"I saw 'em in front of 2 people at the Dog & Hammer back in the day"

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Have you seen any famous and successful acts in front of almost no one at the very start of their careers? Please come forth with your examples, me? I got nuttin'.

[QDRPHNC]

Uh... I saw Queens of the Stone Age open for Smashing Pumpkins in 98 or 99, pretty small club. I thought they were shit.

I saw Beck do a small acoustic show where everyone just sat on the floor and shouted out what songs they wanted him to do next. This was the week before Odelay came out and he went megastrophic.

That's all I have, sorry.

[Shit Good Nose]

Mentioned on here loads about how many times I saw Muse when they had a semi-regular slot, usually supporting then much bigger acts (White Town, Kenickie, Jon Spencer etc), at the Fleece and Firkin in Bristol in the 90s. Typically there were only a handful of people there whilst Muse were on.

Also saw Blur supporting James at the Colston Hall, although that was obviously a 1500 seat concert hall and sold out cos of Sit Down.

There's bound to be loads more given the number of gigs I went to in the 90s (two or three a week on average), but those two are always the ones that stick in my mind.  I saw Porcupine Tree a lot in the early days and they were almost always at odd venues (church, working men's club in the middle of an industrial estate, an upstairs pub skittle alley), but they always had a dedicated following from day one and never really got huge, so I don't know if they count.

[Large Noise]

Saw Mumford and Sons in a basement gig for about £5, think it was 2008. I think they had a bit of buzz around them but I didn't know who they were or what they were like.

Once again I'd just like to state that I did not knowingly pay to see Mumford and Sons.

[The Boston Crab]

"But I'm losin' me edge."

[Captain Crunch]

My first 'proper' gig was the Oasis one at New Cross:



Cast played first to about 12 people and were not happy about it.

These old flyers are great for rabid nostalgia, even if 90% of the bands are still chugging on (except Done Lying Down, sort it out lads):

[checkoutgirl]

Veruca Salt? That takes me back to Mark 'n' Lard.

[Norton Canes]

My first 'proper' gig was the Oasis one at New Cross:

2, 6, 1, 3, 5, 4

[hermitical]

God/Bark Psychosis would've been a treat....

In the spirit of the thread I think my most pertinent one would be the Manics in March 1991 headlining (for about 20 minutes) in front of 10-15 people at a pub in Derby

[Norton Canes]

Saw The Young Gods upstairs at a shitty nightclub in Morecambe, touring their first album. I presume even at that early stage they would have been playing to bigger audiences on the continent.

[hermitical]

I saw Godflesh play at the end of an upstairs bar at a pub in Nottingham, they were supposed to be supporting Doom but they were a no-show. So Godflesh, on the floor at the end of a bar playing to a handful of indifferent punks.

[Famous Mortimer]

Mentioned on here loads about how many times I saw Muse when they had a semi-regular slot, usually supporting then much bigger acts (White Town, Kenickie, Jon Spencer etc), at the Fleece and Firkin in Bristol in the 90s. Typically there were only a handful of people there whilst Muse were on.

I saw Boredoms at the Fleece and Firkin, late 1994, so we may have been at the same show. I am slightly doubtful Muse were their support, though.

All the bands I saw back in them days weren't famous and remained not so, sadly. 

[Head Gardener]

debut LP tour


on her Dry tour


a ram packed Esquires in Bedford



Spilt Milk to a half empty unappreciative crowd of locals



people openly weeping at the magnificence of it, I still have the poster I nicked from the doorway as I was leaving

[Delete Delete Delete]

debut LP tour


on her Dry tour


a ram packed Esquires in Bedford



Spilt Milk to a half empty unappreciative crowd of locals



people openly weeping at the magnificence of it

Purely for Nostalgia do you have any tickets from The Sound House in Northampton. I managed to catch an early Biffy Clyro gig there and Mogwai.

[Head Gardener]

no sorry, I did see quite a few gigs there, The Kills were probably the most memorable
but I have lots of other ticket stubs, I'm a sucker for such stuff - I saw bands nearly every week in the 80's/90's
you know, before the days of kids...

[sevendaughters]

- Ed Sheeran at an industry showcase 2 years before his first album. Not a cool one, admittedly.  Maybe 30 in.
- The Darkness opening for some Finnish rock band whose name escapes me. About 60 in.
- Fucked Up in like 2004 when they just had singles to their name, admittedly they'd been going a while even then.
- Not quite the same but a group called Dear Eskiimo in Wigan in front of 10. They'd go on, less one member, to be The Ting Tings.
- and finally, my old band supported Ariel Pink in front of about 40 in Lancaster back in 2005. he was great.

[hermitical]

Lasse Marhaug in front of 3 paying customers (me and my mate being two of them) - he's always been a bit niche though

[hermitical]

debut LP tour

I refer the honourable person to the answer I gave some moments ago (I saw them about a year before this gig....)

Does seeing MBV in a bar in Derby count? Sep 1988

[The Boston Crab]

I saw The Strokes in Oxford after they'd only released the Modern Age EP, before the album. Kate Moss and Bogeye from Radiohead were there.

[DrGreggles]

Saw Oasis at Northampton Roadmender in 1993.
They played in the bar because they didn't sell enough tickets to play the main room.
My mate sat on Bonehead's amp for most of their set.

[Shit Good Nose]

I saw Boredoms at the Fleece and Firkin, late 1994, so we may have been at the same show. I am slightly doubtful Muse were their support, though.

Hmmm, it's possible - I know they started gigging heavily as Muse very shortly after getting together, which was 94.  But we're certainly talking 95 to 98/99, at which point they seemed to go from the Fleece (admittedly by the end of their run there they were headlining, but still a tiny venue) to arenas overnight.  I said at the time they needed a drummer who was as dynamic and technically proficient as the other two.  I still think that.

[Dr Rock]

I saw Ultravox play to a half-empty Camden Underworld in the early 90s.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Purely for Nostalgia do you have any tickets from The Sound House in Northampton. I managed to catch an early Biffy Clyro gig there and Mogwai.

I was at that Mogwai gig, it was a good un'.

[Shit Good Nose]

Ooh, yes - The Cooper Temple Clause at The Louisiana pub in Bristol, a couple of years before they'd even released a record, on a three-fer with Andy Fairweather Low and Larry Miller (the American blues guitarist, not the American actor).  There were probably 30 people maximum at any given time the whole night.  Miller's cod blues-rock was exceptionally loud, painfully so, and he was on first, so I've always wondered if that put people off hanging around - there were several walk-outs that were obviously just down to how loud he was.

[Neville Chamberlain]

I saw Placebo supporting Ash in about 1995, in the Nottingham Trent student union I think. I remember thinking even back then "my god what a load of dreary shite."

[Norton Canes]

What did you think about Placebo?

[Kane Jones]

I saw Muse and Feeder at a local pub in my town before either of them were signed. Thought they were both OK but nothing special.

I saw Keane in an unsigned tent at Reading Festival too. I remember thinking they sounded like a bad Ben Folds Five at the time.

[Butchers Blind]

Saw Radiohead at the Penny Theatre in Canterbury just before the released their first single or maybe Pablo Honey.  Thought they were just another bunch of indie also-rans at the time so didn't really pay much attention.
Also saw Suede support Kingmaker in Folkestone before they hit big.

[Head Gardener]

BoC quite early on

[Delete Delete Delete]

Thats quite a line up Head Gardner.