What Warm Up Bands Or Opening Acts Have You Seen BEFORE They Hit It *BIG*

g under p

Things are a quite different now, most bands carry a somewhat well known opening act or none at all. But back in the day warm up bands usually were lesser known and working their way up. Often little airplay on fm radio until after they caught a big break and signed for a big tour..

I've seen a few before they made it but I can't remember most of the hundreds of concerts I've seen. Most times I just wasn't paying attention or too busy into other things.

I can remember Living Colour Opening up for The Rolling Stones in 1989 on the Steel Wheels Tour. THEY were pretty damn good rocking in front of 50,000.

Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy with my friend Micheal Franti They opened up for U2 RFK stadium The Zooropa Tour 91'ish I was there I watched or I think I did but I don't remember them at all. The beers had some effect.

Kenny Wanye Shepherd I think opened for either Metallica or RUSH on an outside stage at Jiffy Lube Amphitheater Bristow VA. They rocked that small stage as I watched front and center. I'm thinking it was Metallica but I'm not sure.

Oh two women acts...Teena Marie Opened up for Rick James 1981I think Hampton Coliseum but from what I remember she didn't finish her set. I do remember she had a great soulful voice.

Beth Hart A surprise guest act for Michael Franti & Spearhead 2005....very talented singer/musician I even got a chance to meet and talked to her backstage.

More will come I hope later...

Peace

red mos

Wilco- opened for Sheryl crow back in 1996

eeriepadave

Well the one that sticks out for me and I've mentioned this before is Kings of Leon opening up for The Strokes in 2003. Me and one of my friends saw this tour when it opened in Philly at the Tower. On the way down he played their cd, I thought they sounded good, but i didn't really get into them until a few months later when they headlined a show at the TLA.

Only others i can think of are some festival bands which i saw.

Queens of the Stone Age & Disturbed- Ozzfest '00
System of a Down- Ozzfest '98 and '99 (although i didn't see them in '98 but they were on the bill)

2-feign-reluctance

Band of Horses and The Strokes

2-feign-reluctance

Also saw Kenny Wayne Shepherd when he was like 14 or something. He's not HUGE but it was before he blew up the blues world for a little bit.

Thirty Bills Unpaid

Saw Kings of Leon open for U2 in 2005.

Saw Ed Sheeran open for Snow Patrol on a Vegas rooftop (maybe 5 years ago?).

EarlWelsh

Radiohead opening for R.E.M. on their Monster tour.

My Morning Jacket opening for Doves in 2002.

I'm sure there are others but can't think of them now.

rmartin70

The first two that come to mind are Guns N' Roses opening for Aerosmith in 88' and Pearl Jam opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 91'.

Guy Dudebro

Red Hot Chili Peppers opening for Suicidal Tendencies at The Olympic Auditorium in LA in May of '84. The Minutemen and SS Decontrol were also on the bill. Alice In Chains opening for Iggy Pop at The Palladium in Hollywood in 1990 also comes to mind.

Tim Simmons

They haven't hit it *big*, but they are significantly bigger and more popular, but I saw BRMC open for the Charlatans at the Double Door in 98 or 99 before their s/t came out. That' was cool.

JH6056

Band I'd never heard of called the White Stripes opening for Sleater-Kinney in '96ish... Spearhead and Ben Harper opening for the Fugees at Tramps in '96 (day before Ben Harper opened for Pearl Jam at Randall's Island day 1)... Band we'd never heard of and rudely (not being rude on purpose but I gotta own it, we were rude) talked through their entire set: Indigo Girls opening for Hothouse Flowers in '88...

xavier mcdaniel

My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, Death Cab for Cutie, Black Keys, Band of Horses have all opened for Pearl Jam, not that I necessarily remember any of their sets.

eeriepadave

Tim Simmons said:

They haven't hit it *big*, but they are significantly bigger and more popular, but I saw BRMC open for the Charlatans at the Double Door in 98 or 99 before their s/t came out. That' was cool.

Wow. BRMC is my 2nd fav band. That must have been pretty sweet to see. I'm guessing you live near San Fran then? My first time seeing them was '04

Longueuil

I saw Rise Against open for Bad Religion in 2004

smarchee

only comes to mind right now is System Of A Down opening for Slayer in 1998?

Oh, and Marilyn Manson on the 1994 Nine Inch Nails/Soundgarden show

Zod

I saw Nickelback open for the barstool prophets. The sad thing is I really liked their first indie album. Went all to shit after that lol.

Saw Kings of Leon open for U2 on the Veritigo tour?

I saw foo fighters just before they started ballooning. Played a 1000 seat student rec centre at UBC in 1997 (just when the 2nd album was coming out?). Crazy to think about it now. Saw them open for RHCP in 2000 too, which is weird because the same year i saw RHCP open for PJ... lol

Saw Danko Jones do a few bar shows back in the day. I didn't think they were famous but there them on kisw alot.

System of a Down at Ozzfest '99.

Most of the bands that worked their way's through lolla. PJ was just as they were taking off, Soundgarden was the same year but they hadn't taken off yet.

I'm sure there's a few more...

goldrush

The first one that comes to mind is Radiohead supporting James in December 93. I also saw Suprgrass opening for Shed Seven sometime in October 93.

