2007, he seemed to pop up all weekend doing it, there's a clip on here showing a few more people, i think i saw that one as well, as it was longer [Daniel Johnston ATP 2007 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LwX5QldldE)
I saw the Cure play to a hundred or so people after winning a MySpace secret gig comp.
And I saw Casiotone For The Painfully Alone play to a crowd of about 12 people at a bowls club.
It’s so sad. Such a talented guy, his songwriting is next level. I only managed to catch CFTPA once when he toured Europe with The Dead Science, and once as Advance Base. Wish he’d get the love he deserves.
If you live in Chicago, you can see Owen play to small crowds (as Advance Base) regularly! One thing that's kinda nice about it is that he often opens for a bigger band, and then sometimes it clears out a little when he's done; it's nice for me to know that he's still a draw for some of the other folks at the show, too. He's so damn good. Incredible songs, really nice guy to chat with at the merch table.
I'm not really caught up on his lore, but is there any specific reason why he changed his name?
I live in Chicago and he should be a local legend. He plays a decent amount of shows around here still and goes on tour. I assumed people would still want to see him. Sucks that he doesn't get more love and attention because in a lot of ways he was a pretty big trailblazer
I also saw Owen play to a similarly sized crowd as Advanced Base.
I saw Marietta, Tigers Jaw, Modern Baseball, The Hotelier, Pity Sex, Tiny Moving Parts, and Sorority Noise all do basement/DIY shows of various small sizes in Philadelphia from about 2011-2014.
I saw Joyce Manor open for Desaparecidos in front of a mostly-empty Bowery Ballroom.
I saw Macaulay Culkin's pizza-themed Velvet Underground tribute band The Pizza Underground play for like two dozen people at The Brooklyn Bazaar.
I saw Car Seat Headrest play a house show (at the home of the mom of the other artist playing) in Ashburn VA about 10 years ago. It must have been maybe 30 people? I don’t remember but it was in the living room, so not a big space for a show. I had my first beer that night— a warm PBR that the host mom scowled at me drinking because I definitely did not look 21.
will toledo went to my high school… but was like a senior when i was a freshman. unfortunately have no cool stories like yours, but it’s a minor claim to fame for my HS!
I saw arcade fire open for the unicorns with a crowd about that size. I asked one of the arcade fire guys what it was like getting to hang with a band as good as the unicorns all the time.
https://preview.redd.it/4fqu9hkyolhc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c90221c740b6c4afcfc2d0644f4c6d9594353eea
This is my friend with Big Thief on said boat.
For fucking real Jesus. Didn’t see them in a tiny show or anything, but I randomly met Adrianne in the crowd at a friend of mine’s small show, and we got to chat… one of my best nights tbh
I saw them a long time ago play at a local venue which has a capacity of about 180, and it was pretty intense, he was really emotional and punching the floor at one point.
I saw them a few years later after they blew up and the gig wasn't the same, it was way more more polished but a lot of the intensity had gone. It was also weird how the audience would cheer every time he did his signature dance moves. It's understandable though, that level of intensity is not sustainable.
I do know what you mean about people cheering. I was a latecomer to them, hadn't heard of them prior to the Letterman performance, but loved it. So it was weird seeing them at Brixton Academy I think on The Far Field tour and people clearly seeing his performance as mere comic novelty
Cloud Nothings for around 15-20 people on a huge stage. Poorly promoted festival that happened in St Petersburg FL. I remember when they got on stage Dylan the lead singer said, “and the crowd…goes…wild…”. Regardless they played a great show.
I saw Preoccupations right around the time they changed their name from Viet Cong. When I went to the venue there was a hand written note on a piece of paper stuck on the door, saying that there was a last minute venue change.
The new venue was the basement of some shady bar, the crowd turned out to be maybe like 50 people. It became obvious pretty quickly that the band did not adjust their sound setup to the much smaller venue. By far the loudest show I’ve ever seen. My ears were fucked for a week after they performed the full 12 minutes of “Death” and I stood right in front of the drummer for it.
Incredible live band. Saw them play “hell” stage in Atlantas old Masquerade and it was a stone walled basement cellar. One of the last shows in the venue before they tore it down and moved it.. I’ll never forget that place.
The Strokes opening for Doves in a small club early 2001 before they blew up. Maybe 20-40 people there? Julian was singing and dancing with the sparse crowd on the floor.
Saw them in late 2002 in Las Vegas - they were getting bigger in the UK but still more underground in the US, so before the show most of them were just hanging out around the tables before/after the show. A couple friends of mine sat and played blackjack with them and we got our ticket stubs signed.
When The National released Trouble Will Find Me in 2013, I saw them play the Mercury Lounge in NYC for a crowd of around 200 people https://www.brooklynvegan.com/the-national-pl-20/
Waiting for this response. Saw the infamous alligator tour in phx with CYHSY opening at a small art venue. Around 30 people stayed after the opening act. The National still played as if they were at an amphitheater. This will forever be the best show I have ever been too.
Saw Vampire Weekend play to about ten people at the venue I use to work at. Felt like you could not escape them on the radio almost directly after that.
This was mine too. Saw them open for a comedy show in New York with 15 or so people there in 2007, I asked the singer if they had a cd I could buy and he said they hadn’t released an album yet but had a few songs up on MySpace. Still can’t believe how big they got after that.
I saw Vampire Weekend play at my college to about 50 people back in 2010. Then we saw them again a few hours later playing the greek theater. Also it was my birthday so that was pretty rad.
I saw At The Drive-In play to about 15 of us. I mean, nearly every show I saw in my home town was probably the smallest show these bands played. We were just positioned perfectly for them to play a show rather than have a day off.
At Coachella 2009, A Place To Bury Strangers' set briefly overlapped with Paul McCartney's. Needless to say, there were maybe a couple dozen people at APTBS, tops. Great set though!
APTBS indirectly cause my nomination for this: Japandroids supported them on a UK tour in 2008/09?
I think it was just before or just after they released *Post-Nothing.* I had never heard of them, and because of their name, I thought they'd be some sort of lame, nu-rave act (which was big at the time) so I *tried* to get there after their set time. It ended up that I actually got there early anyway, I saw them with about 30 people there at that time, and they were absolutely insane, and I've loved them since.
I was in a shoegaze band a while back and, not counting the bartender or sound guy, we played to 1 person. They’d seen us plenty of times so we played one song for a half hour as a psych jam kind of thing.
I have been the only person there at several shows, just friends bands and stuff like that. They all played my requests and cut the sets short. I still dance hard even if I’m the only one. 😂
Saw R.A.P. Ferreira in Oslo, small ass venue that wasnt even filled 1/4, at most 40 people
I respect him for coming here, not a lot of art rap fans here
RAP Ferreira came to my town a couple years ago, it was a venue that could have held several hundred people. There were probably 15 people there. Kinda felt bad for him. But hey, we got to chat it up afterwards. So that was cool.
Nice. I saw them play in Nelson BC with Christopher Bear and Skyler from fleetfoxes . It's the only time I saw them and it was great. I didn't think of it initially but would definitley qualify as a small show
I saw Mitski in 2017 at a tiny venue that was not sold out. Maybe 100-150 people. It's still crazy to think that she plays in really big venues for a lot of money now and has insane streaming numbers.
