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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.
I saw Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets in a Birmingham pub in the mid 70s. I know, he's not the calibre we're looking for, and I can't even remember the name of the pub, but it's the taking part that counts, eh? I also saw Maddy Prior perform in the little folk club behind The Waveney Pub in Oulton Broad around the same time, but no-one even knows who she is now, let alone what band she was in later.
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:58 - Feb 15 with 264 views
Not necessarily big time but I saw Wreckless Eric, Jonah Lewie and Linda Lovich on the Be Stiff Tour in 1978 before each had hits.
Sadly, I was a year too late at university for the first Stiff tour which had Elvis Costello and Ian Dury and the Blockheads on the bill.
I was probably the only person in the audience at the Style Council gig at the Gaumont in early 1984 who had gone there only to see the supporting act Billy Bragg.
And I saw the Proclaimers before their first hit (Letter from America), having been attracted to the band by this song which celebrated the Scottish accent, and which I first heard on the Late Show around the time their first album was released. It was released as a single but failed to chart.
[Post edited 15 Feb 21:10]
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 21:01 - Feb 15 with 239 views
I used to go hunt saboteuring with Chumbawamba. Also saw The Levellers play lots of times in pubs and other places on their journey but I suppose neither went on to be that big in the scheme of things.
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 21:01 - Feb 15 by BanksterDebtSlave
I used to go hunt saboteuring with Chumbawamba. Also saw The Levellers play lots of times in pubs and other places on their journey but I suppose neither went on to be that big in the scheme of things.
They got knocked down but they got back up again Banksy.
Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness.
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 21:06 - Feb 15 with 228 views
I saw Coldplay in some really small venue about a year or so before Yellow came out. I don’t actually remember anything about them but found the ticket in my top drawer a few years later.
A few months later after initially watching them, I saw them when they were quite low on the bill at V and then a year later they headlined Glastonbury.
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 21:19 - Feb 15 with 186 views
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.
That's reminded me that I saw U2 on the 'War' tour playing Leeds University refectory in 1983.
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
I saw Ed Sheeran at a house party in about 2008, i think. He brought his acoustic guitar, starting playing some of his songs and very nearly got it smashed over his own head.
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 22:07 - Feb 15 with 90 views
Nearly. Saw Blur at the Corn Exchange in 91. After booking the tickets they released There’s no other way so by the time we saw them they’d had a top 10 hit. Saw them a couple of years later again in the Corn Exchange on Park Life tour.
Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 22:07 - Feb 15 by WestStanderLaLaLa
Nearly. Saw Blur at the Corn Exchange in 91. After booking the tickets they released There’s no other way so by the time we saw them they’d had a top 10 hit. Saw them a couple of years later again in the Corn Exchange on Park Life tour.
Was also at that first corn exchange gigs. Lots of screaming girls, as I recall.
Ed Sheeran busking in Norwich and also at the Waterfront Norwich way before he was famous. "The Darkness" when they were still teenagers and very much starting out at the Gillingham Swan pub near Beccles.
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Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 23:36 - Feb 15 with 20 views
Bands or artists you saw before they became big time on 20:00 - Feb 15 by BlueNomad
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!
Snap... except I saw Dire Straits at The Old South Pier Ballroom in Lowestoft at The Student Union Ball . They were a bit too clever for the locals who much preferred the support band Zorro I think they were called.
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