I just found this website that lists pretty much every show the Minutemen ever played, and I found the one I went to on 9/6/85 at the Golden Bear in Long Beach, CA. I was just shy of my 15th birthday, it was the end of the summer before my sophomore year of high school. My friend Pat Feller brought me up to this club in Long Beach, about a 30 minute drive from where I lived in Costa Mesa. I had been listening to the Minutemen for a while and was excited and a little scared.
We got to the show as the opening act, Din, were already on stage. The club, which probably held about 300 people, was packed except for a spot at a table literally right in front of the stage. We were ushered in and sat down, and then about 3 songs in, a chubby guy with a scraggly beard sat at our table directly on my left. I didn’t know who he was, but my friend Pat turned white as a ghost. The guy sat and watched about 3 more songs, he had a very mellow, respectful vibe. He then got up and left, at which point Pat leaned over and stage-whispered “That was D. Boon!”
Then it was time for the Minutemen to play, and that bearded guy and his two compatriots, Mike Watt and George Hurley, put on one of the greatest rock shows I have witnessed to this day, from about 10 feet away. (Thanks to http://metallipromo.com/minute.html for the amazing site)
