I remember back in 1980 listening to this radio station in Buffalo interview this band called U2. The band was completely distracted by all the snow and cut the interview short to go outside and have a snowball fight.
I had just purchased "Boy" at the time and thought they were just the coolest band ever.

My friend met Jan Arden (after she was famous, I know not the point of the thread but a funny story) at a party and not knowing who she was, when she found out Arden was a musician politely asked "so do you make a decent living at that"?

I'm not sure if being a backup band counts as "before they were famous".

I saw Lynyrd Skynryd back up the Who, before they had released an album.

I also saw an unknown named Stevie Ray Vaughan back up the Moody Blues and again the next night in a dive bar.


A small bar near where I lived had a deal with the downtown blues clubs and would frequently feature weekday shows of artists that were in town. I saw Albert King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, and a mess of others in a place that seated <100.

Someone here's older than me? Aerosmith was a local band here in the early '70's.

For me, I was into, Fallout Boy, The Fray and Eskimo Joe before they became big. Same with a whole bunch of others. Infact pretty much all the emo stuff I was listening way before those sad ass emos were slitting their wrists in the mosh pit... I'm kinda bummed about the music I listen to getting such a bad rep because of the fans!

Maybe about a year and a half ago I was at Columbia University visiting a friend who is going to school down there. That night we went out, and I can't remember where, but she introduced me to this guy named Ezra, I told him he had a killer name, we sat down and talked for a bit, I mentioned I did musicals, he told me he did them growing up. My friend and I left and she told me he was in a rap group with a french name and I made fun of him behind his back because he was this baby faced white kid wearing a Fred Perry sweater vest and a pop-collared polo.

Maybe about a six months ago I started listening to this great band, knew nothing about them, because it was all blog stuff. I downloaded their album (don't tell on me) and fell in love with it. This week I go to the grocery store and I look at the cover of my favorite magazine and I think "Who is that guy, I recognize him... wow, he looks really familiar." So I pick up Spin and read it and it says "Vampire Weekend" and I think "I love those guys" but I don't remember ever seeing their picture. So I read the article. The lead singers name is Ezra Koenig. They all met at Columbia. He was in a white rap duo called Les Hommes.

I drove home, ran to my computer and looked up a picture of them. It was him. Holy crap. They are playing SNL this weekend. I met him.

EDIT: I realize this is totally off topic but it might be the "coolest" (quote/unquote) thing that has happened to me.

Circa Survive, Thursday, and Soul Coughing would probably be the three I could think off off-hand. I had started listening to Rise Against just prior to them releasing their first popular single/music video.

the list would be shorter if i listen the bands that i didnt listen too before they got "famous"

I saw Billy Joel play at Rutgers in either 1975 or 1976. Some friends dragged me along.

I saw Tres Bien, who was on the network Great American Band show this past fall and made it to #3, I believe. My girls wanted to get dressed up, but didn't want to do the mall or door knocking thing, so I found out about this downtown Halloween festival that was going to have small alternative groups playing on Halloween night. This was about two years ago. I know they're finally on tour and will hopefully have built a nice little fan base.

Reel Big Fish, Papa Roach, Skankin Pickle, and a few others. I have my eye on Brea right now. I suspect they'll hit it big before too long.

I also saw Reel Big Fish before they hit the radio, along with Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Both were opening acts for the same Bim Skala Bim show. They were both far better than the headliner.

Ha! I can imagine they were.

It's too bad swing came and went so quickly. Cherry Poppin Daddies had a good sound.

Try their other albums. The Cherries weren't just a swing band.

Westlife.

Saw them at the begining of their career when they sang at a Miss World Pageant. Been buying CD's and DVD's ever since and went to both concerts they had here in Port Elizabeth on their world tour.

