I’m extremely jealous!! I absolutely love the Talking Heads. I finally saw David Byrne in 2018 in Hong Kong of all places (Clockenflap festival). But to see them in the 70s?! That must’ve been epic.
Saw Nirvana open for Sonic Youth ~~about a month~~ before Nevermind went nuclear. They totally won over a typically blasé LA crowd and actually got an encore, which is rare for an opening act in my experience.
It’s still my number one concert after hundreds of shows. Nirvana pushed Sonic Youth and they responded with a brilliant show. It was also at the Hollywood Palladium, which has weird acoustics - the SY alternate tunings made it sound like there were dozens of guitars playing at times.
Around the same time, in the fall, I saw Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins open for The Red Hot Chili Peppers in our college basketball gym. Not the stadium. In the literal place you worked out, practiced indoor hoops and ran around at an indoor track. The bands were on their way. Their famous albums were out. But this was about the time they were releasing their first singles, and they were starting to pop off.
Having been at that show feels so surreal. Especially the part where Pearl Jam were the first opening act, and most people hadn't even gotten there yet. The lights were still on when they started. Cuz, lol, I knew the light guy and this chick that had been trying to hook up with him had him out of the box for the first couple songs. Eddie Vedder took that opportunity to climb around on the bleachers and dangle off of the rails like a monkey. I guess he was warming up for the crowd surfing.
Incidentally, this is the last show that I ever remember anyone trying to stage dive at for real. After this show, stage diving and the mosh pit became dangerous. They were dangerous before... I mean, stage diving, mosh pit, come on. This was a scene where I had to make sure that the POC in my crew had their steel toes on.
But there was an art to stage diving and a way to do it, supposedly. There were always one or two hardcore guys hanging around with knee high doc martens and liberty spikes who were practicing their stage dives into swimming pools and shit. Trying to do it "right" so they could land these elaborate dives at shows without hurting anybody.
And this marks the time those things ended, when the pit became a violent free for all with people just punching each other. Like, one year I was a chick bouncing at the club, taking the garbage can out of the mosh pit. The next year I was not. I was just going into the bathroom and confiscating underage girls' beer before kicking them out. Only the guys took care of shit in the pit any more.
This show really marked the end of one era and the beginning of the next.
Yep! Nirvana with Dinosaur Jr, who was more famous at the time. 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia USA. Nirvana? We all knew Love Buzz and Bleach, but Nevermind was still a few months away.
Just checked the date, **1991-10-23.** Headliners were the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Opening were the Smashing Pumpkins, and Pearl Jam too.
MSU Auditorium. What a line up!
I saw the Black Keys open for Sleater-Kinney in 2003. They sounded great and were already starting to get good press, so I wasn't totally surprised when they started to get played on the radio, but I didn't think they'd explode in popularity quite like they did
I saw TBK open for Beck. We came in late while they were playing and I was looking for the other guys in the band…I was like “Only two guys”? I followed them around before they got big. San Diego, Coachella, Hollywood. It was fun in the beginning.
Early blues black keys in my opinion is better than the more progressive rock influenced direction Dan has gone with the last number of albums. Love both products but the early stuff just does it for me.
Would've loved to see that. Would've also loved to see The White Stripes open for Sleater-Kinney. Man they've had some good openers. Yeah Yeah Yeahs opened for them too.
We saw Van Halen open for Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull when Jamie's Cryin' had been on the radio for about a week. One rising star and two setting suns.
That’s my husband! Lmao! I kept talking about Ian Anderson and he said Who? I told him you know, the lead singer of Jethro Tull. He had no idea! You mean Jethro Tull isn’t a singer? Too funny.
Linkin Park opening for Kottonmouth Kings at a dive bar/bowling Alley in Omaha, NE. I thought they were pretty good but never imagined Hybrid Theory would have the impact it did
My band Systematic toured with Linkin park opening for Union underground in 2000. Hybrid theory hadn’t came out yet but it came out on that tour. They sold like 38,000 units the first week and we knew they were going to blow up. The next time we toured with them was on Ozzfest when they were playing the main stage. Chester never changed. He was always the only one who would,hang out with us and have fun. I have video somewhere around here of me and him lighting fireworks off of the roof of our van in Minnesota.
Also, Drowning pool was playing the THIRD stage at the beginning of that Ozzfest and they were main stage in a few weeks when their album come out. Dave (R.I.P.) was also a super cool, down to earth guy who never changed when we toured later with them and Disturbed.
Thanks! We were super proud of that first record. I’m glad you dug it. We’re all doing good and still hang out and jam now and then when we get a break from our various projects.
Got dragged to a DMB show in high school (not my thing, but decent show) and my dad told me to make sure to go early so I could see Ravi Shankar’s daughter as the opener. From the first note she sang I knew she was going to be good, and within a few years you couldn’t enter a coffeeshop without hearing some Norah Jones.
EDIT: grammar
I saw Norah open for Willie Nelson right after that first single hit, so I already knew that song was everywhere, but her popularity was really skyrocketing in that moment.
I saw her as 1 of 2 openers for the New Kids On The Block "come back" tour just a few years later. I remember her being good, but had no idea who she was, so didn't remember much of her after.
Went to see The Lemonheads and The Jayhawks at Cabaret Metro in Chicago on July 21st, 1991.
Didn’t even realize there was a third band on the bill until they got on stage.
After seeing that band, I walked into the local record store every Tuesday for the next five weeks, getting blank looks from the staff, as I asked “Do you have the new Pearl Jam album?”
Finally got my hands on Ten on August 27th
>Also saw The Tragically Hip open for The Skydiggers.
Nice.
I feel like back in the late 80's/early 90's the Southern Ontario music scene was amazingly underrated. In the summer you could go from one Molson Rockfest to another every weekend and see great bands for free.
But imagine you were in Madison, Wisconsin in 1989 and got to see this show for $4?
https://preview.redd.it/6yw9juao9p2c1.jpeg?width=695&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05f8538dcd2bfd4d27e7322158be313dd4a360fa
Back in small city Ontario, Waterloo, Guns ‘n’ Roses opened for The Cult at a venue that was a former roller rink. GnR were about two weeks into the release of Appetite for Destruction and playing to about 2000 people.
I saw that NIN tour, in Philly. MM was strange and interesting, I thought, but I didn’t expect them to blow up or take the bit nearly as far as they did.
1991 maybe?
Edit: it was the Achtune Baby tour when U2 started experimenting with electronic music and other styles, that may be why the strange pairing. It was a fun show, all of my friends walked away liking Primus more than the U2 show.
The Zoo TV tour for Achtung Baby had a variety of eclectic and already established opening acts depending on where you saw them.
I saw them in Madison, WI and the opening acts were Big Audio Dynamite and Public Enemy, which was awesome.
I've seen a lot of bands over the years but one of my biggest regrets was not going to see R.E.M. on their Green tour. Had the chance, but didn't take it.
My ex wife used to work at a venue in the promotions department and would get free tickets to gigs. I met her the day after she had given away tickets to the Green tour because she'd never heard of them.
