Best opening acts you've seen live

[zepphead]

I know it doesn't really count as it was a mini festival but it popped into my head! .....

 

On 27th July 1980 The Police played Leixlip Castle Dublin.

I wasn't that big a Police fan but a girl I fancied asked me if i wanted to go so, on the coach to Dublin we got.........

 

Anyway, slightly down the list of acts was a new upcoming band from Dublin called .... U2!

TBH i thought they were sh*te that day lol!!

[Presto-digitation]

JOLLY

 

Blown away.

[apetersvt]

Don't know if this has ever been a thread so thought it would be fun. Was inspired by the "1994 Cream" thread with Bruce, Baker and Gary Moore as I saw Gary Moore open for Rush on the GUP tour. Moore is definitely one of my favorite opening acts. He was fantastic and the audience was definitely into it. I'll add one more and step back a bit before adding more as I have quite a few.

The other one I'll mention is Head East. Saw them open for both Atlanta Rhythm Section in '77 and Styx (Grand Illusion tour, '78) and they were very, very good. Held their own with Styx and I thought they were better than ARS, or at least were higher energy.

 

head east kick ass. i canr remember who i saw open on the GUP tour?? i do remember seeing BOC, tommy shaw, and john butcher???? open for rush

 

i saw primus open for public enemy and anthrax

i saw public enemy open for U2

i saw the grateful dead open for bob dylan

i saw my fave reggae band, steel pulse open for bob dylan

i saw the smashing pumpkins open for the red hot chile peppers ( need to double check this one )

 

holy shit. the pumpkins did open but apparently so did Pearl Jam!!! I did not know until i had seen them. i wonder what other openers i cant remember. D'oh!!!!!

 

http://www.rhcplivea...-denver-co-1069

 

 

any killer opener was spocks beard opening for dream theater

 

When did the Dead open up for Dylan (or are you referring to the '87 Dylan and The Dead run?)

I saw Dylan open for the Dead in '94

[apetersvt]

My favorite openers:

Gov't Mule opening for The Black Crowes

Gov't Mule opening for ZZ Top

Primus opening for Rush

Cheap Trick opening for Robert Plant

Rose Hill Drive opening for Gov't Mule

Allman Brothers opening for Phil and Friends (and Phil and Friends opening for The Allman Brothers. They swapped the order every other show that tour)

Traffic opening for The Grateful Dead

[RushFanForever]

Eric Johnson with Mike Stern - Feb 5, 2015 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC.

 

I got the venue wrong. This concert was at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, BC.

[tangy]

Don't know if this has ever been a thread so thought it would be fun. Was inspired by the "1994 Cream" thread with Bruce, Baker and Gary Moore as I saw Gary Moore open for Rush on the GUP tour. Moore is definitely one of my favorite opening acts. He was fantastic and the audience was definitely into it. I'll add one more and step back a bit before adding more as I have quite a few.

The other one I'll mention is Head East. Saw them open for both Atlanta Rhythm Section in '77 and Styx (Grand Illusion tour, '78) and they were very, very good. Held their own with Styx and I thought they were better than ARS, or at least were higher energy.

 

head east kick ass. i canr remember who i saw open on the GUP tour?? i do remember seeing BOC, tommy shaw, and john butcher???? open for rush

 

i saw primus open for public enemy and anthrax

i saw public enemy open for U2

i saw the grateful dead open for bob dylan

i saw my fave reggae band, steel pulse open for bob dylan

i saw the smashing pumpkins open for the red hot chile peppers ( need to double check this one )

 

holy shit. the pumpkins did open but apparently so did Pearl Jam!!! I did not know until i had seen them. i wonder what other openers i cant remember. D'oh!!!!!

 

http://www.rhcplivea...-denver-co-1069

 

 

any killer opener was spocks beard opening for dream theater

 

When did the Dead open up for Dylan (or are you referring to the '87 Dylan and The Dead run?)

