Best Opening Act Bands You've Seen?
 

Took Mike to his first ever arena show (11-12 years ago?) to see System of a Down. The opening act was a band called The Mars Volta that I'd never heard of. MIND BLOWN!

Omar and Cedric were non stop 120% rocking energy the entire show and the rest of the band were unbelievably great. They did a pretty long set. The first half they had a huge backdrop of the album cover for Deloused and they played a bunch of stuff off of it. Then that backdrop fell to be replaced by the cover of Frances and they played a bunch of stuff off of that.

The next day I bought both albums and have been a huge fan ever since.

To be honest SOAD were a bit anti-climatic after The Volta.

Public Enemy opening for Run DMC right before Nations was released comes to mind.

I saw Sonic Youth open for Beck touring Mellow Gold.

Crash Worship opening for The Haters.

Emmure was amazing when they opened for Suicide Silence. They stole the show.

Saw Between the Buried and Me open for Children of Bodom years ago. First time I ever got in a mosh pit. It was amazing.

Go **** yourself.

Let's see...

I saw a young Nathaniel Rateliff be the 2nd out of six opening bands for Portugal the Man. He stole the f*cking show. This was obviously before the Night Sweats and he played more mellow folk but I thought it was wonderful.

Speaking of Portugal the Man, I saw them open up for The Fall of Troy in '07 before Church Mouth dropped. They were so much better back then. They're kind of a hipster caricature now.

Chula, I saw The Mars Volta open up for RHCP and they kind of sucked, but then I saw them headline and it was the second best show I've ever seen.

Saw Between the Buried and Me open for Coheed and Cambria but I had seen them headline before. Still, it was nice.

Colin Stetson opening up for Godspeed You! Black Emperor was a pleasant surprise.

Okkyung Lee opening for Swans the other night was also brilliant.

I'm sure I'll think of more when my head is working better. Just woke up.

I saw Acid Mothers Temple who stole the show, but this band that played called Perhaps and they were pretty mind blowing.


http://youtu.be/FVm_VgsN2MY

Bro. You're a mod. Aren't you the one who's supposed to know the status of embedded videos? And yet... here you are.

I saw Corrosion Of Conformity open for Clutch, Atreyu, Lamb Of God, and Rob Zombie. COC just stole the show in my opinion.

I ****ing hate you. I had the chance to see them with their Deliverance lineup last year and I didn't take it. I ****ing hate myself for it. And you of course.

Nice.

Others I can think of Maiden Opening for Priest. Overkill for Megadeth.

Happy Flowers for Sonic Youth.

They won't be broken forever. I dropped a link into it as well too, you dunce.

It's being worked on right? I haven't been here in a few days.

Are you that old? I don't care if I'm young I'm jealous as ****. Of course I'm gonna go see Anthrax and Death Angel open for Slayer in a couple months. So I guess I'm gonna be alright. Just so long as Joey is still in Anthrax.

I like some of the John Bush stuff, but if I'm gonna pay money to see Anthrax they better have their second singer. Or their first. Mostly for the novelty factor, but I would also dig hearing the band play their first album.

The **** kinda mod are you?

Look, I don't get alerts on my phone updating progress on here and I don't spend six hours a day logged in like you do so suck my dick.

Pretty ****ing old. Fat, too. A weird isolated loser. That's me. ****ed up from years (decades) of hard living. Soggy noggin. All of it.

Look, I'm not saying you're a bad mod, all I'm saying is that you should kill yourself and mail me your severed head. I realize this will be logistically difficult, but just make it happen.

That could actually be possible. I'd have to hang upside down and rig a buzz saw horizontally to cut off my head. Gravity will pull my head down to a waiting cardboard box lined with plastic wrap being held in the air by two support beams with clamps. The impact will dislodge the cardboard box and send it toward the ground. Hopefully the box will not turn in the air and when it impacts with the ground the flaps should have enough inertia to close themselves. I'd have to pre-tape the flaps so that when they close they adhere to each other.

The box will be pre-stamped and if all goes according to plan I should be able to mail you my severed head all by myself...


...just as long as you know, the UPS guy doesn't notice the headless body hanging by it's feet 20 feet above a mostly red and bloody cardboard box.

Knew of Rick Derringer from his work with Edgar Winter (remember Frankenstein and Free Ride?).

Saw Aerosmith at their most wasted and terrible peak in the mid to late 70s and Rick's solo band opened. They tore the roof off of the old Boston Garden.

Music and energy was killer but the thing that sticks out is at one point Rick and the other guitarist stood on each side of the stage and in perfect timing, heaved their guitars to each other and then didn't miss a beat in the song.

Seeing Steven Tyler barely able to stand or keep his eyes open for the next 45 minutes paled in comparison.

I saw the Grateful Dead open for Jefferson Airplane when I was too young to appreciate what I was seeing & hearing. As for the ones from my teens to the present day, which I remember because they stood out as top-notch acts...

