Worst band that ever opened for Rush?

[patjnev]

John Butcher Axis OMG I remember now . Yes not too impressed with that set . Also I was not too happy with cringing through Candlebox too . Maybe I was judging them too harshly since I just wanted to see my favorite band.

[Claude_verret]

Dunno, but the BEST opener was definitely Eric Johnson on the RTB tour.

I paid full money to see him play three more times in the years that followed.

 

I was VERY disappointed that we got Vinnie Moore at the Buffalo RTB show and not EJ. Not that I don't appreciate VM, but I was really into EJ at the time and still am.

[Laurabw]

Tommy Shaw. I think it was the HYF tour. He was OK. Nothing to write home about.

I had free tix to that show, really good seats, and saw Tommy and of course was thrilled. I took my cousin and she wasn't feeling well and we had to leave like 3 songs into Rush...sigh.

[Principled Man]

Tommy Shaw. I think it was the HYF tour. He was OK. Nothing to write home about.

I had free tix to that show, really good seats, and saw Tommy and of course was thrilled. I took my cousin and she wasn't feeling well and we had to leave like 3 songs into Rush...sigh.

 

Escort the cousin to the nurse’s office and go back to the Show. ;)

[tangy]

Tommy Shaw. I think it was the HYF tour. He was OK. Nothing to write home about.

I had free tix to that show, really good seats, and saw Tommy and of course was thrilled. I took my cousin and she wasn't feeling well and we had to leave like 3 songs into Rush...sigh.

 

Yeah it was HYF. Saw that show twice.

 

Openers I have seen

 

Max Webster

Y & T

Blue oyster Cult

John butcher

Tommy shaw

 

 

[Laurabw]

Tommy Shaw. I think it was the HYF tour. He was OK. Nothing to write home about.

I had free tix to that show, really good seats, and saw Tommy and of course was thrilled. I took my cousin and she wasn't feeling well and we had to leave like 3 songs into Rush...sigh.

 

Escort the cousin to the nurse’s office and go back to the Show. ;)

 

I shoulda, lol. But she was only a teenager and I felt bad. At least I saw Tommy, lol.

[Mithrandir]

PeW tour May 1980 in Pittsburgh. Some group named 'Sue Saad and the Next" opened. After few "songs" they were booed off stage. I remember the lead singer giving the crowd the finger and saying "f**k you Pittsburgh".

 

I have never heard of that band again.

[toymaker]

I remember FM, Red Rider, the Tragically Hip, Voivod, Chalk Circle, and I Mother Earth. Probably Chalk Circle and Voivod are contenders for most boring opening act.

[Weatherman]

PeW tour May 1980 in Pittsburgh. Some group named 'Sue Saad and the Next" opened. After few "songs" they were booed off stage. I remember the lead singer giving the crowd the finger and saying "f**k you Pittsburgh".

 

I have never heard of that band again.

Well, it looks like Sue Saad lasted 6 more years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Saad_and_the_Next

[Lurkst]

Voivod ....contenders for most boring opening act.

 

Not a word I'd use to describe Voivod's music! :o

 

[Chicken hawk]

Worst that I've seen personally was probably Mr. Big and Vinnie Moore in the ten years before the "evening with" shows.

 

Oh wow...i saw them with MR. BIG

 

May 11th 1990 Worcester Mass. The Centrum they called it back then. mr. Big is a worst !

 

I agree

[Timbale]

I remember FM, Red Rider, the Tragically Hip, Voivod, Chalk Circle, and I Mother Earth. Probably Chalk Circle and Voivod are contenders for most boring opening act.

 

Wow, looks like we saw all the same shows! I had forgotten about I Mother Earth until reading it...they were really not my thing, so in a way they might be the "worst" for me. But Chalk Circle definitely left the most "blah" impression of all of them.

[Bahamas]

Joe Mendelson. Wait, don't throw anything at me yet!

More of a "worst opening" for Rush than "worst band" opening act story.

 

From Wandering The Face Of The Earth, June 20, 1975,Thunder Bay, Ontario, Fort William Gardens:

"The concert ran late, with Rush not going onstage until around midnight, performing to a rambunctious audience. Opener Joe Mendelson was greeted with a barrage of glass bottles and chants of

'We want Rush!' during his short set. There were no spotlights because the venue lacked a power supply. The slide show was also axed when the projector blew out, and the band's monitors were malfunctioning."

 

MUSICANADA wrote:

"Rush Concert Flops: When Rush finally came on, the juvenile audience charged the stage, leaving most of the seats empty. And get this: they sat and kneeled in the broken glass they'd hurled only minutes before.

