With all this talk of the Features blowing KoL off the stage on their recent tour, anyone care to share their favourite performances by a support band at a gig (i.e far outshone the main attraction)?

I have to say that I was amazed when I saw Bloc Party for the first time supporting a really shit punk band called the Barbs in '03. Also Dogs Die In Hot Cars were far too energetic and..er well...good to support the dull-as-dishwater Embrace last year.

A few that come to mind:

Soundgarden opening for Skid Row (although Skid Row was still awesome)
Quicksand opening for Helmet
that dog. opening for Wallflowers/Counting Crows
Deftones opening for Godsmack (I'm still pretty bitter about that)

Yeah, I'm old.

Elekibass and 63 Crayons did an amazing job opening for the Features back in February of 2003. They didn't upstage them, but they were two opening bands that I walked away enjoying greatly.

On Command.


They gave Ray Davies a boot to the chest.

oh dear. don't remind me.

the young livers blew on command off the stage when they played at springwater together.

i have nothing to add to this topic.

i thought the young livers cleared the room at the springwater... correct me if i'm wrong.

exactly

right.

that was great. i loved on command. i wish i could have seen the young livers clear them out of the room.

the von bondies blew away melissa auf der maur (and by that i mean i didn't stay for any of her set).

i dont think ive ever seen an open band outshine the headliner at any of the shows ive been to. closest thing was i think i was once at an appleseed cast/mates of state show at the red rose?
if that was the case, the appleseed cast was much better than mates of state.

Didn't Verde open for Mates of State at the Red Rose a few years back? Is that the show to which you refer? As much as I love (and miss) Verde, Mates of State are hard to top in my book. I think they were just ever so slightly better than Death cab for Cutie at Exit/In.

I don't think so. We opened for Dressy Bessy and Of Montreal there, but I don't remember opening for Mates Of State. Then again, I've smoked my fair share of weed since then, so who knows?

I think that was in the good old days before you were in the band...

Hippie.

Amen.

I've been to plenty of shows where I was there to see the opener, and when those have been the cases, the headlining act has never or rarely out-shone the opener. That includes KoL. I guess I liked Polyphonic Spree better than the Features when they played together, but that's about the only case I can think of going for the opener and liking the main act better.

I have never gone to a show and liked the opener better than the headliner when I was going to see the headliner. And suddenly I feel like I'm talking about the inside of a car.

(Edited by YaDaDaDa at 4:33 pm on Mar. 17, 2005)

Is he allowed to admit that here? Should he be banned?

I don't know what possessed me, but I went to see The Sleepy Jackson at London's Scala. The biggest pile of wank I've ever seen - I didn't even stay until the end of the gig.

But the support was The Hidden Cameras. God I love this band. I ended up playing tambourine with them on their last song.

Although most people disagree with me, I thought M. Ward's one-man show blew away Bright Eyes' 15-piece orchestravaganza at the Belcourt a couple years ago.

good call, mr. nelson.