Police, March 79 Grinnell, Iowa |
Great: George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers
So-So: Styx
Both were opening acts on their first US tours. GT and DD opened for The Rolling Stones in 1981 and Styx opened for Aerosmith in 1977. Thorogood was awesome!! They embarrassed the Stones!
My wife saw The Eagles as an opening act on their first US tour. |
Genesis in November, 1971, Mountain in 1969, and Cheryl Crow opening for John Hiatt ca 1992 are three that come quickly to mind. I believe that these were first US tours in all cases, but I'm not 100% certain. |
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Black Sabbath 1970 Montreal
Dave Mason 1st solo tour 1971 Boston
Tubes 1975 Boston
Cars 1979 Boston
Motels 1979 Boston
Sugar 1992 Portland OR |
Byrds, Elton John 1969
Todd Rundgren 1970 |
I saw the Lepsig Gewandhause on their 1st tour in "75.
Fantastic band, truly world class ! |
Jethro Tull at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island back in the 60's. They were introduced as "Jethro toe"! |
Hmmm... I saw George Thorogood at Grinnell December 78 during a raging blizzard. |
About 2,000, give or take a dozen. |
Everyone who played the San Diego Sports Arena, Golden Hall, the BUT or any other venue in the early 1970's. |
The most notable was The Clash. |
Hendrix in '67 in Santa Barbara, Zep in '69 (my little band opened for them and technically it was the second part of their first tour) in Honolulu, Tull in '69...note that Tull and Zep made pretty much every other band (except Hendrix of course) seem like they were "loitering"...not my term but somebody in Rolling Stone back then said that...perfectly. |
Me too seen Zep and Tull also Vanilla Fudge together, for 5.00.......What a trip/////////// |
Outsiders, Chad & Jeremy, Lovin' Spoonful, Casinos, Standells, McCoys, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Terry Reid, Blues Brothers.
Most of these were opening acts--it might not have been their first tour but likely was. Many were supporting their first hit single or LP. |
U2 in a small place called The Country Club in Reseda,Ca. Still have my ticket stub to. To be honest judging by the concert i never thought they would be this huge. |
- Talking Heads 1976, first album. Small club Yonkers, NY.
The crowd found them so boring, the club was empty half way thru.
- Bad Company 1975. Headlining at MSG(Thin Lizzy opening act)
- Lene Lovich 1979 Stateless album, NYC
- David Johansen 1978 first solo album NYC
- Blondie at Max's Kansas City and CBGB. Then 1976 first official tour, Village Gate, NYC (on Private Stock Records)
- Also, Squeeze in a small club. They were known as UK Squeeze and were punks. They spit on the crowd and hurled obscenities at us.
- Almost forgot about Twisted Sister when they were a cover band (NYC area) |
Stevie Ray Vaughn in a small club in NJ around 1983. Headliners were Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds that night. Being a Bowie fan, I new SRV played guitar on his Lets Dance record. I guess not many people knew SRV because only around 100 people were there to witness an INCREDIBLE 45 min set he played. I was blown away so I didn't even stay to see the rest of the show. Felt sorry for the fans who missed him that night. Oh Well... |
Well I saw Led Zepplin in Philly in 71, 72? Not their first tour I see. The most anticipated and unfortunately disappointing concert I ever saw, the sound was soooooo loud that you actually couldn't hear them if that makes sense. The sound guy should have been shot.
David Bowie, did 3 shows (Ziggy Stardust) at the Tower Theater in Philly. One of the great ones, especially in a small venue, his first US tour I believe 71 or 72. Poco, Loggins and Messina, Yes, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Alice Cooper, never heard of them before, thought it was a girl, a spur of the moment thing. Bonnie Raitt at the Bijou Cafe in Philly, talk about a small venue, like the Troubadour. She played there a lot in her early years before she was known and did the big tour circuit. Speaking of the Troubadour I thought Elton John's 1st appearance in the US was there. Didn't realize he toured here in '69 or maybe the Troubadour in '69? THAT would have been one to see along with King Crimson, anyone see them on their first tour? |
Forgot Tull, in 69 or 70 I believe. I always forget about Tull, never one of my favorite bands although fabulous musicians. Ian Anderson's voice has a kind of drone that I never warmed up to and thus never worked for me. But this thread isn't about that. |
"David Bowie, did 3 shows (Ziggy Stardust) at the Tower Theater in Philly. One of the great ones, especially in a small venue, his first US tour I believe 71 or 72."
Wow, this was the show to see (although many think that the Live album from the Tower was his first US tour). |
The live album was recorded later, in 74 or 75 I believe. Actually Bowie also played the Bijou as a relative unknown before the Tower concerts though I never saw him there. |
