# I saw them when.... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 21, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675 "2001-06-21T19:06:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ivorybill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ee59a6/32.png) [@Ivorybill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivorybill)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/1 "2001-06-21T19:06:54Z")
REM played the crappy little, acoustically-challenged pseudo-useful meeting hall at my college in 1984. It was had to tell at the time that they’d go on to such acclaim. (Did I mention the bad acoustics?) While in grad-school in the late 1950s, my father-in-law and some friends spent a weekend in Manhattan. While enjoying some cocktails at a bar, one of the group made a point of telling everyone to remember the name of the trio providing the background music. My father-in-law did. The group: Peter, Paul, and Mary. ---
**Author:** ![muppetsoup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@muppetsoup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muppetsoup)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/2 "2001-06-21T20:19:01Z")
I made some demo cd’s for a little band in Austin named Libido Torpedo. Remember the name! I used to work at Pizza Hut with Pushmonkey’s manager! ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/3 "2001-06-21T21:02:46Z")
I used to know Jake Steinfeld (“Body by Jake”) back in '81 when he was playing the Incredible Hulk at Universal Studios, in the Castle Dracula stage show. Also, I think it was around that time that I started going to see Los Lobos in various LA clubs. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/4 "2001-06-21T21:05:54Z")
I saw Green Day at the Republik in Calgary in about 1996. (It was just after they started playing Longview on the radio.) Previously, I saw Nirvana at the Westward Club in Calgary. My friends band opened for them. Al. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/5 "2001-06-21T21:40:17Z")
Jim Carrey was one of the acts in a comedy night at the college I attended in Toronto. This was back in about '82 or '83, I think. I also saw Howie Mandel in 1980. He was doing the warm-up for a TV show taping that a friend and I attended in Los Angeles. We talked with him afterwards, too. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/6 "2001-06-21T22:37:30Z")
I saw No Doubt a few times in the '83-84 timeframe. A couple times at “kegger parties” and when they opened up for The Untouchables at The Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. Gwen wasn’t singing then, they had a male vocalist and were more of a ska band back then, but they were fun. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/7 "2001-06-21T23:50:41Z")
I saw the Flying Karamazov Brothers at a science fiction convention in Albany, NY in 1980. There were only three of them at the time, and they passed the hat afterwards. Even then, they were amazing. ---
**Author:** ![robinh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@robinh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinh)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/8 "2001-06-22T00:29:11Z")
I saw Bobcat Goldthwait the week before his first late-night-talk-show appearance. (I forget which one.) He wandered onstage alternatingly mumbling and yelling about various things and generally acting like the kind of person you hate to share a subway car with. We spent a few minutes looking at each other with “this is an act, right?” expressions, but after our discomfort level eased off a bit he was very funny. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/9 "2001-06-22T00:44:20Z")
Saw Creed playing an outdoor club in Gulf Shores, AL early in 1998. They were on the cusp of fame, and surely were’t playing clubs much longer after that. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/10 "2001-06-22T00:53:25Z")
I saw Nirvana at the Metro in Chicago when they were touring to support their first album, \*\* Bleach \*\*. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/11 "2001-06-22T01:05:45Z")
I went to college with Brendan Fraser. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/12 "2001-06-22T01:19:29Z")
I saw the Eagles in 1972 at the Virginia Beach Dome when they warmed-up for Procul Harem. Procul Harem sucked and the Eagles stole the show. ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/13 "2001-06-22T01:56:58Z")
I met SR-71 when they had a residency at a local bar in the Baltimore suburbs. My own band eventually took over the spot after they were signed. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/14 "2001-06-22T02:24:15Z")
I saw the Sex Pistols in London in 1976, I think it was at the 100 Club. They were terrible. The band I managed and did live sound for, played with INXS at the Manly Vale Hotel, in front of about 30 people. They were great. This would have been 1978 or 79. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/15 "2001-06-22T02:46:18Z")
I saw Dennis Franz and Joe Mantegna when they were in the play “Bleacher Bums” at the Organic Theater here in Chicago in the 70s. I liked the play enough to see it a second time. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/16 "2001-06-22T02:48:11Z")
I saw Dixie Chicks play a night club in the suburbs northeast of Houston in 1988 or '89. Oddly enough, we weren’t really there to see the Dixie Chicks. A couple of the guys in the local band that opened for them held day jobs working for my husband and we went to see them play. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/17 "2001-06-22T02:55:59Z")
The National Lampoon Show (not “Lemmings”, please note) came on a college tour circa 1975, and I saw them at MIT. They had just lost their chubby comedian/singer John Belushi to some late-night Saturday TV show, so they replaced him with … **Meatloaf!** This was before **Rocky Horror Picture Show** or **Bat Out of Hell** , and no one knew who the hell he was. “_Meatloaf?_ What kind of name is that?” He not only sang the opening song (“We Don’t Give a Shit!”), he also acted in skits like “The Rhoda Tyler Moore Show.” Very weird. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/18 "2001-06-22T03:06:18Z")
Well, Staind used to play just about every weekend at a bar in Springfield, Mass., around 4-5 years ago (the Infinity; oh how I miss it since it closed). They would play nothing but grunge-era cover tunes. They then started playing originals, which most people hated at the time since they came to see covers. (I’m feeling out of the loop again, as about 2-3 of the people/acts mentioned–which must be popular if they’re in this thread–are not even vaguely familiar by name to me.) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/19 "2001-06-22T03:26:41Z")
I suppose I couuld scan the brain for more, and perhaps will, but in 1971 I took a date to see Brit blues rocker John Mayall and the opening act was one we’d never heard of. Expected a girl singer blues band when we noted the show opened with an act called Alice Cooper. In late '72 or early '73 my band opened at _The Warehouse_ in New Orleans for another Texas band we’d known in a previous incarnation as _The Moving Sidewalks_, then reconstituted as _ZZ Top_. ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Bannon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Race\_Bannon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Bannon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2001, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675/20 "2001-06-22T03:44:28Z")
I saw Jay Leno do a show at a comedy club in St. Louis, back when he was “one of those guys that’s been on the Johnny Carson Show”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-them-when/69675.md?page=2)