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

[Absorb the anus burn]

REM as Bingo Handjob before Out Of Time made them huge... Also saw Radiohead supported by Kingmaker before Pablo Honey came out. I saw PJ Harvey around that time too and certainly Oasis before Definitely Maybe.

[SweetPomPoms]

Spiritualized, Pink Toothbrush in 92. About 40 people sitting on the floor. Deafening.
Radiohead supporting Sultans Of Ping FC, also at a near empty Toothbrush cos everyone was still over the road in pub.
Elastica, Oasis - 1 week apart at the Army & Navy pub in Chelmsford. Early 94, Elastica were great. Oasis weren't.

[kngen]

I guess the Hives when they first toured Britain? But that was right on the cusp of success, and Creation had already released that "Your New Favourite Band" CD. Their gig in Sheffield was free and packed to the rafters, cracking night too.

Not to burst your bubble, but pretty sure they toured before that, as part of a Burning Heart package tour around the time Veni Vidi Vicious came out. That really was a 'two blokes and their dog' series of gigs. Think they toured with an all-girl Swedish garage band whose name is on the tip of my tongue - something vaguely desert-y or arabic - Sahara Nights or something shit. Ah, that's going to torture me all morning. Anyway, those chaps knew how to put on a damn good show, so whenever you saw them, it was time well spent.

Speaking of Swedish folk, my old band played with Refused just before they became (relatively) huge with The Shape of Punk to Come. International narcissist Dennis Lyxzen even joined us on stage and sang our cover of the Scandi-punk classic War System by the Shitlickers.

[holyzombiejesus]

Think they toured with an all-girl Swedish garage band whose name is on the tip of my tongue - something vaguely desert-y or arabic - Sahara Nights or something shit. Ah, that's going to torture me all morning.

Sahara Hotnights.

[sevendaughters]

buddy of mine put Converge on in Wigan in the late 90s, i was there for that, aged 14 and hiding from the landlord of the bar. the singer was telling people off for drinking, incredibly pious wanker tbh! not bad tho.

[kngen]

Sahara Hotnights.

THANK YOU!!!!!

[kngen]

buddy of mine put Converge on in Wigan in the late 90s, i was there for that, aged 14 and hiding from the landlord of the bar. the singer was telling people off for drinking, incredibly pious wanker tbh! not bad tho.

I went to that on the way home from London, expecting to get a lift from my mates from Glasgow who were supposed to be playing, but cancelled at the last minute. Had to get a train home instead, and missed Converge completely. Ah well, they were no Coalesce.

[Cuntbeaks]

Saw Amon Tobin play last on the bill to about 30 people in G2, Glasgow. Great gig, seemed very shy and unsure of himself.

[Famous Mortimer]

Not to burst your bubble, but pretty sure they toured before that, as part of a Burning Heart package tour around the time Veni Vidi Vicious came out. That really was a 'two blokes and their dog' series of gigs. Think they toured with an all-girl Swedish garage band whose name is on the tip of my tongue - something vaguely desert-y or arabic - Sahara Nights or something shit. Ah, that's going to torture me all morning. Anyway, those chaps knew how to put on a damn good show, so whenever you saw them, it was time well spent.

Speaking of Swedish folk, my old band played with Refused just before they became (relatively) huge with The Shape of Punk to Come. International narcissist Dennis Lyxzen even joined us on stage and sang our cover of the Scandi-punk classic War System by the Shitlickers.

Bubble happily burst. You learn something new every day. I was mates with a younger straight edge lad at work, and we'd chat music all the time. He told me about all these great new bands in Sweden, I listened to The Hives (probably Veni Vidi Vicious, although I quickly collected all their available stuff) and fell in love with them so when they came to the UK it was huge for us.

[Glebe]

My brother saw Green Day in The White Horse Inn here in Dublin before they hit the big time (obviously)...

Green Day visited the first ever bar they played in Dublin... only to find that it's now a Starbucks.

[hermitical]

Spiritualized, Pink Toothbrush in 92. About 40 people sitting on the floor. Deafening.

I DJed at a Spiritualized gig in 1990, at the Venus club in Nottingham, Highlight of the night for me was playing Big Black's Kerosene on a great sound system

[Sebastian Cobb]

I saw spiritualized around sweet heart, sweet light, so after they came out the other side really.

I did once smoke a joint with the keyboardist in Magnetophone, who used to be in spaceman 3 though. My mate asked him as he was packing up his keyboard if he wanted to come out for a spliff and he said yes. It's seemingly that simple.

[Captain Crunch]

Not sure if they're big enough to count but I did see the Black Angels' first UK show, Old Street I think. 

[imitationleather]

I was in the Blind Beggar when the Krays shot that bloke.

That Aphex Twin gig line-up is pretty amazing, but was everyone not complaining that twenty quid was an insane amount of money for that sort of thing in the year 2000? If it had been Judge Jules, ATB and Brandon Block I could understand it.

Incidentally Orbital are playing in Newcastle next month. Tickets are £60.

[Colin Sanction]

Incidentally Orbital are playing in Newcastle next month. Tickets are £60.

£65 for the VIP, £43 for regular. These were both around £10 cheaper for the last 2-3 months as early bird tickets.

[Head Gardener]

I did once smoke a joint with the keyboardist in Magnetophone, who used to be in spaceman 3 though. My mate asked him as he was packing up his keyboard if he wanted to come out for a spliff and he said yes. It's seemingly that simple.

I have a similar story, I went to see John Martyn record a live show for a Swedish TV station at some club in London circa '91,
and I was right at the front of the stage with my mate, the both of us leaning our elbows on the stage watching John do his thing.
I had already rolled up a nice fat one (as these were the days when smoking was still allowed in venues - though probably not dope)
Passing my spliff to my mate after a few puffs John actually stopped his song mid flow and leaned over towards us, I assumed he
was gonna bust us or get security but no, "give us that" he asked, without hesitation I passed it up to him happily knowing that
he would be getting bombed on my weed - it didn't seem to affect his set and I wish I could find footage of this somewhere out there.

[a duncandisorderly]

I have a similar story, I went to see John Martyn record a live show for a Swedish TV station at some club in London circa '91,
and I was right at the front of the stage with my mate, the both of us leaning our elbows on the stage watching John do his thing.
I had already rolled up a nice fat one (as these were the days when smoking was still allowed in venues - though probably not dope)
Passing my spliff to my mate after a few puffs John actually stopped his song mid flow and leaned over towards us, I assumed he
was gonna bust us or get security but no, "give us that" he asked, without hesitation I passed it up to him happily knowing that
he would be getting bombed on my weed - it didn't seem to affect his set and I wish I could find footage of this somewhere out there.

same thing happened to me & a couple of mates, with the late great randy california at the forum (then the T&C) in kentish town in 1991.