Good bands but with a small audience

[Idesofmarch69]

Jason & The Scorchers at The Granary in Bristol in the mid '80s. Great show from a band with a big reputation at the time. They were described by the Guardian as the best band in the world for a period, albeit a brief one, in 1985. Went with a mate and we almost represented 10% of the audience of 23.

Bizarrely, was at a wedding 10 years later and we met another couple who were also there.

 

[mac]

The Bunnymen. Most gigs are a couple of thousand. That is what the size should be. Stadiums are wank.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

My Darling Clementine regularly play in the U.K. to 50 or fewer.

 

[Nightmare Walking]

Hot Chip
Puressence

 

[ChicagoBlue]

To hear most non-Blues in football…

Pep and the Cityzens

 

[bluenova]

I saw My Computer at Band on the Wall with a crowd of about 5 people. It was me, my friend, two other guys, and the support act's singer.

My Computer were from Manchester and released a couple of brilliant, if ambitious, albums in the early 2000s that got rave reviews (9 out of 10 in the NME, 10 out of 10 on Uncut, Guardian/Observer loved them, they made loads of end of year lists), but didn't sell.

Not sure how much they played live at the time, but a few years after they split up, they announced a one off gig at Band on the Wall. It turned out to just be the singer, Andrew Chester. but he has the most amazing voice, so I was still thrilled to see them. Bizarrely, they had to change the publicity for the gig in the run up, to make it clear it wasn't the full band (and this may have been my fault, as my wife mentioned to a colleague that I was going to this gig, and said colleague turned out to the partner of the other band member!).

The gig was pretty much sold out, and the support (I forget who they were), got a fantastic response.

Sadly, it turned out the support were also local, and had quite the following, and most people had turned up to see them. Not one of their fans stayed around after to watch the headline act.

To be fair, the gig sounded amazing.

My Computer gets a reboot | Tony Naylor

Tony Naylor: Andy Chester and David Luke's ill-fated Manchester band never got the recognition it deserved – but now a download-only project looks set to switch My Computer back on

www.theguardian.com

 

[mrtwiceaseason]

The slow readers club ,to me Manchesters finest band ,should be playing to much bigger audiences.

 

[Coatigan]

Radiohead.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Starsailor played in my local pub in front of about 50 or so.

Also watched The K’s at thr Rockin Chair in Wrexham in front of about 400.

 

[southamptonblue]

Bad//Dreems, Aussie indie rock band, 4 albums and a big cult following down under.....seen them twice in Brighton last few years, about 20 people max both times, imo they are way better than similar bands that have played arenas (and stadiums) from here.