Who Is The Best Opening Act You Have Ever Seen In Concert?

[The Great Escape]

I guess for me it would be Joan Jett and the Blackhearts opening for The Police at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY in 1982. They were definitely riding the crest of "I Love Rock and Roll at the time. I thought that JJ had excellent stage presence and really knew how to work the crowd.

Worst would have to be Ellen Foley opening for ELO (also in 1982). If I'm not mistaken her main claim to fame is that she was the female voice on Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." I was never so happy to see ELO in my life.

[KitchenWitch]

1. Buckwheat Zydeco

opened for Eric Clapton in the late 80s

[More Than A Feeling]

2. I saw Radiohead open for REM in 1994

Too young at the time to appreciate them, though.

[Fenris]

53. I saw them on that same tour

I immediately went out and bought "The Bends." Definitely the best opening act I've ever seen.

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. Public Enemy opening for U2 in '92...

and Soul Coughing opening for Dave Matthews in 1994.

[radwriter0555]

79. I saw U2 opening for the J. Geils band in 1981... And I saw Prince get

booed off the stage when he opened for the Rolling Stones in Miami.

[DrZeeLit]

4. Santana opened for Steppenwolf... SD Sports Arena, June 1969.

Also... Eric Burden opened for the Doors. San Diego. Spring 1968.

I also saw Jimi Hendrix, but... I was pretty stoned. I can't remember who opened for him. But it was late summer, 1968, San Diego.

and the beat goes on.

Newport Beach Rock Festival, Summer 68 -- was GREAT, too. Everyone opened for everyone. I've got a list somewhere.....

what a time it was!

[Straight Shooter]

5. Bus Boys for Linda Ronstadt, and that was in the early '80s.

She was great, too, an incredible voice, but the Bus Boys (Busboys?) made me want to get up and dance in the aisles.

I've always wondered what happened to them ...

[Bok_Tukalo]

22. Bus Boys opened for the Stray Cats in Dallas in '83

and they were great but my favorite has to be John Campbell opening for Buddy Guy.

He was incredible.

[prairierose]

6. I have to say that I have seen some pretty

crappy opening acts. None of which I can remember. OTOH, I know I've seen some good opening acts too but can't seem to remember them either. What do you suppose that says?

[KitchenWitch]

12. Says you were baked at a lot of the concerts you attended?

:P

[flamingyouth]

7. Fleshtones

Opening for the Go-Go's in 1981. It was my first concert, and I loved them both.

[tuvor]

8. The Dreg 77, one of my all-time favorite songs

I presume they played that one?

[flamingyouth]

9. Oh yes

It was on their Roman Gods tour. I love that song too. :thumbsup:

[enigmatic]

31. I knew Keith Streng a little bit..

Whrn I lived in Athens, GA; nice guy. He went out w/ a "friend of a friend", and we always went and saw them when they played in town..

[jpak]

80. REM opening for the Brains May 15, 1980

Memorial Ballroom, University of Georgia.

It was the most astonishing thing I've ever seen or heard - they raised the hair on the back of my neck.

They blew the poor Brains (who originally wrote "Money Changes Everything") off the stage.

[underpants]

81. *ahem* that is the "Hex Breaking" Fleshtones

Roman Gods what a GREAT album. I saw them "headline" at the Kings Head Inn in Norfolk (near ODU) great show.

[tuvor]

10. Nash the Slash

opening for the Spoons around 1985.

[highnooner]

14. The Eagles Opening for Fleetwood Mac

1976. Best concert I ever went to. It started at 8:00 and did not end until 1:30am.

[6000eliot]

103. Have you ever heard FM?

"Black Noise" is a fantastic album that N the S made with them in the '70s.

[enigmatic]

11. I saw Husker Du open up for The Fall in 1983...

Around the time "Metal Circus" came out. Blew me away, and they are still one of my top 10 favorite bands..

[The Great Escape]

17. I Saw Husker Du in 1987 at The Boathouse in Norfolk...

great show. I think Hurricane Isabel claimed the Boathouse in 2003.