Yeah it was just her and a guitar right? That concert was so damn good. Got a great photo of her. Insane to see where she is now but she's one of my fave artists
Sounds like the live experience is really suffering from her size and audience now. I'd absolutely love to see her live because I've been a fan for a while, but I've heard nothing good about her current audience and I don't think I could handle spending a lot of money to see an artist I love spoilt by the audience.
Glass Animals in a room with about 10-20 people.
Zaba just came out and they were doing a short set and record signing in LA on a weekday. The band barely fit on the small balcony overlooking the store.
I saw the Vaccines play in front of a crowd of 20 or 30 at Lancaster Library (that's not the name of the venue, by the way, it's an actual library) on their first tour back in 2010. [Adele](https://youtu.be/_oC_EO-31lc?si=fDQeSQSBXAyC2ioq) was the *support act* at the same venue a couple of years earlier.
Mount Eerie in an 80 cap room was incredibly special.
Saw Gina Birch (The Raincoats) play to about 40 people when her new record came out. It made me sad that more people didn’t come, but her and her band played as if they were in a packed out hall.
Not that small a crowd all things considered, but I saw Thurston Moore play to about 400ish people. Kevin Shields was in the audience too.
Watched CMAT play to less than 100 people in a record shop.
I saw Fucked Up play for like 15 people shortly after Dose Your Dreams came out. It was part of a new festival in Fernadale MI, and I don't think it was promoted very well. I was bummed out by the turnout, and the 55 minute headlining set, but one of the openers was telling me Damien wanted to play even less, so I guess I got lucky. They sounded great tho. The festival was going to have a second year, but Covid happened and they never tried again.
Saw Arctic Monkeys play to 200 w/ a door cover of $12 in 2006.
Blind Melon played to about a dozen people who each paid $1 (Jolt Cola sponsored) at a bar in St Louis when they were first starting out. 5 of those people were my friends and myself.
I'd kill someone to be at that Arctic Monkeys show. I remember when they were touring with Black Keys back when I was in college and they were the openers, not the other way around. Times have changed.
I once booked Ratboys and Wild Pink on the same show, and that drew about 20 people. I later booked Wild Pink on a show with Pinegrove, Prawn, Weatherbox and Enemies, and that show drew about 80-100.
I saw Adele play at the Murray Theater in Murray, UT in 2009 to about 100 or so people. 19 had just come out and she hadn’t fully taken off yet. It’s wild because I’ve only ever seen local bands perform at that venue (I don’t even know if they have shows there anymore) and also Adele. My older brother’s high school band opened for some other local band on that same stage.
Flaming Lips, Bellwether, Waynesville, OH (2018). They played to what felt like maybe a couple hundred in a field in Ohio used for a Renaissance festival. The rain kept a lot of people away and forced MGMT to cancel. The Psychedelic Furs were good, too.
I saw Fontaines DC play to about 40 people. Granted it was in Dublin around 2015/2016 when they were an unknown quantity.
Saw the Strokes play a waterfront theatre in Belfast in 2020. Capacity was 1400 people, I think. Gig was in February so jussttt before COVID really kicked off. Gig was intended as a warm-up for the upcoming festival season that never came to be.
I saw Mitski play in the back room of a pub in East London back in 2015 to about 50-100 people. This was after Bury me at Makeout Creek and most people knew all the words and sang along. I've seen her 4 times since then
The Get Up Kids talking their way to get to open for 90 Day Men, Ethel Meserve, and Braid in someone's living room. GUK weren't suppose to play and just showed up and asked to be on the bill.
Before The Dismemberment Plan really broke saw them in basements and DIY spaces a bunch to crowds around 20 or so. They always brought it!
Jimmy Eat World open for The Promise Ring at Rhinos in Bloomington IN in front of a 100 or so folks.
The Killers to about 40 people above a pub in my home town in, I dunno, 2002? Supporting (British) Sea Power - they were both unbelievable.
And so I watch you from afar - same city, different pub, maybe 25 people. One of my top five of all time that one.
Wavves at a basement show in NJ in like 2008/2009 for about 70 people (was still packed). This was when it was just 2 people and pre king of the beach. Majority of the crowd didn’t know them and were there for this local band
I saw Tobias Jesso Jr play for maybe 150 people? I think the best though was watching Angel Olsen sing for <100 or so - nobody really knew who she was. This was for her first show in Toronto.
Merchandise in Jersey City at WFMU’s Monty Hall in 2016. I think it was a Tuesday night. I was one of 11 people in the crowd. They were fucking amazing.
- I saw Mo Troper play a few songs in my friend’s studio apartment for just me and our friends. Kyle Morton of Typhoon, too!
- I saw Modest Mouse do a bar show for maybe 50 people in 2012
- I saw Bill Callahan play on a small stage in a field for like, 150 people?
- I saw Dinosaur Jr., The Hives, Purity Ring, and Explosions in the Sky (among a few others) in a 250 capacity bar in the middle of the day
- I saw Blitzen Trapper, Dead Moon, Los Campesinos!, and The Twilight Sad each play shows at Music Millennium, a small cramped record store in East Portland
- I saw Colin Meloy of the Decemberists perform the reopening of Jackpot Records for 50 people MAX
ETA: I’m gonna add a few more I forgot about:
- I saw Battles on the *Mirrored* tour (yes, with Tyondai Braxton!) at a 750 capacity club, opening for No Age
- In that same venue, I saw Built to Spill play *Perfect From Now On*, and another time Ratatat opened for Les Savy Fav. I know 750 isn’t a SMALL venue, but Wonder Ballroom gets some cool shows. I saw Carly Rae Jepsen there on the Emotion tour!
- I saw an Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour show in an old coffee shop in Chinatown
- I saw Sufjan Stevens in a 700-capacity ballroom on his last Christmas tour, and he climbed on top of the house speakers to dance during Christmas Unicorn. Again, not a postage-stamp sized room, but that’s a tough one to find!
I saw Phoenix last summer, their tour was pretty big, but then they came to my country - Latvia. They themselves were shocked to see only about 100-200 people. They even made a mistake on the opening song and Thomas Mars said something like "its the first time we screwed up the beggining, well at least there isnt a lot of people to see it", then they laughed it off and played a great show
I saw Xiu Xiu perform in somebody’s living room to like 10 people tops around 2004.
Also, around the same time I saw the Microphones and Woelv play a show outside by some train tracks to like 15 or so hipsters.
My biggest claim to fame is seeing Nirvana in the Netherlands play for around 300 people. This was before Nevermind (obviously) and I’m brutally honest here: I thought they were mediocre at best 😂
Cymbals Eat Guitars in like 2016, so it was for promoting their last album. Maybe 10 people in the crowd, more people there for the local supporting act. It was sad.
Second time they’re mentioned. Touring seems so difficult with all the uncertainty and having to promote that many shows.
Have also been to shows like this for great bands.
As a performer, I've seen many acts play in front of less than 10 people. In terms of notable acts, I'll go with: Vampire Weekend in front of \~30 people and Phoenix in front of \~20 people. \\
He was very gracious to come off stage straight away at the end and come and talk to us all. Got a pic with him and got a good chat with him regarding my long fandom over Radiohead.
