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The best opening act you've ever seen & heard?

 

I have two:

 

In 1983 I went to see The Plimsouls (Peter Case’s pre-solo career band) at The Garage, a tiny little "club" on Ventura Blvd. The room had filled up (elbow-to-elbow tight), and the opening act started their set. My woman and I both looked at each other, our mouths agape. It was Los Lobos, and they were great! Their debut album How Will The Wolf Survive? had yet to be released, but I sure picked it up when it was.

 

I went to see John Hiatt at The Roxy Theater on Sunset Blvd. during his Perfectly Good Guitar tour, entering the room just as the opening act was starting her final song. The ads for the show listed her name, which was unfamiliar to me. As the song started and progressed, I was stunned; the song she and her band were performing was a great one, and I knew I had missed a quality set of music. It was Sheryl Crow, whose debut album had not yet been released. Damn it!

 

bdp24

Showing 2 responses by simonmoon

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simonmoon
594 posts
 

I saw the amazing prog band, Renaissance, open for an even more amazing prog band, Gentle Giant at the Shrine Auditorium here in LA. This was in 1976.

Annie Haslam’s 5 octave voice, with near perfect intonation, power and emotion, was always an amazing experience.

At the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1978, I saw the band U.K. (Bill Bruford, Allan Holdsworth, Eddie Jobson, John Wetton) open for Al De Meola.

As much as I love De Meola, U.K. was the better band.

 

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simonmoon
594 posts
 

In 2000, at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd, I saw Porcupine Tree open for the French band, Magma.

As much as I love P-Tree, they couldn't hold a candle to Magma. 

Magma was so intense, the musicianship was at such an extreme level, the way their music builds and releases tension and other emotions, they left it all on stage. 

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