[enigmatic]

23. I saw them in Clevo at The Pop Shop...

underneath The Agora, which is a legendary club there. The funny thing is that I saw many, many more great shows downstairs at The Pop Shop then I did at The Agora!

[driver8]

43. Oh man...I used to live in Virginia Beach and loved the Boathouse!

I saw many, many shows there...and drank many, many beers!!

[mark414]

39. ohhhh damn

that must've been a hell of a show

[enigmatic]

51. It was a helluva show..

I just got both "Metal Circus" and "After The Gramme" the same day about 2 weeks before the show and couldn't believe they were both playing on the same bill...

[blondeatlast]

13. INXS opening for Adam Ant in the early '80s.

Before they got so polished, they put AA to shame (which really wasn't hard).

[Rabrrrrrr]

19. Oh, yeah! I saw them together in the early 80s as well -

I had never heard of INXS, but they WERE really good! I was totally into it.

[blondeatlast]

38. Why I went to see Adam Ant, I'll never know.

But INXS was incredible.

[RagingInMiami]

15. Guns-n-Roses

Back in 1986 when they opened up for Motley Crue. They not only blew Motley Crue off the stage, but Axel Rose and Slash joined Motley Crue during Crue's encore to play Jailhouse Rock.

[bbernardini]

16. The Samples for Bruce Hornsby and Atom and His Package for Tenacious D

[blackcat77]

18. Redbone

At a concert at Indiana University when I was a student there in 1970. It says a lot that I remember them but not the headliner...

[kohodog]

20. Savoy Brown at the Fillmore East

Followed by Poco and Gypsy.

Or maybe the Acoustic Dead> Lone Riders of the Purple Sage> Dead, was better, but I'm not sure if that qualifies.

[Osamasux]

21. Ellen Foley's day gig was as an actress on Night Court.

She was also Mick Jones' longtime girlfriend, which is what made her records so good. (3 albums, I think)

[The Great Escape]

33. You Prompted Me To Do Some More Reading On Her...

she did background vocals on Joe Jackson's "Body and Soul" Album. I never realized it was her.

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. Quiet Riot opening for Sabbath on the "Born Again" tour

When Quiet Riot was at about the top of their popularity. They were great! Sabbath still blew them away, but come on - it's Sabbath.

I'd say Quiet Riot was the tops of all the opening bands I've been to.

The INXS one mentioned earlier would be close.

At the bottom are Autograph and Dokken. They were sort of better than boring. At the rock bottom, the absolutely fucking worst live thing I've ever experienced, the only live music I would actually classify as utterly awful and vomit-inducingly bland, tasteless, and miserable was the Vinnie Vincent Invasion opening for Alice Cooper on his comeback tour in the late 80s.

[Rabrrrrrr]

28. Oh, and speaking of Quiet Riot - I was in a small WI town last year

a town of about 6000 people, and walking out of the grocery store noticed a photocopied flyer on the Community Bulletin Board announcing that Quiet Riot was coming to play at some shithole backwater bar outside of town in an even smaller town.

[Osamasux]

25. Aerosmith opening for Black Sabbath.

Way back in the day. It was their first NYC appearance and most had never heard of them. It was also Ozzie's birthday.

[bbernardini]

26. Mieka Pauley opening for Sean Kelly

She's an amazing singer/songwriter out of Boston. www.mieka.com

[maveric]

27. The Eagles opened for the Allman Brothers Band in 1973.

Chief Dan George spoke in between the acts.

[Misunderestimator]

29. TINA TURNER... opening for Prince's Purple Rain in 1984

Just as she started to make her come-back.

[Floogeldy]

30. Sonic Youth. Ha ha! They opened for Neil Young.

I luv 'em both.

[Emops]

32. The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band

when they opened for ZZ Top two years ago.

[warrens]

34. Slits, Undertones, Bo Diddley, The Fall and Grandmaster Flash

Opening for various Clash shows. NY Dolls opening for Captain Beefheart (with, bizarrely, Larry Coryell in between), The Cramps opening for (I think) The Dead Boys at CBGBs, New Order opening for A Certain Ratio at Hurrah in their first U.S. show...oh, Cowboy Junkies opening for The Swans, at CBGBs, again.