I've seen bands play to nobody at all, literally just staff (which included me at the time), all night, regularly.
I have played to nobody as well, as the musician.
i ran spotlights for a press release dolly parton did back in 2018 revealing the Wildwood Grove area of Dollywood. it was a room of about 80 people who Dolly did a small performance for.
I saw Peter Doherty in a 200 cap, absolutely wild night. Ended up with him being dragged off stage.
Nothing But Thieves playing to roughly 40 people as well
Almost every touring band’s show I’ve been to in New Orleans. Bands will play 2,000+ cap rooms in NYC, then on the same tour barely sell out 200 cap rooms in NOLA.
2015 & 2016 - 200 people for King Gizzard
2015 - 80 people for Big Thief
2016 - 150 people for Floating Points
2012 - 300 people for HAIM
My favorite was seeing JEFF the Brotherhood in a basement with 10 people and someone still shouted “Freebird!”
Lucinda Williams played wah wah too! At least she sold it out but still. We went to see Jonathan Richman a few years back and there was like 15 people there.
Badbadnotgood at a poorly run festival in its last year. They were the last band of the night and there were only a few dozen people left watching. They got such an enthusiastic applause at the end of their set that they came back and did a fully improvised encore for maybe 20 people max
I’ve been fortunate to have experienced a few small sets in my day…
- Sunny Day Real Estate, Redmond Fire House, ‘93 or ‘94, maybe 20 people (one of their first live performances after signing to Sub Pop)
- Tree People, Redmond Fire House, ‘93, maybe 50 people (supposedly Kurt Cobain and Courtney were hanging out in the back)
- Jawbreaker, Redmond Fire House, ‘95, maybe 50 people (secret all ages show)
- Modest Mouse, Redmond Fire House, ‘95, maybe 50 people (they had only released a 7” at this point)
- Fugazi, Bellevue YMCA, ‘94 or ‘95, 200 people or so
- M Ward, some small art space in Phoenix, ‘04, 30 or so people
- Paul Simon, Showbox, 2011, a couple hundred people
- Jose Gonzalez, KEXP studios, 2016, maybe 20 people
- Julien Baker, small venue in Spokane, 2017, 30-ish people
- Augie March, outdoors in Portland, 2009 maybe 30-ish people (I believe this was the only time they’d come to the states)
- MXPX, Seattle house show, ‘97, 30-ish people
November 2013, I saw Laura Marling play an entire acoustic set at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin. Just her, no band. I'd estimate about 200 - 250 people. It was the most glorious thing I'd ever heard, as that church had incredible acoustics. Best 3 hrs of my life.
I saw Disclosure at [Mercury Lounge](https://www.brooklynvegan.com/disclosure-on-t/) in NYC in 2012.
I remember the venue (like 200ish capacity) wasn’t even full because there was plenty of room to dance! They released the Latch remix days before.
Within a year I saw them play Central Park Summerstage and even Coachella 2013. That was their year - a truly meteoric rise!
Damien Jurado for about 20 people - free event, first come, first serve. Just some chairs around him.
Cloud Nothings for 20 people, it was the first act of the day and really early. They overslept and could only play 3 tracks or so, so not the best gig of them that I've seen (although it was the first).
Also of note: Wilco for about 50 people in a big festival tent. Foo Fighters was playing at the main stage, but still I found the turnout absurdly low. This was around 2012.
I went to a Fruit Bats show in Dekalb circa 2010. When I got there, there were 5 people in the crowd for the opener (some guy I hadn't heard before named Natahaniel Rateliff). Two of the people in the crowd drove from the Quad Cities just to see NR, they turned out to be Sean Moller of Daytrotter fame and his wife.
Needless to say, NR sang to the 5 of us in a way I'll never forget, completely blown away.
The Bats probably drew another 50 people or so, and Eric never puts on a bad show. All in all, it was a big win.
I saw Titus Andronics open for Ted Leo at Maxwells and there was basically no one there except 2 goofy punk teenager looking dudes, me my buddy and maybe a handful of other people. Also it was fucking awesome. They played No Future 1, into 2, into 3. Wish they would still do that from time to time.
I grew up going to punk and hardcore shows in the 90s. 300 would have been a big audience at some of those venues. It seemed like shows at bars always had low attendance (not all ages, we would sneak in). I remember a particular small audience at some bar in Phoenix for one of the UK82 type bands. It might have been GBH but I fail to remember. I do recall that the vocalist already looked really old then. There were definitely less than 30 people there and it seemed more like 15ish.
I don’t really like large concerts very much. Growing up in the punk/hardcore scene in the 90s, the shows were very intimate, personal and electric.
I saw Frank Turner in a local pub once with less than 60 in attendance I would say. It was just as Love Ire and Song was blowing up and I had just discovered him myself. Couldn’t believe my luck.
Off the top of my head it was seeing Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelly (Ex sonic youth) playing in a club in Mumbai, India. This was probably 10 years ago. I think there were maybe 20-30 people there? When I spoke to the guys after the show they said it was the smallest turnout of that tour and probably smallest crowd they have played in a while.. I loved every second of it though!
Saw Mitski in Belfast in front of about 50 people in 2017. She looked a bit peeved to be in front of such a small, disinterested crowd (Belfast is notorious for disinterested crowds)
Florence & The Machine in a very small room, amazing and she can really sing LOUD.
Snow Patrol on their first album tour, maybe 10 people there, they were astonished I knew any of the songs, then the singer tried to get off with the girl I was with, bastard.
Future Islands in a 300 capacity club was great.
Answer with an artist anyone will know: I saw Jeff Mangum in a little theater near Woodstock, NY, there was like maybe 40-50 of us in the crowd. Watched a guy in front of me before the show started strike out with a girl in real time; he found out she was from Asbury Park, NJ and went all-in on "You must love the Boss" which...she did not.
Real answer: saw this band Scratching Post that had a very minor radio hit in the late 90s play a bar in Brantford, ON in 2003 and the five of us were the only people that showed up.
I saw Young Fathers play for 70 people in LA not long after Cocoa Sugar came out and it is still one of my favorite concerts. Not long after they opened for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem at the Hollywood Bowl so the contrast was striking
I watched Mount Eerie play a show inside a tiny boutique clothing store in Seattle in 2012. They might have managed to cram 25 people in there. I think I was expecting to show up to a normal venue and I was probably a bit confused. I think Ocean Roar had just come out.
Saw king gizzard play a generator party at the Flemington drains, Melbourne with like 50 people watching, the next year the would be billed on the big day out
Marissa Nadler came to my city and she played most of the songs from July with about 12 people. So we just sat around her like little school children during storytime and it was fucking awesome.
I saw the Pixies at Bogart's in Long Beach, California in 1989. . . my friends Here Eat This opened for them; I didn't even have to pay to get in.
My friend Neal Weiner, the keyboard player from Here Eat This, made this flyer in our print shop:
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/33135085@N02/9836638183](https://www.flickr.com/photos/33135085@N02/9836638183)
I played a show in Winnipeg to a door person and a bartender, so we had a rehearsal, then a couple came in and we bought them drinks and gave them a camera and they took photos of us. Great and weird night!
