I saw Fogerty a few times "open" for Bruce on the 2004 "Vote for Change" tour. IIRC, Fogerty was the 2nd of 4 acts, as Bright Eyes came out first, then Fogerty, then REM, then Bruce. Can't say Fogerty bowled me over, but he was pretty good!
Seeing NIN on the Bowie tour in 1995 made me a fan! Being pedantic, though, I never really considered them to be an "opening act" in the traditional sense. That was essentially a co-headlining tour, and someone had to play first!
Ala my NIN post above, this stretches the notion of an "opening act", but when I saw Gabriel on the 1988 Amnesty tour, he made me a fan. I went for Springsteen, and I also liked Sting, both of whom played after Gabriel. But Pete put on the best show of the lot and I became a fan almost immediately! Again, that's not a traditional "opening act" slot, but still... !
Simian before they went all dance opening for Superfurry Animals. They crushed the furries. Amazing energy super tight and great singing.
One great evening for me was the 1974 CSNY concert at Mile High Stadium in Denver, on July 25th. First up was Jesse Colin Young for a half hour. Beach Boys played a GREAT set, was on for a good hour or so. CSNY? Awesome! Three hours!
Oh this is easy. The English Beat opening for the Pretenders. I'd never heard of the Beat. BLEW THEM OFF THE STAGE.
Didn't notice any band confusion, but that revolving stage was a bit of a turnoff for sure. I saw the Jimi Hendrix Experience there prior to the Blind Faith show and they had that revolving stage as well. Hendrix seemed bothered by it and the flash cameras people were using. He was complaining quite a bit and his performance was just so-so. Red House was good though. Fortunately I got to see the Band Of Gypsys (2nd row) on 1/1/70, and that really made up for it. Big time!
It's not much compared to others, but a few of my faves... Mavis Staples opening for Bob Dylan Richard Thompson and Wilco opening for Bob Dylan (My Morning Jacket too, but it wasn't for me) Particle Kid, Margo Price, Sheryl Crow, Lukas Nelson, Jason Isbell, and Bob Dylan opening for Willie Nelson Haley Heynderickx opening for Ani DiFranco (Well, not really. I LOVE both of them, but Ani's crowd shouted through Haley's entire set, it was the rudest thing I've ever seen at a show. They made her set pointless. You couldn't hear a thing.) Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti opening for the Flaming Lips. Joan Jett opening for Cheap Trick.
King Crimson supporting Ten Years After. 1974 National Guard Armory in El Paso, TX. Robin Trower was the opener. Jeff Beck opening for Mahavishnu Orchestra 1975 Oklahoma City. Beck was touring for Blow by Blow.
I recall reading that Robin Trower and Robert Fripp practiced guitar together on that tour during off time.
Absolutely love Dylan but the three times I saw him left me underwhelmed. Mavis was amazing when I saw her open for Bob back in 2017. I got the tickets for free and it wouldn't have been worth going if it wasn't for Mavis.
No I didn't. The show at MSG that I really wanted to see was George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh but the thing sold out in minutes. Saw a few shows at the Garden though..Hendrix, Blind Faith, Genesis, McCartney, Clapton/Winwood (really good), ELP, Cream etc. Living close to NYC is heaven for a music fan.
Here are a couple.... INXS, IIRC on their first tour of the US opening for Adam Ant. Adam Ant should have just stayed on the bus. Richard Thompson opening for Crowded House Kamasi Washington opening for Herbie Hancock
The little known Joan Armatrading for Supertramp at Hammersmith Odeon Crisis What Crisis and Crime Of The Century gig.
That's a heck of a double bill! The entry on setlist.fm implies they played roughly equivalent sets, as Eagles did 18 songs and FMac did 16. Does that sound right to you?
The best opening band ever for me will always be Earth Wind & Fire at Hammersmith Odeon. Everyone was there to see Santana play this Classic album for the first time live in London.