And the most amazing of all, the Ramones opening for a hack covers band called Maze at New Canaan High School in Conn., just before their first album came out. I still have a stack of those posters. Autographed.

I think this one was a coin flip. The Kinks opening for Styx at UConn one time. And the Kinks opening for The Beach Boys in NJ. Iggy and the Stooges opening for Blue Oyster Cult (and the Dictators opening for THEM) in about 1973.

On edit: Lately, Secret Machines opening for both Modest Mouse and Interpol. Hint to would-be superstars: NEVER let Secret Machines open for you.

And one I really liked, Yo La Tengo opening for the Mekons in Central Park in 1990. Which reminds me, Tom Cora and the Ex opening for the Mekons in NY.

[Fenris]

54. "New Order opening for A Certain Ratio"

Man that's a funny juxtaposition. :D

[MissMillie]

35. The Fixx

They opened for the Moody Blues, back in the 80s

[regularguy]

87. Also The Fixx

Saw them open for Flock of Seagulls ar Radio city, early eighties. I don't really remember F of S, but the Fixx were great.

[NoPasaran]

36. Foghat opening for Joe Cocker, 1974

At least I think it was Foghat. And I think it was Joe Cocker. I wouldn't swear to anything, though. But it was a hell of concert. :smoke:

[progressoid]

37. Stray Cats opening for the Stones in '81 ('82?)

I knew who they were, but someone with me said, "Who? The Gray Hats?"

It was great HUGE stage for Mick and the boys' HUGE show. Then these three guys come on stage with nothing but a guitar, upright bass, bass and snare drum and one cymbal (and some raw talent). They blew the roof off the place!

[saltpoint]

40. Phoebe Snow was pregnant and had to cancel --

-- as opening act for James Taylor at Tanglewood, so we heard Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band instead.

As evenings go, that one was a peach.

[MrSlayer]

41. Def Leppard opening for Billy Squire.

Def Lep turned into crap after Pyromania but man did they blow Squire off the stage. Almost everyone left after their set.

[libodem]

42. Live

opening for Counting Crows

[driver8]

44. Camper Van Beethoven opening for 10,000 Maniacs in Richmond, VA.

Also:

Sammy Hagar blowing Boston off the stage

Head East warming up for Johnny Winter

the Silencers warming up for Squeeze

Let's Active opening for REM

Aztec Camera opening for Let's Active

[RetroLounge]

85. OMG! Dream Concert!

Let's Active opening for REM

RL

[driver8]

97. I know -- my dream concert, too.

REM has always been my favorite band (hence, my screen name). Also, Mitch Easter produced my favorite album (Murmur) as well as a bunch of other bands I like. Plus, his music and songwriting is pretty damn good, also.

It was a great show!

[RetroLounge]

101. We covered REM & Lets Active back in the day

We played Radio Free Europe and Every Word Means No in a bar band I was in back in the 80's...

RL

[kariatari]

45. Bright Eyes on the Vote for Change Tour

The volatile combination of Oberst's passion, his lyrics and the setting made for an unforgettable experience.

[jmowreader]

46. The Alarm opening for Pat Benatar in 1986

The Alarm was Wales' answer to U2. They were fun.

[Floogeldy]

48. GET OUTTA HERE!

I so love The Alarm.

"Absolute Reality" is the first coveted song that comes to mind.

[jmowreader]

65. The opening act was better than the headliner

No one in Spokane knew who The Alarm were. I certainly didn't know. The morning of the concert, the paper carried an interview in which Mike Peters asked the ticketholders to "come out, see The Alarm, and get their money's worth." Or something like that. Apparently a lot of people along the tour were skipping The Alarm and just coming to see Benatar.

These guys walked on stage and opened their set with Declaration, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke? and Marching On. Get out your copy of Declaration, play those three songs in that sequence, and tell me what you would have thought if those were the first three Alarm songs you'd ever heard.

