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Thread: When the support band was better than the headliner

  1. #26
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    The Beatles for Brenda Lee. End of thread.

  2. #27
    District 97 outshined Agents of Mercy when I saw them a few years ago. (And that's coming from a Roine Stolt fanboy! )
    'The smell of strange colours are heard everywhere'- Threshold

  3. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Bake 1 View Post
    -Gentle Giant seemed a lot sharper and just plain more mind blowing than Yes in Portland (July 1976).
    I was at that show, too. I thought Yes was great, so I thought that was a pretty equal bill. In '72 Giant opened for Sabbath (same arena), I enjoyed Sabbath except for Ozzy being pissed off about Vol. 4 not being released yet, but Giant just blew me away and changed everything I thought about music.

    The worst I ever saw a headliner get blown away was ZZ Top (with a young, clean-shaven Billy Gibbons) opening in the same arena (Memorial Coliseum) for Rare Earth (who were boring as hell). The headline in the paper next day was "Texas Trio puts on enthusiastic rock concert"
    It's a spoonerism

  4. #29
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bake 1 View Post
    -Judas Priest tore up and wore out the audience before Mahogany Rush came on. Mahogany Rush were great, but the crowd didn't give em' much and Marino was visibly less than pleased, there was no encore, (August 1977).
    I experienced the same with Scorpions opening for Rainbow, though it wasn't because they played better... But clearly, most of the audience was there for Scorpions (the Blackout tour).
    Poor choice of opening act from rainbow management.

    Quote Originally Posted by mozo-pg View Post
    Max Webster backing up Rush (many times in the 70s).
    Especially locally, where fans would make sure they gave it all to Webster and abstained to Rush

    Quote Originally Posted by ronmac View Post
    Johnny Winter opening for George Thorobad and the Destroyers in 1985..
    Saw this tour, but I wouldn't say winter blew GT&TD ofstage... I'd say both were excellent, but Winter benefitted from even more sympathy , because of his longer history...

    Quote Originally Posted by progeezer View Post
    Canadian band The Paupers blew Jefferson Airplane off the stage and were certainly almost as good as Cream back in 1967 when I saw both of these shows at the Cafe A Go Go in NYC.
    wow!!! Was that before Dryden and Slick were in the band??
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  5. #30
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    Cardiacs supporting Chumbawumba

  6. #31
    PFM opening for Foghat mid 70s

  7. #32
    Late 70s , Van Halen blew Black Sabbath out of the water.

  8. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by mozo-pg View Post
    Anyone backing Aerosmith in the 70s.


    Max Webster backing up Rush (many times in the 70s).

    I was going to say REO SPeedwagon opening for Aerosmith. Also, I agree with Max Webster...criminally underrated band.
    "The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best..." - Henry David Thoreau

  9. #34
    I agree with a young, hungry Metallica destroying Ozzy in 86! I'll never forget Cliff Burton in his flair trousers head banging like a madman. god they were great in those days!

  10. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    Saw this tour, but I wouldn't say winter blew GT&TD ofstage... I'd say both were excellent, but Winter benefitted from even more sympathy , because of his longer history...
    We'll have to agree to disagree, then. Johnny played more licks in one song that GT did during his entire set. Yeah, GT is a showman, but, sheesh, how about mixing things up a bit instead of basically doing the same thing on each song? The same two leads, mugging to the crowd and a sax player who seemed to be stuck in repeat mode. Johnny was in peak form in the mid-80s. He needed no sympathy.
    "The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"

  11. #36
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by philsunset View Post
    PFM opening for Foghat mid 70s


    what a mismatch, too!!
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  12. #37
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    Gryphon opening for Yes

    Etron Fou Leloublan opening for Henry Cow
    Steve F.

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  13. #38
    I'm here for the moosic NogbadTheBad's Avatar
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    I saw Atomic Rooster support Spider who were just horrible, Rooster were outstanding but there was only about 20 of us there to see them
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  14. #39
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    Saw a great triple bill at the Spectrum in Philly in December of 1971. The headliner, Humble Pie, was very good, but the two opening acts, King Crimson and the J. Geils Band, just destroyed them. As good as the Pie was, they were a let down.

