Dave Meniketti - guitar, vocals; Phil Kennemore - bass, vocals; Leonard Haze - drums; Joey Alves - guitar
Formed in San Francisco in the same year of this performance, this early recording of Y&T (which stood for Yesterday & Today, a name copped from The Beatles' album that featured the infamous "butcher" cover) shows the band in its infancy when it was essentially a high energy club group opening for the bands like Journey and The Doobie Brothers (who were already superstars).
Featuring hard-rock tracks such as "Jammin' For Kenny", "Tonight", "Stargazer (Round And Round)", and a lackluster "Rock n' Roll Medley: Blue Suede Shoes / Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On / Jailhouse Rock / Hound Dog", this recording shows how much of an influence the UK band Ten Years After was on Y&T. The fact that they remained committed to the hard rock boogie style (after it was waning in the US), explains why they failed to find a huge audience.
The band would endure for another 15 years after this early recording was captured, but in all that time it would fail to have any sizable impact on the US music scene. Their highest charting release was the 1984 album In Rock We Trust, which peaked #46. The following release's "Summertime Girls" proved a hit, and was put to use on the TV show Baywatch.
Y&T had long stints on London, A&M, and Geffen Records, all of which had considerable success with the band in Europe, especially Holland, as well as Japan. They remained a smaller, cult act in the US, but across the pond Y&T had gold-record status.
The band split up in the 1990s, but in 2001 Meniketti and Kennemore reformed the band. They have since released re-mastered versions of two of their '80s LPs, as well as two volumes of demos and rarities. The band continues to tour.