I saw Zakk Wylde's pre-Black Label Society band Pride & Glory open the Donington Monsters of Rock festival in 94

Wma31394

Smashing pumpkins opening for guns n roses in Chicago rosemont horizon..foo fighters open for mike watt at metro..

JOEJOEJOE

I saw Metallica open for Saxon at the Whisky-a-go-go in L.A. in the 80s.....and PJ open for the RHCPs in 1991!

Also saw Iron Maiden opening for UFO (1981), as well as Guns & Roses opening for the RHCPS in 1986 at UCLA on Halloween.

Brotherjohnno9

Van Halen opening for Black Sabbath in 78 or 79 in a small theatre in the UK. Iron Maiden opening for Rush, not sure what year or maybe they were supporting someone else but they were definitely opening for someone. Also saw Def Leppard open for someone around the same time - early 80s.

lexicondevil

The Strokes opening for Doves at Bimbo's in San Francisco. I didn't know what to think about The Strokes that night. They were too much obviously kneeling at the altar of Lou Reed. Later I began to appreciate them and they did progress.

Guns 'n Roses opening for Cheap Trick at Fender's in Long Beach. Fenders was as stinky armpit punk rock venue in Long Beach. I don't know why Cheap Trick was even playing there, but I was front row and when GnR came out you could smell their junkie BO. I was right in front of Slash's Marshall. That night they threw out vinyl copies of their new record Live Like a @&*)king Suicide.
Cheap Trick was amazing, of course.

Pearl Jam opening for Spinal Tap at Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood. Also included Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden. It was rumored that Metallica was going to do a surprise appearance. We waited and waited after Spinal Tap finished their set and out came Temple of the Dog. So much better than a Metallica set, in my opinion. Most of the crowd had already given up and left. Then again, many people also left for the lobby when Pearl Jam was playing. They were stupid and I knew it even then.

JH6056

A couple posts above reminded me of 2 more: Radiohead opening for Belly in about '92 or so? The Pablo Honey tour. And Hovercraft and the Foo Fighters opening for Mike Watt. Wouldn't call the Foos "unknown" since we all knew it was Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana band, but they were certainly new and untested then. Ed watched their set and rocked out, hidden behind some amps on the side stage but because of venue design, he couldn't completely hide... may have watched him rock out more than watching the Foos set...

jjflash

My wife and I happened upon Kings of Leon playing a small club in Nashville in early 2003 (I think?) . Even then they had the IT factor. Sported the awful looking English do's and had a flock of groupie chicks waiting the wings. It was a showcase night around Nashville where unsigned bands play bars over consecutive nights in hopes of getting signed. According to the guy who owned the bar (Named Cro Bar at that time...was a few blocks from our house) it was the fifth time they'd ever played together live. I made a mental note of them and didn't hear their name surface again until a couple years later when they opened for U2.

HughFreakingDillon

Creed playing the mid afternoon at a festival. Same with nickelback. They played the afternoon sunday slot, before the Headstones!!! Cage the elephant opening for qotsa before their first album came out.

Tim Simmons

eeriepadave said:

Tim Simmons said:

They haven't hit it *big*, but they are significantly bigger and more popular, but I saw BRMC open for the Charlatans at the Double Door in 98 or 99 before their s/t came out. That' was cool.

Wow. BRMC is my 2nd fav band. That must have been pretty sweet to see. I'm guessing you live near San Fran then? My first time seeing them was '04

No. This was in Chicago.

scurtis

Cool thread....

I saw Blind Melon open for a Canadian band called the Tea Party

Wilco for another Canadian Band Tragically Hip - this more of a festival though, still

Was supposed to see Wu Tang open for RATM, but Wu Tang couldn't get across the border haha. Was Roots Crew instead (Jimmy Fallon's band)

Again at a festival saw the Foo Fighters play on the small stage, short set in 1998, I think Green Day headlined that one, but I was already a big fan of theirs by then, Foo Fighters that is, I've never cared for Green Day.

All I can think of for right now.

HughFreakingDillon

scurtis said:

Cool thread....

I saw Blind Melon open for a Canadian band called the Tea Party

Wilco for another Canadian Band Tragically Hip - this more of a festival though, still

Was supposed to see Wu Tang open for RATM, but Wu Tang couldn't get across the border haha. Was Roots Crew instead (Jimmy Fallon's band)

Again at a festival saw the Foo Fighters play on the small stage, short set in 1998, I think Green Day headlined that one, but I was already a big fan of theirs by then, Foo Fighters that is, I've never cared for Green Day.

All I can think of for right now.

when the hell did Blind Melon open for the Tea Party?????

HesCalledDyer

I haven't really been lucky in the dept... Best I have to offer is:

Incubus opened for 311 in '96
MMJ for PJ in '03
Howling Bells for Coldplay in '09 (still not big, but they've grown)

kramer73

Foo Fighters on a free stage at Summerfest in Milwaukee in 1997.

Black Keys at the High Noon Saloon in Madison in 2002 (or 2003?)

mr bungle

I saw Death Cab for Cutie open for Sunny Day Real Estate at Western Washington University in 1998 I think it was. i'm not sure if they even had an album out at the time

dankind

Rage Against the Machine, opening for House of Pain at The Ritz in Ybor City, March 1993.

Jewel, opening for Peter Murphy at The Edge in Orlando, July 1995.