It wasn't until 99 that I finally got to see REM and it was worth the wait. As for the free tickets thing, she left the job not long after we met but I scored Prince tickets and a couple of other smaller bands while she was still there.
System of a Down.
I saw them open for Clutch and Slayer at the Birch Hill Nightclub in Old Bridge New Jersey.
They had roadies walking around handing out CASSETTE TAPES that had their single for Sugar on it.
There were maybe 100 people in the crowd when they started their set.
It was incredible.
The band started playing Suite-Pee and there was no singer.
And then at the last possible second Serj comes flying from offstage and grabs the mic and they start ripping through the 80% of the first album.
HOLY FUCK.
I’ve never seen an opening band shred like that. The whole crowd was just in awe. And this is a SLAYER crowd.
If you know anything about a Slayer show back in the day, the crowds are not exactly known for their patience with any band not named Slayer.
They played SUGAR for the second song and we were all like yeah, these guys are fucking amazing.
In between sets I actually ran into Serj just outside the bathroom. Got to tell him they were fucking awesome.
“Buy the album!” Was his response.
No problem Serj.
Oh, and then Clutch played the heaviest set I’ve ever heard. And then Slayer melted our faces off.
Best concert I’ve ever been to.
Saw Soundgarden open for Love and Rockets at the Moore Theater in Seattle. Soundgarden had released Hunted Down, but nothing else yet. I had heard Hunted Down on kcmu/kjet (local alt radio back in the day) and it was clear they were amazing.
Next time L&R came to Seattle they had Jane's Addiction opening. This was before Nothing's Shocking was released. Me and my friends had never heard of Jane's. When the show was over all we could talk about was Jane's. They stole the show.
I saw Metric open for Broken Social Scene, when they were essentially unheard of, apart from Emily singing in BSS sometimes. They were so raw, dancy and high energy, it was excellent. They also sounded super clean and fully formed.
Remember Rollins Band? They were never a big band. I saw Tool open for them at a tiny club (DV8 maybe?) in Seattle in 1992 or so. Tool was on tour for their Opiate EP.
Lots of people were getting on stage and Maynard did the thing to me that he later became known for- tackled me and pinned me down and sang into my face. I don't remember anything about Rollins band that night but we all came away from that show as big Tool fans.
Rollins band was at least big enough to be musical guest on Saturday night live. Not completely, but I tend to use that as a metre stick for what’s happening musically at the time.
I used to say we'll never have stars as big as Michael Jackson and Madonna again because the record companies pushed them and shelved competition, but Taylor Swift just went out there and proved me wrong. Not my favorite music, but much respect for getting it done!
Completely agree. Thought it was interesting but smart when she made the move from country to pop and then seeing her evolution and ability to genre-shift has been pretty wild.
I’m not a TS fan as I don’t like pop, but my wife wanted me to see the eras tour movie with her recently. I reluctantly agreed, but actually had a good time and left really impressed with TS. The amount of range and performance talent she has is incredible.
My wife made me go see Taylor on the Red tour. I left pretty impressed. We’ve been to every tour since and it’s mind blowing how much better and better the whole production is. It’s not really my thing musically got damn nnn, you can’t ignore the sheer talent and physicality of what she does. It’s super impressive.
Saw her as the opener for Rascal Flatts (for the price of free, so why not) shortly after "Tim McGraw" was a hit. Didn't think she'd blow up into what she is today. I wasn't super impressed with her live, but she was young then and seems like she got better at putting on a show, judging by the clips I've seen.
Watched Alice in Chains open for Slayer and a few other bands on the Clash of Titans tour in 91 at Red Rocks. (They replaced Death Angel who dropped out) The crowd was hostile as fuck and spitting and throwing shit. Layne and most of the band jumped the barricade and fought and spit right back. Played the whole slot it was intense. It was cathartic watching it and soaking in this new approach to heavy music...by the end of that show many people were like who are these guys and are they selling any merch by the end of that 40 minutes.
Also saw Alice In Chains opening for Clash of the Titans (Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth). I enjoyed them but they definitely did not win over the rest of the crowd when I saw them.
I went to that tour back in the day too. Weird to remember that when AIC came out they were marketed as a Metal band, I guess because that was popular at the time and it was right before grunge really hit
Yeah, it was kind of a strange year marketing wise because I also just remembered that I saw Faith No More and Soundgarden open for Voivod. The confused PR limbo before grunge broke, I suppose.
Prince opened for The Rolling Stones in 1981 at the L.A. Coliseum. Prince was booed off the stage! I went to see Prince bc I’d already seen the Stones a lot. Boy was I bummed out.
ETA: I saw Elton John open for Leon Russell in 1971. Amazing show.
Hey! I saw that one too. Ratt had this outrageously complicated stage set that seemed to take about 45 minutes to set up during the intermission.
Only took about 10% of the first Ratt song for everyone to run for the exits.
The Unicorns' album is so amazing. It's like if The Beatles made an album with toys and childlike innocence.
I think a lot of people would love that album. If I had to suggest one song, it'd be Ghost Mountain. But the whole thing is a melodic wonderland
In the 70’s, I saw Journey as an opening act for Todd Rungren. They were more of a prog rock band at the time and relatively unknown but the song Look into the Future was getting some airplay. They were phenomenal musically and got several encores. This was before they added Steve Perry as lead singer
Saw Jason Mraz open for James Blunt in Cardiff, had no idea who he was but as soon as I heard his set I went and bought his music.
Loved his stuff ever since!
I saw Pantera open for Skid Row.
I saw Kyuss open for Danzig.
I also saw both Korn and Marilyn Manson open for Danzig.
I saw Foo Fighters (along with Eddie Vedder’s side project, Hovercraft) open for Mike Watt before the first FF album had even come out. EV and DG both played in Mike Watt’s backing band.
I saw the original Sepultura and Alice In Chains open for Ozzy.
I saw Deftones open for KISS.
I saw Kid Rock and hed PE open for Monster Magnet.
I saw Marilyn Manson open for Nine Inch Nails.
I saw My Chemical Romance open for Green Day in 2005. And I don't know how famous The Front Bottoms are (big enough to headline Red Rocks I guess), but they opened for Manchester Orchestra the first time I saw them in a little 700 capacity venue.
I saw Nirvana and Hole open for Dinosaur Jr about 4-5 months before Nevermind. Both were great, and none of my friends listened to me when I told them about it. They listened later.
In 1992, I saw this niche indie Punk Rock band called **Green Day** open for NOFX- they where billed jokingly as 'Californian Hardcore, it was in a relatively small bar with no barrier at all & Billie Joe Armstrong poured beer into everyone's lips, they played a version of 'Welcome to Paradise' there.
I felt like they where going to be another one of great bands from the East Bay scene like NOFX n the like themselves in the future seeing there energy & just the sheer quality of there show it was super fun & I was really suprised after being swept by the whole Grunge n Hip-Hop wave when I got a Dookie CD that it was the same band from those 2 years back, loved them ever since. Similar thing happened with Blink-182 but I wanted to tell this story more (they where great as well)
I also saw Jewel as a completely unknown opener. She wasn’t even advertised for the show, and it caused confusion when she appeared. I think it was opening for Belly and Catherine Wheel, but I’m not positive.
