I worked at the port of Oakland in the late 80's - early 90's. A friend of mine had a ticket connection, so we saw all the big bands up front at the Coliseum. But I prefered the smaller venues like the Warfield in SF or The Cataliyst in Santa Cruz. You're right - Any band of any type was accessible to us... Heaven
One of the last shows I saw before I moved out of the Bay was Tower of Power. They played at the stadium at Solano College in Fairfield. It was pouring rain but they nailed it as always. Long time fan too!
As I recall, Greg Kihn was a favorite at the Catalyst. The Keystone in Palo Alto was one of my faves. Saw George Thorogood there among many other acts. Was able to see shows at the Fillmore West before they closed it. Lots of 'Day on the Greens' at the Oakland Coliseum.
Then there was the Concord Pavilion, the Cow Palace, Winterland, the Berkeley Amphitheater(saw Frank Zappa there), the Circle Star Theater(Smokey Robinson, BB King), San Jose Civic(AC/DC with Bon Scott/Montrose) and then there were lots of smaller clubs to see bands at, I could go on and on. It was just a blessed time and place to be a lover of live music.