Bozo.

Parents put us kids on the Bozo show. I was three. Remember the Indian with his tomahawk and canoe? Loud music, tom tom. Scared the sh!t out of me. Started crying. Stopped the show. Bozo comes up giggling and tries to calm me down, wants me to squeeze his red rubber nose. I squeezed it and it squeaked. Freaked me out more, started crying louder. I can still see his white crusty makeup. Then he got pissed off and growled, "Thats a Bozo No No!" scared me even more, I could smell B.O. and liquor. I got kicked off the set, they gave me a popsicle and put me in the concrete stairwell. There was a girl in there, a world wise tough old bird, had to be twice my age, five tops - she glared at me, "Why are you crying?" I was scared and too shy to answer. She rolled her eyes and said, "You did a Bozo No No?" I nodded. She said, "Good. Me too. I hate Bozo. My parents bring me here all the time. This show is stupid. Don't cry. If you do a Bozo No No you get a popsicle." Made me feel better. Then the grownup came to release her, she said bye, and I sat on the stair and finished my popsicle. It was green.

[Edited on 10/29/2019 by BrerRabbit]

My ex-girlfriend bought me tix to a Johnny Cash concert when I graduated high school.

Anyone else see him?

Screaming Trees
Bert Jansch
Tom Waits
Rage Against the Machine
Ice-T
John Lee Hooker
X (seven times and every lineup they've had)
Jefferson Airplane
The Buzzcocks (six times)
Albert King
Gwar
Iggy Pop (twice)
Chumbawamba
Asleep at the Wheel
The Cranberries (saw them at a festival when they first started getting noticed. listened to 3 or 4 songs, didn't care much for their sound, and left to check out another band.)
Traffic
Flaming Lips
The Tubes
The Who
Stevie Ray Vaughan (five times)
Pink Floyd (three times)
Talking Heads (twice)
King Crimson (three times)
Frank Zappa (twice)

Psy, you and I have been to similar shows!! I haven't seen Gwar, Screaming Trees, Cranberries or Chumbawamba, but have seen the rest! Nice list!!

My ex-girlfriend bought me tix to a Johnny Cash concert when I graduated high school.

Anyone else see him?

Sure did, 4 or 5 times. I attended College in Fullerton in the late 70s and not only was Sunset Blvd (The Roxy, The Whiskey, The Starwood & The Troubador) my stomping grounds, but Burbank was not that much farther "down the road". The first time we went I had written for tickets and arrived only to find they handed out tickets to everyone in line to insure a full house. The studio was tiny and I remember seeing the Star where Johnny stood for the first time and how small it was. The Studio clock was set to "Game time" (11:30) even though taping began at 4:30, Ed McMahon would come out and warm up the crowd, dutifully explaining the "Do's & dont's". and at exactly 4:30, Johnny would emerge and go into his monologue.....Cool beans

Ray Charles

Saw Ray Charles in 1967...Billy Preston was in the band at the time.

Also saw Stevie Wonder a few years later @ Disneyland of all places.

[Edited on 10/30/2019 by IF]

My wife surprised me on my 50th birthday with a backyard concert; the one and only Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie). Best gift ever !

Screaming Trees
Bert Jansch
Tom Waits
Rage Against the Machine
Ice-T
John Lee Hooker
X (seven times and every lineup they've had)
Jefferson Airplane
The Buzzcocks (six times)
Albert King
Gwar
Iggy Pop (twice)
Chumbawamba
Asleep at the Wheel
The Cranberries (saw them at a festival when they first started getting noticed. listened to 3 or 4 songs, didn't care much for their sound, and left to check out another band.)
Traffic
Flaming Lips
The Tubes
The Who
Stevie Ray Vaughan (five times)
Pink Floyd (three times)
Talking Heads (twice)
King Crimson (three times)
Frank Zappa (twice)

Psy, you and I have been to similar shows!! I haven't seen Gwar, Screaming Trees, Cranberries or Chumbawamba, but have seen the rest! Nice list!!

