Concerts: Opening Acts

[mannoman]

I saw Sammy Hagar open for (I think) Boston many years ago. I was not impressed with Sammy. Boston, on the other hand, was so note for note perfect if I didn't have some kind of musical training I would have thought I was listening to their recordings. But it was live - and it was perfect.

I saw the Goo-Goo Dolls open for the Stones a few years back in Hartford and they were extremely impressive. Very tight sound with good harmonies.

Three years ago I had the opportunity to attend a live taping of the Craig Kilbourn Show in LA. His musical guest was - - Sammy Hagar. They only played two songs but man did they kick A**. One take, no mistakes, high energy, A-1 musicianship. This time he made my jaw drop. I heard the same songs on the CD. They didn't come close to the live energy of that night.

Ted

[hbecstacy]

Hey Ted,

I'm a lifetime Philly-area resident. I grew up in the Fort Washington area, moved to King of Prussia in the high school years, lived in Chester County post-college, and currently am based in Bucks County (very close to N.E. Philly).

Where you at?

--Howard

[Tiggsherby]

Where in Bucks County? I'm in Richboro. Sometimes I think I'm the only Raspberries/Eric Carmen in the area.

[hbecstacy]

Hi HP,

You're not alone. I'm in Trevose, very close to Feasterville and N.E. Philly.

Richboro--nice area.

--H.B.

[Billy K.]

Steve, I have only been here for the last two years. On the following BTO tour(1976), they did have Wishbone Ash and the then-unknown Styx as the openers. This was in San Francisco.

I did see Seger twice--both as an opening act.

In '75, he opened for the Beach Boys/Chicago show, with a another act that was just so-so. In fact, met Seger at the snack bar at that show in Oakland.

The second time I saw Seger, it was a case of the musical opening acts, at the Kiss show in '77. They were supposed to have Uriah Heep in between.

Heep cancelled so Seger went to second billing, and Earthquake was to open. But they in turn cancelled, and we got stuck with Point Blank.

When the Stones came to S.F. following the "Tattoo You" release, they had J. Geils as the second act, and George Thorogood as the opener.

[mannoman]

hbecstacy: I grew up in Delaware County - Havertown then Newtown Square then to the Main Line. I have retired (kind of) to Florida, about 20 miles west of Orlando.

I forgot to mention one of the best opening acts I saw in the early 90's (just before the music died) was The Outfield opening for Mike and the Mechanics at Bally Casino in Atlantic City. Great performance by both groups.

Go Eagles.

Ted

[Jerry]

I saw The Choir, The Blues Magoos, and The Who, open for (I kid you not) Herman's Hermits at Cleveland Public Hall.

Another good one was Cheap Trick opening for 38 Special in Savannah, Ga. Also a band called The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver opening for Elton John in '73(?). Probably the only time I went out and bought an album because I saw an act that I had never heard of but was impressed with them live.

[gordharris]

Here's An Act

______________

Hello, what are you giving out for Halloween?

I decided to give the children, CAVIER AND Crackers,

Health Restriction for children, about Obesity on the rise.

Sugar is harmful.

[beachberry]

How about Johnny Cougar ( as a Bowie look-a-like) opening for Michael Stanley Band. I guess it had to be around 1975. Yes Cougar was on his way up but I bet he does not want to be reminded of those days now.

[hbecstacy]

Ted (Manoman):

You're definitely talking my stomping grounds. My brother went to Haverford College so I spent a lot of time around the Main Line...including the first used record store I ever encountered, the legendary Plastic Fantastic.

Thanks for the continued Eagles support. I hope you enjoy that Florida weather!

--Howard

[Tom]

1972...Black Sabbath plays the Providence civic center.

Opening act...never heard of them...they come out on stage in makeup and costumes. HUH??? Kiss???

They blew Sabbath off the stage.

[gordharris]

HBECSTACY- PLASTIC FANTASTIC-Is that the group-\ FLESH FOR LULU 80'S

That band put out some great pop tunes.

