Question: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SHITTIEST & BEST OPENING BANDS YOU'VE EVER SEEN?
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UMLAUT
WORST:
- Aldo Nova for Y&T (1981 - The Keystone, Palo Alto)
- Quarterflash for Sammy Hagar (1981 - Cow Palace, S.F.)
- Ratt for Black Sabbath (1983 - Cow Palace, S.F.)
- Bon Jovi for Scorpions (1984 - Cow Palace, S.F.)
- Twisted Sister for Iron Maiden (1985 - Cow Palace, S.F. - Because, despite what VH1 says today, Twisted Sister were NEVER Metal..)
- Gene Loves Jezebel for New Order / Echo & the Bunnymen (1987 - The Greek, Berkeley)
- Hole for Smashing Pumpkins (1991 - The I-Beam, S.F.)
- Candlebox for Metallica (1994 - Shoreline, Mt. View)
- Ted Nugent for KISS (2000 - Oakland Arena - If he'd just shut up and play..)
- Dropkick Murphys for Sex Pistols (2003 - Warfield, S.F. - A bit too Oi for this Asian Boy..)
- Hoobastank for Velvet Revolver (2005 - Bill Graham Civic, S.F.)
BEST:
- Blackfoot for The Who (1979 - Oakland Arena)
- Michael Schenker Group for Cheap Trick (1980 - Oakland Auditorium)
- Def Leppard for Blackfoot (1981 - Oakland Auditorium - High 'N Dry Tour.. before they sucked..)
- Iron Maiden for Scorpions (1982 - Oakland Arena)
- Slayer for Venom (1985 - Kabuki Theater, S.F.)
- Guadalcanal Diary for R.E.M. (1986 - Oakland Arena - They did a cover medley of "White Rabbit" > "I Can See For Miles"..)
- The Pogues for Bob Dylan (1989 - The Greek, Berkeley)
- The Replacements for Tom Petty (1989 - Shoreline, Mt. View)
- Redd Kross for the Butthole Surfers (1990 - Warfield, S.F. - They opened with "Deuce"..)
- Sepultura for Ministry (1992 - Civic Auditorium, S.F.)
- Green Day for Bad Religion (1993 - The Palace, L.A. and Warfield, S.F.)
- Jesus Lizard for Helmet (1993 - Warfield, S.F.)
- Neurosis for Mr. Bungle (1993 - Iguana's, Tijuana, Mexico - The most surreal, out of control show I've ever attended..)
- Melvins for Rush (1994 - Cow Palace, S.F. - The more the Rush crowd HATED them, the slower the Melvins played..)
- Dirty Three for Nick Cave (1999 - Royal Festival Hall, London, England)
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TED M.
WORST:
- Rockets for KISS (Spectrum, Philadelphia 1978)
- Shooting Star for Robin Trower (Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1981?)
- Counting Crows for Bob Dylan (San Jose Event Center 1993)
- Stone Temple Pilots opening (or co-headlining depending on who you ask) for the Butthole Surfers (The Greek in Berkeley 1993)
- Sponge for Patti Smith and Neil Young (The Gorge, Seattle 1996)
- Sheryl Crow for Bob Dylan (El Rey Theater LA 1997)
- Pearl Jam for The Rolling Stones (Oakland Coliseum 1999 maybe; I have suppressed it)
- American Hi-Fi for The Who at Shoreline (late 90s-early 2000's)
- Queensryche for Iron Maiden (Shoreline in 2000)
- Queensryche for Judas Priest (Shoreline in 2005)
BEST:
- American Music Club for John Cale (The I-Beam, S.F. 1988)
- Sonic Youth for Neil Young (Cow Palace, S.F. 1991 and Arco Arena, Sacramento 1991)
- Jon Spencer Blues Explosion for Jesus Lizard (The Kennel Club, S.F. 1992)
- Jesus Lizard for Helmet (The Warfield, S.F. 1993)
- Patti Smith for Neil Young (The Gorge, Seattle 1996)
- Unsane for Slayer (eventhough I was the only one who thought so - Phoenix Theater, Petaluma 1996)
- Willie Nelson for Bob Dylan (El Rey, Los Angeles 1997)
- King Crimson for Tool (Berkeley Community Theater 1999)
- Feist for Kings of Convenience (Great American Music Hall, S.F. 2005
TIM B.
BEST:
- The Cult for Billy Idol (1987)
- White Zombie for Bullet LaVolta (1989?)
- Prong for Bullet LaVolta (1990)
- Sepultura for Ministry (1992)
- Mastodon for High on Fire (2003)
- Hank Williams III for himself (aka AssJack) (2003)
- Dresden Dolls for Nine Inch Nails (2005)
- Life of Agony for Carcass (1994)
Click HERE to submit your Worst / Best Opening Acts. Please do not submit festival lineups.. ONLY Headliner > Opening Band shows are valid for this survey.
Remember, the cardinal sin for any opening act is to pander to an unresponsive crowd by mentioning the headliners.. Such as "Hey, we were partying backstage with (The Headliner) and they can't wait to get out here to ROCK you!" etc. etc.