Glad you dig it, amyjared. Maybe a case of great minds think alike? 😉

Screaming Trees
Bert Jansch
Tom Waits
Rage Against the Machine
Ice-T
John Lee Hooker
X (seven times and every lineup they've had)
Jefferson Airplane
The Buzzcocks (six times)
Albert King
Gwar
Iggy Pop (twice)
Chumbawamba
Asleep at the Wheel
The Cranberries (saw them at a festival when they first started getting noticed. listened to 3 or 4 songs, didn't care much for their sound, and left to check out another band.)
Traffic
Flaming Lips
The Tubes
The Who
Stevie Ray Vaughan (five times)
Pink Floyd (three times)
Talking Heads (twice)
King Crimson (three times)
Frank Zappa (twice)

Psy, you and I have been to similar shows!! I haven't seen Gwar, Screaming Trees, Cranberries or Chumbawamba, but have seen the rest! Nice list!!

Glad you dig it, amyjared. Maybe a case of great minds think alike? 😉

I REALLY wish I would've seen Rage. For whatever reason, when they were around and kicking, I was not at all into them. I didn't start digging Rage until sometime around 2010. Too bad for me . . .

The Tubes

Ha, saw them once @ The Roxy in Hollywood ('80?) and I believe it was the only time they performed w/o costumes. Fee Waybill addressed the crowd when introduced and told us that "We were lucky, seeing them "Act out" their show in street clothes....

Muddy Waters
Albert King
James Cotton
Eric burdon
Ray Charles
Van Morrison
The Replacements
Sonny terry and Brownie McGhee
The Holmes Brothers
Jefferson Starship with Papa John creach

The Tubes

Ha, saw them once @ The Roxy in Hollywood ('80?) and I believe it was the only time they performed w/o costumes. Fee Waybill addressed the crowd when introduced and told us that "We were lucky, seeing them "Act out" their show in street clothes....

I saw them on Halloween back in '81 (38 years ago to the day) and there were definitely a lot of costumes on (and off) the stage that night.
[Edited on 10/31/2019 by Psy]

The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Band of Gypsies on New Year's Eve
Janis with Big Brother and the Holding Company
Country Joe and the Fish
Poppa John Creach
Elvin Jones
Ravi Shankar many times
Original Santana lineup fist 2 times they played Fillmore East
Vassar several times
Three Dog Night
Honey Boy Edwards
KoKo Taylor
Eric Burton

[Edited on 11/3/2019 by GOODVIBRATIONS]

The Tubes

Ha, saw them once @ The Roxy in Hollywood ('80?) and I believe it was the only time they performed w/o costumes. Fee Waybill addressed the crowd when introduced and told us that "We were lucky, seeing them "Act out" their show in street clothes....

I saw them on Halloween back in '81 (38 years ago to the day) and there were definitely a lot of costumes on (and off) the stage that night.

[Edited on 10/31/2019 by Psy]

Just saw them a year ago......

I've seen a bunch of the bands people are mentioning. As have others, so I guess the "nobody else saw here live" doesn't necessarily apply. Some pretty cool ones that are neat that some folks have seen.

I will give two that I thought of as soon as I saw the thread:

Skeleton Crew. State Theater in downtown Detroit in the 90s. They opened for someone who I can't remember. They were pretty good.

Oriental Spas. Hands down the WORST band I have ever heard in my life. 1993. They opened for Bad Company. I couldn't believe Bad Company couldn't get someone better. This was in the Brian Howe, no Paul Rodgers days.

[Edited on 11/2/2019 by Lee]

Yes, some of these "rare acts" are fairly mainstream. Some bands just don't assemble or tour very often. I've seen a few:

Dukes of September (Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs)
Moon Alice (the version I saw had GE Smith, Pete Sears and Jack Casady )
Chuck Leavell, Mike Mills, Robert McDuffie and the Mercer String Ensemble (I forget how this show was billed)
Kraftwerk
Johnnie Shines (Robert Johnson guitarist)
Willie Dixon and the Chicago Blues Allstars
Sea Level
Fury Lewis (okay, everybody at that Memphis 'Stones gig saw him, too 😉 )
Ralph Stanley
Johnny Cash (with June Carter)
NRBQ (many times!)
Ace
Capricorn Rhythm Section (several times )

I might add more as I remember them. 😉

(Edit!)

Also:

Golden Earring
Montrose
West, Bruce and Laing
Leslie West Band (with Corky Laing and future Foreigner guitarist, Mick Jones)
Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives (several times - including the "Sweat Heart of the Rodeo show with former Byrds members)
Dickey Betts - "Highway Call" tour (with Vassar) - several other Dickey shows, too!