After a seventy-minute set plagued by the poor acoustics of the Gardens, Rush did an encore. They shouldn't have. The audience didn't deserve it."

 

I have read stories over the years, hence Mendelson Joe is an activist, artist known for painting, one among them of Cdn Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in a colourful buttocks. (He loved Ronald Reagan).

Neil has written about staying friends with MJ over the years. I am not writing about Mendelson Joe being a "worst act", I am adding to the conversation that a "worst opening" act was when he opened.

 

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Bahamas

[Rick N. Backer]

Fahrenheit opened for them when I saw them in 1987. Never heard of them before, or since.

 

Was it Farrenheit? I liked them. They had a couple big songs (Fool in Love and Lost in Loveland). Charlie Farren was in the Joe Perry Project. He sang Listen to the Rock, a great song.

[Turbine Freight]

Jon Butcher Axis showed everything that can be bad about a power trio, and Rush showed everything that can be great about a power trio.

 

It's funny -- musical power trios rarely last long. Even when popular, they have short lifespans.

Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Nirvana, Sublime, etc, etc etc. More than I can name. Either one dies, or they split up for better gigs, or sometimes they add members (as Rush was tempted to do).

The exceptions: Green Day, Primus, and of course Rush. They all clocked 30+ years.

Muse is almost there too.

 

Don't forget Budgie!

[Stormtron]

Jon Butcher Axis showed everything that can be bad about a power trio, and Rush showed everything that can be great about a power trio.

 

It's funny -- musical power trios rarely last long. Even when popular, they have short lifespans.

Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Nirvana, Sublime, etc, etc etc. More than I can name. Either one dies, or they split up for better gigs, or sometimes they add members (as Rush was tempted to do).

The exceptions: Green Day, Primus, and of course Rush. They all clocked 30+ years.

Muse is almost there too.

 

Don't forget Budgie!

 

And ZZ Top!

[Weatherman]

Jon Butcher Axis showed everything that can be bad about a power trio, and Rush showed everything that can be great about a power trio.

 

It's funny -- musical power trios rarely last long. Even when popular, they have short lifespans.

Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Nirvana, Sublime, etc, etc etc. More than I can name. Either one dies, or they split up for better gigs, or sometimes they add members (as Rush was tempted to do).

The exceptions: Green Day, Primus, and of course Rush. They all clocked 30+ years.

Muse is almost there too.

 

Don't forget Budgie!

 

And ZZ Top!

Right! Good catch. My third favorite power trio! And I never got to see them play live...

My second favorite is John Mayer Trio, but they barely play together, which supports my theory about trios.

My favorite trio were these three smart guys from Toronto. Can't remember their group name. ;-)

 

I just remembered that Green Day now tours with additional musicians, so they can't be called a trio anymore, not live.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Weatherman

[YYZ Working Man]

best was Red Rider and Max Webster-Worst was Justin Timberlake at SarsStock Toronto. LOL

[Richard Reyes]

Not sure it's fair to call them a bad band but I saw Rush with 38 Special and it sure seemed like a bad match.

[Jaminbenb]

Only saw two opening acts... the first one was Y&T on the GuP tour, and they were pretty wild! Had some great stuff. The next time it was SUPPOSED to be Blue Oyster Cult, but I think someone in the band was ill, and they didn't play. On the Hold Your Fire tour it was Tommy Shaw... When he played Styx tunes, everyone was happy, but when he played one of his solo tunes, they booed the living sh*t out of him! You'd think after the second or third one, he would have just stuck to the Styx stuff...

[driventotheedge]

Not sure it's fair to call them a bad band but I saw Rush with 38 Special and it sure seemed like a bad match.

I saw them about 25 years ago with ZZ Top. They were good and it felt like a good match.

[jamie]

i've definitely never seen them perform with an opener, but i would love to go back in time and see Melvins open for them, that would be awesome.

[Lurkst]

i've definitely never seen them perform with an opener, but i would love to go back in time and see Melvins open for them, that would be awesome.

 

To quote Neil "I loved everything about The Melvins apart from their music."

 

[jamie]

i've definitely never seen them perform with an opener, but i would love to go back in time and see Melvins open for them, that would be awesome.

 

To quote Neil "I loved everything about The Melvins apart from their music."

they're interesting, definitely an acquired taste.

[Todem]

I can’t stand Primus.....sorry.....their music simply does not click for me at all (and don’t get me started on the ridiculousness of the vocals...blech just not my thing). So when they opened for them on the RTB tour I made sure to show up in the middle of their set and stayed on the concourse with my bandmates till they were done playing whatever they were playing which to my ears was pure crap.

 

Hot take on Primus complete.