# Opening Acts That Upstaged Huge Headliner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 25, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986 "2019-11-25T21:48:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/1 "2019-11-25T21:48:43Z")
This guy I talk with was saying how Lynyrd Skynyrd blew The Who off the stage in Chicago. He went to the show not even knowing them, and came out a bigger fan than The Who! I also remember a Grand Funk documentary where they say they blew Zeppelin off the stage, but I also read they went way over their time. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/2 "2019-11-25T22:34:44Z")
I attended a concert with America as the headliner and Three (actually Two) Dog Night the opening act. 3DN played an hour and a half and sounded fantastic. America played 55 minutes and were BAD. I blame their sound engineer as both groups were using the same PA. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/3 "2019-11-25T22:36:55Z")
I keep hearing about that one time Hendrix opened for the Monkees… ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/4 "2019-11-25T22:40:20Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I attended a concert with America as the headliner and Three (actually Two) Dog Night the opening act. 3DN played an hour and a half and sounded fantastic. America played 55 minutes and were BAD. I blame their sound engineer as both groups were using the same PA. It’s typical for support acts to be given a volume limit so they can’t be as loud as the main act. Usually this is a disadvantage but occasionally it works in their favour. I wonder if you were stood near the front? ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/5 "2019-11-25T22:41:10Z")
I wonder how careful powerful bands are about who they choose. Obviously, they want someone good, but not that good. I’m guessing some share the same label, but I’m interested in those who want to help a band get some recognition. I wonder who generally makes these decisions, too. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/6 "2019-11-25T22:45:45Z")
\*\*\*\*In the late 1970s, the older teens up the street, including the mega-Aerosmith fan whose garage-bedroom walls were covered with posters and a mobile, regaled all us tween youngsters with how the unknown AC/DC (“I think they said they were from Australia”) blew headlining Aerosmith off of the stage. I got to see Wang Chung, who at the time had only the minor hit “Dance Hall Days”, upstage The Cars. Not that it was particularly difficult to upstage The Cars in a live setting. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/7 "2019-11-25T22:46:16Z")
I heard that in the late 1980s, .38 Special chose an up-and-coming act called Bon Jovi to open for them, and by the time the dates were finished, the status was reversed because (among other things) Bon Jovi sold far more merch than .38 special did. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/8 "2019-11-25T22:49:34Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > It’s typical for support acts to be given a volume limit so they can’t be as loud as the main act. Usually this is a disadvantage but occasionally it works in their favour. I wonder if you were stood near the front? I was all the way in the back (outdoor venue). Surprisingly, the balance was great for 3DN, but America started off with poor sound and it just got worse. I like to think they quit in disgust after less than an hour. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/9 "2019-11-25T22:56:39Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > I wonder how careful powerful bands are about who they choose. Obviously, they want someone good, but not that good. I’m guessing some share the same label, but I’m interested in those who want to help a band get some recognition. I wonder who generally makes these decisions, too. David Lee Roth-era Van Halen was notorious for picking crappy no-name bands precisely to avoid being upstaged. They probably still remembered upstaging Black Sabbath (even Ozzy admitted VH should have been headlining by the end of the tour) Sometimes the record label dictates who gets put together. I can’t think of any other reason why I saw Quiet Riot opening for ZZ Top in 1983, other than they were both on Warner Brothers at the time. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/10 "2019-11-25T22:56:50Z")
I saw this tour; 1975, Supertramp and Joan Armatrading. Joan Armatrading was much better than Supertramp. [![](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/concerts/images/9/99/IMG_7257-0.JPG) ](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/concerts/images/9/99/IMG_7257-0.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/11 "2019-11-25T22:57:09Z")
Brandi Carlile was unknown by me when she opened for BonnieRaitt. Touring with her brothers i think, her set knockedus out, BR was supreme of course but all I wanted to hear going home was BC ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/12 "2019-11-25T23:01:36Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I keep hearing about that one time Hendrix opened for the Monkees… More than one time. [Hendrix booked a 29-date tour as the opener for the Monkee](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31214/1967-jimi-hendrix-opened-monkees)s but only played eight before quitting. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/13 "2019-11-25T23:09:39Z")
I went to a Santana concert to watch Robert Cray open, then left. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/14 "2019-11-25T23:17:51Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > I saw this tour; 1975, Supertramp and Joan Armatrading. Joan Armatrading was much better than Supertramp. > > [https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/concerts/images/9/99/IMG\_7257-0.JPG](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/concerts/images/9/99/IMG_7257-0.JPG) We went to see Joan. The thing I remember from that tour is that she was painfully shy. By the time we saw her again in '78 and '82, she was confident, leading a band made up of people that had played with Little Feat and Joni Mitchell. Oh, and had the Pat Metheny Band opening for her. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/15 "2019-11-25T23:21:58Z")
I saw Boston on their “Don’t Look Back” tour. Sammy Hagar opened and had the place rocking. Boston was so boring, people started walking out about five or six songs into the set. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/16 "2019-11-25T23:34:19Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I went to a Santana concert to watch Robert Cray open, then left. I went to a Scorpions concert to see King’s X open, and should have left earlier than I did because the Scorpions were mostly stage lighting and the volume cranked up to a painful level. The other thing I remember about that show was that I must have seen several hundred people wearing Metallica t-shirts, no two alike. AFAIK, Boston were never a very good live band. The concert I saw in 1995, which had no opening act, wasn’t that great either. One I just remembered: In 1995, just a few months post-aneurysm, I saw R.E.M. and their opening act, Radiohead, on two successive nights (outdoor show near St. Louis). The first night, Radiohead were so-so, but the second night? Holy cannoli, was that a stellar performance. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/17 "2019-11-25T23:39:30Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I keep hearing about that one time Hendrix opened for the Monkees… Having grown up in Des Moines, there was a long-running urban legend about this ventriloquist/local celebrity opening for AND UPSTAGING Deep Purple, because someone in the opening act was sick and he was suggested as a joke, but he was available that evening and agreed to do it. If the story was true, someone would have remembered being there. > **[The Floppy Show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Floppy_Show)** > > The Floppy Show is an American children's television series starring Duane Ellett, broadcast on NBC affiliate WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa from 1957 to 1987. Ellett created Floppy in early 1957 to help teach people how to take care of their pets on the TV show Pet Corner, before moving on to their own show. > Duane Ellett entertained children with his puppet friend Floppy, a high-voiced beagle that enjoyed riddles and let kids beep his nose for luck. Ellett had carved Floppy himself from balsa wood,... ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/18 "2019-11-26T00:01:32Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > I saw this tour; 1975, Supertramp and Joan Armatrading. Joan Armatrading was much better than Supertramp. > > [https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/concerts/images/9/99/IMG\_7257-0.JPG](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/concerts/images/9/99/IMG_7257-0.JPG) Was Supertramp playing material from “Crisis? What Crisis?”… I know it was released that year, but it seems like many bands back then would play/experiment for a bit before recording it in the studio. That album is neck-and-neck (to me) with “Crime of the Century” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/19 "2019-11-26T00:25:10Z")
Saw DefLeppard go on before Journey this past summer. Not really a fan of either but I know their stuff. Came away being very impressed with Def Leppard. Came away very unimpressed with Journey. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986/20 "2019-11-26T00:33:42Z")
Last summer, I saw _Cheap Trick_ open for _Poison_. No, I have no idea why _Poison_’s management thought that was a good idea. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-acts-that-upstaged-huge-headliner/843986.md?page=2)