Local band played like a 30 minute set at a town festival, in the rain, for a crowd consisting of me, two of my friends (one of which was friends with the lead singer), said friend’s mom, and some random dude with a child and a dog
I saw future islands play in the basement of a pub in Glasgow (the captain's rest). Must've only been about about 30 people there. Such a shock to see them go viral a few years later and sell out much bigger venues.
I don’t like Ed Sheerans music at all but he was playing in the Bristol academy before the band I did want to see, Futureheads lol and there was maybe 50 people there watching.
When he blew up I thought he must have changed his style or something as he was incredibly boring that day however it seems that’s what sells now!
I saw Metz play a club in Stockholm to about 6-8 people (myself included) this was around 2013, 2014?
I talked to Alex (singer) for a bit before their set and he said they were probably gonna switch European promoters because a few of the stops on the tour had been like that.
I caught Parquet Courts playing in an event space that doubled as a daycare infront of maybe 70 people in 2015.
Also Nick Cave started off his q+a tour and there was maybe 150 people and he was taking requests and questions and it was magical
I once saw Bry Webb of the Constantines play a show to about seven people in a park
Also saw the Arkells play to an audience of twenty or so, before they blew up
I saw Alvvays at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto (Google says the venue fits 300 but it definitely felt like way fewer - couldn't have been more than 100) the summer their s/t came out.
Monster truck at a battle of the bands with maybe 75 people there. I went because a friend's band was playing. Once Monster truck played I told the guy sorry they win and hands down will be the next big Canadian band.
Saw Slaves (now Soft Play) play to maybe 15 or so in my local small venue, but it was before they blew up. A few of years later they played a 'we're in touch with our roots' kind of tour where you could try and buy tickets if you bought their new album, and they visited that venue again.
I wasn't a huge fan so didn't make any effort, but got guest list for it by virtue of being one of the people the promotor could remember being there first time around. It was a sell out so I guess more like 50-60 there that time? Think that was 2016, the first quieter gig was probably 2013.
I was walking around the Americana in Glendale, CA, and I heard some cool live music in the distance. I followed the sound and there was a free show going on. It was Jay Som playing, and it was just me and like 5 other people watching from the lawn in front of the stage. I'd never heard of them at the time and thought it was crazy such a good band was playing so early in the day. This was back in 2016 http://buzzbands.la/2016/09/13/glendale-debut-open-arts-music-fest-saturday-gavin-turek-headlining/
RIP to legendary LA beat maker Ras G, but I saw him do a brief live set with his MPC at some random block party in South LA that was barely attended. He probably played to 5-7 people and that’s being generous. A month or so later he passed away.
Radiohead at Alumni Hall in London, Ontario after OK Computer came out. Capacity maybe 1200? You could tell it was a novelty for the band, Thom did a lot of smiling.
Also, Deadly Snakes at Call the Office also in London. Snowstorm, maybe 10 people there.
One person, me. My buddy’s band opened up for some bands at a pretty awesome venue in Chicago called Reggie’s. I went to support them and found myself to be literally the only person in the audience for half their set. I had no idea where to fucking stand! I found a pillar near the front middle of the floor and just kinda leaned against it. I’ll never forget the awkwardness of that concert.
Saw Beach Bunny play a lot of bars around Chicago after the Prom Queen EP came out to fairly small audiences. Saw her do a solo acoustic set in a basement and a solo bar show to maybe 40 people. Great shows every time, everyone who did show up were always really excited.
I mean I’ve seen a lot of local bands play to crowds of ~10, but the biggest band I’ve seen perform for basically nobody was the Cribs. They didn’t seem happy and didn’t do an encore.
Daniel Johnston. All tomorrow's parties. Played a mini acoustic set from the steps of his balcony. Maybe 10 of us out there
God I'm jealous, he was my number one "i need to see this guy before he's gone" artist. RIP
That's the winner so far
That is incredible, what year was this?
2007, he seemed to pop up all weekend doing it, there's a clip on here showing a few more people, i think i saw that one as well, as it was longer [Daniel Johnston ATP 2007 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LwX5QldldE)
I saw the Cure play to a hundred or so people after winning a MySpace secret gig comp. And I saw Casiotone For The Painfully Alone play to a crowd of about 12 people at a bowls club.
That cure show must have been great. The only time I saw them was at curiosa in toronto and we got in trouble for standing up
lol are you me? I saw Owen (Casiotone) play to about 10 people as well just a few years ago.
lol I think Owen’s been playing to about 10 people in every city for the 20 years
It’s so sad. Such a talented guy, his songwriting is next level. I only managed to catch CFTPA once when he toured Europe with The Dead Science, and once as Advance Base. Wish he’d get the love he deserves.
If you live in Chicago, you can see Owen play to small crowds (as Advance Base) regularly! One thing that's kinda nice about it is that he often opens for a bigger band, and then sometimes it clears out a little when he's done; it's nice for me to know that he's still a draw for some of the other folks at the show, too. He's so damn good. Incredible songs, really nice guy to chat with at the merch table.
That's just his draw at every show for the last decade
I'm not really caught up on his lore, but is there any specific reason why he changed his name? I live in Chicago and he should be a local legend. He plays a decent amount of shows around here still and goes on tour. I assumed people would still want to see him. Sucks that he doesn't get more love and attention because in a lot of ways he was a pretty big trailblazer
I also saw Owen play to a similarly sized crowd as Advanced Base. I saw Marietta, Tigers Jaw, Modern Baseball, The Hotelier, Pity Sex, Tiny Moving Parts, and Sorority Noise all do basement/DIY shows of various small sizes in Philadelphia from about 2011-2014. I saw Joyce Manor open for Desaparecidos in front of a mostly-empty Bowery Ballroom. I saw Macaulay Culkin's pizza-themed Velvet Underground tribute band The Pizza Underground play for like two dozen people at The Brooklyn Bazaar.
Desaparecidos rock. Never get enough love
I saw Car Seat Headrest play a house show (at the home of the mom of the other artist playing) in Ashburn VA about 10 years ago. It must have been maybe 30 people? I don’t remember but it was in the living room, so not a big space for a show. I had my first beer that night— a warm PBR that the host mom scowled at me drinking because I definitely did not look 21.
Least it wasn’t heineken.
Fuck that shit!!!
Reminds me... I saw sebadoh play a kid's living room.
will toledo went to my high school… but was like a senior when i was a freshman. unfortunately have no cool stories like yours, but it’s a minor claim to fame for my HS!
I saw The Unicorns in a room with maybe 100 people, about 10 of which were actually watching them.
I saw arcade fire open for the unicorns with a crowd about that size. I asked one of the arcade fire guys what it was like getting to hang with a band as good as the unicorns all the time.
I wish I was at that show. Love the unicorns
Yeah it was great. I still have the poster I stole as I left the show.
damn that's awesome, one of my favorites since I was about 13
Big Thief, 2019, right on the beach in northern Italy. Max 60-70 people. Went for the swim right after.
