Yeah, a few.
Some that spring to mind was Jeff Beck with Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman at some outdoor tennis court in Adelaide in 1976. '77? Standing with my elbows on the stage, look left and there was Beck, not 10 feet away, look right and there was Goodman (Original Mahavishnu Orchestra violinist)
Ravi Shankar at a showroom at the International Hotel in Columbo, Sri Lanka, a few days before Christmas, 1977. The powers that be were not very happy seating this long-haired pernicious hippie-looking ski bum in the center front next to Ursula Andress. But they did. She was nice.
Dire Straits in London, spring 1978, after seeing them open for Talking Heads (Not in the front row for that one) Little sweaty club. Mashed up against the stage right in front of Knopfler. "Suntans of Swing" was just starting to get radio play. Imagine my surprise and delight when it started turning up on the radio around the end of the year, Stateside.
The Soft White Underbelly, in , uh, 1980 (? Living in the 70s was tough, man...) At the Old Waldorf, a little club in San Francisco. They had some success under a newer name: Blue Oyster Cult. (I remember an argument with my mom somewhere around '73, over if I was going to be permitted to go over to Medford and see them. She was freaked out about "cult" being in the name. I finally told her, "Yes, Mom. You got me. Its a cult. sometime during the evening we will hold a ritual worshiping Blue Oysters." After letting that sink in I told her "Mom, its a Rock Band. They all have nonsensical names.." I carefully did not show her any album covers, such as "Secret Treaties" with the cover art of the ME-262 or "Tyranny and Mutation," and which featured "Hot Rails to Hell" about summer on the NYC subway, or Dominance & Submission," or Od' on Life Itself. Not to mention "Career of Evil." )
Sat at the edge of stage table in front of David Lindley about a year ago, when he last played the Triple Door. Talked Baritone Weissenborns after the show. I've either sat stageside or in the first row of tables (Its a dinner-theater) for a bunch of shows. Richard Thompson. The Subdudes. Roy Rodgers and Norton Buffalo. Los Lobos.
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