Carl Posted July 22, 2011 Report Share Posted July 22, 2011 Got to thinking about this when I learned that Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five once opened for The Clash, and apparently it looked like that scene from The Blues Brothers. Some of the most influential, but underappreciated acts have been asked to open for their more commercially successful counterparts, but it doesn't always work so well for the opener. The Clash, breaking new ground and playing to passionate young people, of course liked what they saw from the Hip Hop pioneers, but their audiences just didn't mix. I think something similar happened when U2 brought The Pixies along as an opening act - folks there to hear I Will Follow didn't quite get Debaser. Then there's cases where the acts are a pretty obvious train wreck, like when Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees. What are some opening acts you've seen or heard about that didn't work with the main attraction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyRaccoon Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 I don't know if these two in particular were complete opposites, but they're fairly different bands: My dad saw Heart once and The Cars opened for them. And I also heard Chicago started out opening for The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Laurie_ Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Saw Santana and Stones in California in 1978...Eddie Money opened for them...Eddie was getting booed pretty badly....Santana and Stones were great!...and it was Mick's birthday that day too...I thought having Eddie open for them was kind of strange... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 In July, 2003, Toronto Ontario hosted SARSFest, a concert to aid slumping tourism to the Toronto area because of an outbreak of SARS. It was one of the largest concerts in North America with attendance in the 450:500,000 range. Headliners were Rush, AC/DC and the Rolling Stones. One of the many opening acts was Justin Timberlake who was pelted with water bottles and muffins. To his credit, he was quoted as saying that if he were there to see AC/DC, he would have thrown water bottles at him as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyRaccoon Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Correction: The Cars opened for Foreigner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenacious_Peaches Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 The Beastie Boys opened for Madonna in 85. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miamisammy29 Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 In July, 2003, Toronto Ontario hosted SARSFest, a concert to aid slumping tourism to the Toronto area because of an outbreak of SARS. It was one of the largest concerts in North America with attendance in the 450:500,000 range. Headliners were Rush, AC/DC and the Rolling Stones. One of the many opening acts was Justin Timberlake who was pelted with water bottles and muffins. To his credit, he was quoted as saying that if he were there to see AC/DC, he would have thrown water bottles at him as well. I was at that one! It was awesome! I believe Timberlake also got pelted with shoes and large oranges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonJonSurfer Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 I saw: Stevie Ray Vaughan open for The Moody Blues Thin Lizzy open for Electric Light Orchestra (the only time I ever had front row seats in Madison Square Garden) Jewel open for Neil Young The Indigo Girls open for Neil Young Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Joe Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 A couple I can think of are.... Saw Pacific Gas and Electric open for The Rascals. They were awesome. Saw Laura Nyro open for Sly and The Family Stone...she was awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkstones Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 The Beastie Boys opened for Madonna in 85. I was just about to come here and post that. Apparently three hardcore MCs didn't go over well with Madonna's pre-teen crowd. Thankfully Madonna knew what was up and told them they were going to stay on her tour - she loved 'em. Frankly, who doesn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumboXL Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 (edited) The Rolling Stones played "Het Kurhaus" in Scheveningen, in 1964, The Netherlands. The concert lasted half an hour, then the police shut the podium. The angry audience threw chairs, and was in a rage before the band started. Why? Because they had to endure the opening act! This awkward act (rock 'n roll translated in Dutch) opened the show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd5ZH2P1hi0 The result was like this: Sorry, lots of Dutch spoken in the clips. But you'll get the spirit of that evening. Edited July 27, 2011 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindCrime Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 I saw Chuck Berry open up for Tom Petty as a replacement for ZZ Top, which didn't seem to go over that well with the audience. Everyone I talked to there was disappointed because they wanted to see ZZ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 I saw The Blues Brothers as one of the opening acts for The Stones in Chicago at Soldier Field. Not the original, the current lineup with Jim. Other than the fact we were in Chicago, that made no sense whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildChild80 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 I have a two bands that come to mind that I've seen with some peculiar opening acts. Aerosmith's Nine Lives tour had Johnny Lang opening I thought it was a little girl playing at first cause he was still maturing in his vocals. Creed opening up for Metallica in 98. Really those crowds are quite different from each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chutzpah Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 (edited) I saw Ramones open for Pearl Jam Queensryche(sp?) open for Metallica (very strange) And The Replacements opened for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers(The Replacements must have been having a really bad night) Edited August 9, 2011 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildChild80 Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Wow! Ramones opening up for PJ damn shouldn't that be the other way around. I always find it starnge when seasoned band has to open to someone whos just the hot thing at the momment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawna Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 I agree with that... I once saw Peter Frampton open for Stevie Nicks. Stevie was (and always will be to me) a big deal, but to have Frampton as an opener... that was weird. He was HUGE long before Stevie went solo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel2Velvet Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 I agree with that... I once saw Peter Frampton open for Stevie Nicks. Stevie was (and always will be to me) a big deal, but to have Frampton as an opener... that was weird. He was HUGE long before Stevie went solo. Know what you mean. In 1988, drove from Dayton to Riverbend outdoor venue in Cincinnati to see Roy Orbison and Ray Charles on the same bill. My two favorite soloists together! Roy opened, which seemed weird, but hey, Ray had seniority. Actually, Roy was the much better act. Ray sort of phoned it in - he never said a word to the audience between songs. I don't think he felt all that great. His singing was rather uninspired. Roy, on the other hand, was enthusiastic and sounded great! Unearthly really, when one considered his touring schedule and his age, to be still singing all those high-flying notes right on key every song. Within 3 months, Roy was dead. It was one of his last 5 concerts. Never will forget that night when the opwning act was the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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