Jump to content

Bands you discovered by accident or as openers


Recommended Posts

Ever go to a show and get there early enough to see the openers and they made you a new fan or did you ever go to a show not knowing more than a single song before going then become a fan...Share your favorites

 

I saw..

 

The Walkmen open up for Firewater

Art Brut after reading NME (Funny band)

Guster played at my daycamp

Band of Horses on a whim at Maxwells because a friend of mine was going

Bloc Party at Bowery Ballroom went with a friend

David Poe opening for the Jayhawks

on the reverse I went to see Jackopierce open for Del Amitri and they blew my socks off..only knew Roll to Me..

The Editors based on a friends recommendation

The Foals from NME

Went to see Thanks to Gravity open for From Good Homes became a big fan of FGH

Pet Shop Boys only knew West End Girls

Tragically Hip at a festival! Fun band!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Uncle Tupelo (opening for fIREHOSE) -- Halloween 1989. The show that changed my life.

The Pogues (opening for Violent Femmes)

Mojo Nixon & Skid Roeper (also opening for Violent Femmes at the same show)

Pulp (opening for Blur)

Drivin' n' Cryin' (opening for Living Colour)

Ricky Skaggs (on the bill at The Grand Ole Opry)

Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham (opening for Nick Lowe) -- a total shocker that I went to see one of my all-time favorites and realized that an American treasure was the opening act. And I had no idea who he was until he started singing all these classic songs that he had written.

Link to post
Share on other sites

This one's easy for me. We went to Stubbs in Austin to see Slobberbone. They had two openers that night. The band that played right before them was a band I had never heard of before, and judging by their name, I didn't have very high expectations. Needless to say, we were all blown away by the Drive-By Truckers.

Link to post
Share on other sites

the summer of '93 a group of us went to Lollapalooza in Nashville. one girl rode with us and wouldn't shut up about some band called Morphine. So I went and saw them on the side side side stage b/w big acts. amazing. fortunately it was before the acid really kicked in hard.

Link to post
Share on other sites

the summer of '93 a group of us went to Lollapalooza in Nashville. one girl rode with us and wouldn't shut up about some band called Morphine. So I went and saw them on the side side side stage b/w big acts. amazing. fortunately it was before the acid really kicked in hard.

Morphine were great..saw them probably about 5 times before Mark S passed away..I miss them

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yo La Tengo, 1984/1985 at Maxwells in Hoboken NJ...opening for everyone!

 

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that 28 years (!!!) later, I'd be reading a book about them.

 

 

Also, Emily Wells opening for Joseph Arthur at City Winery in NYC a couple of years ago. I have not been able to see her since, but she certainly caught my ear!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yo La Tengo, 1984/1985 at Maxwells in Hoboken NJ...opening for everyone!

 

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that 28 years (!!!) later, I'd be reading a book about them.

 

I saw them in 2004 at the Bonnaroo music festival. I was just out of high school and just getting into indie bands, I had heard their name but hadn't heard of note of their music. In two hours, they became my favorite band.

 

--Mike

Link to post
Share on other sites

Black crowes opened for robbery plant. They had hit on MTV but I heard twice as hard and I knew they were for real. Plus they were drinking jack on stage which you never see from openers in arena shows

 

I saw them on that tour. I have a Robert Plant signed cd from the show. Some of the band came out and played with Plant - if I recall correctly.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Sweet how did you get plant to auto. When I saw them on that tour the fans were not into TBC at all and Chris was like. FU

 

I would like to say I met the man - but that would be a lie. A local rock station DJ gave it to me. He got to meet him earlier in the day. Chris was quiet the loose cannon back in those days.

 

I did buy a packet of incense (Manic Nirvana logo) at the show which got pretty smelly some years ago. I still have the container it came in, I think.

Link to post
Share on other sites

The first one that comes to mind is Crooked Fingers (2009 opening for Neko Case). Another one is Riviera (2005 opening for Jeff Tweedy). In both cases, I made a point to buy every record, including all subsequent releases. Both still rank among my favorites.

 

A lot of other openers have been terrific--Heartless Bastards, Dr. Dog, New Pornographers, St. Vincent, Merle Haggard, to name a few--but I was a big fan even before showing up.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Radiohead opening for PJ Harvey at the Hollywood Palladium in 1993

The Alarm opening for U2 at the Bronco Bowl in Dallas in 1983

Rusted Root opening for The Allman Brothers in Allentown in 1995

Stew (of the Negro Problem) opening for the Eels at the El Rey Theater in 1999

Andrew Bird opening for the Decemberists at the Hollywood Bowl in 2007

Dramarama opening for the Smithereens at the Roxy (I think) in 1988 (I think)

 

More recently... Monsters Calling Home opening for HoneyHoney at the Roxy last month... an all Korean band with the sound and energy (at least live) of early Arcade Fire believe it or not.

 

I try to never miss an opening band, it's a great way to discover new music.

Link to post
Share on other sites

The first thing that comes to mind is Whiskeytown opening for John Fogerty. I think it was around '97. I recall saying to my old lady that "these guys are good, they could go places".

Link to post
Share on other sites

Several years ago, 11 years actually, I attended by accident a Nigel Kennedy concert in Belgrade. The performance fascinated me, they played Night in Tunisia I remember. After I returned from that trip I bought a Nigel Kennedy CD although I wasn't as impressed with the recording as much as with the live show I saw.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Alabama Shakes when they opened for the Drive-By Truckers in DC last New Year's Eve. I hadn't heard any of their music before that night, and by the time their set was over I was hoping they would come out for an encore, even though they were the openers. Of course they may have played all their songs in the opening set!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...