Ever seen a band / artist you didn't appreciate more at the time...?

CaseOfAce

For me it would be seeing Big Country play a local theatre back in the 80s. 
Enjoyed them at the time but it was just another gig... now I'd give anything to hear The Crossing or Lost Patrol with Stuart Adamson at the helm...

On a related note I saw Bill Hicks in the local University arts centre - tiny room - audience didn't quite know what to make of him - but I was in stitches.
6 months late I was wearing out the cassette tape of Relentless in the car from repeated listens.

RocknRollDave

Big Country are far from my favourite band - though I do like them - but seeing them at the Hummingbird in Birmingham remains one of the very best gigs I’ve been to. Absolutely charismatic frontman.

munckee

I saw Radiohead just as they were about to release the bends, I really liked them then but would have appreciated seeing them with a couple of hundred people more had I known. 

Drove to Sheffield with some mates to see oasis just as they hit it big plus “special guests” who turned out to be pulp. Outstanding concert. 

relic245

First time I saw Rory Gallagher I was about 15 and had no idea who he was.

I didn't pay a lot of attention. 

10 years later I really got into him and would have loved to see that all over again. 

JohnS37

Way back in 1967 or 68 I was a Brit student loose in Vancouver.  There was an old stripped-out theatre we hippies used to go to where the freak bands played.  We would just go there anyway, whether we knew the bands or not.  Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane.  One night we were expecting to see JA and there was another band on first.  It was Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin.  Had heard of BBATHC but not Janis (then).  Fantastic!  Stuck in my mind.  Big fan from then on.

Bod

I saw Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros in the early 00's at The Charlotte in Leicester. 

I remember being really snobby about the set being 50% Clash songs, despite being a big fan.  He died less than a year later and I really regret not appreciating it more.

BillDL

I went to see BB King at the Edinburgh Playhouse in the mid to late 80s.  I didn't recognise the name of the support band, but assumed they would be a blues-rock kind of act.

Prior to this I had been working alongside a younger guy who sang all the pop songs of the day with gusto while we worked, often putting on a cassette to sing along with.  I have to say that despite him actually being quite a good chanter, the songs he sang and listened to were crap to my ears at the time.  One of the songs repeated the line "Take a ride, on the sugartrain".  He was a fashionable guy who wore all the styles that were in vogue in that era, for example those higher-waisted jeans with narrow turn-ups on the legs, brown suedish shoes, a skinny belt with a long extra unused bit hanging loose, and a leather jacket with different coloured kind of bat wings or a floppy suit jacket with the sleeves folded up.  He also sported one of those hairstyles with a big rolled quiff at the front.  I was older fashioned all round.

Going back to the BB King concert, the support act was named Love and Money.  My work colleague's songs and the band name didn't correlate until the support act broke into that line in the song Candybar Express.  At first I thought to myself "Oh no, this isn't the kind of music I came to listen to.  Bring on the blues", but the band was VERY different live than on those cassette tapes I had heard.  It was quite hard rocking and the band was very tight.  The guitar riffing and soloing by their front man James Grant was terrific, and I immediately changed my mind about the band and their music.

digitalkettle

Tool third on the bill in support of RATM at Newcastle Mayfair in 1993.

Grumpyrocker

I saw Anathema support Cathedral in 1995. We thought they were utter shite. So much so that I'd forgotten they played the gig, remembering just Mourn and Cathedral. 

Years later became a fan of Anathema. So was quite surprised to be reminded I'd seen them live when I found a video of the same gig on YouTube. 

markblack

I got free tickets to see Jay Z in dublin, i only went as i was bored. Turned out to be the dry run for his Glastonbury set. I didn't really know much about him.

I saw The National as they were just getting big, so quirky lady supported them, she was St.Vincent... and went on to pretty big things. 

Snow Patrol were always supporting bands in Belfast, again they went on to bigger and better things...

I also remember going into the puma shop on carnarby street years ago and there was some guy playing guitar and singing away to shoppers, I'm 99% sure that was Ed Sheeran.

ICBM

Idlewild.

Bottom of the bill at a multi-band gig in the mid 90s where a friend’s band were playing a couple of bands later - I thought they were complete shit, and was astonished when they were signed soon afterwards. Two albums later and I still thought they were shit.

