I once saw Led Zeppelin open for iron Butterfly at the Fillmore east. Bill Graham after the show said " They will never open for anyone again." BTW the Butterfly got booed off the stage. I also saw Chicago open for the Mothers of invention, this is early Chicago and they were on fire that night, Youngbloods played third. Lastly I saw the James Gang open for Traffic and back then Joe Walsh would do riffs from Zep. Clapton, Beck etc. Traffic was a fav of mine but too mellow after Joe blew the roof off.
Bill Graham after the show said " They will never open for anyone again."
Meaning Graham knew they were about to get uber huge? Or he wouldnt have them back? Dumb question I guess, Graham knew the pulse of the trends. Great tale - so Iron Butterfly sounded kinda weak after Zeppelin? Sounds like Zep got everyone all fired up and made life rough for the next group.
Personally, I think some of you were too high at some of these shows, lol!
Some that pop into my head:
Saw Alvin Lee open for ZZ Top in NC and you should have seen those rednecks drop their beer and stare open-mouthed as Alvin killed it.
Saw Tracy Chapman open for Dylan. I had seen Dylan many times and this was one of his drunken who-cares times. No one had ever heard of Chapman and I had seen her at some festival (maybe a Mandela tribute?) and was in awe, so I sat in the front row and watched her opening set while everyone stood out in the lobby and slowly came back in and watched her.
Saw Eric Johnson open up for Derek. Eric thought they were playing a larger venue, and when he saw the small WOW Hall, he asked to go on first. Sorry, but this was early on for Derek and he was no match for EJ.
Saw the Talking Heads open for the Ramones. Both were great, but hadn't heard the Heads before and they were better, imho.
Saw REM open for the English Beat. 'Nuff said.
And finally, I saw the Dead come out before Tom Petty and Dylan. Saw the whole tour and the Dead never opened the show again. Big mistake that first time.
Not exactly an opener but the ABB took the stage before Dave Mathews Band as they closed out the show at Piedmont Park. There should have been some kind of law prohibiting that crime of music!
"It's heavy; lay your burden down" WH
The ABB playing before the DMB would create a massive health hazard: I could see people being trampled as the crowd fled the arena hoping to get out before DMB started playing after the Allmans finished.
Gotta agree about Dave Mathews. His voice sounds like a pubescent boy with someone grabbing his testicles. 😛
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
Even though I don't really listen to DMB much any more, I've enjoyed them live and clearly a bigger fan than you guys for sure! Gregg and Warren both came back out with them which were highlights (Melissa and Cortez).
What pissed me off that day is DMB had huge speakers midway back on the field (Meadow of Piedmont Park) and they didn't turn them on for the ABB. They gave the ABB a 2 hour slot which was cool (as DMB were the ones were originally approached to do the gig & invited the ABB), but that was not a cool move. DMB's sound was much bigger. Still fun day.
Ruthie Foster opening for Jorma and Robben Ford....
Not even close
Here is a bill for you: Frank Marino's Mahogany Rush, Climax Blues Band, Judas Priest. Actually I am not entirely certain that Climax Blues was second on the bill, my memory is a bit foggy. But MR was definitely the headliner.
Anyway, this was Judas Priest's first U.S. tour and this show was at The Santa Monica Civic, must have been 1975. Priest only got a 1/2 hour slot but it was completely UNFAIR for any musician to walk out on stage after them. They completely mowed the crowd BACKWARDS; I think without a doubt the most powerful opening 30 minutes I have ever witnessed.
The Allmans opening up for the dead in Fall 2008 at Penn State.
I like the music of the dead, and Warren Haynes; but overall the Allmans were by far the better band, actually had practiced and had far better musical cohesion more so than the dead did.
agreed - it wasn't even close
it wasn't fair in many ways, the Dead hadn't played together in years
btw that remains my favorite version of Dreams from that lineup
on the other hand, the One to One concert in 76 (I think) at Nassau Coliseum, MTB smoked the Allmans. The wheels were starting to fall off, imo.
Skynyrd opening for Golden Earring, Nov 74 at Glasgow Apollo. Place emptied after Skynyrd. More recently and in a much smaller venue William the Conqueror blew Danny & The Champions of the World off the stage in Bristol. (Both British "Americana" type bands - check out WtC - brilliant stuff).
Not a smack down by any means but I saw Fleetwood Mac open for the Eagles on July 4, 1976 (Bicentennial!) at the Omni in Atlanta. It was a tie!
Still though Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band blew away everyone when they opened at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium for:
Kiss
Blue Oyster Cult
Johnny & Edgar Winter w/ Rick Derringer (and they were really good!)
I believe Mother Finest was there too.
back in te late 70's I went to a show at the Henry J Kaiser in Oakland. John "Cougar" - Randy Hansen - Rainbow
John "Cougar" got booed off the stage within minutes screaming "What about the SF love"...
On came Randy Hansen doing his Jimi Hendrix tribute and blows the joint up along with his amp at the end of the show....People keep yelling for him even while Rainbow had taken the stage the calls for Randy keep coming. About 10 minutes into the show Richie Blackmore walked off stage after enduring the calls for Randy Hansen to continue his show...I guess Richie's ego couldn't take it
Also a noted memory from this show...my friends and I walked back to our car to discover the battery had been stolen...so that lead to a whole other adventure
David Johansen Group rendered SS Johnny & the Jukes' set pointless @ UVM as the ex-Doll supported his first solo album of 1978!!!
back in te late 70's I went to a show at the Henry J Kaiser in Oakland. John "Cougar" - Randy Hansen - Rainbow
John "Cougar" got booed off the stage within minutes screaming "What about the SF love"...
On came Randy Hansen doing his Jimi Hendrix tribute and blows the joint up along with his amp at the end of the show....People keep yelling for him even while Rainbow had taken the stage the calls for Randy keep coming. About 10 minutes into the show Richie Blackmore walked off stage after enduring the calls for Randy Hansen to continue his show...I guess Richie's ego couldn't take it
Also a noted memory from this show...my friends and I walked back to our car to discover the battery had been stolen...so that lead to a whole other adventure
Blackmore walking off stage... how Blackmore!
Sorry about your car battery. I bet that was an adventure. That's Rock N' Roll for ya!
Never caught Randy Hansen - he was always somewhere in my part of the country. Classic tale. I am sure if Richie Snobmore just threw a little love Hansen's way, then just shut up and played his guitar folks would have got over their hendrix fever.
Great report on Skynyrd shooting out Golden Earring's tires. Man, Golden Earring SUCKED!
The biggest blow out I ever saw was The Doobie Brothers opening up for T Rex in 1972 maybe? T Rex finished their set and simply walked off the stage. No one even wanted to hear an encore. Lights immediately came on and everyone just got up and left quietly. It was weird.
Bang a Gong...I remember that,It was like the gong show-and then they were gone. Everybody just stood there staring at each other with the lights on. funny now to think of it
2 come to mind. I saw Cheap Trick open for Kansas and that turned out exactly how you would expect
it. Cheap Trick really has never disappointed me. I truly love that band.
The 2nd one was Gov't Mule completely smoking Gov't Mule. It was the original 3 and the 2nd set that night blew away the 1st set ( the 1st set was pretty damn good ). I still miss Allen Woody so much.