... probably more edits to come! 😉

[Edited on 11/2/2019 by Rusty]

Golden Earring
Montrose
West, Bruce and Laing
Leslie West Band (with Corky Laing and future Foreigner guitarist, Mick Jones)
Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives (several times - including the "Sweat Heart of the Rodeo show with former Byrds members)
Dickey Betts - "Highway Call" tour (with Vassar) - several other Dickey shows, too!

We share a few here Rusty. I saw West, Bruce and Laing, Hollywood Palladium, must have been 1972. I couldn't rave about it, not a noteworthy show at all. I wish I would have seen Mountain and I was going to, they were at Long Beach Arena must have been 1974 or '75. My cousin was getting married that same day and I was in the wedding. I did the right thing and served as Best Man. They are both righteous people and are still married to this day!!
I saw the Dickey Betts Highway Call tour, 1974, Santa Monica Civic. It was good.
I also saw Montrose open for Kiss, must have been 1976 or '77. Ronnie had booted Sammy Hagar and had Bob James singing now. He was good, and used to love the third Montrose record with James, "Warner Brothers Presents Montrose." They were a good opener that night...........some straight ahead hard rock, no jumping around the stage at all, just five guys standing there playing. I thought Kiss was awful............just a jumble of noise. Maybe it was the mix, maybe it was too loud, I don't know, but I didn't like their set. And the Gene Simmons tongue thing was pretty gross: At one point he licked the microphone stand and left a huge loogey hanging from it. I only went because my buddy's girlfriend wanted to see them as did her girlfriend so the four of us went.

Here are Amazon's notes on the Warner Brothers Presents Montrose record:

"Digitally remastered edition of this hard rock classic featuring renowned guitarist Ronnie Montrose. Montrose had successfully crafted a respected reputation for themselves with two albums of Class-A hard rock, before abrasive relationships eroded the band's central core. Vocalist Sammy Hagar was effectively forced to leave the band by an increasingly mercurial Ronnie Montrose, a man who ran the band with complete control and authority. With Hagar cast aside Ronnie appointed new boy Bob James, who like Hagar, was an unknown quantity, but the possessor of an extraordinary voice. When the band began to plan the recording of their third album, Warner Brother's Presents..., Ronnie instigated yet another significant change, by rejecting powerful producer Ted Templeman, in favor of assuming production duties himself. This led to a more eclectic record, that incorporated several moods, ranging from drawn out epics such as 'Whaler' and 'Matriach' to snappier cuts such as 'Oh Lucky Man' [written by Alan Price] and 'Black Train', a proto speed metal romp. But the album's stand out track is 'Dancin' Feet' with it's snappy and uninhibited guitar riff holding center court. It also clearly demonstrated Ronnie Montrose's continued quest for musical development and diversity, a fact underscored by the appointment of keyboard player Jim Alcivar, helping to pride a vivid and contemporary sounding palette that indicated the direction to come."

[Edited on 11/2/2019 by robslob]

Okay, I actually saw Kiss, too. Got drug to that show by a girls was after. Suffice to say, neither worked out.

Not to hijack the thread, but Ronnie Montrose was probably as diverse a guitarist as Warren Haynes. He played on some of Van Morrison's stuff (Tupelo Honey LP). Some of his last stuff was jazz oriented. I 'm glad I (and you) got to see him.

Saw The Good Rats a number of times.They used to play clubs all over Long Island.

Also they were the opening band for the DB&GS show in Central Park that turned into an ABB reunion.Felt bad for them,they were booed from the stage after 4 or 5 songs as the fans threw the rubber rats that they used to toss to the audience back at them.Poor Pepi was trying to block them with a garbage can cover as they finished their last song.

It wasn't that they were that bad,it was just a bad choice for the kind of band to be opening for DB&GS

David Bromberg and Aztec 2 Step I saw both in a number of places in the Village and they both used to play Central Park almost every year when they had shows at the skating rink.Went every year.

Orleans I saw a lot in I believe was 1981.It seemed they were the opening act to almost every other show I went to that year.