Then they made The Remote Part…

axisus

I was at a guitar show many years and there was this superb guitarist, I could have chatted to him a few times, but I didn't. He demoed stuff and was around generally just hanging out. Some months later I found out that his name was Alex Hutchings and I came to greatly admire his playing. Really wished I'd talked to him!

rlw

Yes - about 1969

jdgm

Had tickets to (finally!) see Spirit at the Rainbow, mid-late 70s.

2 support bands....the 1st was Alternative TV who I thought were utter shite.

The next was a band called the Police who I also thought were very run-of-the-mill, had a rubbish name and who would probably disappear after a couple of singles!

By that time Spirit were down to a 3-piece power trio (R California, E Cassidy + bassplayer) and halfway through their set they turned into a Hendrix tribute act.  I didn't want to see that either, so I left.

EricTheWeary

I think I saw The Verve as a support act in 1994 and went to the bar after ten minutes. Been googling but can't confirm or deny. 
I went to Glastonbury about 25 years ago and there are several artists I don't recall at all but I probably did see. I was just keen on seeing a handful of acts I was already familiar with like Buddy Guy. 

Stuckfast

I went to the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that was curated by Tortoise, I guess early 2000s some time. They had booked Derek Bailey and Boards Of Canada. I didn't understand Bailey and was bored by BoC so wandered off after ten minutes in each case. If I had my time over I think I'd have stuck around.

Also saw the Manics about the time their first album came out, but they really were crap.

TTBZ

Grumpyrocker said:

I saw Anathema support Cathedral in 1995. We thought they were utter shite. So much so that I'd forgotten they played the gig, remembering just Mourn and Cathedral. 

Years later became a fan of Anathema. So was quite surprised to be reminded I'd seen them live when I found a video of the same gig on YouTube. 

That's funny, years ago I saw Cathedral supporting someone else (can't even remember who it was now!) and at the time thought they were utter shite. I wasn't really into anything stoner/doom at the time and my lasting memory was how over-gained and mushy the guitar and overall mix was. He was using JCM900s and it totally put me off them for a long time! I'm still not a huge Cathedral fan due to the vocals, but would have appreciated it properly now!

munckee

rlw said:

Yes - about 1969

Really, who was it? : )

digitalkettle

munckee said:

rlw said:

Yes - about 1969

Really, who was it? : )

I resisted posting that yesterday...in case he was feeling Fragile or Close to the Edge.

Blueingreen

I saw Earth Wind and Fire supporting Santana in Edinburgh, never heard of them and no expectations. I was really impressed by how well they played, but didn’t fit my tastes at the time, too blatantly shiny and commercial. Love a lot of their stuff now.

At a small one-day festival also in Edinburgh I saw earlyish Talking Heads on the same bill as Van Morrison. I think I’d heard Psycho Killer, which I thought was great, but nothing else. I didn’t love them at first listen. I had no idea they’d go on to make Stop Making Sense, arguable the best live concert movie by any rock/pop band.

Also in Edinburgh, I saw Diana Krall supporting Tony Bennett. I still rate Bennett’s performance one of the best things I’ve ever seen, but thought Krall was just a passable introduction to the main event. Krall became one of my all time favourite singers later and I wish I’d been paying more attention.

Grumpyrocker

TTBZ said:

Grumpyrocker said:

I saw Anathema support Cathedral in 1995. We thought they were utter shite. So much so that I'd forgotten they played the gig, remembering just Mourn and Cathedral. 

Years later became a fan of Anathema. So was quite surprised to be reminded I'd seen them live when I found a video of the same gig on YouTube. 

That's funny, years ago I saw Cathedral supporting someone else (can't even remember who it was now!) and at the time thought they were utter shite. I wasn't really into anything stoner/doom at the time and my lasting memory was how over-gained and mushy the guitar and overall mix was. He was using JCM900s and it totally put me off them for a long time! I'm still not a huge Cathedral fan due to the vocals, but would have appreciated it properly now!

Horses for courses and all that. Cathedral were superb on the night.

It's really odd that that someone videod this little gig at Manchester University in 1995 and that the whole thing, including support bands, is on YouTube now. I have tried to spot myself, I think the back of my head might make a fleeting appearance.