I was stunned when I first went to see Tony Joe White, just his voice, his guitar and a drummer. I think his stagename was Fleetwood Cadillac. Great show, the atmosphere was something special. Can’t remember the opening act though. But just two years ago Tony Joe White was playing in Holland again and the Paul Benjaman Band opened for him. Now that was the best opening act I ever saw. They were a huge success. Crowd loved it and so did I. Bought the LP after the show. The band was very happy, they sold a lot of records that night.
Bundles era Soft Machine opening for Roy Buchanan and the James Gang. My pals and I knew it was pretty much Soft Machine in name only, but we could say we saw Mike Ratledge. Tom Waits opening for Frank Zappa. I had no idea who he was, but I became an instant fan. David Lindley and El Rayo X opening for The Tubes. I knew The Tubes by name only
You may not know the band, but I'm sure you know the song: Liquid Liquid I saw them open for The Talking Heads many moons ago. I actually went to the show to see Liquid Liquid. What was great about their show was: 1) they were great, and 2) the band Liquid Liquid is definitely different. Just bass, percussion, and a singer. The songs don't have the conventional verse/chorus structure and any lyrics are just really sound textures. This band would get booed off the stage in 99 out of 100 opening spots, but the Talking Heads gig, the audience loved them. You could see and feel the appreciation form an attentive audience.
Nine Inch Nails opening for Jane's Addiction. We were there for Jane's Addiction and hadn't heard of Nine Inch Nails and they absolutely destroyed the place. My friend and I just looked at each other dumbfounded when it was over. Went out and bought Pretty Hate Machine the next day. Jane's Addiction was a letdown after NIN. .
The late Ronny Jordan opening for Barry White at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. Just him and guitar - stunning.
Tough question to answer but off the top of my head here some of the best openers I have seen Roxy Music w/ Eno opening for Jethro Tull at MSG- Never heard of RM but became a fan that night Kiss as the middle act for Rush back in the early 70's in Erie Pa. Ted Nugent opening for Aerosmith at a 1975 Schaefer Music Fest concert. This was just after Uncle Ted released his first solo album and went political and he just stood there and played. Also saw Nugent open for Black Sabbath in 1977 Edgar Winter Group with Ronnie Montrose opening for Ten Years After at Nassau Coliseum Frampton's Camel and J Geils opening for Humble Pie AC/DC w/Bon Scott opening for UFO in 1979 Thin Lizzy opening for Queen at MSG Guns N Roses opening for Aerosmith 1988 Stevie Ray Vaughn opening for Joe Cocker Living Colour opening for the Rolling Stones Steve Jones Band (exSex Pistols guitarist) opening for Ian Hunter/ Mick Ronson in a tiny club, Toads Place, New Haven CT.. I ran out and bought the Fire and Gasoline album the next day from Cutler's Records (RIP) around the corner from Toads. BlackBerry Smoke opening for Govt Mule Magpie Salut opening for Govt Mule Santana opening for the Allman Brothers. Well they were actually coheadliners that tour but Sanatan opened the night we saw that concert
Kinda not technically what thread is looking for however. Dylan opening for Santana in early 90’s in Miami. Neither had records out they were supporting. But Santana is always big draw in South Florida especially with Latin crowd. He was En Fuego as we say in Miami. I remember Larry Campbell was in Dylan’s band.
Def Leppard, opening for Scorpions, who opened for Ted Nugent on June 13, 1980 in Madison, WI. Judas Priest opening for KISS in 1979. Motley Crue opening for Ozzy Osbourne in 1983. Johnny Van Zant opening for ZZ Top in 1990. Delain and Sonata Arctica opening for Nightwish in 2016. The Record Company opening for Blackberry Smoke last fall 2019.
I saw The Night Game open up for St Lucia several years ago. Didn't know anything about them but they blew me away! Ended up buying their CD and vinyl - still listen to them today. St Lucia was able to follow them which says a lot about how good they are live. One of the best gigs I've ever been to!
Very kind of you to share that I can imagine their bravado covering any youthful insecurities at the time! In regards to the trashed Kirke walking through it?) kit a story was told that the revolving stage put them off and that in one song two band members were at one point playing another number and their was frustration building. Kossoff clearly caught Clapton's ear at one point to trade their guitars in a show of plectoral appreciation.
I am interested in your memory of the KISS/Rush thing. All I've ever heard was that Rush opened for KISS.
You could be right Blast as it was 45 years ago so my memory may be a little fuzzy. The concert I went to was at the Erie Country Field House April 9th, 1975. The bands that night were Joe Vitale's Madmen, Kiss and Rush. I was a sophomore at a small Pennsylvania college on the Ohio border that was a 45 minute drive north to Erie. I went with a classmate friend who grew up in Erie. I did a little checking online and one of the Kiss websites mentioned that early in the Dressed to Kill tour they were openers and as the tour progressed they headlined. ON one of the Rush websites showed Rush as the headliner so I am not sure now. Here are my 45 year old memories which may have been altered slightly by preconcert partying at the time. The County Fieldhouse was like a small college Gym. I seem to remember the show was not sold out and everyone was standing on the floor as there were no seats. I was standing about 30-40 feet form the stage. Drummer Joe Vitale's Madmen put on a great opening set and reminding me a lot of the music of his previous band Joe Walsh Barnstorm. I first heard Rush while attending college on the legendary Cleveland station WMMS and became a fan after tracking down their debut album. Rush put on another powerful set mixing songs from their first two albums. Being from Canada they were pretty popular in Northern Ohio, PA and NY State so it would not surprise me if they were the headliner. For Kiss I only owned the debut album at the time so it was great to hear music from the other albums. They had a nice mixture of songs in their set. I can still feel the heat from the flashpots Kiss set off during the set. It was a great concert and remember going with my buddy to his friend's house for an after-party. The concert was so loud I felt like I had earmuffs on that night so it was hard to hear with the music blasting at the party. It has been fun to see how big Kiss and Rush became from those early concerts in small venues. For some reason, I never saw Kiss live again but did see Rush one other time.