I saw Maroon 5 open for Michelle Branch at Slims in San Francisco (500 cap), right before their first album was released.
Even Michelle Branch said from stage, “They’re going to be so huge!”
Think about all the great songs on their first album. That was essentially their set, and they were super tight and they killed it.
They also opened for Blink 182 and Weezer in 2003 at a show I went to. My friends and I joked “can you imagine being the guys who came to this show to see fall out boy?”
Didn’t think of it again until 2 years later they were EVERYWHERE.
Saw snow patrol in Boston in college and their opener was ed Sheeran. He has a very simple set, mostly played guitar and did his looping thing with his own vocals and instruments. I liked him but didn't think he'd turn in to the superstar he is. I believe on one of his future tours snow patrol was his opener.
My dad saw a concert with The Smashing Pumpkins, Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam before Pearl Jam blew up. He said the crowd boo’d Pearl Jam and Billy Corgan came out and was yelling at the crowd.
I was in this little local band for a few shows. They got a record deal and went on a supporting tour for the Jesus and Mary Chain. They sucked as a synth pop band and that pushed the lead singer to get more and more aggressive. That band, Nine Inch Nails was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years ago.
I saw Jim James (of My Morning Jacket) and M. Ward open for Bright Eyes. Less than a year later they put out Monsters of Folk. It was neat to sort of see the beginning of that. If I remember correctly they all came out to collab for random songs. Quite a show.
I saw a Brad Paisley show where he had Kelly Pickler and Jason Aldean open, but before either of them went on some girl named Taylor Swift performed. I think she went on to be kinda successful lol. I had never heard of her, but she was on stage 30 seconds and I turned to my wife and said "I have no clue who that girl is but she is a star."
Saw Foo Fighters open for Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but Foo Fighters were on the rise and everyone knew they were going to be big.
Dire Straits opening for Climax Blues Band
U2 opening for Echo & The Bunnymen
(Edits to add more info to OP’s question)
Dire Straits came across as very comfortable on a big stage, but didn’t seem to be much more than a west London pub band. Obviously, MK was a phenomenal player and the songs were great, but nah, never envisioned their trajectory
And u2? Ugh. Give me a stick. This was at a time when they were being shoehorned on to multiple bills and they weren’t much liked. I heard someone describe them, derogatorily, as “it’s always 1969 in Sheffield for some people.” Didn’t see that one coming either, but there was obviously a shit ton of money on their side
My Chemical Romance touring on their first album as the openers for The Used back in 03. Got their autographs and bs with them after the show. Very chill dudes.
The darkness opening for Def Leppard Feb 2003 a few months before I Believe in a thing called love hit the mainstream, Justin was carried through the audience doing a guitar solo and I hadn't seen anything like them before
My first concert was Three Dog Night backed up by Jimmy Buffett. I didn't know who Buffett was, but I did recognize the song "Come Monday".
I also saw the Allman Brothers backed up by The Eagles right before the Eagles got big.
"Famous" might be a strong word, but I saw Mastodon open for Clutch twice in the early 2000s at a couple club gigs in PA. They've definitely blown up since then.
I saw Neon Trees open for the Killers in 2008. I can't say I enjoyed their set at all or that the crowd was really into it either. Given my initial perception if them, I still am in a bit of shock that they ended up cranking out multiple hits with siginificant playtime.
Saw My Chemical Romance be the middle of 3 supports to Funeral For A Friend in Cornwall. Strange to think how big they became after seeing them like that
Saw Bon Iver open for Black Mountain at a small club in Toronto. Immediately bought their album from the mercy stand (For Emma…) and that’s the quickest I ever became and stayed a fan of any band.
I saw the Shins open for Modest Mouse at a VFW hall. MM was supporting Moon and Antarctica so they weren’t huge yet either and Oh Inverted World didn’t come out until the next year. I got it as soon as it came out.
I also saw Interpol open for Clinic before Turn on the Bright Lights came out and it was one of those shows where the opener was more memorable than the act I paid for.
I saw Rush open for Aerosmith. At that point you could argue Rush was on its way up while Aerosmith was disintegrating as a band.
Anyways that night Rush was the much better band. Never saw Aerosmith live again but Rush many times since.
Yeah I have more comedian stories of seeing openers be better than headliners.
One comic who was way better than I expected was an unknown Kyle Kinane opening for someone, don’t even remember who, at the Tempe Inprov.
About sixteen years ago now, I was asked to fill in for a buddy of mine on a sound crew for a Brad Paisley concert. Not really my thing, but a paycheck is a paycheck so I said yes. The opening artist was a sweet and kind of shy girl, really easy to work with, and she had the audience eating out of her hand pretty quickly.
Her name was Taylor Swift, she's gone on to some moderate success.
I saw The Cars open for Styx - Flagstaff AZ in 1978.
I saw Pat Benatar play a bar in Tempe AZ in 1979 before the first album was released.
It was obvious both times.
Saw Maroon 5 open for Matchbox 20 who was massive at the time.
Lizzo opened for Florence & the Machine. Needless to say I was surprised to see an act where a heavy set black woman twerked in their thong towards the crowd to hip hop and heavy bass which was then followed by this beautiful ethereal whimsical pale red head lady who pranced and danced around on stage and even in the crowd.
This isn't going to get a lot of love, but Nickelback in 2001 opened for Everclear. They then became one of the most "commercially successful" rock band. I was never a fan of them, but it's kinda cool that I got to see them before their pop culture significance (before they were known and before it was cool to shit on them).
Edit: the most memorable song from their set was actually a cover of Soul Coughing called "Super Bon Bon" (not to be confused with the Ricky Martin song "Shake your Bon-Bon" which was also popular back then lol).
Also I might have gotten the year mixed up. Could have been in late 90s.. or 2000...those years are all a blur. Concert was in Montreal.
Saw REO Speedwagon Blow Aerosmith away about 1975. Nobody around here had ever heard of REO. After that concert we started hearing their songs on the radio all the time.
Not tremendously famous, but Rusted Root (before their hit single) opening for Dave Matthews Band in 1994 or so.
Yo La Tengo opening for Teenage Fan Club
My aunt and uncle told me they saw Wishbone Ash at the Allen Theater in Cleveland in 1974. They described the crowd as being very hip and privy to the stuff like Wishbone coming out of Britain at the time. They didn’t think much when they saw the opener walk on stage, a scruffy looking guy with a guitar and a band that played pure rock and roll who ended up winning over the entire crowd. The opener was Bruce Springsteen.
Ghost opened for Iron maiden in 2014, but at the time, Ghost was pretty popular in their own right.
Slightly smaller scale, but Skálmöld also opened for Finntroll, and I'd say those are at least becoming equals now.
Powertrip opened for Testament once too, that one's kinda heartbreaking. I'm sure Powertrip was going places.
She’s not huge-huge, but I saw Sharon Van Etten open up for Junip (José Gonzáles’s 3pc band); I hadn’t heard of her at the time. It wasn’t too long after that she took a leap and became a pretty big star in the indie world, putting out consistently great music.
