Inspired by the other thread. For me, The English Beat were absolutely the best. I'd never heard of them and they were opening for the Pretenders. They were absolutely amazing. Then, there was this band that opened for the Go Gos. Their lead singer mooned the audience. I got there late and didn't have any idea who they were til the end of their set. The announcer said something like, thanks to the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
good bands ive seen as openers: hall n oates-late 70s version barenaked ladies living colour the breeders the del fuegos luscious jackson fishbone no doubt jurassic 5 weezer live ben folds 5 the honeyrods school of fish red hot chili peppers edie brickell & new bohemians cracker pearl jam off the top of my head anyway
-terence trent d'arby opening for Duran Duran. -Ghost of the Robot (band with guy plays Spike on Buffy) opening for Common Rotation (band with guy who plays Warren on Buffy)
i had a friend in high school who was a rush fanatic. to this day, that's the number one arena-rock band i've seen the most times live, mostly cuz all i had to do was sit back and let him camp out for tickets. anyhoo, on one of their tours, the opener was marrillion. fab; i got me a fave new band. life was good.
I wouldn't call it great, but by a country mile it's my most memorable: Prince opening for the Rolling Stones in 1981. This was the infamous LA Coliseum show where he was booed off the stage. Poor Prince, stuck on a bill with the J Geils Band and George Thorogood.
As I said in the other thread, the best opening band that I've seen was Pylon, opening for REM in 1989 or so, at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Pylon had this really large woman as the singer, and she was active and fun and just great. She ad a really cool voice too. Maybe the only time that I've seen an opening act get a standing ovation at the end of their set. The next best that I've seen was Magnapop, who opened for the fall I don't remember how many people on these boards remember, but in about 1994 that Magnapop was one of the next big things. They were like Veruca Salt without the stupidity and with twice the music. They gave just an absolutely energetic performance. The funny thing about that concert --- it was headlined by The Fall, whose lead singer Mark E. Smith was pissed off throughout the show. And he took it out on his band. He actually stopped a song right in the middle to punish the woman playing bass and singing back-up. took her microphone away and relocated her to the back of the stage for a song or two. They played eight songs and then left. In their year end summary, the Michigan Daily called it the weirdest show they went to that year. Also saw the Pixies open for U2 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. They weren't great that night, but still, it was the Pixies.
Great acts I've seen as openers: Radiohead (for R.E.M.) Public Enemy (for both Anthrax & U2) Rage Against the Machine (for U2) Helmet (for Faith No More) Rollins Band (for Helmet) Primus (for Anthrax) 16 Horsepower (for Morphine)
-Queensryche opening for Metallica on the Damaged Justice tour. -King's X opening for AC/DC on the Razor's Edge tour. -Moke opening for King's X on the Manic Moonlight tour. -Joe Bonamassa opening for the North Mississippi All-Stars. Probably think of more later, but these jumped out at me.
Sting (for Grateful Dead) The Band (for GRateful Dead) Traffic (for Grateful Dead) Jayhawks (for Wilco) Old 97's (for Wilco) Honeydogs (for Old 97's) Josh Joplin (for Matthew Sweet) Verbow (for Jayhawks)
weezer (for now doubt) Beulah (for cake) Cake(for then flaming lips) Modest Mouse (for Cake) Litlle joe gould (for the actual)
Camper Van Beethoven opening for REM on the LRPagent tour. I swear I saw colors during their version of Interstellar Overdrive, at least I think it was the music that caused it...... The most entertaining "Stonehenge" moment came when the Pat Travers Band opened for the Kinks in 1983. His cordless to the amplifier wasnt working so he threw it down, stomped on it, then walked off stage.
The Blind Boys of Alabama (opening for Peter Gabriel), last year. I hadn't heard the Blind Boys before, and they sounded awesome. They had the place absolutely rockin'. Nearly stole the show from Peter Gabriel, and that's a might hard thing to do.
yes, indeed. the 'boys' ripped the roof off the f***ing place, and it was a great thing to behold. but outdoing PG on THIS particular tour was no great shakes. i could've lived a long, happy life without ever having been introduced to the notion of "peter gabriel as hamster."
Marillion has to be the most under-rated band of all time. If you like them, you should check out Fish (not Phish). He was their lead singer and put out some good solo stuff. The best opening act I saw was either Billy Squire (opening for Queen) or Ottmar Leibert and Luna Negra (opening for Julio Iglesias).
Consolidated opening up for Meat Beat Manifesto in Chicago was the best opening act I saw. Although as stated somewhere else I saw the Smashing Pumpkins open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I thought Consolidated was better.