I saw Rick open for Edgar and Johnny a couple years ago. Rick was the entire show. Such a class act. This was right before Johnny passed away, and during his set (which he had to be carried out to a chair) he faltered a lot, and Rick stepped in to help. Not in a take-over-the-stage-my-time-to-shine way, but in a gentle let-me-help-you-get-through-this kind of way. It was truly inspiring, and I was humbled by the entire experience.

SRV opening for Jeff Beck on the Guitar Shop tour was one of the greatest concerts I'd ever been to. This was the encore (as you mentioned):

I forgot I saw Wovenhand before Chelsea Wolfe last year. I enjoyed them a lot.

I'd love to see them. Did their atmosphere translate to a live setting?

Last year I saw Sebadoh, who were fine. But the opening act was Qui, and they were impressive as hell. Just two guys, but they were more powerful and creative than a lot of bigger bands. No offense to Sebadoh, but if both bands were playing different venues in my town on the same night, I would see Qui.

Btw, Qui are based in Los Angeles, and shouldn't be confused with another act with the same name.

i saw Qui as a headlining act when David Yow was the third member....great show

probably the greatest opening band i've seen was Melvins....they opened for Tool on the Amneia tour and did a 60 minute plus improvised noise set....it was amazing

actually it was the only reason i was there

I wish I could have seen Qui when Yow was on board. That's a great story about The Melvins. I wonder if that set was their commentary on Tool? The Melvins are one of those bands that have been around for quite some time that I haven't seen yet. I'm making it my duty to see them ASAP because you never know what will happen--I thought I had all the time in the world to see The Ramones and The Cramps and :(

Yeah...Love' Miracle still gets weekly play here....such an amazing album all the way down to their cover of Echos

as for the Melvins....yes it was....basically what i read about is that Tool approached Buzz about opening the west coast dates of the tour and he agreed only if they were allowed to do noise sets....not noise rock....just abrasive noise

and yes Melvins live should be forced upon every human....i've had the pleasure several times now...including the first Melvins/Fantomas show on New Years 2001 at Slims in SF (this show felt more like ritual than music....fucking amazing)....and Melvins NEVER disappoint.

Speaking of opening acts....i saw The Cramps open for Jesus and Mary Chain in the mid 90s....Lux broke the mic while giving head to it during an insane version of Surfing Bird...and JMAC caused a seizure with their overly strobe heavy light show

Yeah, the one I saw was phenomenal! Jeff opened for Stevie at the show I attended (the opposite of what I was expecting.) I'm guessing they took turns opening the show throughout the tour.

I remember hearing about that. They were on that tour for the music, equally talented and having a ball. Such a perfect coupling of musicianship. I'm glad I got to witness it, and it's always good to meet someone who was there too.

Had forgotten about this one. Not sure what year this was but went to see Rush at The Garden and the opening act was someone I'd never heard of. This would have been ~late 70s. Dude blew everyone away.