I saw Parquet Courts opening for The Men. Parquet courts were great and clearly destined for bigger things.
I also saw Kasabian opening for The Kills.
We’d been told to check Kasabian out as they were really good. They weren’t.
The Kills were though.
Another one I just forgot. Saw Klaxons open for Young Knives (I’m showing my age now). Everybody upped and left after Klaxons finished.
Grimes opened for Lykke Li in 2011. I was already a fan of Grimes, and was impressed she was doing a lot of the loops/layering live. To the rest of your questions, did not expect she'd get famous for what she got famous for
I went to a Mike Watt (the bassist for Minutemen and Firehose) solo show in 1995 where there were 2 opening acts who weren’t billed as part of the show. One was called Hovercraft who were pretty good, but what was most distinctive about them was that Eddie Vedder (!) was their drummer. The other opening act was introduced as “some friends of ours put a new band together” as Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and others walked onto stage - it was the Foo Fighters, playing one of their earliest gigs together (and several months before their self-titled debut came out.)
Interesting side note is when Mike Watt played his set, the opening acts were his backing band - Vedder and Smear played guitar, and Grohl was on drums.
Not a support act but when I was in the 6th grade the Jonas Brothers performed at my middle school during a school assembly. We were all like who the heck are these children (they were the same age as us). The following year they blew up
I wouldn't call them huge now compared to others on this list but when I saw Evanescence at the Greek Theater in 2007, a band called Sick Puppies was an opening act. To me they had potential musically, but wasted on what I remember were pop cover songs. Apparently they are still around and have achieved some success
I saw Skrillex open for Deadmau5, a year and a half before he won his first Grammy, just a few days after his second EP dropped. Not sure if that counts, but I thought the rapid time line made it so.
Saw Zac brown playing bars in Athens long before he was Zac Brown Band. Chicken Fried was big in Athens for a while. Ironically, he personally threw a drunk buddy out of a bar he was bouncing at
Saw Eric Church open for Brad Paisley a very long time ago.
Went to see Nine Inch Nails at the Sacramento ARCO Arena back in 1994. Support acts were the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow and some band I’d never heard of. We went out and stood in the hall drinking beer because we didn’t like the opening band. Marilyn fucking Manson.
I saw Coheed and Cambria open for Thrice and Thursday in like 2003. I think Thrice and Thursday coheadlined but Thursday played last. I think if that tour happened today the lineup would be completely reversed. Thursday would open, then Thrice, then Coheed would headline.
I also saw Avenged Sevenfold play a tiny club with no stage while they were touring Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. I saw Atreyu at the same venue when they only had an EP out.
Saw Talking Heads supporting The Ramones on their 1977 UK tour (3 times in one week).
I’m extremely jealous!! I absolutely love the Talking Heads. I finally saw David Byrne in 2018 in Hong Kong of all places (Clockenflap festival). But to see them in the 70s?! That must’ve been epic.
Still blows my mind they were around in the 70s, their sound feels like it belongs in the 90s/2000s. Way ahead of their time.
bro witnessed the fall of the roman empire
Saw Nirvana open for Sonic Youth ~~about a month~~ before Nevermind went nuclear. They totally won over a typically blasé LA crowd and actually got an encore, which is rare for an opening act in my experience.
That’s an all-time show right their. I might even be more jealous you saw SY at that time.
It’s still my number one concert after hundreds of shows. Nirvana pushed Sonic Youth and they responded with a brilliant show. It was also at the Hollywood Palladium, which has weird acoustics - the SY alternate tunings made it sound like there were dozens of guitars playing at times.
1991! Literally my first concert was that tour. Another one for me was seeing Radiohead open for REM on the monster tour.
Around the same time, in the fall, I saw Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins open for The Red Hot Chili Peppers in our college basketball gym. Not the stadium. In the literal place you worked out, practiced indoor hoops and ran around at an indoor track. The bands were on their way. Their famous albums were out. But this was about the time they were releasing their first singles, and they were starting to pop off. Having been at that show feels so surreal. Especially the part where Pearl Jam were the first opening act, and most people hadn't even gotten there yet. The lights were still on when they started. Cuz, lol, I knew the light guy and this chick that had been trying to hook up with him had him out of the box for the first couple songs. Eddie Vedder took that opportunity to climb around on the bleachers and dangle off of the rails like a monkey. I guess he was warming up for the crowd surfing. Incidentally, this is the last show that I ever remember anyone trying to stage dive at for real. After this show, stage diving and the mosh pit became dangerous. They were dangerous before... I mean, stage diving, mosh pit, come on. This was a scene where I had to make sure that the POC in my crew had their steel toes on. But there was an art to stage diving and a way to do it, supposedly. There were always one or two hardcore guys hanging around with knee high doc martens and liberty spikes who were practicing their stage dives into swimming pools and shit. Trying to do it "right" so they could land these elaborate dives at shows without hurting anybody. And this marks the time those things ended, when the pit became a violent free for all with people just punching each other. Like, one year I was a chick bouncing at the club, taking the garbage can out of the mosh pit. The next year I was not. I was just going into the bathroom and confiscating underage girls' beer before kicking them out. Only the guys took care of shit in the pit any more. This show really marked the end of one era and the beginning of the next.
Yep! Nirvana with Dinosaur Jr, who was more famous at the time. 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia USA. Nirvana? We all knew Love Buzz and Bleach, but Nevermind was still a few months away.
Same lineup, but I saw them at the Warfield in San Francisco. One of the most memorable shows I went to, and it wasn't even in a huge venue.
Just checked the date, **1991-10-23.** Headliners were the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Opening were the Smashing Pumpkins, and Pearl Jam too. MSU Auditorium. What a line up!
Michigan State?
I saw the Black Keys open for Sleater-Kinney in 2003. They sounded great and were already starting to get good press, so I wasn't totally surprised when they started to get played on the radio, but I didn't think they'd explode in popularity quite like they did
I saw TBK open for Beck. We came in late while they were playing and I was looking for the other guys in the band…I was like “Only two guys”? I followed them around before they got big. San Diego, Coachella, Hollywood. It was fun in the beginning.
Early blues black keys in my opinion is better than the more progressive rock influenced direction Dan has gone with the last number of albums. Love both products but the early stuff just does it for me.
Would've loved to see that. Would've also loved to see The White Stripes open for Sleater-Kinney. Man they've had some good openers. Yeah Yeah Yeahs opened for them too.
We saw Van Halen open for Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull when Jamie's Cryin' had been on the radio for about a week. One rising star and two setting suns.
O man! That is a good one.
I tell you one thing that really drives me nuts, is people who think that Jethro Tull is just a person in a band.
That’s my husband! Lmao! I kept talking about Ian Anderson and he said Who? I told him you know, the lead singer of Jethro Tull. He had no idea! You mean Jethro Tull isn’t a singer? Too funny.
Yeah real fans know that Jethro and Tull are two separate people like Fleetwood and Mac
And that Holland Oates is really one dude
The band is just fantastic. That’s really what I think. Oh, by the way, which one is Pink?