I saw Dylan open for the Dead in '94

 

july 4 1986 buffalo ny

[tangy]

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band opening for I think Bachman-Turner Overdrive in like '75.

Sammy Hagar opening for I believe Foghat in '75.

J. Geils Band and Foghat opening for Peter Frampton in the Kingdome at his height.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and Blue Oyster Cult before Foreigner in I think '84.

Tower of Power and Foreigner (shortly after their 1st album was released) opening for Heart in '77.

Jerry Cantrell for Metallica about 2000.

Incubus and Pantera for Black Sabbath '99

John Hiatt and the most incredible Stevie Ray Vaughan for Robert Cray, The Gorge 1989.

Blind Melon and Pearl Jam for Neil Young (Booker T and the MGs backing) The Gorge 1992 (I think).

Queensryche for KISS like '84 in Seattle. Blew KISS off the stage.

Cheap Trick and J. Jett for Heart a couple years ago.

Tracy Chapman for Bob Dylan The Gorge '88.

Journey BEFORE Steve Perry for Lynyrd Skynyrd (the real band BEFORE the plane crash!) Seattle Oct. 76

Seal for The Rolling Stones '94

Cheap Trick for Aerosmith '02.

Skid Row for Aerosmith around '92

Skid Row for Guns n Roses '94ish

Bad Company for The Edgar Winter Group like '75.

 

More to come...........

 

very nice indeed

 

in particular pre crash skynyrd. perhaps the greatest band from the us of a......

Still a top 10 show for me out of at least 300 in my life, likely closer to 350. If you've ever had/listened to the full One More From The Road release, that's the setlist. They kicked our collective asses that night.

 

i have only seen them in the 90's and they were good but they were beating one more from the road to death. right down to every whistle ronnie did.

 

One of the greatest double live discs of all time imo

[New_World_Man]

JOLLY

 

Blown away.

 

Who did they open up for? If it's the prog band Jolly I saw them one year at Rosfest.

[driventotheedge]

Before I add a few I'd like to make special mention of a show that while not a festival, was a multi-act show that was a concert to raise money for artist's rights to help people recover their publishing, etc. It was at The Forum in LA on February 26, 2002.

 

1. Sheryl Crow opening

2. John Fogerty next (lots of CCR of course :P )

3. Stevie Nicks next. She was introduced by Tom Hanks. Don Henley joined her early in the set for Leather and Lace. Tom Petty came out in the middle of her set and joined her for like 4 songs one of which was of course Stop Draggin' My Heart Around.

4. Billy Joel followed

5. The Eagles wrapped it up.

 

Everyone played basically entire sets or at least 3/4 sets. The show started at 7:30 and ended at just after 1:00 AM. I cannot over-emphasize how incredible this night was. Easily the best "value" of pretty much any show I ever attended considering the caliber of acts and considering the tix cost $40! Our (my exand I) set's weren't great but there was a video screen and the sound, as one would expect from high end acts like this, was top notch.

 

 

Here's a link to 5 pages of pictures from that night if you're interested:

 

https://www.gettyima...ort=mostpopular

Edited June 17, 2020 by driventotheedge

[Syrinx]

Rush and AC/DC opened for the Stones at Sarsfest!

[goose]

Rush and AC/DC opened for the Stones at Sarsfest!

And Justin Timberlake?

 

The former NSYNC member was performing on the stacked bill to help raise money and awareness for Toronto’s tourism economy after it had been crushed by the SARS outbreak, but instead of receiving a warm and polite welcome from a notoriously gracious crowd, Timberlake was pelted with bottles of urine. Oh, Canada.

 

https://www.theloop.ca/justin-timberlake-talks-about-the-trauma-from-his-appearance-at-torontos-sars-fest/

[The Cat 3]

Kid Rock, Run DMC opening for Aerosmith - PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ - 13 August 2012

[pjbear05]

Golden Earring opens. Mountain in the middle. Then J Geils blows the face off Detroit's Cobo Hall.

