Todd Rundgren for Joe Jackson outdoors in San Diego a few summers ago. Actually, I guess they were touring together, but the crowd was sort of hostile after 5 minutes. The show went on as if nothing was happening.
I once had to sit through the original Deep Purple to see Cream. I also had to sit through a full set of U2 to see the J. Geils Band
Hate time travel back to an old thread, but it was Van Halen's Diver Down tour. Dar Kamisar had yet to become the hit that it turned out to be. I saw that tour with a VERY unappreciative, bourbon soaked crowd in Louisville treating After the Fire with belligerent contempt.
In the early '90s, Calvin Johnson from Beat Happening, who were opening for Fugazi, was hit in the head with an ashtray thrown by an audience member. Fugazi definitely called out the perp and condemned the incident when they took the stage.
Shame there aren't any Juggalos around that I know of... I'd like to hear stories from the ill-fated five minutes when Coal Chamber, a whiny emo band with black lipstick, opened for ICP.
I remember "Eat Your Heart Out" getting some airplay in the fall of 1984. I just looked it up again on Youtube. The production is dated with the Simmons drums but the song itself isn't bad.
Tom Petty & Heartbreakers / Bob Dylan / Traffic / Steve Miller Band / Sting... All openers for the Grateful Dead. . . . <kidding... Hey, I'm just kidding...>
A girl who rapped and played acoustic guitar with a boombox opened for Swing Out Sister. The audio equivalent of dog poo. She tested the audience's patience. People didn't boo, but they stopped applauding. She'd ask a question and no one would answer; first time I ever heard a performer ask, 'is everyone ok?' and there was silence.
When I saw Dylan/Petty open for the Dead in 1986, I stayed around to hear the Dead play one song just so I could say I'd seen them - and then I left. I just had zero interest in listening to the Dead, especially in crummy seats at a football stadium...
Hendrix opening for The Monkees. I wanted hear "I'm a Believer", not some guy playing his guitar behind his back. Just kidding, I wasn't there. I was probably playing with a Mr. Potato Head or something.
Twisted Sister opening for Maiden Bullet for my Valentine -Maiden Great White- Judas Priest Motley Crew -Ozzy And to flip it Ozzy letting Metallica open on the Masters tour. Metallica destroyed Ozzy and his big hair at the time. These are just off the top of my head, there have been many Acts I just didn't get as they did not fit with the headline imo.
WASP opening for DIO. I was in High School. Almost embarrassed to admit I saw them. They were horrid!
Crummy seats indeed. Akron '86 was the first Dead I attended. I had quite a few of their records, but had never seen them. After that, I went to many shows in following years, and by submitting random artwork to some magazines (Relix and Unbroken Chain), I got to be on the staff of those for a few years. Like Jerry (or somebody?) said one time - "The Grateful Dead are like licorice; not everybody likes licorice... but those who do, REALLY like licorice"... (or something like that)... In all my concerts I've been to, I've never seen anything that came close to the "scene" at one of their concerts. It was definitely a strange gathering of people. You know something's up when the venue guys with "STAFF" t-shirts are huffing nitrous ballons.
When I saw Johnny Winter in San Diego in the 70s, Brownsville Station opened and I was down front near the stage and there was a guy that kept yelling stuff like " you suck! We want Johnny Winter! Get the **** off the stage! Even though I didn't care for the band I felt a little sorry for the guy on stage in front of that guy. Can you imagine trying to put on a show with someone yelling that stuff throughout your time on stage?
Moby (during his "punk phase") opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Brixton Academy in 1995. Hell on the ears.
In Hong Kong when I saw Belle & Sebastian they had a local kid slog through 8 or 9 of his solo acoustic guitar songs for about 40 minutes...I'm pretty sure there was a slow hand clap gearing up after about 6 of his ditties...well he sure made Belle & Sebastian seem like musical gods when they finally came out...not that they're not Well he was alright...but nobody wanted to hear about his existential love pains...9 times...