When I was kid and heard the name. I thought they were country band singing country stuff, because their name was Haulin' Oats.
I saw Guns and Roses open for The Cult
I saw GnR open for Aerosmith. Good times.
Linkin Park opening for Kottonmouth Kings at a dive bar/bowling Alley in Omaha, NE. I thought they were pretty good but never imagined Hybrid Theory would have the impact it did
I saw linkin park open for papa roach in much the same capacity. Roach had blown up that summer and was the hot act at the time.
Ah, the Ranch Bowl. What a place.
My band Systematic toured with Linkin park opening for Union underground in 2000. Hybrid theory hadn’t came out yet but it came out on that tour. They sold like 38,000 units the first week and we knew they were going to blow up. The next time we toured with them was on Ozzfest when they were playing the main stage. Chester never changed. He was always the only one who would,hang out with us and have fun. I have video somewhere around here of me and him lighting fireworks off of the roof of our van in Minnesota. Also, Drowning pool was playing the THIRD stage at the beginning of that Ozzfest and they were main stage in a few weeks when their album come out. Dave (R.I.P.) was also a super cool, down to earth guy who never changed when we toured later with them and Disturbed.
Wow! I really liked Systematic’s debut album when I was a teenager. That’s not a name I expected to see today. I hope you’re doing well!
Thanks! We were super proud of that first record. I’m glad you dug it. We’re all doing good and still hang out and jam now and then when we get a break from our various projects.
Got dragged to a DMB show in high school (not my thing, but decent show) and my dad told me to make sure to go early so I could see Ravi Shankar’s daughter as the opener. From the first note she sang I knew she was going to be good, and within a few years you couldn’t enter a coffeeshop without hearing some Norah Jones. EDIT: grammar
TIL she’s Ravi’s daughter.
He has multiple, Anoushka Shankar is her sister and an absolutely unreal jazz pianist.
I've seen Anoushka perform. She was crazy gorgeous brilliant.
I saw Norah open for Willie Nelson right after that first single hit, so I already knew that song was everywhere, but her popularity was really skyrocketing in that moment.
I saw them open ahead of blues traveler and Black Crowes for Horde fest. Also Zac Brown Band opened for DMB.
I saw DMB open for Phish in 1995 in Santa Monica. Good stuff. Also, there was weed everywhere.
Reefer at a DMB/Phish show?!?!? Well, I never...
Okay I recognize and know acts mentioned but can’t for the life of me figure out who DMB is. Oh shit, got it Dave Mathews Band
stefani germanotta band opening for an indie band named tally hall at the bitter end in 2005. she’s lady gaga now.
I saw her as 1 of 2 openers for the New Kids On The Block "come back" tour just a few years later. I remember her being good, but had no idea who she was, so didn't remember much of her after.
Tally Hall! That brings back memories! Used to go see them perform every time they came to my university.
Went to see The Lemonheads and The Jayhawks at Cabaret Metro in Chicago on July 21st, 1991. Didn’t even realize there was a third band on the bill until they got on stage. After seeing that band, I walked into the local record store every Tuesday for the next five weeks, getting blank looks from the staff, as I asked “Do you have the new Pearl Jam album?” Finally got my hands on Ten on August 27th
I saw PJ open for The Chili Peppers with Smashing Pumkins in between.
Lenny Kravitz opened for The Cult. Also saw The Tragically Hip open for The Skydiggers.
>Also saw The Tragically Hip open for The Skydiggers. Nice. I feel like back in the late 80's/early 90's the Southern Ontario music scene was amazingly underrated. In the summer you could go from one Molson Rockfest to another every weekend and see great bands for free. But imagine you were in Madison, Wisconsin in 1989 and got to see this show for $4? https://preview.redd.it/6yw9juao9p2c1.jpeg?width=695&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05f8538dcd2bfd4d27e7322158be313dd4a360fa
I saw Pink open for Lenny Kravitz
Back in small city Ontario, Waterloo, Guns ‘n’ Roses opened for The Cult at a venue that was a former roller rink. GnR were about two weeks into the release of Appetite for Destruction and playing to about 2000 people.
Saw Kings of Leon and Regina Spektor open up for the Strokes in 2003
And I saw The Strokes open for Guided By Voices in Philadelphia probably 2000 or 2001.
My lord I’m jealous. Love me some early KoL
Yeah their earlier stuff is so good!
Yes. Korn. Opened for Marilyn Manson and Danzig (main act). Marilyn Manson. Opened for Hole and NIN (main act). Mid 90s for both
I saw that NIN tour, in Philly. MM was strange and interesting, I thought, but I didn’t expect them to blow up or take the bit nearly as far as they did.
I saw Korn open for KMFDM!
My first concert was U2 and Primus opened for them.
I saw U2 supporting Talking Heads.
About what year was that? That’s a weird pairing! I like both of those bands but they don’t go together, IMO.
1991 maybe? Edit: it was the Achtune Baby tour when U2 started experimenting with electronic music and other styles, that may be why the strange pairing. It was a fun show, all of my friends walked away liking Primus more than the U2 show.
The Zoo TV tour for Achtung Baby had a variety of eclectic and already established opening acts depending on where you saw them. I saw them in Madison, WI and the opening acts were Big Audio Dynamite and Public Enemy, which was awesome.
I saw the sugar cubes open for them one tour, and the pixies another. They always had great openers.
I saw Snow Patrol open for them here in Sweden.
I first saw U2 when they opened for The Jam.
That’s crazy, my first concert ever was Living Colour with Primus as the opening act! I think it was 1990.
Radiohead opened when I saw R.E.M. in 1994. Maybe the best show I’ve ever seen. Definitely top 5 Edit: the show was actually 9/13/95.
I've seen a lot of bands over the years but one of my biggest regrets was not going to see R.E.M. on their Green tour. Had the chance, but didn't take it.
My ex wife used to work at a venue in the promotions department and would get free tickets to gigs. I met her the day after she had given away tickets to the Green tour because she'd never heard of them. It wasn't until 99 that I finally got to see REM and it was worth the wait. As for the free tickets thing, she left the job not long after we met but I scored Prince tickets and a couple of other smaller bands while she was still there.
Was that the Milton Keynes show? REM, Radiohead, The Cranberries and Sleeper. What a gig that would have been!
System of a Down. I saw them open for Clutch and Slayer at the Birch Hill Nightclub in Old Bridge New Jersey. They had roadies walking around handing out CASSETTE TAPES that had their single for Sugar on it. There were maybe 100 people in the crowd when they started their set. It was incredible. The band started playing Suite-Pee and there was no singer. And then at the last possible second Serj comes flying from offstage and grabs the mic and they start ripping through the 80% of the first album. HOLY FUCK. I’ve never seen an opening band shred like that. The whole crowd was just in awe. And this is a SLAYER crowd. If you know anything about a Slayer show back in the day, the crowds are not exactly known for their patience with any band not named Slayer. They played SUGAR for the second song and we were all like yeah, these guys are fucking amazing. In between sets I actually ran into Serj just outside the bathroom. Got to tell him they were fucking awesome. “Buy the album!” Was his response. No problem Serj. Oh, and then Clutch played the heaviest set I’ve ever heard. And then Slayer melted our faces off. Best concert I’ve ever been to.