Benatar was a whole 'nother kettle 'a fish. They had a keyboard you loaded sounds into from floppy disk. One. And they based the whole show around that fucking machine. So they'd play one song, and everyone would be very happy. Then they'd turn off all of the lights, reload the keyboard, turn the lights back on, play one song and everyone would be very happy. Then they doused all the lights, reloaded the keyboard...you could have stayed home, drank beer, listened to Benatar records and had a lot better time than that.

[driver8]

98. I love the Alarm!

I saw them with the Pretenders when I was in college and they rocked!!

Did you guys see the "Bands Re-united" on VH1 with the Alarm? It was great. The fans were definitely into them!!

[HamstersFromHell]

47. Journey (before Steve Perry ruined 'em) opening for ELO in '75

others...

The James Gang (w/Joe Walsh) opening for The Edgar Winter Group in '73(?)

Black Oak Arkansas opening for Black Sabbath in '71. BOA did their set then Ozzy came down with a sore throat and cancelled. Auditorium offered a refund to anyone who wanted one or they could stay for a second (longer) BOA set. I think maybe 50 people left out of a crowd of 10,000+

(Mighta been the "atmosphere" in the Auditorium contributing to that.)

[leftofthedial]

49. Hot Tuna

Opened for the Carpenters, believe it or not.

[Lugnut]

50. Williams and Ree

For the Oak Ridge Boys back in the mid 80s. They are a scream.

http://www.williamsandree.com/main.htm

[tyedyeto]

52. I know I'm showing how old I am but..............

Santana was the opening act at Winterland in SF circa 1972 for, I think it was, John Mayall. One of the best shows I ever saw....... Santana never let the music die. While they took their breaks, someone would be soloing. Music never ended.................GREAT!!!

[Ouabache]

55. Stevie Wonder when he opened for the Rolling Stones

yes, it was a LOONNNGG time ago.

[u4ic]

56. Chalk Circle...who were they opening for?

One of those Aussie bands...Split Enz, Crowded House, one of those. Toronto, circa 1985-86. They split up not long after.

[Sgent]

58. No Doubt

No Doubt opened for 311 at the Grove in Olemiss.

This when 311 was known regionally, and no one had ever heard of No Doubt.

[DemBones DemBones]

57. 1965, Chuck Berry at the Dome in Virginia Beach opening for

some forgettable pop singer from the Fifties. I have actually forgotten who the "top" act was. Bobby Rydell? Bobby Vinton? Bobby Vee? Berry was just starting to tour again, being rediscovered.

Berry was fantastic and half the crowd left after his encores.

[Beer Snob-50]

59. jimmy buffet opened for the eagles

hotel california tour. close second, tom petty opening for j geils band.

worse? sammy hager opening for numerous bands i saw.

[BigMcLargehuge]

60. Corrosion of Conformity/Lunachicks/Bullet Lavolta

Corrosion of Conformity opening for Rollins Band at Club Babyhead in Providence RI 1992
They stepped all over my hands as I was right at the front of the stage and hung their sweaty nasty hair down on me too. At the end of their set the lead singer shook my hand and offered to buy me beer for my trouble. I accepted and spent 90% of Rollins' show getting drunk with the opening act. My brother knocked a couple of skinheads unconscious. They were foolish enough to pull his long ponytail and my brother is 6.2 and 250 pounds.

Good times!

1st Runner Up -

Lunachicks at The Channel in Boston, 1990, opening for Gwar.

2nd Runner Up -

Bullet Lavolta opening for Six Finger Satellite at Club Babyhead in Providence, RI. Never heard them before that, ended up buying their three albums over the next two years. Ran into the singer Yuki Gipe and the lead guitarist at Looney Tunes Records on Newbury St a couple of years after the show just before Swandive was released. They remembered me from the show, as I was one of only a handful of people there.

[elehhhhna]

61. Merle Haggard for Willie Nelson at Houston Rodeo a few years ago.

[bobthedrummer]

62. The Soft Machine opening for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Milwaukee

1968.
:P

[livetohike]

63. Buddy Miles opened for Three Dog Night

in Pittsburgh summer of 1971...or 1972. Uh, why can't I remember the date? :-).

