Before They Were Famous

Saw U2 on their very first US tour in a SMALL club (the original Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel) in Providence, RI.

Albert your's is going to be tough to top. I did however see Bonnie Raitt before she recorded in a little coffee house in Philly in the late 60's at that time she was famous for being John Raitt's daughter. Strictly Blues back then.

I remember going to a Xmas dance in Halifax at St Mary's university and the band was from Singalong Jubilee, a CBC show. I forget the lead singer but he was good. The organizer said for a few bucks more we could have had a female singer. "Who?" I asked? The other singer was an unknown Ann Murray. She had just started on the show...I've heard her live since then and I never realized how good she could be.. My brother-in-law was at the same show{he is not a fan} but he was awed by her....Cheers, Bluenose.

As an undergrad, I attended music school with two mezzos that are now of some import. Stephanie Blythe, now at the Met, and Margret Lattimore, also a rising opera world person. Renee Flemming, soprano, is an alum, and before she was really famous visited to sing at the school.

There's a Canadian rock band goes by the name of the Tragically Hip, from Kingston Ontario (roughly a 2 hour dirve from either Montreal, Ottawa, or Toronto). I've seen the Hip eight times over the last ten years, they are very well known in Canada; their eight CD's have all sold over a million copies in Canada. Big in Euroope too, but for some strange reason virtually unknown in America. Saw the Hip this past August in the Somerville theatre in Boston, one of 300 people there. Go to www.thehip.com and check out the band, if they are touring in your city make a point of seeing them. Well written lyrics, and seen live you can't help but draw a parallel to the Australian band Midnight Oil. Jeff