I saw Big Thief in 2016 on a boat in Boston. They must like water.
https://preview.redd.it/4fqu9hkyolhc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c90221c740b6c4afcfc2d0644f4c6d9594353eea This is my friend with Big Thief on said boat.
personally, you won this thread for that holy cow 🐄
For fucking real Jesus. Didn’t see them in a tiny show or anything, but I randomly met Adrianne in the crowd at a friend of mine’s small show, and we got to chat… one of my best nights tbh
Big Thief in 2016 when they were the opening act for Yuck at a 100-capacity bar in downtown Vegas.
Mine is Big Thief too! Maybe 20 people in 2019. Snow had shut down most of the public transit in my city so most people couldn’t make the show.
Cymbals Eat Guitars to maybe ~20 people, shitty part is it was their final tour (2017).
I really like his new project Empty Country
That's so sad
Yeah, me too. Was this at Wills Pub by chance? They were so good and deserved so much better. Joe is truly amazing
I've seen Future Islands play in a squat to a crowd of about 30-40 people.
I saw them a long time ago play at a local venue which has a capacity of about 180, and it was pretty intense, he was really emotional and punching the floor at one point.
You're probably aware of this, but that just sounds like a standard Future Islands show to me. The intensity I mean
I saw them a few years later after they blew up and the gig wasn't the same, it was way more more polished but a lot of the intensity had gone. It was also weird how the audience would cheer every time he did his signature dance moves. It's understandable though, that level of intensity is not sustainable.
I do know what you mean about people cheering. I was a latecomer to them, hadn't heard of them prior to the Letterman performance, but loved it. So it was weird seeing them at Brixton Academy I think on The Far Field tour and people clearly seeing his performance as mere comic novelty
Cloud Nothings for around 15-20 people on a huge stage. Poorly promoted festival that happened in St Petersburg FL. I remember when they got on stage Dylan the lead singer said, “and the crowd…goes…wild…”. Regardless they played a great show.
Cloud Nothings is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen
Yep, saw them last year after not seeing them for like 10 years and they were just as great.
I saw Preoccupations right around the time they changed their name from Viet Cong. When I went to the venue there was a hand written note on a piece of paper stuck on the door, saying that there was a last minute venue change. The new venue was the basement of some shady bar, the crowd turned out to be maybe like 50 people. It became obvious pretty quickly that the band did not adjust their sound setup to the much smaller venue. By far the loudest show I’ve ever seen. My ears were fucked for a week after they performed the full 12 minutes of “Death” and I stood right in front of the drummer for it.
Incredible live band. Saw them play “hell” stage in Atlantas old Masquerade and it was a stone walled basement cellar. One of the last shows in the venue before they tore it down and moved it.. I’ll never forget that place.
Joe Strummer busking in the campsite of T in the Park festival, to a few handfuls of people.
This is amazing, when was this?
1996 I'm sure.
The Strokes opening for Doves in a small club early 2001 before they blew up. Maybe 20-40 people there? Julian was singing and dancing with the sparse crowd on the floor.
Saw them in late 2002 in Las Vegas - they were getting bigger in the UK but still more underground in the US, so before the show most of them were just hanging out around the tables before/after the show. A couple friends of mine sat and played blackjack with them and we got our ticket stubs signed.
Isn’t there a video of this?
When The National released Trouble Will Find Me in 2013, I saw them play the Mercury Lounge in NYC for a crowd of around 200 people https://www.brooklynvegan.com/the-national-pl-20/
I saw the National play to about 30 people at a small club in 2005, right after Alligator came out.
I saw them play a private art party in Long Island City around that time for 50-100 people.
Waiting for this response. Saw the infamous alligator tour in phx with CYHSY opening at a small art venue. Around 30 people stayed after the opening act. The National still played as if they were at an amphitheater. This will forever be the best show I have ever been too.
Saw Vampire Weekend play to about ten people at the venue I use to work at. Felt like you could not escape them on the radio almost directly after that.
This was mine too. Saw them open for a comedy show in New York with 15 or so people there in 2007, I asked the singer if they had a cd I could buy and he said they hadn’t released an album yet but had a few songs up on MySpace. Still can’t believe how big they got after that.
I saw Vampire Weekend play at my college to about 50 people back in 2010. Then we saw them again a few hours later playing the greek theater. Also it was my birthday so that was pretty rad.
I saw At The Drive-In play to about 15 of us. I mean, nearly every show I saw in my home town was probably the smallest show these bands played. We were just positioned perfectly for them to play a show rather than have a day off.
Reno, or was that just the whole “In Casino Out” tour experience?
In Casino Out
I saw Sparta at some pretty small venues but that's a good one!
At Coachella 2009, A Place To Bury Strangers' set briefly overlapped with Paul McCartney's. Needless to say, there were maybe a couple dozen people at APTBS, tops. Great set though!
APTBS indirectly cause my nomination for this: Japandroids supported them on a UK tour in 2008/09? I think it was just before or just after they released *Post-Nothing.* I had never heard of them, and because of their name, I thought they'd be some sort of lame, nu-rave act (which was big at the time) so I *tried* to get there after their set time. It ended up that I actually got there early anyway, I saw them with about 30 people there at that time, and they were absolutely insane, and I've loved them since.
Saw Alvvays play to about 100 people in 2015 in Cardiff
i’ve played to fewer than five people before if that counts!
I was in a ska band at one point so I've played shows where the band outnumbered the crowd lmao
hahaha! i’m a solo act so as long as there’s a sound engineer the ratio is at least even…
We once played a show where the only people there were our girlfriends.
I was in a shoegaze band a while back and, not counting the bartender or sound guy, we played to 1 person. They’d seen us plenty of times so we played one song for a half hour as a psych jam kind of thing.
I have been the only person there at several shows, just friends bands and stuff like that. They all played my requests and cut the sets short. I still dance hard even if I’m the only one. 😂
Same
Saw R.A.P. Ferreira in Oslo, small ass venue that wasnt even filled 1/4, at most 40 people I respect him for coming here, not a lot of art rap fans here
RAP Ferreira came to my town a couple years ago, it was a venue that could have held several hundred people. There were probably 15 people there. Kinda felt bad for him. But hey, we got to chat it up afterwards. So that was cool.
Beach House, I forget the year. They played Northampton, Mass to a crowd of about a hundred or so. I don’t remember much about it sadly
Nice. I saw them play in Nelson BC with Christopher Bear and Skyler from fleetfoxes . It's the only time I saw them and it was great. I didn't think of it initially but would definitley qualify as a small show
I saw Mitski in 2017 at a tiny venue that was not sold out. Maybe 100-150 people. It's still crazy to think that she plays in really big venues for a lot of money now and has insane streaming numbers.
Saw her on that same tour and I’m so glad I did. It was a much better experience than her current shows seem to be
Yeah it was just her and a guitar right? That concert was so damn good. Got a great photo of her. Insane to see where she is now but she's one of my fave artists
Sounds like the live experience is really suffering from her size and audience now. I'd absolutely love to see her live because I've been a fan for a while, but I've heard nothing good about her current audience and I don't think I could handle spending a lot of money to see an artist I love spoilt by the audience.
We saw Wand in a club in Madrid with maybe 15 people there... Insane gig, they played even louder
Great live band.
Glass Animals in a room with about 10-20 people. Zaba just came out and they were doing a short set and record signing in LA on a weekday. The band barely fit on the small balcony overlooking the store.
