Who have you seen in coffee houses, small clubs etc.

[rwmct]

who later became too big for that sort of thing?

The Richard Shindell thread reminded me of this. Coffee house in a church basement. Some artists start in that kind of environment and never go back. Some get big for a while, then come back down again. Any memorable "very small" venue concerts with artists on the way "up" (or "down")?

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by rwmct

who later became too big for that sort of thing?

The Richard Shindell thread reminded me of this. Coffee house in a church basement. Some artists start in that kind of environment and never go back. Some get big for a while, then come back down again. Any memorable "very small" venue concerts with artists on the way "up" (or "down")?

Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Doc Watson, Jose Feliciano, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joni Mitchell.

[Brent Hahn]

Pre-Covid I did FOH sound at this place. The kid in the middle on the right is Finneas O'Connell.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-kulak039s-woodshed1

[_zedagive]

UP:
Talking Heads
REO Speedwagon
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Cheech and Chong
The Record Company
Alice Cooper
Herman's Hermits
The Lovin' Spoonful
Three Dog Night
Alice Cooper
ELO
Leo Kottke


Down:
Jefferson Starship
The Cars
Three Dog Night
Boston
Yes
Dylan
Nancy Wilson
Jackson Brown
Doobie Bros.
Glen Frye
Sheryl Crow
Stephen Stills/Judy Collins
Ringo
Little Feat
Steve Winwood
ChristyMcVie/Lindsey Buckingham
Joan Osborne
Todd Rundgren
Robert Plant
The Temptations

[Mr. Jelly]

David Crosby. He was already a big deal then. The sister to a guy that had a computer start-up company had a record store / Coffee shop. The brother also had a record company that David was with. My wife and I sat three feet off of the riser where David performed right in front of us.

[Mr. Jelly]

I also saw Metallica, Smashing Pumkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers one night in an old ball room.

[Yamaha Man]

Joe Walsh and the James Gang
Janis Ian
MEATLOAF AND TOM PETTY
LITA FORD
JENNIFER BATTEN

[reeve21]

Originally Posted by RRuskin

Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Doc Watson, Jose Feliciano, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Joni Mitchell.

We have a winner

Dread Zeppelin with TortElvis in the 90s. Small venue packed to the rafters with people going absolutely crazy. I've never seen a better live show since.

[FrankHudson]

Well I've seen some medium-range artists perform in smallish venues before they were medium-range artists, but because of a work schedule during a good deal of my life I missed chances to add to that list. And I think that the OP is aiming for more contrast than saw in a small hall when they were not known and now they play somewhat bigger facilities and are well known in their genre.

That dang work schedule means I missed Prince at a small theaters early on, even though I was clued into him from 1978 or so. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. No story there for me. Bands like Husker Du, Soul Asylum, the Replacements were local bands, and sort of count in that first classification as I saw them in small venues when they had no national fan-base and then later they played somewhat larger venues and by then folks into that kind of thing would know them around the country. Ditto for The Bad Plus a few years later. I saw Slug from Atmosphere do a solo poetry reading thing in a room with three dozen people.

Probably the purest example for me of "became a big star, but I saw in a very small venue before that happened" was John Denver. In 1968 he played a campus gig at my small school in Iowa. It was not in a theater or auditorium, but in a room. I recall 40 or so people in the audience. He played "Leaving on a Jet Plane" which had been on a Peter Paul and Mary album but which PP&M hadn't yet released as what would be a hit single a year or so later. I remember liking his 12-string version of "Bells of Rhymney." Of course Denver himself later became a huge pop culture thing.

[M19]

On the opposite trajectory: saw Jesse Colin Young at The Dakota (music and dinner club) in Mpls last year. Great show of his oldies.

[M19]

Originally Posted by Martin Maniac

Joe Walsh and the James Gang

Saw them at the MN State Fair, Young America bandshell, maybe 300 folks.

[Mbroady]

Back in the day, I lived a few blocks from the bottom line, one of the iconic small venues in NYC (as well as many of the other small clubs).
Just off the top of my head
David Wilcox
The Ramones
Van Morrison
Doc Watson
Dave Van Ronk
Jorma Kaukonen
Lue Reed
Peter Gabriel
Miles Davis
Van Morrison


There were more but these stand out

[Rudy4]

My best small venue score was the year that a small group of folks did a short series of benefit shows an the small multi-purpose room at a local fraternal order hall.

First week was Jorma Kaukonen acoustic solo, where I sat in the front row about 10 feet back. It was REALLY sweet.

A couple of weeks later it was the same set-up, but they convinced Jethro Burns to come down from Chicago and be the opening act for The David Grisman Quintet. Jethro Burns came out and did an incredible set of classical mandolin tunes and the Grisman Quintet almost made me give up playing music. They were bone-chilling good.

The shows were $10 a ticket and there were probably something like 100 people at each one.

Best bang for the buck I've ever spent in my life.

[catdaddy]

Bob Seger in my high school gymnasium. The James Gang at a bowling alley. Bonnie Raitt at a small club. Jay Leno at a small club.