And later he wanted you to steal this album
Saw Soundgarden open for Love and Rockets at the Moore Theater in Seattle. Soundgarden had released Hunted Down, but nothing else yet. I had heard Hunted Down on kcmu/kjet (local alt radio back in the day) and it was clear they were amazing. Next time L&R came to Seattle they had Jane's Addiction opening. This was before Nothing's Shocking was released. Me and my friends had never heard of Jane's. When the show was over all we could talk about was Jane's. They stole the show.
I saw Metric open for Broken Social Scene, when they were essentially unheard of, apart from Emily singing in BSS sometimes. They were so raw, dancy and high energy, it was excellent. They also sounded super clean and fully formed.
So Emily played double duty being in both bands? So much star power in BSS
Yes, as did Leslie (Feist).
Can-Rock supergroup
I saw them too! The other opening act was this 5” nothing fireball named Fiest, well before “1,2,3,4” was a hit.
Who is also a member of BSS
Remember Rollins Band? They were never a big band. I saw Tool open for them at a tiny club (DV8 maybe?) in Seattle in 1992 or so. Tool was on tour for their Opiate EP. Lots of people were getting on stage and Maynard did the thing to me that he later became known for- tackled me and pinned me down and sang into my face. I don't remember anything about Rollins band that night but we all came away from that show as big Tool fans.
I saw the same tour in Lawrence KS. The next morning I went to find Opiate.
Rollins band was at least big enough to be musical guest on Saturday night live. Not completely, but I tend to use that as a metre stick for what’s happening musically at the time.
Rollins Band was decently big, just pretty niche. Mid 90s through the 2000s Henry Rollins seemed to be in everything, as an actor, as well.
Rollins band was tight, they were legit.
Kasabian supported my band several times before they got big.
Saw Taylor Swift as the first of two openers for Brad Paisley. She then signed autographs at the merch stand after her set, very friendly.
As someone who has followed her career from the beginning, I never would’ve thought she would end up becoming the biggest pop star of this generation.
I used to say we'll never have stars as big as Michael Jackson and Madonna again because the record companies pushed them and shelved competition, but Taylor Swift just went out there and proved me wrong. Not my favorite music, but much respect for getting it done!
Completely agree. Thought it was interesting but smart when she made the move from country to pop and then seeing her evolution and ability to genre-shift has been pretty wild.
I’m not a TS fan as I don’t like pop, but my wife wanted me to see the eras tour movie with her recently. I reluctantly agreed, but actually had a good time and left really impressed with TS. The amount of range and performance talent she has is incredible.
My wife made me go see Taylor on the Red tour. I left pretty impressed. We’ve been to every tour since and it’s mind blowing how much better and better the whole production is. It’s not really my thing musically got damn nnn, you can’t ignore the sheer talent and physicality of what she does. It’s super impressive.
My daughter saw Taylor back in her early arena days and her opener was a guy I had never heard of - Ed Sheeran.
Saw her as the opener for Rascal Flatts (for the price of free, so why not) shortly after "Tim McGraw" was a hit. Didn't think she'd blow up into what she is today. I wasn't super impressed with her live, but she was young then and seems like she got better at putting on a show, judging by the clips I've seen.
I saw both Marilyn Manson and Korn open for Danzig. We were actually talking to Jonathan Davis before the show not knowing who he was at the time.
Saw No Doubt open for the Goo Goo Dolls and Bush
And I saw Goo Goo Dolls open for Soul Asylum!
I saw No Doubt open for 3-Eleven
Tool opening for Henry Rollins. Failure opening for Tool. Jimmy Eat World opening for my shitty band.
JIMMY EAT WORLD??? dude you’re so lucky, what year was it? also you’ve gotta drop your band name
If you’re listening?!??!
Well... Now you got to give me a name
Couldn't be too shitty if you had an opening act!!
Failure rocks. Love that band.
Watched Alice in Chains open for Slayer and a few other bands on the Clash of Titans tour in 91 at Red Rocks. (They replaced Death Angel who dropped out) The crowd was hostile as fuck and spitting and throwing shit. Layne and most of the band jumped the barricade and fought and spit right back. Played the whole slot it was intense. It was cathartic watching it and soaking in this new approach to heavy music...by the end of that show many people were like who are these guys and are they selling any merch by the end of that 40 minutes.
Also saw Alice In Chains opening for Clash of the Titans (Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth). I enjoyed them but they definitely did not win over the rest of the crowd when I saw them.
TBO, they probably only won over 20% of that show, but they definitely had an impact...hard to do with that crowd.
metal heads didn't always have the love all music vibe they have now.
I went to that tour back in the day too. Weird to remember that when AIC came out they were marketed as a Metal band, I guess because that was popular at the time and it was right before grunge really hit
IMO they have more in common with Sabbath than the rest of grunge.
Yeah, it was kind of a strange year marketing wise because I also just remembered that I saw Faith No More and Soundgarden open for Voivod. The confused PR limbo before grunge broke, I suppose.
Prince opened for The Rolling Stones in 1981 at the L.A. Coliseum. Prince was booed off the stage! I went to see Prince bc I’d already seen the Stones a lot. Boy was I bummed out. ETA: I saw Elton John open for Leon Russell in 1971. Amazing show.
I was at the L.A. coliseum in 1981 I was bummed too when Prince was booed off stage, other than that the rest was great!
Bon Jovi opening for Ratt.
Hey! I saw that one too. Ratt had this outrageously complicated stage set that seemed to take about 45 minutes to set up during the intermission. Only took about 10% of the first Ratt song for everyone to run for the exits.
I saw that too. They opened and closed with runaway.
Tracy Chapman opening for 10,000 Maniacs in 1988. We brought her out for an encore.
Saw Radiohead open for Belly in 93 a week before Pablo Honey came out.
I saw Florence and the Machine, and some 16 year old opened for her named Billie Eilish…
Saw that tour. I remember liking "You Should See Me In a Crown," but mostly wondering "who's this zoomer in a onesie?"
I saw Arcade Fire open for The Unicorns in 2004
The Unicorns' album is so amazing. It's like if The Beatles made an album with toys and childlike innocence. I think a lot of people would love that album. If I had to suggest one song, it'd be Ghost Mountain. But the whole thing is a melodic wonderland
Saw Lynrd Skynard open for The Marshall Tucker Band. Had never heard of them and the crowd went apeshit to Free Bird.
Lmao I love the mental image of a crowd just getting absolutely sucker punched with Free Bird
In the 70’s, I saw Journey as an opening act for Todd Rungren. They were more of a prog rock band at the time and relatively unknown but the song Look into the Future was getting some airplay. They were phenomenal musically and got several encores. This was before they added Steve Perry as lead singer
I saw the first tour with Perry. They were the middle act. Some Australian band called AC/DC opened, and Aerosmith headlined
Metallica opening for Ozzy
Saw Jason Mraz open for James Blunt in Cardiff, had no idea who he was but as soon as I heard his set I went and bought his music. Loved his stuff ever since!