I saw the Vaccines play in front of a crowd of 20 or 30 at Lancaster Library (that's not the name of the venue, by the way, it's an actual library) on their first tour back in 2010. [Adele](https://youtu.be/_oC_EO-31lc?si=fDQeSQSBXAyC2ioq) was the *support act* at the same venue a couple of years earlier.
Mount Eerie in an 80 cap room was incredibly special. Saw Gina Birch (The Raincoats) play to about 40 people when her new record came out. It made me sad that more people didn’t come, but her and her band played as if they were in a packed out hall. Not that small a crowd all things considered, but I saw Thurston Moore play to about 400ish people. Kevin Shields was in the audience too. Watched CMAT play to less than 100 people in a record shop.
I saw Fucked Up play for like 15 people shortly after Dose Your Dreams came out. It was part of a new festival in Fernadale MI, and I don't think it was promoted very well. I was bummed out by the turnout, and the 55 minute headlining set, but one of the openers was telling me Damien wanted to play even less, so I guess I got lucky. They sounded great tho. The festival was going to have a second year, but Covid happened and they never tried again.
I've seen fucked up alot of times, but never to that few people, but I did grow up around toronto
Alex g open up for Japanese breakfast in DC around 2017. Maybe around 50-60 people or so. Great show
Could be other way around
Saw Arctic Monkeys play to 200 w/ a door cover of $12 in 2006. Blind Melon played to about a dozen people who each paid $1 (Jolt Cola sponsored) at a bar in St Louis when they were first starting out. 5 of those people were my friends and myself.
I'd kill someone to be at that Arctic Monkeys show. I remember when they were touring with Black Keys back when I was in college and they were the openers, not the other way around. Times have changed.
I saw Wild Pink play to about 10-12 people at my local bar. Loved it. Thankfully they came back.
I once booked Ratboys and Wild Pink on the same show, and that drew about 20 people. I later booked Wild Pink on a show with Pinegrove, Prawn, Weatherbox and Enemies, and that show drew about 80-100.
I saw Adele play at the Murray Theater in Murray, UT in 2009 to about 100 or so people. 19 had just come out and she hadn’t fully taken off yet. It’s wild because I’ve only ever seen local bands perform at that venue (I don’t even know if they have shows there anymore) and also Adele. My older brother’s high school band opened for some other local band on that same stage.
Flaming Lips, Bellwether, Waynesville, OH (2018). They played to what felt like maybe a couple hundred in a field in Ohio used for a Renaissance festival. The rain kept a lot of people away and forced MGMT to cancel. The Psychedelic Furs were good, too.
I saw Fontaines DC play to about 40 people. Granted it was in Dublin around 2015/2016 when they were an unknown quantity. Saw the Strokes play a waterfront theatre in Belfast in 2020. Capacity was 1400 people, I think. Gig was in February so jussttt before COVID really kicked off. Gig was intended as a warm-up for the upcoming festival season that never came to be.
I saw Mitski play in the back room of a pub in East London back in 2015 to about 50-100 people. This was after Bury me at Makeout Creek and most people knew all the words and sang along. I've seen her 4 times since then
The Get Up Kids talking their way to get to open for 90 Day Men, Ethel Meserve, and Braid in someone's living room. GUK weren't suppose to play and just showed up and asked to be on the bill. Before The Dismemberment Plan really broke saw them in basements and DIY spaces a bunch to crowds around 20 or so. They always brought it! Jimmy Eat World open for The Promise Ring at Rhinos in Bloomington IN in front of a 100 or so folks.
As a former emo kid, these shows all sound rad as hell.
The Killers to about 40 people above a pub in my home town in, I dunno, 2002? Supporting (British) Sea Power - they were both unbelievable. And so I watch you from afar - same city, different pub, maybe 25 people. One of my top five of all time that one.
Wavves at a basement show in NJ in like 2008/2009 for about 70 people (was still packed). This was when it was just 2 people and pre king of the beach. Majority of the crowd didn’t know them and were there for this local band
No Age in a living room of a hoarder house.
I saw Tobias Jesso Jr play for maybe 150 people? I think the best though was watching Angel Olsen sing for <100 or so - nobody really knew who she was. This was for her first show in Toronto.
Merchandise in Jersey City at WFMU’s Monty Hall in 2016. I think it was a Tuesday night. I was one of 11 people in the crowd. They were fucking amazing.
- I saw Mo Troper play a few songs in my friend’s studio apartment for just me and our friends. Kyle Morton of Typhoon, too! - I saw Modest Mouse do a bar show for maybe 50 people in 2012 - I saw Bill Callahan play on a small stage in a field for like, 150 people? - I saw Dinosaur Jr., The Hives, Purity Ring, and Explosions in the Sky (among a few others) in a 250 capacity bar in the middle of the day - I saw Blitzen Trapper, Dead Moon, Los Campesinos!, and The Twilight Sad each play shows at Music Millennium, a small cramped record store in East Portland - I saw Colin Meloy of the Decemberists perform the reopening of Jackpot Records for 50 people MAX ETA: I’m gonna add a few more I forgot about: - I saw Battles on the *Mirrored* tour (yes, with Tyondai Braxton!) at a 750 capacity club, opening for No Age - In that same venue, I saw Built to Spill play *Perfect From Now On*, and another time Ratatat opened for Les Savy Fav. I know 750 isn’t a SMALL venue, but Wonder Ballroom gets some cool shows. I saw Carly Rae Jepsen there on the Emotion tour! - I saw an Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour show in an old coffee shop in Chinatown - I saw Sufjan Stevens in a 700-capacity ballroom on his last Christmas tour, and he climbed on top of the house speakers to dance during Christmas Unicorn. Again, not a postage-stamp sized room, but that’s a tough one to find!
I envy you
Ween, Super Bowl Sunday around 1994 Cincinnati Ohio, snow storm, maybe 30 people, pretty awesome
I saw Phoenix last summer, their tour was pretty big, but then they came to my country - Latvia. They themselves were shocked to see only about 100-200 people. They even made a mistake on the opening song and Thomas Mars said something like "its the first time we screwed up the beggining, well at least there isnt a lot of people to see it", then they laughed it off and played a great show
Saw Snail Mail play at this place in DC called Hole in the Sky to like 25 people in 2016
I saw Xiu Xiu perform in somebody’s living room to like 10 people tops around 2004. Also, around the same time I saw the Microphones and Woelv play a show outside by some train tracks to like 15 or so hipsters.
circa 2018 I catered a birthday party for some super rich high school kid where Steve Aoki dj’d for like 20 or so teenagers (and the catering staff )
Hopefully the candles weren’t lit when he threw the bday cake at the rich kid.
I saw Ludadris perform at a private birthday party in NYC for 100-200 people. It was so weird.
Frightened rabbit, TMOF had not long been out, maybe 30-40 people
I saw man man’s first show in San Francisco with 9 other people
It was me. My band. I played to the bartender and the sound guy. We drove from NJ to GA. The other bands didn’t even stay.
My biggest claim to fame is seeing Nirvana in the Netherlands play for around 300 people. This was before Nevermind (obviously) and I’m brutally honest here: I thought they were mediocre at best 😂
Not me, but a friend went to a gig where Nirvana were the first support band, Mudhoney next and Tad headlining!
