Throwdown is an American straight edge heavy metal band from Orange County, California, formed in 1997. They have toured as part of Ozzfest, Sounds of the Underground, Hellfest, and Warped Tour, and with bands such as In Flames, Lamb of God, As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, Korn and Cavalera Conspiracy. The songs "Forever" and "Burn" have been staples on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball and Revolver Magazine called them part of "The Future of Metal" after hearing the album Vendetta. Initially branded a hardcore band, their most recent albums Venom and Tears and Deathless have taken a sharp direction towards metal, with critics likening the band's sound to that of Pantera, Sepultura, and Crowbar.

Throwdown was formed in 1997 by vocalist Keith Barney, who would also be an active member of both Adamantium and Eighteen Visions, guitarists Tommy Love and Javier Van Huss, bassist Dom Macaluso, and drummer Marc Jackson. The group took on the title Throwdown as a "wry irony on their collective stature," at the time no band member being more than 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m). The band released their debut, self-titled 7-inch single that same year through Prime Directive Records. Van Huss left the band, and was replaced by Brandan Schieppati. After sign a recording contract with Indecision Records, the band released their first studio album Beyond Repair the following year. In 1999, Barney also relinquished his role in Death by Stereo to prioritise Throwdown. Schieppati left the band to concentrate full-time on his other band Bleeding Through, being replaced by Dave Peters. The following year, the new line-up released the Drive Me Dead EP. In 2001, Throwdown released their second studio album, You Don't Have to Be Blood to Be Family. They also recorded a tongue-in-cheek metalcore version of Sir Mix-a-Lot's hit single "Baby Got Back" for Radical Records' Too Legit for the Pit: Hardcore Takes the Rap compilation, which also featured Candiria, Stretch Arm Strong, and The Movielife. Allmusic reviewer Rick Anderson gave the album four and a half out of five stars, stating that Throwdown's version for the song was "absolutely hilarious". The idea of cover a hip hop song, was a collaboration between Macaluso and Love. Originally they wanted to cover House of Pain's "Jump Around". Then the band decided there was too much in the song, as they felt that hip hop songs are hard to cover. Peters said, "Sir Mix-a-Lot was easy and funny, and that's what we're all about, playing easy stuff and trying to be funny." The following year, Barney expressed a desire to switch to guitar (which he played in Eighteen Visions already) because he would often lose his voice on tour. Peters took over on vocals. Fill-in guitarist Matt Mentley would fill in whenever Barney had shows with Eighteen Visions. Lacking a permanent drummer after the departure of Jackson, 18V drummer Ken Floyd regularly filled in around this time as well. After that in 2002 Throwdown made their next cd Face the Mirror EP with no changes except for Ken Floyd on drums. CANNOTANSWER

Using a quote from the above article, answer the following question: Where were some of their first gigs?

The band released their debut, self-titled 7-inch single that same year through Prime Directive Records.