I just remembered that I saw Organized Rhyme (Tom Green's rap group before he was famous) open for furnaceface (a great Ottawa band).

i remember seeing eskimo jo, stereophonics & the living end at the one gig for about $15 - back before eskimo jo became pretentious & wrote crap music.

wolfmother is another that springs to mind - saw them about 8 times before they really took off.

My band was playing a full week at Fern Park Station (1983) in Orlando FL. Some new band that was working on their first album named Anthrax was going to do a show on Friday using our PA and lights. We played a set and turned it over to them. The most memorable moment was when the lead singer cut his head after jumping off the stage and nicking himself on one our PAR cans (lights). They really didn't sound that great that night, but look who's still together after several albums and much acclaim.

Prefab Sprout

My dad used to go and watch The Who play pubs and really small venues around Brighton when he was a teenager, before they even recorded 'My Generation'. Actually he was probably too young to get into any of the venues legally, but he managed to anyway.

Way, way back, my uncle gave me some albums marked "For Demo Play Only" or something to that effect-a friend of his worked at a NY radio station and they were cleaning out their samples. Among the stack was an untitled album from some group called Three Dog Night. Excellent album. Another was from a group called Rotary Connection-a cross between Sly and the Family Stone and 5th Dimension. (I can hear all the 20-somethings saying WHO?????). One of the female singers in the group was a young girl named Minnie Ripperton, hitting notes like you wouldn't believe. She later had a short successful solo career before cancer took her.(and her daughter, Maya, was a regular on SNL).

I also heard Bruce Springsteen on a bootleg locally made album in 1973 and thought he was the quintessential NJ rocker.

Anyone ever hear of R.L. Burnside?
 

Mindblowing blues innovator. This was pre-internet days when I ran across his work, called a number on the back anticipating a record company catalog. Told 'the operator' the album I just heard and wanted earlier work if it was available. Guy tells me, "Let me clear off my coffee table".

It was Mr. Burnside himself, and everything he ever recorded held up the slab that was his living room coffee table. He said "I still own all but about 300 albums of everything of mine ever printed".

I'm glad he finally 'hit it big' before he died, toured the world a couple times, set up his family. Made some money, and 'a name' for himself.

There was a song writer by the name of Tim Hardin. He wrote quite a few successful tunes recorded by others such as Rod Stewart(Reason to Believe).
Three of Hardin's albums were included in the stack my uncle gave me.
The most amazing beautiful melodies and Reason to Believe and If I Were a Carpenter were among them-several years before Stewart and others fucked them up....
Hardin died in 1980 of a heroin overdose, his own singing career never being the huge success his songs were.
I still have those 3 lp's-they are priceless.

I stayed with Peaches and Feist in their apt. in T.O. before they were famous. I'm not all that crazy about the music, but oddly enough, Peaches and i listen to similar stuff -- or at least we did back then.

I remember I saw a FREE Nickleback concert in a parking lot way back int he day, they kicked ass, then they went mainstream and well there suck now. first 2 CD's where good after that blah.

oh yeah, saw several times in the late 70s - a weird guy named Joe Walsh who used to play guitar with his band at the Water Street Saloon in Kent, Ohio for $2 bucks at the door, - He would later go on and be a member of the Eagles.

Nothing big, mind you...LOL!

Not sure if this counts, but I was big into Muse before they were famous in America. I saw them live at some shithole near my University. I'm pretty sure they were already big in Europe though.

Snow Patrol when they were still playing tiny Irish clubs here. Although I am not such a big fan anymore now that they're gone more to the pop side.

Same would go for MUSE and Placebo, but still like them.

Damien Rice when he was still broke and had only a guitar to his name.

Glen Hansard of the 'Once' movie fame. He plays with a band here called The Frames, fantastic stuff and still are today!

I'm really into B.o.B.and Playboy Tre...they haven't blown up yet.

Jolli Boi
lil boozie
Stewy Rock
Riskay (the drama queen)....why you commin home ...4 in the mone... what's been goin on lemme smell your dick !
Tigga Bounce...

many others I can't think of atm.