Santana/Allman Brothers Band (each band played a full 2 hour set)

Steve Winwood/Allman Brothers Band (Steve Winwood played songs from The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and Blind Faith for all but two songs during his set)

Jeff Beck/Stevie Ray Vaughan (they even jammed together at the end of the show)

The Bentmen/Tiny Tim (The Bentmen also did double-duty as Tiny's backing band)

The Blind Boys of Alabama/John Fogerty (I'm not much into a cappella groups but those guys were very impressive. Their version of The Star-Spangled Banner is the best version of that song I've ever heard)

Cheap Trick/Blue Oyster Cult (Cheap Trick were just starting to get some radio airplay and were largely unknown at the time)

Jeff Buckley/Juliana Hatfield (went for the opening act. Didn't care enough for for the headliner to bother staying after the opener)

Bush Tetras/The Fall (went for The Fall, thought the opener put on a better show)

Mazzy Star/Cocteau Twins (perfect combination)

The Delta Generators/Barrence Whitfield with The Grits & Groceries Orchestra (had never heard of the opener and became a fan after seeing the show)

Ronnie Earl/Guitar Shorty (no opening act was scheduled but Ronnie Earl was at the venue and heard that the headliner was going to be a couple of hours late arriving for their gig so he went home, picked up some equipment, returned and played a free show to keep the crowd entertained while we waited for the main act)

Earthless Meets Heavy Blanket/Sleep (went for the opening act and thought they put on a much better performance than the headliner)

Elder/Earthless (went for the headliner, had never heard of the opener but was quite impressed)

Sonny Landreth/Peter Frampton (had seen the opener a couple of times before and he's always impressive)

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers/Peter Green (first time seeing either one. the opener was good but Peter Green was fantastic!)

Maneja Beto/Grupo Fantasma (had never heard of the opening band but bought their debut album at the show after hearing them play live)

Eric Johnson/Buddy Guy/B.B. King (one of the best triple bills I've ever seen)

Derek Trucks Band/Hot Tuna (Derek Trucks was around 18 at the time and just starting out with his own band)

Mark T. Small/Albert Lee (had never heard of the opening act and became a fan as a result of seeing that show)

The New Orleans Suspects/Glenn David Andrews (went for the opening act)

Hill Country Revue/North Mississippi Allstars (first time seeing either one)

The Word/North Mississippi Allstars (second time seeing the headliner, first time seeing the opener)

Silverchair/Red Hot Chili Peppers (I went to see the headliner. The guys in Silverchair were all around 16 years old at the time and I thought they blew the headliner off the stage)

Sebadoh/Flaming Lips (Sebadoh delivered a great show but the Flaming Lips had a bad night and were lackluster at best)

Barrence Whitfield & The Savages/The Sonics (great garage rock combination)

Subarachnoid Space/Acid Mothers Temple (Acid Mothers Temple sounded boring and dull after Subarachnoid Space)

The Sugarcubes/Public Image Ltd./New Order (another memorable triple bill. Bjork was already starting to outgrow her second band)

The box could be sitting on a conveyor belt leading to your front door set to a timer. You'd have to install a doggy door to make sure the box gets outside, but I imagine that will be the easy part.

Saigon Kick opening for King's X was pretty mind-blowing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqxGXwg_yfQ

I could also attach a plastic sheet to follow the buzz saw so that after decapitation, the sheet will collect all my blood and various internal baggae that seeps out.

This is the most intricate suicide ever.

Or maybe you could just get some real friends who would be willing to help you out.

I prefer this one.

You go up to the top of a roof and string piano wire tight across the front edge at neck level. Tie a cord to your foot and the other end to the building so that you'll be above sidewalk level when its fully stretched. Then you put super glue on your hands and put your arms around the front of the wire and then back to touch your head. Then you lean forward, so the piano wire cuts your neck but not your elbows. When the cord goes taut, you'll be hanging upside down with no head....except your head will be in your outstretched arms thanks to gravity and the glue, staring at someone upside down and spewing blood everywhere and some poor bastard will be traumatized for LIFE.

Similar but more fun.

I have plenty of friends. I thought the fun was figuring out how to do it yourself.

If you have friends willing to send your severed head through the mail then who gives a **** about anything else?

Le Butcherettes.

saw Loscil open for Ben Frost a year or so ago; not sure which show I loved more (probably Frost) but both were incredible.

The Sword opening up for Lamb of God and Metallica. Been a fan of The Sword ever since.

I've seen In This Moment open twice (one for Megadeth, and one for Rob Zombie and Ozzy) and both times they were fantastic.

Trivium opened for Dream Theater, and say what you want, but Trivium can ****ing perform.

Steel Panther opened for Judas Priest. First time I'd ever heard of them and they were amazing.

In Flames were the first to perform at Mayhem Fest and they were really good.

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.