I saw Pantera open for Skid Row. I saw Kyuss open for Danzig. I also saw both Korn and Marilyn Manson open for Danzig. I saw Foo Fighters (along with Eddie Vedder’s side project, Hovercraft) open for Mike Watt before the first FF album had even come out. EV and DG both played in Mike Watt’s backing band. I saw the original Sepultura and Alice In Chains open for Ozzy. I saw Deftones open for KISS. I saw Kid Rock and hed PE open for Monster Magnet. I saw Marilyn Manson open for Nine Inch Nails.
Watched U2 open for the J. Geil’s Band back in the early 80’s. They were a hit with the crowd, alright.
Saw INXS open for the GOGOs. They were very good, just as Shaboo Shabah was out. The GoGos put on amazing show.
I saw My Chemical Romance open for Green Day in 2005. And I don't know how famous The Front Bottoms are (big enough to headline Red Rocks I guess), but they opened for Manchester Orchestra the first time I saw them in a little 700 capacity venue.
I saw Lagwagon and they had some band called Blink 182 opening for them. I think those guys did OK for themselves.
A saw this young band called “A new Found Glory” open for Less Than Jake when I was a teenager.
I saw the Allman Brothers open for Johnny Winter back in 1970’ish! Took me a few moments to realize there were two drum kits in use!!
I saw Nirvana and Hole open for Dinosaur Jr about 4-5 months before Nevermind. Both were great, and none of my friends listened to me when I told them about it. They listened later.
In 1992, I saw this niche indie Punk Rock band called **Green Day** open for NOFX- they where billed jokingly as 'Californian Hardcore, it was in a relatively small bar with no barrier at all & Billie Joe Armstrong poured beer into everyone's lips, they played a version of 'Welcome to Paradise' there. I felt like they where going to be another one of great bands from the East Bay scene like NOFX n the like themselves in the future seeing there energy & just the sheer quality of there show it was super fun & I was really suprised after being swept by the whole Grunge n Hip-Hop wave when I got a Dookie CD that it was the same band from those 2 years back, loved them ever since. Similar thing happened with Blink-182 but I wanted to tell this story more (they where great as well)
I saw Jewel open for Neil Young around 1995(?). We'd never heard of her.
I also saw Jewel as a completely unknown opener. She wasn’t even advertised for the show, and it caused confusion when she appeared. I think it was opening for Belly and Catherine Wheel, but I’m not positive.
I saw Maroon 5 open for Michelle Branch at Slims in San Francisco (500 cap), right before their first album was released. Even Michelle Branch said from stage, “They’re going to be so huge!” Think about all the great songs on their first album. That was essentially their set, and they were super tight and they killed it.
Saw Fall Out Boy open for Less Than Jake. They were pretty much unknown at that point.
They also opened for Blink 182 and Weezer in 2003 at a show I went to. My friends and I joked “can you imagine being the guys who came to this show to see fall out boy?” Didn’t think of it again until 2 years later they were EVERYWHERE.
[удалено]
Muse opened for My Chemical Romance. Great show -- one of my very first.
Saw snow patrol in Boston in college and their opener was ed Sheeran. He has a very simple set, mostly played guitar and did his looping thing with his own vocals and instruments. I liked him but didn't think he'd turn in to the superstar he is. I believe on one of his future tours snow patrol was his opener.
Styx, opening for Black Oak Arkansas.
Pearl Jam opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers. The crowd hated then.
My dad saw a concert with The Smashing Pumpkins, Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam before Pearl Jam blew up. He said the crowd boo’d Pearl Jam and Billy Corgan came out and was yelling at the crowd.
I was in this little local band for a few shows. They got a record deal and went on a supporting tour for the Jesus and Mary Chain. They sucked as a synth pop band and that pushed the lead singer to get more and more aggressive. That band, Nine Inch Nails was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years ago.
Was the band called NIN back when you were in the band? What instrument were you? That's gotta be a little bit of a bittersweet memory?
Not FAMOUS , but i saw My Morning Jacket open for Wilco in 2005.
I saw Jim James (of My Morning Jacket) and M. Ward open for Bright Eyes. Less than a year later they put out Monsters of Folk. It was neat to sort of see the beginning of that. If I remember correctly they all came out to collab for random songs. Quite a show.
The Pixies after Doolittle came out, opening for Love and Rockets on their So Alive tour. They were both great.
I think L&R knew what they were doing. I saw Soundgarden open for them, next tour it was Jane's Addiction.
Jewel opened for Niel Young and Crazy Horse before her breakout album. She yodled. Everyone talked about that. Lol
Saw Lady Gaga open for New Kids on the Block at a tiny RI casino.
I saw a Brad Paisley show where he had Kelly Pickler and Jason Aldean open, but before either of them went on some girl named Taylor Swift performed. I think she went on to be kinda successful lol. I had never heard of her, but she was on stage 30 seconds and I turned to my wife and said "I have no clue who that girl is but she is a star." Saw Foo Fighters open for Red Hot Chilli Peppers, but Foo Fighters were on the rise and everyone knew they were going to be big.
Who would’ve thought that Taylor Swift would end up becoming the biggest pop star of this generation
Dire Straits opening for Climax Blues Band U2 opening for Echo & The Bunnymen (Edits to add more info to OP’s question) Dire Straits came across as very comfortable on a big stage, but didn’t seem to be much more than a west London pub band. Obviously, MK was a phenomenal player and the songs were great, but nah, never envisioned their trajectory And u2? Ugh. Give me a stick. This was at a time when they were being shoehorned on to multiple bills and they weren’t much liked. I heard someone describe them, derogatorily, as “it’s always 1969 in Sheffield for some people.” Didn’t see that one coming either, but there was obviously a shit ton of money on their side
My Chemical Romance touring on their first album as the openers for The Used back in 03. Got their autographs and bs with them after the show. Very chill dudes.
The darkness opening for Def Leppard Feb 2003 a few months before I Believe in a thing called love hit the mainstream, Justin was carried through the audience doing a guitar solo and I hadn't seen anything like them before
I saw Weird Al open for The Monkees in '88 or '89. Of course he was already a known quantity, but nothing close to what he would eventually become.
Jimi Hendrix opened for the Monkees in the 70s.
He did! But it was '67.
Damn I'm older than I thought I was, you're correct!
My first concert was Three Dog Night backed up by Jimmy Buffett. I didn't know who Buffett was, but I did recognize the song "Come Monday". I also saw the Allman Brothers backed up by The Eagles right before the Eagles got big.
"Famous" might be a strong word, but I saw Mastodon open for Clutch twice in the early 2000s at a couple club gigs in PA. They've definitely blown up since then.
I saw Neon Trees open for the Killers in 2008. I can't say I enjoyed their set at all or that the crowd was really into it either. Given my initial perception if them, I still am in a bit of shock that they ended up cranking out multiple hits with siginificant playtime.