As far as a band no one else has seen,I'll give you Tennis Rock.A band led by John McEnroe and Vitas Gerulaitis in I think !983.They hosted a benefit concert on Pier 84 that included Stevie Ray Vaughn opening the show.

How about Dudek Finnegan and Krueger?Anybody else see them?

[Edited on 11/2/2019 by Uponthe2ndfloor]

Here are some I've seen over the years that haven't been mentioned yet in this thread. I'll venture a guess that BrerRabbit, amyjared, and CanadianMule have probably seen several of these...

Acid Mothers Temple
Babes in Toyland
Bad Brains
Bauhaus
Beastie Boys
Blues Magoos
Body Count
Jeff Buckley (three times)
Bush Tetras
Butthole Surfers (three times)
Cake
Calexico
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (twice)
Eugene Chadbourne
Circle Jerks
The Clash (twice)
Cocteau Twins
Cop Shoot Cop
Cosmic Psychos
Kevin Coyne
The Cramps
The Cure (four times)
The Damned (twice)
The Dictators
Dinosaur Jr.
D.O.A.
Dropkick Murphys
Echo & The Bunnymen
Roky Erickson (twice)
Marianne Faithfull
The Fall
Fear
Flamin' Groovies
Diamanda Galas (twice)
The Grandmothers
The GrandMothers of Invention
Guided by Voices
Hill Country Revue
Hole
The Jam
Jane's Addiction (twice)
The Jesus Lizard (twice)
Daniel Johnston
Killing Joke
L7
Legendary Shack Shakers
Living Colour
Love (twice)
Mazzy Star (twice)
Medeski Trio
The Mekons
Melvins
Mission of Burma
Mudhoney
Naked City
Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas
Negativeland
New Order
New York Dolls
Nirvana (twice)
Old 97's
Ozric Tentacles
Painkiller
Pavement
Pere Ubu (three times)
Pretty Things
Public Enemy
Public Image Limited (twice)
Queens of the Stone Age
Radiohead
The Raincoats
Redd Kross
The Remains
The Residents (six times)
Reverend Horton Heat (three times)
The Rezillos
Keith Richards & the X-Pensive Winos
Rocket From The Crypt
Rocket From The Tombs
Rollins Band (twice)
Fred Schneider
Sebadoh (twice)
Sex Pistols
Billy Joe Shaver (twice)
Shonen Knife
Silverchair (twice)
Simply Saucer
Nancy Sinatra with Lee Hazlewood
Siouxsie & The Banshees
Sleep
The Smashing Pumpkins (three times)
The Sonics
Sonic Youth
Soundgarden (twice)
Southern Culture on the Skids (twice)
Stereolab
The Stranglers
Sugar Blue
The Sugarcubes
Sun Ra
Tad
The The (twice)
Tiny Tim
Trans Global Underground
Tortoise (four times)
T.S.O.L
Nik Turner's Hawkwind
Nik Turner's Space Ritual
Vanilla Fudge (twice)
The Verve
Violent Femmes
White Zombie (twice)
The Word
Link Wray (five times)
Neil Young (with Booker T. & The MG's as his backing band)
Neil Young (with Pearl Jam (without Eddie Vedder) as his backing band)

Forgot a pretty noteworthy one earlier.

Saw Honeyboy Edwards on the outside acoustic stage at Crossroads 2010 in Chicago. He was the last living connection to Robert Johnson. In his mid 90's at the time.

Yes, some of these "rare acts" are fairly mainstream. Some bands just don't assemble or tour very often. I've seen a few:

Dukes of September (Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs)
Moon Alice (the version I saw had GE Smith, Pete Sears and Jack Casady )
Chuck Leavell, Mike Mills, Robert McDuffie and the Mercer String Ensemble (I forget how this show was billed)
Kraftwerk
Johnnie Shines (Robert Johnson guitarist)
Willie Dixon and the Chicago Blues Allstars
Sea Level
Fury Lewis (okay, everybody at that Memphis 'Stones gig saw him, too 😉 )
Ralph Stanley
Johnny Cash (with June Carter)
NRBQ (many times!)
Ace
Capricorn Rhythm Section (several times )

I might add more as I remember them. 😉

(Edit!)

Also:

Golden Earring
Montrose
West, Bruce and Laing
Leslie West Band (with Corky Laing and future Foreigner guitarist, Mick Jones)
Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives (several times - including the "Sweat Heart of the Rodeo show with former Byrds members)
Dickey Betts - "Highway Call" tour (with Vassar) - several other Dickey shows, too!

