This was just kinda strange to barely teenaged me, since it was my first concert (circa 1967) and I knew nothing about opening acts. I went to see Herman’s Hermits and didn’t understand why this group called Buffalo Springfield was on stage.
@Smapti Here’s “The Burden of Being Wonderful”. I was introduced to it a few years ago, and really liked it.
I’ve been going to Summerfest in Milwaukee since '71, and back then it was just one “stage” (wooden pallets and plywood in the mud) with non-stop acts morning til after midnight…
Made for some odd moments, like the rainy day where John Sebastian was playing when Leslie West’s band Mountain (“MIssissippi Queen”) came on stage. Followed by a folkie (Melanie), and then country/bluegrass/rock (early Poco).
Oh, and a Black Oak Arkansas fan threw a beer bottle onstage and hit Poco’s drummer.
But there was fun, like Elvin Bishop crashing Maynard Ferguson’s jazzy brass orchestra (“Fooled Around And Fell In Love” with blazing trumpets).
Oh, just remembered, when George Carlin was arrested for “The Milwaukee 7” (Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television"), he followed Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Doors and Blood, Sweat and Tears.
When I saw Carlin live in 2006, his opening act was an African-American folk singer who did like a 20-minute solo acoustic set. I think part of the choice was because Carlin knew we’d be confused and bewildered by this guy coming onstage with a guitar, assuming he was going to do a musical comedy set, and instead launching into a straight rendition of “A Change Is Gonna Come”.
It was supposed to be ZZ Top with Sammy Hagar opening, but Hagar was sick and couldn’t perform. The replacement was a local band that had played at my high school during sixth period months before. They weren’t bad, but I’m sure a lot of people were bummed. I did get to see Hagar at a post-game concert at Nationals Park decades later.
Exhibition Stadium, Toronto, 1982.
The Who is the headliner. You know, “My Generation,” “We Don’t Get Fooled Again,” and “Baba O’Reilly,” among others.
The opening act is Joe Jackson. “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” and “Steppin’ Out,” among others.
Jackson did not go over well with the Who’s crowd. Jackson cut their set short when their guitarist got hit in the head with a thrown liquor bottle.
When I saw Lorde (around 2018), one of her two opening acts was hip-hop act Run the Jewels. After their first song (which had a lot of profanity), one of them said, with a smile, “Apologies to all the moms who brought their daughters to see Lorde tonight, but we curse a lot.”
Schlitz presented The Who, Cedar Falls Iowa, Oct 15. 1982. Middle America doesn’t get the attention (hell, we didn’t even get a real encore). The opening act was Novo Combo, a sort of New wave band. At least I knew who they were.
At a show I attended at Meriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia Maryland, sometime in 1972 or 73:
50’s tribute rockers Sha-Na-Na opened for folksinger Richie Havens. How’s that for a odd combination?
They were quite good and really got the crowd whooped-up for a good show.
Richie Havens, on the other hand, was rather dull and disappointing.
I wa thinking about Summerfest and while it wasn’t a musical act I do remember seeing Richard Belzer open for Emo Philips in the comedy tent in 93’.
Belzer was pretty bad trying to do old Ronald Reagan jokes. Emo was hilarious. Since the comedy stage was in a tent one of the tent poles was unfortunately located directly front and center of the stage. Emo without skipping a beat says “I heard there were a lot of poles in Milwaukee but this is ridiculous.”
1974, San Diego. Tom Waits opened for Frank Zappa. (They had the same manager, Herb Cohen.) He was pretty new then, and I’ll never forget how brutally that audience treated him. He was catcalled, jeered, booed throughout his performance, and it’s the only time I was ever ashamed to be in an audience. For all of Zappa’s intellectual appeal that audience had an awful lot of dipshits. I remember Zappa coming onstage between acts, openly irritated with the audience.
Just moments ago I googled “Waits and Zappa” and learned that this happened in several other cities beside San Diego.
I came here to post this exactly! It was in Los Angeles at, I think, the Sports Arena. I had thought he was the regular opener. I remember that he juggled scarves and his name was Chris Bliss. Believe it or not, he has a Wikipedia page.
Around the same time, maybe 1974, Sha Na Na opened for Rush on a single date.
A few years later, Blondie did for a few dates.
Probably not. I’m pretty sure this magician was locally sourced.
The first time I saw the Who in 2002, Counting Crows opened. Not really the same style of music, but Adam Duritz at least has the same introspective singer-songwriter vibe Pete Townshend has.
The other two times I saw them, and the two times I saw Roger Daltrey with his solo band, the opening acts were invariably obscure indie rock bands with names like “Paper Zoo” or “British Sea Power” that I had never heard of before and have not heard a thing from since.
I gather they must like spotlighting acts that they think could use the exposure. I’ve read that a not-yet-famous Elton John was their opening act in 1970.
I think it’s significantly more likely that we saw the same juggler/magician who was booked for the entire tour than a coincidence that there were two different juggler/magicians. According to his Wiki page, he made a career out of that and a couple of years after the Asia tour opened for The Jacksons in 1984.
A new one. I saw the J. Geils Band in early 1982 in Los Angeles. I had never heard of the opening band and the crowd was quiet and polite during their set. They later made it very big. The band was U2.
I actually have British Sea Power’s first album on CD, a gift from a former boss, 20-ish years ago. They’re still around, still recording (ten studio albums, plus a couple of movie and video game soundtracks), but it seems like they never really made a mark in the U.S. But, yeah, an odd fit, opening for The Who.
They were both at Woodstock.
For that matter, Sha Na Na being at Woodstock was a bit odd, compared to the rest of the acts, as well. 