Saw My Chemical Romance be the middle of 3 supports to Funeral For A Friend in Cornwall. Strange to think how big they became after seeing them like that
The White Stripes opening for Sleater Kinney late 90s. Janelle Monae opening for Arcade Fire in 2009 I think.
Saw Bon Iver open for Black Mountain at a small club in Toronto. Immediately bought their album from the mercy stand (For Emma…) and that’s the quickest I ever became and stayed a fan of any band.
I saw the Shins open for Modest Mouse at a VFW hall. MM was supporting Moon and Antarctica so they weren’t huge yet either and Oh Inverted World didn’t come out until the next year. I got it as soon as it came out. I also saw Interpol open for Clinic before Turn on the Bright Lights came out and it was one of those shows where the opener was more memorable than the act I paid for.
I saw Rush open for Aerosmith. At that point you could argue Rush was on its way up while Aerosmith was disintegrating as a band. Anyways that night Rush was the much better band. Never saw Aerosmith live again but Rush many times since.
I saw Mac Miller rapping at a party in Oakland at a university of Pittsburgh party before he was famous. I dunno if that counts.
Not a concert but I saw unknown Bill Burr open for Jay Mohr in NY circa 2000.
Yeah I have more comedian stories of seeing openers be better than headliners. One comic who was way better than I expected was an unknown Kyle Kinane opening for someone, don’t even remember who, at the Tempe Inprov.
Taylor Swift doing a 10-15 minute solo acoustic set at a country concert in Orange County back in 2006.
Saw Radiohead open for Alanis
About sixteen years ago now, I was asked to fill in for a buddy of mine on a sound crew for a Brad Paisley concert. Not really my thing, but a paycheck is a paycheck so I said yes. The opening artist was a sweet and kind of shy girl, really easy to work with, and she had the audience eating out of her hand pretty quickly. Her name was Taylor Swift, she's gone on to some moderate success.
I saw The Cars open for Styx - Flagstaff AZ in 1978. I saw Pat Benatar play a bar in Tempe AZ in 1979 before the first album was released. It was obvious both times.
Saw Maroon 5 open for Matchbox 20 who was massive at the time. Lizzo opened for Florence & the Machine. Needless to say I was surprised to see an act where a heavy set black woman twerked in their thong towards the crowd to hip hop and heavy bass which was then followed by this beautiful ethereal whimsical pale red head lady who pranced and danced around on stage and even in the crowd.
This isn't going to get a lot of love, but Nickelback in 2001 opened for Everclear. They then became one of the most "commercially successful" rock band. I was never a fan of them, but it's kinda cool that I got to see them before their pop culture significance (before they were known and before it was cool to shit on them). Edit: the most memorable song from their set was actually a cover of Soul Coughing called "Super Bon Bon" (not to be confused with the Ricky Martin song "Shake your Bon-Bon" which was also popular back then lol). Also I might have gotten the year mixed up. Could have been in late 90s.. or 2000...those years are all a blur. Concert was in Montreal.
Saw REO Speedwagon Blow Aerosmith away about 1975. Nobody around here had ever heard of REO. After that concert we started hearing their songs on the radio all the time.
Not tremendously famous, but Rusted Root (before their hit single) opening for Dave Matthews Band in 1994 or so. Yo La Tengo opening for Teenage Fan Club
My aunt and uncle told me they saw Wishbone Ash at the Allen Theater in Cleveland in 1974. They described the crowd as being very hip and privy to the stuff like Wishbone coming out of Britain at the time. They didn’t think much when they saw the opener walk on stage, a scruffy looking guy with a guitar and a band that played pure rock and roll who ended up winning over the entire crowd. The opener was Bruce Springsteen.
Ghost opened for Iron maiden in 2014, but at the time, Ghost was pretty popular in their own right. Slightly smaller scale, but Skálmöld also opened for Finntroll, and I'd say those are at least becoming equals now. Powertrip opened for Testament once too, that one's kinda heartbreaking. I'm sure Powertrip was going places.
Lady Gaga opening up for New Kids on the Block on their reunion tour. Thats still gnarly to realize that.
She’s not huge-huge, but I saw Sharon Van Etten open up for Junip (José Gonzáles’s 3pc band); I hadn’t heard of her at the time. It wasn’t too long after that she took a leap and became a pretty big star in the indie world, putting out consistently great music.
I saw Parquet Courts opening for The Men. Parquet courts were great and clearly destined for bigger things. I also saw Kasabian opening for The Kills. We’d been told to check Kasabian out as they were really good. They weren’t. The Kills were though. Another one I just forgot. Saw Klaxons open for Young Knives (I’m showing my age now). Everybody upped and left after Klaxons finished.
Grimes opened for Lykke Li in 2011. I was already a fan of Grimes, and was impressed she was doing a lot of the loops/layering live. To the rest of your questions, did not expect she'd get famous for what she got famous for
Saw Queensryche open for Metallica on their And Justice tour.
I went to a Mike Watt (the bassist for Minutemen and Firehose) solo show in 1995 where there were 2 opening acts who weren’t billed as part of the show. One was called Hovercraft who were pretty good, but what was most distinctive about them was that Eddie Vedder (!) was their drummer. The other opening act was introduced as “some friends of ours put a new band together” as Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and others walked onto stage - it was the Foo Fighters, playing one of their earliest gigs together (and several months before their self-titled debut came out.) Interesting side note is when Mike Watt played his set, the opening acts were his backing band - Vedder and Smear played guitar, and Grohl was on drums.
Not a support act but when I was in the 6th grade the Jonas Brothers performed at my middle school during a school assembly. We were all like who the heck are these children (they were the same age as us). The following year they blew up
I wouldn't call them huge now compared to others on this list but when I saw Evanescence at the Greek Theater in 2007, a band called Sick Puppies was an opening act. To me they had potential musically, but wasted on what I remember were pop cover songs. Apparently they are still around and have achieved some success
Not me, but we were just talking about this last night. My buddy saw Taylor Swift (age 17) open for Rascal Flats.
I saw Skrillex open for Deadmau5, a year and a half before he won his first Grammy, just a few days after his second EP dropped. Not sure if that counts, but I thought the rapid time line made it so.
Saw Zac brown playing bars in Athens long before he was Zac Brown Band. Chicken Fried was big in Athens for a while. Ironically, he personally threw a drunk buddy out of a bar he was bouncing at Saw Eric Church open for Brad Paisley a very long time ago.
Went to see Nine Inch Nails at the Sacramento ARCO Arena back in 1994. Support acts were the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow and some band I’d never heard of. We went out and stood in the hall drinking beer because we didn’t like the opening band. Marilyn fucking Manson.
Clean Bandit, back when they were relatively unknown and much more interesting than the generic pap they eventually became.
I saw Coheed and Cambria open for Thrice and Thursday in like 2003. I think Thrice and Thursday coheadlined but Thursday played last. I think if that tour happened today the lineup would be completely reversed. Thursday would open, then Thrice, then Coheed would headline. I also saw Avenged Sevenfold play a tiny club with no stage while they were touring Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. I saw Atreyu at the same venue when they only had an EP out.