[treeduck]

Golden Earring opens. Mountain in the middle. Then J Geils blows the face off Detroit's Cobo Hall.

[Presto-digitation]

JOLLY

 

Blown away.

 

 

Who did they open up for? If it's the prog band Jolly I saw them one year at Rosfest.

 

Same band. Saw them open up for Riverside in a seaside US bar. There were maybe...15 people at the show. Felt like you’d hired the band for a private event.

[driventotheedge]

Golden Earring opens. Mountain in the middle. Then J Geils blows the face off Detroit's Cobo Hall.

J. Geils Band blew the face off a lot of places in their career.

 

And btw, as a long time fan of theirs, I loved your reference......

Edited June 18, 2020 by driventotheedge

[pjbear05]

Golden Earring opens. Mountain in the middle. Then J Geils blows the face off Detroit's Cobo Hall.

J. Geils Band blew the face off a lot of places in their career.

 

And btw, as a long time fan of theirs, I loved your reference......

Absolutely, as parts of the album were recorded from that concert. Other cuts were taken from a concert at Boston Garden.

[driventotheedge]

Golden Earring opens. Mountain in the middle. Then J Geils blows the face off Detroit's Cobo Hall.

J. Geils Band blew the face off a lot of places in their career.

 

And btw, as a long time fan of theirs, I loved your reference......

Absolutely, as parts of the album were recorded from that concert. Other cuts were taken from a concert at Boston Garden.

Nice!!

[Rick N. Backer]

Golden Earring opens. Mountain in the middle. Then J Geils blows the face off Detroit's Cobo Hall.

J. Geils Band blew the face off a lot of places in their career.

 

And btw, as a long time fan of theirs, I loved your reference......

Absolutely, as parts of the album were recorded from that concert. Other cuts were taken from a concert at Boston Garden.

 

You have to have seen them in Boston to really appreciate what they're like live. That's probably true for a lot of bands that become big but don't become HUGE. In front of their hometown they're at their best.

[driventotheedge]

Golden Earring opens. Mountain in the middle. Then J Geils blows the face off Detroit's Cobo Hall.

J. Geils Band blew the face off a lot of places in their career.

 

And btw, as a long time fan of theirs, I loved your reference......

Absolutely, as parts of the album were recorded from that concert. Other cuts were taken from a concert at Boston Garden.

 

You have to have seen them in Boston to really appreciate what they're like live. That's probably true for a lot of bands that become big but don't become HUGE. In front of their hometown they're at their best.

Well I saw them clear at the other end of I-90 in Seattle in early '80 and they blew the doors off the place. I do get what you mean about bands and their hometowns though. I saw Queensryche open for KISS on their Animalize tour in Seattle and Queensryche just destroyed them.

[Syrinx]

Anyone remember Moxy? I saw them open for Styx at Massey Hall and they blew the headliners away!

[pjbear05]

Golden Earring opens. Mountain in the middle. Then J Geils blows the face off Detroit's Cobo Hall.

J. Geils Band blew the face off a lot of places in their career.

 

And btw, as a long time fan of theirs, I loved your reference......

Absolutely, as parts of the album were recorded from that concert. Other cuts were taken from a concert at Boston Garden.

 

You have to have seen them in Boston to really appreciate what they're like live. That's probably true for a lot of bands that become big but don't become HUGE. In front of their hometown they're at their best.

Absolutely, but they can build up cult like status with rabid fans in other towns. Such was the case with Geils. Full House was recorded at The Cinderella Theater in The D.

[grep]

Rival Sons opening for Sabbath. Got my attention quick.

[Presto-digitation]

Rival Sons opening for Sabbath. Got my attention quick.

 

They’re a fantastic band.

[driventotheedge]

J.D. Souther and Linda Ronstadt opening for The Eagles 1976.

Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne before The Eagles New Years Eve 1999 going into 2000. CNN went live to the show as Glenn counted us down to the year 2000 onstage.