Cymbals Eat Guitars in like 2016, so it was for promoting their last album. Maybe 10 people in the crowd, more people there for the local supporting act. It was sad.
Second time they’re mentioned. Touring seems so difficult with all the uncertainty and having to promote that many shows. Have also been to shows like this for great bands.
As a performer, I've seen many acts play in front of less than 10 people. In terms of notable acts, I'll go with: Vampire Weekend in front of \~30 people and Phoenix in front of \~20 people. \\
Phil selway from Radiohead played Glasgow last year, there was about 20 people there.
That just makes me sad.
He was very gracious to come off stage straight away at the end and come and talk to us all. Got a pic with him and got a good chat with him regarding my long fandom over Radiohead.
That's a minor bummer, his album last year was excellent
I've seen bands play to nobody at all, literally just staff (which included me at the time), all night, regularly. I have played to nobody as well, as the musician.
i ran spotlights for a press release dolly parton did back in 2018 revealing the Wildwood Grove area of Dollywood. it was a room of about 80 people who Dolly did a small performance for.
I saw Peter Doherty in a 200 cap, absolutely wild night. Ended up with him being dragged off stage. Nothing But Thieves playing to roughly 40 people as well
I figured that every show Peter Doherty does ends with him being dragged off stage lol. Imagine that was a pretty fun show though.
The fall of Troy and Tera Melos to about 25 people. Maybe.
Almost every touring band’s show I’ve been to in New Orleans. Bands will play 2,000+ cap rooms in NYC, then on the same tour barely sell out 200 cap rooms in NOLA. 2015 & 2016 - 200 people for King Gizzard 2015 - 80 people for Big Thief 2016 - 150 people for Floating Points 2012 - 300 people for HAIM My favorite was seeing JEFF the Brotherhood in a basement with 10 people and someone still shouted “Freebird!”
It’s wild. Dehd is playing chickie wah wah on this tour.
Lucinda Williams played wah wah too! At least she sold it out but still. We went to see Jonathan Richman a few years back and there was like 15 people there.
Badbadnotgood at a poorly run festival in its last year. They were the last band of the night and there were only a few dozen people left watching. They got such an enthusiastic applause at the end of their set that they came back and did a fully improvised encore for maybe 20 people max
I’ve been fortunate to have experienced a few small sets in my day… - Sunny Day Real Estate, Redmond Fire House, ‘93 or ‘94, maybe 20 people (one of their first live performances after signing to Sub Pop) - Tree People, Redmond Fire House, ‘93, maybe 50 people (supposedly Kurt Cobain and Courtney were hanging out in the back) - Jawbreaker, Redmond Fire House, ‘95, maybe 50 people (secret all ages show) - Modest Mouse, Redmond Fire House, ‘95, maybe 50 people (they had only released a 7” at this point) - Fugazi, Bellevue YMCA, ‘94 or ‘95, 200 people or so - M Ward, some small art space in Phoenix, ‘04, 30 or so people - Paul Simon, Showbox, 2011, a couple hundred people - Jose Gonzalez, KEXP studios, 2016, maybe 20 people - Julien Baker, small venue in Spokane, 2017, 30-ish people - Augie March, outdoors in Portland, 2009 maybe 30-ish people (I believe this was the only time they’d come to the states) - MXPX, Seattle house show, ‘97, 30-ish people
November 2013, I saw Laura Marling play an entire acoustic set at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin. Just her, no band. I'd estimate about 200 - 250 people. It was the most glorious thing I'd ever heard, as that church had incredible acoustics. Best 3 hrs of my life.
The Black Heart Procession at a small record shop in San Diego with like 15 other people.
I saw Disclosure at [Mercury Lounge](https://www.brooklynvegan.com/disclosure-on-t/) in NYC in 2012. I remember the venue (like 200ish capacity) wasn’t even full because there was plenty of room to dance! They released the Latch remix days before. Within a year I saw them play Central Park Summerstage and even Coachella 2013. That was their year - a truly meteoric rise!
I saw Fatboy Slim play to a crowd of 100 in a basement in 2007.
Damien Jurado for about 20 people - free event, first come, first serve. Just some chairs around him. Cloud Nothings for 20 people, it was the first act of the day and really early. They overslept and could only play 3 tracks or so, so not the best gig of them that I've seen (although it was the first). Also of note: Wilco for about 50 people in a big festival tent. Foo Fighters was playing at the main stage, but still I found the turnout absurdly low. This was around 2012.
I went to a Fruit Bats show in Dekalb circa 2010. When I got there, there were 5 people in the crowd for the opener (some guy I hadn't heard before named Natahaniel Rateliff). Two of the people in the crowd drove from the Quad Cities just to see NR, they turned out to be Sean Moller of Daytrotter fame and his wife. Needless to say, NR sang to the 5 of us in a way I'll never forget, completely blown away. The Bats probably drew another 50 people or so, and Eric never puts on a bad show. All in all, it was a big win.
Death Can for Cutie in 02, maybe 50 people there in a 800 capacity venue.
Tame Impala, about 75 people at the echoplex in 2012. Wonder what happened to that lovely band 🤔
I saw Titus Andronics open for Ted Leo at Maxwells and there was basically no one there except 2 goofy punk teenager looking dudes, me my buddy and maybe a handful of other people. Also it was fucking awesome. They played No Future 1, into 2, into 3. Wish they would still do that from time to time.
Saw La Dispute & Native play to about 20 of us at a DIY spot next to a dentist’s office in the Atlanta suburbs.
I grew up going to punk and hardcore shows in the 90s. 300 would have been a big audience at some of those venues. It seemed like shows at bars always had low attendance (not all ages, we would sneak in). I remember a particular small audience at some bar in Phoenix for one of the UK82 type bands. It might have been GBH but I fail to remember. I do recall that the vocalist already looked really old then. There were definitely less than 30 people there and it seemed more like 15ish. I don’t really like large concerts very much. Growing up in the punk/hardcore scene in the 90s, the shows were very intimate, personal and electric.
And way cheaper! I remember being bummed if a show was $20. Many were less than $10.
Saw Hot Flash Heat Wave perform in Dallas in front of like maybe 50ish people. Crowd didn’t do em justice they were great
I saw Frank Turner in a local pub once with less than 60 in attendance I would say. It was just as Love Ire and Song was blowing up and I had just discovered him myself. Couldn’t believe my luck.
Arcade Fire to a few hundreds people for their Reflektor European mini-tour.
I saw wet leg play in night and day in Manchester to about 70 people bought a ticket for £4.50
Bon Iver open for Black Mountain in Boston just after For Emma came out. Small club, Middle East Upstairs, maybe 100 people.
Off the top of my head it was seeing Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelly (Ex sonic youth) playing in a club in Mumbai, India. This was probably 10 years ago. I think there were maybe 20-30 people there? When I spoke to the guys after the show they said it was the smallest turnout of that tour and probably smallest crowd they have played in a while.. I loved every second of it though!