"I GO CRAZY" and more. Good beat to their music.

Images In Vogue-COOOOOOOL

[Billy K.]

Have a real good matchup coming up here in Seattle soon....Terri Clark is opening for Toby Keith!

[Danny S.]

Another great one...Van Halen opened for Black Sabbath at Cleveland Music Hall.Sabbath practically was booed off the stage...'77 or so.

[marilyn]

You guys would freak if I told you all the shows I've been to this past year alone, and you might not have heard of the bands I would name.

But one memory I have you folks here may appreciate:

The Who opening for Herman's Hermits (hell if I can remember the year, but it was the 60's) at Cleveland Music Hall. It was a 4-band bill (with one "local' band) dubbed "The British Invasion" or something like that. As was his tradition, Pete smashed his equipment to bits following "My Generation". I was just a kid, but I knew that this was the band I had come to see.

Edit: Oops, I just saw your post there, Jerry. I'm pretty sure it was Music Hall though, and not Public Hall (the smaller stage next door).

[JCraft]

I saw The Michael Stanley Band open for the Eagles in Atlanta. They got booed because they were filling in for one of Dan Folgerberg's many missed appearances. But after they tore up "Your Mama Don't Dance" (yes the old Kenny&Jimmy song)--people sat back and let them rock.

JIM

[sllvnbil]

I saw AC/DC w Bon Scott open for Thin Lizzy in 1978. AC/DC completely blown Thin Lizzy off the stage! The Producers open for U2 at the old Cleveland Agora in 1982. Cheap Trick opening for The Godz in 1977. Cheap Trick opening for Aerosmith in 2004. The GO GO's opening for Cheap Trick in 1980. The Baby's opening for the Godz in 1976. Max Webster opening for Rush 1975. Foghat opening for the Outlaws in 1980. This is a bizzare one,,,,,, Off Broadway opening for UFO in 1980!!! That's the first time I ever seen Off Broadway. I went out and bought their record the next day! This is another strange one,,,, Alex Harvey & Johnny Winter opening for Styx!!!!!

[sllvnbil]

In 1979, I opened for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow with the Paul Pope Band in Detroit, MI. We got booed off the stage!!!! Tom Kriss {James Gang} being the old man and veteran musician in our band was funny as hell,,,,,, He turned his ass to the crowd and shouted at the top of his lungs,,""THEY LOVE US!!!!!!!!!!"" Meanwhile,, he's getting pelted by everything and anything the audience could get their hands on!!!! For me being 16 at the time, it was a frightening experience but Tom made the whole situation very funny!!! I'll never forget that moment!!!

[Rich From PA]

Rubinoos/Mink DeVille/Elvis Costello

Styx/Be Bop Deluxe

Aimee Mann/The Kinks

The Romantics/Cheap Trick

Pablo Cruise/Beach Boys

Melissa Manchester/Billy Joel

Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men/Bob Dylan

[LC]

Hey, where did this Lazerus of a thread come from?

Without putting much thought into it, my favorite opening act ever would have to be John Stewart opening for Chicago in 1979, in Rochester, NY. I knew of John at the time only because of his Bombs Away Dream Babies album; I loved Fleetwood Mac, so Stevie Nicks' and Lindsey Buckingham's work on "Gold" and "Midnight Wind" caught my ear.

The concert was a classic mismatch: a folk-rocker singer/songwriter opening for the jazzy pop of Chicago. I was a Chicago fan at the time (still love songs like "Make Me Smile" and "Feeling Stronger Every Day" and "Beginnings"). But it was Stewart who won me over, big-time, at the show. It was a total shock, in a good way, when he started talking about a song he wrote for the Monkees and then launched into this neat, folksy version of "Daydream Believer."

To this day, I rarely put on any Chicago CDs (although I may go queue up their Greatest Hits right now), but I have John Stewart in heavy rotation along with Raspberries/EC, Beatles, and Beach Boys.... Good rut, huh?

