If you are an American rock band a la Kings of Leon-esque raunchiness, then my advice to you is GO TO ENGLAND. There is just something about those Brits that just knows how to make American rock bands famous. For example, California’s Vintage Trouble, played around some local bars for awhile before booking to England and after three shows in the UK in early 2011, the band returned in April 2011 to appear on Jools Holland’s late night TV show Later… with Jools Holland. The band became the 6th most trending topic of the day on Twitter, attained the #13 best selling digital album on iTunes, and had the #5 all around best selling digital album on Amazon UK, beating out both Rihanna and the current Glee albums. Additionally, VT had the #2 best selling digital Rock album on Amazon.com UK, and the #1 best selling R&B digital album on Amazon UK.
The band joined Brian May (guitar player of Queen) and Kerry Ellis for a tour starting in early May 2011, and in June 2011 supported rock band Bon Jovi on the UK leg of their The Circle Tour. The band played for Paul Stanley on January 20th 2012 at his 60th Birthday Party and Paul sang “You Shook Me” by Led Zeppelin. They are playing Smith’s Olde Bar on Saturday, and joined us for our 5GB series.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Ty – Fleetwood Mac – NYC
Nalle Colt – Johnny Thunders
Rick-I thought my first was ac/dc but my mom informs me it was REO Speedwagon with Survivor. My original answer was so much better in my head 🙂
Richard – Jackson Brown – No Nukes Rally, Diablo Canyon California. He got arrested for the protest that followed and my best friend’s dad was the judge. He procured Jackson Brown’s autograph for us and let him off easy.
What is the best gig that you ever played/performed at?
Ty- 02 Academy – Glasgow with VT
Nalle – Ditto
Rick-agreed
Richard – ditto on the agreed
What is the best gig you have ever been to?
Ty – Tina Turner – Wildest Dreams Tour
Nalle – Peter Gabriel – So tour
Rick- Prince- any time I’ve ever seen him
Richard – Journey – Day on The Green – Oakland Stadium (there home town, I was young, they had tunes… am I actually justifying this gig? Journey was a great band of that period. Steve Smith was, and still is, one of the greatest drummers of all time for both Jazz and Rock.
Gig you would most like to play?
Ty – iTunes Music Fest – Round House
Nalle – Royal Albert Hall
Rick-Glastonbury
Richard – Los Angles Forum. Not even sure if it’s still a venue since Staple Center came to town. But this is where all the huge concerts in LA took place before my young dreamy eyes.
What would be the lineup for your dream gig?
Ty – VT/Chuck Berry/Rolling Stones at Wimbledon. C’mon.
Nalle – VT/Muddy Waters/Led Zeppelin/Royal Albert Hall
Rick- VT/Little Richard/Rolling Stones – sweaty killer clubs from London to Australia to deep south US.
Richard – VT/Led Zeppelin – Sage GatesHead (small room) Newcastle UK.
Catch Vintage Trouble, April 7th at Smith’s Olde Bar
