couple of singles out in Ireland at the time. U2 went on to become quite big. The previous afternoon and even earlier, maybe second act on I caught Soft Cell and later that evening but by no means top of the bill Vice Versa who changed their name to ABC a year or two later.
I've mentioned this on here a few times but back in 1975 or '76 I saw Graham Parker and the Rumour play to forty eight people in the Manor Ballroom and it was one of the best gigs I have been to. Also saw Thin Lizzy there in, I think, 1972 when they had had a hit single 'Whiskey In The Jar' the previous year but it looked like they were one hit wonders and only two or three hundred people turned up. I think it was 1975 when I was sitting in the Swan and a desperate roadie came in asking if anyone wanted tickets to see Man at the Gaumont (great band but times were leaving them behind by then so the freebies were to get some atmosphere in what would otherwise be an almost empty venue) so me and the then girlfriend took him up on the offer. Man were showcasing a new album 'Maximum Darkness' but I didn't enjoy them as much as the three or four other times I had seen them. ON the way back we passed the Manor where a band I had never heard of were on so I said 'just follow me' and blagged my way in past the bouncers with a smile as if we had just popped outside for a few minutes. It worked and we got to see the last ten minutes of Judas Priest, not my thing but everyone else there was going nuts.
I wonder how many of the older generation swa McCartney when he was putting Wings together in 72 and got on a bus and turned up at Uni halls offering to play for 50p a ticket? That would have been cool. Think hey played mostly Rock n Roll covers and a few new sings but absolutely no Beatles.
FREE IRAN FROM THE MULLAHS - FREE PALESTINE FROM HAMAS - FREE LEBANON FROM HEZBOLLAH
Iron Maiden at St Andrews Hall, Norwich , June 1980. Praying Mantis were the supporting act, they blew me away and was a bit ‘meh’ when Maiden played their set. Funny how things turn out.
We have no village green, or a shop.
It's very, very quiet.
I can walk to the pub.
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:47 - Feb 15 with 433 views
Ocean Colour Scene just as their 2nd career was starting in 94ish. Mosely Shoals still hadn't been released. They weren't on my radar during their first incarnation and had pretty much fizzled out. Bass player Damon Minchella and guitarist Steve Craddock had just started to play with Paul Weller. Singer Simon Fowler was often the solo support act. I saw them in a few very small venues, one not much bigger than a church hall in Chelmsford and also the Square in Harlow amongst others.
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