[LC]

Hey, where did this Lazerus of a thread come from?

Without putting much thought into it, my favorite opening act ever would have to be John Stewart opening for Chicago in 1979, in Rochester, NY. I knew of John at the time only because of his Bombs Away Dream Babies album; I loved Fleetwood Mac, so Stevie Nicks' and Lindsey Buckingham's work on "Gold" and "Midnight Wind" caught my ear.

The concert was a classic mismatch: a folk-rocker singer/songwriter opening for the jazzy pop of Chicago. I was a Chicago fan at the time (still love songs like "Make Me Smile" and "Feeling Stronger Every Day" and "Beginnings"). But it was Stewart who won me over, big-time, at the show. It was a total shock, in a good way, when he started talking about a song he wrote for the Monkees and then launched into this neat, folksy version of "Daydream Believer."

To this day, I rarely put on any Chicago CDs (although I may go queue up their Greatest Hits right now), but I have John Stewart in heavy rotation along with Raspberries/EC, Beatles, and Beach Boys.... Good rut, huh?

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

PS: Billy, thanks for that great anecdote about Rainbow (see previous page). For those of us who don't perform in concerts, it must be quite a feeling to get "booed off the stage." At least you found the humor in it --- and knew that good days were comin'.

[TheScentLady]

Best opening act I've seen was the Hooters (no, not the gals from the restaurant chain) opening for Squeeze. Had never heard of the band before, but the hook on "Don't Take My Car Out Tonight" was infectious. (It didn't hurt that Eric Bazilian was easy on the eyes.)

Face to Face was pretty good opening for Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul.

Biggest name opening act I've seen- Squeeze opening for David Bowie.

[BeatleJay]

I have seen some great opening acts including Lenny Kravitz, Pearl Jam, Blues Traveler, J Giels Band, The Babys, Greg Kihn. I think the one that blew the headliner away most was Def Leppard opening for Billy Squier. He rocked, but didn't have much of a chance after they were done.

[mannoman]

Sue,

The Hooters were a great live band from Philly. They used to play regularly at The Stone Ballon (Newark DE - saw the Berries there in '74) which, sadly, was recently torn down. They (The Hooters) could have picked a better name though. Eric Bazilian was a great songwriter, as well.

[LC]

Bumping a thread from 16-plus years ago... because it's an interesting topic. More important, it might be the first time I mentioned John Stewart on this site.  

This thread cites a number of shockingly good opening acts. Like, among current posters, James saw Status Quo open for Foghat, Kirk saw some guy called Eric Carmen open for Hall & Oates, and Bernie saw Queen open for Mott the Hoople. Bernie also saw (get ready for this, Susie) Nick Lowe open for Elvis Costello.

I'm sure we have all seen opening acts that bombed — concerts where we couldn't wait for them to finish their set and get the heck off the stage so the headliner could take over. Honestly, I might have felt that way on Aug. 2, 1979 at the Chicago concert I attended in Rochester, NY. I knew virtually nothing about opening act John Stewart — except, importantly, his current "Gold" was peaking at #5 on the charts that very week. And it featured every college guy's favorite girl, Stevie Nicks. (Later in the year, "Midnight Wind" and "Lost Her in the Sun" from the same album, Bombs Away Dream Babies, would follow "Gold" into the Top 40. But as of the night of the Chicago concert, I hadn't yet bought the album. "John Stewart who?" I was just excited to see Chicago.

Then... around 40 minutes into the show, as JS was finishing his set, I was wishing he'd play another hour. He was that good.

I've been hooked ever since. It wasn't just the fact that I discovered he wrote "Daydream Believer" (the 2nd song he did that night). It was the way he played it. The Monkees changed the tenor of the song from sort of wistful, even melancholy, into a happy pop number. I love the Monkees' version... but the way John played it that night was truly eye-opening.