    In May of '71, I attended an all day, outdoor event at Brown University that featured, in order of appearance, the James Cotton Blues Band, Sha Na Na, Seatrain, and the Rascals. Any one of the first three were so much better than the Rascals. The Rascals were missing Gene and Eddie by then and were, sorry to say as I always liked them, just limping along.
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  15. #40
    Pat Travers opening for The Outlaws in December, 1978 at Massey Hall in Toronto.
    "and what music unites, man should not take apart"-Helmut Koellen

  16. #41
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post









    wow!!! Was that before Dryden and Slick were in the band??
    No. Surrealistic Pillow had just been released, and Skip Spence had already formed Moby Grape. I saw JA 3 more times during the late 60s and Grace was much better all 3 times (incl Woodstock) than that night at Cafe A Go Go, where some of the flat notes she hit were cringe-worthy.
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  17. #42
    W.P.O.D. Dan Marsh's Avatar
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    1973 - Skynyrd opening for The Who (Quadrophenia tour) - No contest....the Who got their clock cleaned.

    Molly Hatchett opened for REO Speedwagon sometime (I am thinking 1979) - kicked Spudwagons ass.

  18. #43
    Blue Oyster Cult kicked the butt of Flash at Cobo Hall in Detroit way back in the early 70s. I went for Flash, and was blown away by Cult, who only had released their first record.
    I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.

  19. #44
    I saw Mercury Rev for some other band back in 94, I think it must have been. I think the headliners were called Luna or Lunapark, something like that, but they were your average, paint-by-numbers "college radio" band. Mercury Rev, this was just after See You On The Other Side had come out, so it was after the original lineup broke up, but they were still playing their psychedelic stuff (before they went wimped out and went "Americana"), and they were great. Suzanna Thorpe, the band's flautist, had a pedal board more formidable than either of the two guitarists. She's still the flute player I've ever seen use a Rat distortion pedal!

    Unfortunately, that was the only time I got to see Mercury Rev.

    Robert Fripp opening on the second G3 tour back in 97 almost comes to mind. Kenny Wayne Shephered was a SRV wannabe, not bad if you were paying 15 bucks to see play at your local tavern, but not the kind of dren I want pay 50 bucks for. Vai and Satriani were both pretty good (though essentially playing the same stuff I saw them do the previous year). Fripp actually started playing, do his Soundscapes stuff, before they even opened the doors, so from the moment we walked in, we were hearing him play, and he played straight up until it was time for his set to end, which meant that he played for longer than any of the headliners, plus he joined them for the big encore jam. You haven't lived until you've heard Robert Fripp playing blues licks with a guitar synth, on Going Down.

  20. #45
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    Judas Priest opening for Angel. '77 Stained Class tour.
    Jeff Beck (Guitar Shop) opening for Stevie Ray Vaughn. I think they were switching off each night, but at MSG Beck w/Bozzio & Hymas opened.
    Caravan opened for Nektar at BB King's.
    FM opening for Rush.
    Nash The Slash blew away Iggy Pop (Lust For Life tour) although NTS came on some 2 hours later yet was the listed support.
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  21. #46
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    Thank You Scientist opening for Coheed and Cambria. Yes, I know it hasn't happened yet, but I can only imagine ...

  22. #47
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    Soft Machine opened for Hendrix on a US tour, seems like an odd pairing. Wonder who won that battle o' the bands?
    I caught them in '68, and as eccentrically wonderful as SM was Hendrix was in his supernova prime. Perhaps not a fair comparison but it was no contest, Jimi hands down.
    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

  23. #48
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Marsh View Post
    1973 - Skynyrd opening for The Who (Quadrophenia tour) - No contest....the Who got their clock cleaned.
    On the one hand this seems wildly implausible to me, but on the other hand I saw LZ open for The Who in '69 and came damn close to doing the same (in fact, some would argue that they did).
    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

  24. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by Obscured View Post
    Judas Priest opening for Angel. '77 Stained Class tour.
    I ain't buying it, Punky Meadows can play rings around Tipton/Downing combined

    On the subject of opening bands, though not necessarily better but more equal in my book was when I went a few years ago and saw Sonic Youth open for the Flaming Lips, damn that was one hell of a show. I give the edge to SY as a better band but the Lips show is a spectacle to behold at least once (actually going to see them tonight).

  25. #50
    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    P.S. It does not count as the support band being the 'winner' if you specifically went to SEE the support band.

    imo
    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    “Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin

    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

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