Bands that played at your High School or College(while you were there)

[Lopez]

Nobody played at my high school in Providence.

At college, Villanova, outside of Philly from '71 to '75, and I went to almost all of these:

Beach Boys
Ike and Tina Turner
Jackson Browne
Bruce Springsteen, couple of times in '73
Commander Cody
Scruggs Revue
Dr. John
Grin
Livingston Taylor
Stevie Wonder
Elizabeth, twice in 1971 (later changed name to Good God)
Mahavishnu
Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales
Melissa Manchester
Sha Na Na
Roy Buchanan
Rufus Harley (probably the best performer I saw there)

[Gravedigger]

Late 1979 at the University of Miami:

The Dixie Dregs were scheduled to perform outside in a large patio area with a big stage, but the
show was moved indoors to the cafeteria because of bad weather. I sat on the floor right upfront
and was amazed! They were promoting their Night Of The Living Dregs album. T Lavitz had just
joined the band, so he was under the microscope from the UM Jazz Majors... "That's not how Mark
Parrish played it"... "He can't handle Davidowski's parts"... "He won't last long".

[chalkpie]

Phish
Earthday at SUNY Potsdam, NY
4.21.91
$5
Hitting the bowl right in the student union! Fucking AMAZING time.

[Koreabruce]

My high school class (James A. Garfield High School in northeast Ohio) booked Artful Dodger to play in '77. Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to poor ticket sales, so the show never happened.

I attended Kent State University off and on until I finally got all the degrees I needed. During my tenure there, I saw the Michael Stanley Band (spring 1980) and the Fixx (1987). In other years, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Joe Walsh (his alma mater, too), Peter, Paul, & Mary, Richie Havens (at the KSU Folk Festival), the Roches, Jakob Dylan, and others played there.

[moecurlythanu]

My high school class (James A. Garfield High School in northeast Ohio) booked Artful Dodger to play in '77. Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to poor ticket sales, so the show never happened.

Surprised to read that. Artful Dodger seemed reasonably well promoted in Cleveland at the time.

[Koreabruce]

Yeah, I really don't know what happened there. Chalk it up to our lame student body, I guess.

[docjim]

I was at Penn State in the second half of the 80s, but I don't think I saw a single band playing on campus the whole time I was there. Going by the rules of the first post in this thread (band had to have released albums and the performance had to be on campus) I think the closest I got was seeing the great local blues band Queen Bee and the Blue Hornets play on the HUB lawn during Arts Fest in the summer (when I technically wasn't a student because it was between semesters).

My freshman year James Taylor played at Rec Hall on campus, but I didn't go because at the time I didn't know who he was. Always kicked myself over that one.

Sounds like we overlapped. I was at PSU from 87-91. I didn't see many bands there either, and none of them were really prog. But a couple stand out:

Elvis Costello - played Rec Hall. He was doing a solo acoustic tour. I didn't really know him much at the time, but was very impressed with this show and his overall musicianship. He had this big "wheel of fortune" type thing with names of his songs on it. He pulled audience members up to spin the wheel to select the next song he'd play. For me the highlight was the encore, when he brought out a full band and played a plugged-in version of "Pump it Up."

Living Color - Also played Rec Hall. I knew them from "Cult of Personality" that was all over MTV at the time, and really didn't know their prior material at all. I was surprised to find they were an amazing live band. Everything was at about twice the tempo of the studio versions, and had a much more punk flavor than I expected from their radio hits.

I didn't see them, but Corrosion of Conformity played the East Halls cafeteria my freshman year. They were still mostly a punk band at the time, and I didn't know too much about them. As they turned more melodic metal years later and had more success, I kicked myself for not having seen them when I had the chance.

Maybe the single most memorable show I ever saw in college though was The Clarks. I don't know if anyone else really knows them, but they had some regional hits around Pittsburgh in the 90's. But around 87-88, I saw them play at a fraternity party at PSU. Just an amazing live performance - they blew me away. I still remember their version of U2's "I Will Follow." Maybe it was just too much frat party beer, but I remember thinking it was orders of magnitude better than the original!

[JKL2000]

I saw Warren Zevon on the Envoy tour at either Cornell or Ithaca College, and also The Alarm on the Strength tour. Both just played in a gymnasium with a stage at one end.

[iguana]

roddy rhino and the camping holidays
persona non grata
kickstate
circle of perverts
john watson

… oh, you meant well-known bands that went on to greatness? pass.

[progeezer]

Stretching the term "bands" a bit, but when I went to William Cullen Bryant HS in Astoria, Queens, there were 2 complete doowop groups that were also students there that had national hit records while still in HS. Both "Denise" by Randy & The Rainbows ("oh Denise, doobie do, I'm in love with you Denise, doobie do") and not quite as well known nationally but still with a minor national radio hit were The Devotions w/"Rip Van Winkle" ("Rip Van Winkle, Rip Van Winkle, sleep, sleep, sleep - he fell asleep in the woods one day, spent 20 years of his life that way").

At the time, I was also singing in a doowop group (no national success but known in the 'hood) and used to sing (or as we called it in NYC in 1960- "hit notes") with members of both groups during PE and outdoor rec.

[JKL2000]

^^ Steve, for six years in the 90s we lived in Astoria. 26 st and 24th ave. A few blocks West of Bohemian Hall. Great neighborhood, the best Greek Food this side of Greece, I guess.

[JKL2000]

Blotto used to play in the basement bar in my freshman dorm. They were fun.