Walk-out music

One of the best parts of going to a concert is the anticipation just before the show starts. The lights dim, crowd goes apey and there's that 1-3 minutes where you anxiously wait for the artists to make their way to the stage. Lost of bands typically have a piece of pre-recorded "walk-out" music that plays before they rip into the first song.

I've started making a playlist of my favorite walk-out tunes that I've seen different bands use over the years:
• Metallica: "The Ecstacy Of Gold" by Ennio Morricone
• Rival Sons: "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (main title)" by Ennio Morricone
• Van Halen: "Star-Spangled Banner" by Jimi Hendrix on the 1991 F.U.C.K. tour
• Pearl Jam: "Metamorphisis Two" by Philip Glass
• David Lee Roth: "Wrong Alley Street (part 3)" by Chris Joss
• The Why Store: "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock And Roll)" by AC/DC

What are some walk-out songs you remember being used by bands before they take the stage? This could also include music such as an album played before the show starts, while the stage is being prepped. Aside from reliving the rush of seeing a band take the stage for the first time, this music also reveals something of the artists themselves - their musical taste and influences.

 

I've seen The Ramones walk out to the theme from The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Nice touch, I thought.

 

Bob Dylan used Aaron Copeland's "Hoe-Down" to set up that marvelous spoken introduction by Al Santos from 2002-2012. I wish I could find a better clip on YouTube, because it really was electrifying.



Not exactly walk-out, but not exactly not: Yes started using an excerpt from Stravinsky's Firebird Suite starting on the Fragile tour in 1972. They've used a few others along the way, but I think this has been the one for the majority of their shows since then. I've seen it as straight-up walk-out music, but I always loved when they segued directly into the opening number, as in "Siberian Khatru" on Yessongs.

 

I remember whale songs being played before a Crass gig.

 

Siouxie and the Banshees - Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring.

 

Grateful Dead, a New Years gig, Wagner's "Ride of the Valkrie". In addition to being both effective and something of a parody, I was the one who helped the Gal from the Grateful Dead front office find the cassette they played. I was overseeing the classical cassettes at Tower Berkeley in the mid 1980's.

 

When I saw the Carla Bley Band at UCLA in 1979 (for their album Musique Mecanique), a strange music that sounded vaguely Chinese to me was playing. It was so interesting I asked one of the stagehands what it was. He told me it was a band of housewives from the mid-West called The Shaggs. I searched for this mysterious record for what seemed like a long time (this was pre-internet, of course), but it wasn't really that long of a search: the next year the album was reissued by NRBQ on their Red Rooster label.

 

during the ziggy tour,
i think bowie played the wendy carlos/beethoven jam from clockwork orange.

 

Not quite walk-on music (as the lights were still up) but Wilco played "The Man" by Patto just before taking the stage in 2005. That made me and (judging from online comments) several other fans curious about the song.

I believe they have used other songs similarly since then, but that was the last time I saw them live.

 

U2 have been using Patti Smith's 'People Have The Power' on their current tour and I thought it worked well.
Patti came one night in London to join in:

 

The Black Keys used to come out to GZA's Liquid Swords

 

Rolling Stones, Take the A Train, Duke Ellington
1981 tour

 

On the ZZ Top Rockpalast 80 DVD (Double Down disc 1) they walk off the stage to Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee".

 

Marah, rock band out of Philly, walk out to "Fanfare For Rocky" from the ROCKY motion picture soundtrack.

Love that.

 

Morrissey walking on to Klaus Nomi's Wayward Sisters gives me goosebumps every time..

 

Not sure if they have a set song to walk out to, but the last time I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2012 they played most of The Beastie Boys' "Paul's Boutique" album while the stage was being prepped.

 

Elvis was probably the first one to do this, with "Also Sprach Zarathustra".

 

This is the coolest fly-in, walk-out I've ever seen, Queen - "Flash"/"The Hero"

 

Yes "Firebird Suite"

 

Love the intensity of this "walk-out" music before Deep Purple take the stage; but I'm not sure who wrote it. Anyone have a clue?

 

I saw Wilco here about 5 years ago, and they walked out to the Bob Newhart theme - a nod to their hometown of Chicago. And a great funky tune!

 

Opeth used to walk out to this Popul Vuh track:



Haven't seen them live for 3 years, so I'm not sure if they still do it.

 

The Clash walked out to "16 Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford as well as Ennio Morricone scores

 

Billy Joel used to come out to the studio version of his own song - "The Mexican Connection".

I saw The Who come out to the theme from "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", which was certainly different.

 

That's Mars from the Planets suite, by Gustav Holst.