[El Fuego]

64. KISS opening for AEROSMITH!!!!

KISS was so good that Aerosmith was anti-climatic.

[Bonhomme Richard]

66. Linda Ronstadt opening for Neil Young at......

the University of Alabama. The ticket was $2.00, Ahhhh the good old days.

[bleedingheart]

67. Crosby Stills and Nash...

they opened for the Grateful Dead

[AllegroRondo]

89. They opened for Santana in '95. Great show.

[semillama]

68. It's the Black Eyed Snakes opening for Man or Astroman?

This is why:

I had never heard of the Black Eyed Snakes. When we got to the club, the stage was set up with chairs for the guitarists. So I was expecting a low-key opening act, since they would be sitting down.

WRONG.

These guys did sit down, true, but rocked it like nothing else. foot stomping, wailing, at one point falling out of the chair. I was blown away.

Talked with them later, turns out they know my best friend Mavis in Duluth, then turns out that the band is a side project of Low, with the stated purpose of "destroying blues from the inside out."

What a show!

Other great openers included Muse for the RHCP a few years ago, and Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins for RHCP in 1992. Last year, the best opening act I saw was Motorhead for Iron Maiden.

[SCDem]

69. Pearl Jam

highlight was supposed to be Red Hot Chili Peppers but surprisingly I was much more impressed with Pearl Jam's stage presence.... seemed more real and less scripted that Chili Peppers.

[Joe Power]

70. Thin Lizzy opening for Queen or SRV opening for the Moody Blues

Queen overcame Thin Lizzy's blistering set so I named that first since they combined for such an incredible show. We had to leave after a few songs by the Moody Blues. SRV so badly overshadowed them that their set sounded horrid in comparision. I also saw the Dictators open for J. Geils. That was quite interesting, to say the least.

Honorable mentions go to:
Suicidal Tendencies opening for Megadeth
Jim Rose Circus Sideshow for NIN
The Melvins and The Rev. Horton Heat both opening for Marilyn Manson.
Peter Tosh opening for The Stones (who sucked badly)
The Fabulous Thunderbirds opening for SRV
The Stray cats, also for SRV

Worst was probably either Christopher Cross opening for Fleetwoord Mac, or else Journey opening for Santana. Journey even managed to suck with Ainsley Dunbar as their drummer. Ick.

[progmom]

71. MeShell NdegeOcello opening for Sting

I adore her.

Also - Teenage Fanclub opening for Radiohead.

Bad? Juggler Chris Bliss opening for the Jackson's Victory Tour. :P

[XNASA]

72. Saw 'Magazine' open for 'The Buzzcocks' in 1979 or 80.

At a small basement club in Chicago.

[DS1]

Pantera opened for Suicidal Tendencies at The Ritz in NYC, and

Megadeth opened for Judas Priest @ Giants Stadium

[DS1]

73. Pantera opened for Suicidal Tendencies at The Ritz in NYC, and

Megadeth opened for Judas Priest @ Giants Stadium

[Balbus]

74. Metallica opening for Ozzy

When Ozzy was on his "No More Tears" tour. Mid-80's sometime.

[NewJeffCT]

92. I will agree with you on that

It was '85-86, my freshman year of college. Metallica was awesome. Of course, I had seen them headling at the Agora Ballroom in CT before that.

[ProfessorGAC]

75. PFM Opening for Foghat

PFM was a prog rock quintet out of Italy and were essentially unknown in the U.S. They opened for Hogfat (yeah, that's on purpose) at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago. They were STUNNINGLY good and of course Foghat was, well, Foghat!

Worst opening act i've ever seen was Billy Squier. He opened for Foreigner. I took my little sister and her friend to see Foreigner for her birthday in 1984. (She was 16 and i'm 11 years older.)

Geez, was that band HORRIBLE! Billy didn't hit one note during the show, the band was sloppy, guitars weren't staying in tune. Just horrific.