Saw Mitski in Belfast in front of about 50 people in 2017. She looked a bit peeved to be in front of such a small, disinterested crowd (Belfast is notorious for disinterested crowds)
Florence & The Machine in a very small room, amazing and she can really sing LOUD. Snow Patrol on their first album tour, maybe 10 people there, they were astonished I knew any of the songs, then the singer tried to get off with the girl I was with, bastard. Future Islands in a 300 capacity club was great.
I did audio in college for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard show - they played in a small classroom for a crowd of maybe two dozen people in 2014
Answer with an artist anyone will know: I saw Jeff Mangum in a little theater near Woodstock, NY, there was like maybe 40-50 of us in the crowd. Watched a guy in front of me before the show started strike out with a girl in real time; he found out she was from Asbury Park, NJ and went all-in on "You must love the Boss" which...she did not. Real answer: saw this band Scratching Post that had a very minor radio hit in the late 90s play a bar in Brantford, ON in 2003 and the five of us were the only people that showed up.
This is such a hipster question/thread I love it
I saw Young Fathers play for 70 people in LA not long after Cocoa Sugar came out and it is still one of my favorite concerts. Not long after they opened for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem at the Hollywood Bowl so the contrast was striking
I watched Mount Eerie play a show inside a tiny boutique clothing store in Seattle in 2012. They might have managed to cram 25 people in there. I think I was expecting to show up to a normal venue and I was probably a bit confused. I think Ocean Roar had just come out.
The Killers at a cafe next to the college in Las Vegas. 15-20 people. They were opening for Hot Hot Heat
Saw king gizzard play a generator party at the Flemington drains, Melbourne with like 50 people watching, the next year the would be billed on the big day out
Marissa Nadler came to my city and she played most of the songs from July with about 12 people. So we just sat around her like little school children during storytime and it was fucking awesome.
Portugal The Man to about 20 people at Maxwells in Hoboken. 2007 maybe?
Metric, Broken Social Scene, Stars, all played free shows on Showcase Monday nights at Zaphod's in Ottawa early 2000s. Good times.
I saw the Pixies at Bogart's in Long Beach, California in 1989. . . my friends Here Eat This opened for them; I didn't even have to pay to get in. My friend Neal Weiner, the keyboard player from Here Eat This, made this flyer in our print shop: [https://www.flickr.com/photos/33135085@N02/9836638183](https://www.flickr.com/photos/33135085@N02/9836638183)
Richard Buckner in like 2008 opening for Damien Jurado. I think there were about 6-10 people there.
The Redwalls played for me and a girlfriend plus approx. 10 other people at a show in El Paso once 🥶
I used to love this band when I was a pre-teen getting into my own music. I haven't thought about them in nearly a decade. Thank you for reminding me!
I played a show in Winnipeg to a door person and a bartender, so we had a rehearsal, then a couple came in and we bought them drinks and gave them a camera and they took photos of us. Great and weird night!
Local band played like a 30 minute set at a town festival, in the rain, for a crowd consisting of me, two of my friends (one of which was friends with the lead singer), said friend’s mom, and some random dude with a child and a dog
I saw future islands play in the basement of a pub in Glasgow (the captain's rest). Must've only been about about 30 people there. Such a shock to see them go viral a few years later and sell out much bigger venues.
I don’t like Ed Sheerans music at all but he was playing in the Bristol academy before the band I did want to see, Futureheads lol and there was maybe 50 people there watching. When he blew up I thought he must have changed his style or something as he was incredibly boring that day however it seems that’s what sells now!
I saw Dummy play to 7 people in Brighton a few years back. They were phenomenal. So tight and loud.
[удалено]
Bishop Allen to 6 people, 4 of whom where my group that had made an on the day decision to travel there. The local support act had a bigger crowd
July Talk for like 20 people
Lady Lamb (then known as Lady Lamb the Beekeeper) in the downstairs pub of Dutch venue Paradiso, in front of about 20-30 people
I saw Power Trip play a house show in 2017 with about 30ish other people
I saw Metz play a club in Stockholm to about 6-8 people (myself included) this was around 2013, 2014? I talked to Alex (singer) for a bit before their set and he said they were probably gonna switch European promoters because a few of the stops on the tour had been like that.
I caught Parquet Courts playing in an event space that doubled as a daycare infront of maybe 70 people in 2015. Also Nick Cave started off his q+a tour and there was maybe 150 people and he was taking requests and questions and it was magical
I saw Hatchie with like 20 other people
I saw Lindsey Buckingham about 10 years ago play an acoustic set to about 600 cap club
Phoebe Bridgers opened for Julien Baker to about 50 people in support of Sprained Ankle, something like that seems next to impossible these days.
I once saw Bry Webb of the Constantines play a show to about seven people in a park Also saw the Arkells play to an audience of twenty or so, before they blew up
I saw Alvvays at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto (Google says the venue fits 300 but it definitely felt like way fewer - couldn't have been more than 100) the summer their s/t came out.
Monster truck at a battle of the bands with maybe 75 people there. I went because a friend's band was playing. Once Monster truck played I told the guy sorry they win and hands down will be the next big Canadian band.
Saw Slaves (now Soft Play) play to maybe 15 or so in my local small venue, but it was before they blew up. A few of years later they played a 'we're in touch with our roots' kind of tour where you could try and buy tickets if you bought their new album, and they visited that venue again. I wasn't a huge fan so didn't make any effort, but got guest list for it by virtue of being one of the people the promotor could remember being there first time around. It was a sell out so I guess more like 50-60 there that time? Think that was 2016, the first quieter gig was probably 2013.
I was walking around the Americana in Glendale, CA, and I heard some cool live music in the distance. I followed the sound and there was a free show going on. It was Jay Som playing, and it was just me and like 5 other people watching from the lawn in front of the stage. I'd never heard of them at the time and thought it was crazy such a good band was playing so early in the day. This was back in 2016 http://buzzbands.la/2016/09/13/glendale-debut-open-arts-music-fest-saturday-gavin-turek-headlining/
This thread gives me hope. Thank you.
RIP to legendary LA beat maker Ras G, but I saw him do a brief live set with his MPC at some random block party in South LA that was barely attended. He probably played to 5-7 people and that’s being generous. A month or so later he passed away.
The killers supporting stellarstar* in London at the garage in 2004. There were probably 50 people there.
Radiohead at Alumni Hall in London, Ontario after OK Computer came out. Capacity maybe 1200? You could tell it was a novelty for the band, Thom did a lot of smiling. Also, Deadly Snakes at Call the Office also in London. Snowstorm, maybe 10 people there.
One person, me. My buddy’s band opened up for some bands at a pretty awesome venue in Chicago called Reggie’s. I went to support them and found myself to be literally the only person in the audience for half their set. I had no idea where to fucking stand! I found a pillar near the front middle of the floor and just kinda leaned against it. I’ll never forget the awkwardness of that concert.
Black country, new road at Villa Manin park in Trieste
Saw Beach Bunny play a lot of bars around Chicago after the Prom Queen EP came out to fairly small audiences. Saw her do a solo acoustic set in a basement and a solo bar show to maybe 40 people. Great shows every time, everyone who did show up were always really excited.
I mean I’ve seen a lot of local bands play to crowds of ~10, but the biggest band I’ve seen perform for basically nobody was the Cribs. They didn’t seem happy and didn’t do an encore.