... probably more edits to come! 😉

[Edited on 11/2/2019 by Rusty]

Rusty do you remember if Russ Pahl (pedal steel) was touring with Dickey on the Highway Call tour? I read a long article on him several years ago and he had some wild tales about Dickey's mood swings when he was on tour with him. But he never indicated a specific time period.

Psy, that is an astonishing list! Yoiks!

I caught the Clash opening for the Who, with David Johansson on before the Clash. They were good but took a lot of boos because the crowd wanted the Who. When I later saw the Crackdown on Crack show with Run-DMC coming on before the ABB, it was the same kind of thing.

I actually saw The Pixies / Love and Rockets / The Cure at Giants Stadium! Summer of 1989 I believe. I do not think of those bands as football stadium bands; it was surreal.

I'm jealous that you got to see Ozric Tentacles. Wild stuff.

Rusty do you remember if Russ Pahl (pedal steel) was touring with Dickey on the Highway Call tour? I read a long article on him several years ago and he had some wild tales about Dickey's mood swings when he was on tour with him. But he never indicated a specific time period.

I think John Hughey was the steel player on the tour. I'm not sure, though.

Forgot a pretty noteworthy one earlier.

Saw Honeyboy Edwards on the outside acoustic stage at Crossroads 2010 in Chicago. He was the last living connection to Robert Johnson. In his mid 90's at the time.

Saw him in July of 2010; got him to autograph my Martin guitar, too. A great memory.

saw dudek finnegan and krueger open up for dave mason i believe.
stills/young band. poco opened.
papa john creach solo
ezra-opened for roy bucanan
medeski martin and wood
col. bruce and the fiji mariners

Saw that Stills-Young tour w/Poco - also around then, Marshall Tucker opened for Dave Mason -
Zeppelin 1970 - my 1st show
Beck Bogert & Appice

Many others 😉

Psy, that is an astonishing list! Yoiks!

I caught the Clash opening for the Who, with David Johansson on before the Clash. They were good but took a lot of boos because the crowd wanted the Who. When I later saw the Crackdown on Crack show with Run-DMC coming on before the ABB, it was the same kind of thing.

I actually saw The Pixies / Love and Rockets / The Cure at Giants Stadium! Summer of 1989 I believe. I do not think of those bands as football stadium bands; it was surreal.

I'm jealous that you got to see Ozric Tentacles. Wild stuff.

I actually whittled my list down a bit because I didn't want to get too crazy with it. 😉

I'm surprised that The Clash were booed opening for The Who. That was the 1982 tour and they were probably at the peak of their popularity that year.

One of the times I saw Public Image Limited was in 1989 on a triple bill along with New Order and The Sugarcubes. Not a stadium but an outdoor venue with 12,000+ capacity at that time. Definitely strange seeing groups that would normally play clubs or theaters, playing such a large venue.

I saw Ozric Tentacles at The Reading Festival in '93. I'd never heard of them at the time but I was told "If you're into bands like Pink Floyd, Gong, and Hawkwind, you'll probably like Ozric Tentacles." I happen to like all three, so, needless to say, I did indeed enjoy their set.

Psy, I easily saw 1/2 that list! Great shows, mostly. The one I missed was the Clash. Had tickets to their last tour and had a 103 fever and couldn't go. Bummed. Did you see the Camper Van Chadbourne shows? They were fun! Ever see Human Sexual Response? King Missile? They were some fun shows!

I forgot BHLT! They were a lot better than the Tubes though their costumes were kind of dull.

Psy, I easily saw 1/2 that list! Great shows, mostly. The one I missed was the Clash. Had tickets to their last tour and had a 103 fever and couldn't go. Bummed. Did you see the Camper Van Chadbourne shows? They were fun! Ever see Human Sexual Response? King Missile? They were some fun shows!

Eugene played solo when I saw him and I haven't seen Camper Van Beethoven yet. I imagine it would've been fun to see them playing together.
Had the chance to see Human Sexual Response and King Missile various times when they were both still playing shows but never got around to going to see either one.
Just a couple more bands of several that have slipped by me over the years.

So much music, so little time.