2. music
  3. 193216-2248

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
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,080 posts
 

Joni Mitchell for Arlo Guthrie. 1968. 

vthokie83
1,003 posts
 

August 16th 1974, my first concert....I was 13. My horseback riding friend was a huge three dog night fan, and she asked if I wanted to go with her, her boyfriend, and some friends; one of her other friends had to cancel. The concert was Three Dog Night, Souther-Fury-Hillman, and Little Feat.

Little Feat opened up first, so technically was my first live band.....they were ridiculously amazingly good. Second act was Souther-Fury-Hillman and they were excellent (I later became a Poco fan), and Three Dog Night was fine but not my type of music.

A few years later in 1977 I saw Little Feat at Lisner Auditorium in Washington D.C., which was one of the 7 concerts they recorded Waiting For Columbus......with the Tower of Power. The night was the one where the crowd shouted " F. E. A. T let's hear for Little Feat" at the beginning. They are still one of my top 5 bands of all time, and Waiting For Columbus is still my "stranded on a desert island" album

chuck
210 posts
 

1986 I belive Honeymoon Suite opened for .38 Special

skippytate
18 posts
 

1986 I belive Honeymoon Suite opened for .38 Special

Holy cow, I would have loved to see that. Honeymoon Suite.

Wow 

petaluman
177 posts
 

Jesse Colin Young lived around here for over 20 years, moving to Hawaii after losing his house & studio in the Mount Vision Fire of 1995.  I saw him do several solo sets in the 80s & 90s.  This particular time, he opened for the Rowan Brothers at the Sausalito Art Festival on 9/4/93.  He/they were just standing in a wide spot along the main path through the art exhibit, playing through their monitors.  Footnote: David Grisman Quintet played on the main stage that day.  All local groups, playing glorious acoustic music.

Through the miracle of Youtube, here's Jesse & Jackson Browne sharing a mic to Get Together at No Nukes in 1979 with Steve Stills, Graham Nash, and thousands of others: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odf1WWhAF6I

More to discover