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!
@maskmann , I was at that show (2nd row center) and you are correct, The Waterboys were fantastic! I almost included that show in my list, but I couldn't bear mentioning U2 in the same sentence, probably because of the way the crowd tried to climb over my friends and I as if we were some type of human fence. One the bright side, that show made me focus on attending shows in venues that seat 1,000 people or less. That is a habit that I continue to this day. |
The Schaefer Music Festival was an outdoor concert series in Central Park, NYC, that had very random pairings. The most (in)famous was in 1974, when Bruce Springsteen opened for Anne Murray, who had a hit song with "Snowbird"! The following year, I saw The Deadly Nightshade (three women rockers all in leather) open for Poco! |
@jimijam - Camel is great, yeah? They played 3 nights here in San Francisco on the 'Moonmadness' tour, 2 shows per night, and I went to all 6! |