The next worst opening act was about all but 2 that ever opened for my band. The two that weren't bad were both VERY good. But, all the rest ranged between bad and unlistenable. And most of them had attitudes toward US! F*$^ them!
The Professor

[Frogtutor]

76. Rage Against the Machine opening for U2 in '98...

I really had never heard much about them before that, they rocked!

[Search Party]

77. Camper Van Beethoven

opening for R.E.M. in Kansas City, 1985.

Honestly, they blew R.E.M. off the stage. I was a HUGE R.E.M. fan at that time, we all drove home exchanging, "WTF was that!?" over and over.

[driver8]

105. That's how I felt after seeing CVB open up for 10,000 Maniacs.

I knew nothing about them except for their song "Take the Skinheads Bowling" which is not a good representation of Camper Van's music.

After seeing them, my friends and I were blown away!

[jandrok]

78. Van Halen opening for Black Sabbath

...circa '78 or so. This was Sabbath's last tour with the Ozzman before they kicked him to the curb and hired Ronnie James Dio.

VH blew them off of the stage. They were loud, fast, brash and young. The Sabs were old, plodding, and slow by comparison.

[NewJeffCT]

93. I had heard that, too

And, Ozzy later admitted it. I was a bit too young at the time - I turned 12 in late 1978.

[Coventina]

82. O.M.D. opening for Depeche Mode on the "Music for the Masses" tour

But that was a great show by Depeche Mode as well.

[GalleryGod]

83. The Late Great Freddy Prinze

@ the dearly departed Valley FForge Music Fair, in Devon, PA.:crazy:

[fit4life]

84. Best/worst

Best: Skid Row opening for Guns n Roses in 1991

Worst: Cinderella opening for Judas Priest in '88.

[RetroLounge]

86. Soundgarden opening for Danzig

I went just for Soundgarden, then left...

Scorpion opening for Iron Maiden was good.

Judas Priest opening for Heart.

Muddy Waters opening for Clapton was God-Like.

Nik Kershaw opening for Paul Young (Really, it *was* good)

RL

[Kid_A]

88. Now It's Overhead opening for R.E.M. last October.

They're a cool indie band from Athens, GA (same as R.E.M.). They're fantastic. I hadn't heard them before the show, but the next day I ran out and bought their CD "Fall Back Open", and it's unbelievably good. This band deserves to be huge, but part of me wants them to stay indie so I can seem cool by telling people about them.:)

[AllegroRondo]

90. Jimi Hendrix opening for the Monkees.

OK, I didnt go. But I saw the episode on TV.

[Beaverhausen]

91. Lyle Lovett opened for Bonnie Raitt

or was it Rickie Lee Jones? I forget. He and his large band of fucking amazing musicians blew me away.

then a few years later I saw Shawn Colvin open for him. She was solo. She rocked.

[Spirochete]

94. ZZ Top opened for Rare Earth

in 1973. Were much better than the headline act.

[leftofthedial]

95. Steely Dan

opened for the Eagles

197 . . . 1? 2?

[blue neen]

96. Eric Clapton (with Derek and the Dominos) opening for Santana!

Pittsburgh Civic Arena, 1975. Oh lordie. What a concert!

[RedSpartan]

99. Garbage opening for U2 in 2001.

Bartcop would be proud.

[kwassa]

100. Richie Havens opening for the rest of the Woodstock line up

1969 at Max Yazgurs farm.

Three days of fun and music and rain and mud, mud, and more mud. Lotta drugs, weird food, overflowing toilets.

[6000eliot]

102. Cheap Trick opening for Uriah Heep in 1977

I knew they were going to be huge very soon.

[Ramsey]

104. I was at that show!!

Wow, it was good.

But my vote for best opening band is from the same year, I think, or possibly 1981.

INXS opened for Adam Ant, in Lexington, KY, right when their first album Shaboo Shabaa came out! A great debut and a great opening band!

My second vote is for the Devlins, who opened for Sarah MacLachlan at the Keswick in Philly around 1995.