Who is the best opening act you have seen at a concert?

[maccastheman]

I was thinking about this the other day. It's really hard for me to say. Like everybody else, I never go for the opening act, but I do think it's a great tradition because it helps break in new bands and, depending on how involved the headliners are, it shows that they still have respect for younger acts.

A few of my favorites:

Chris Isaak opening for Tina Turner in 1993
Bruce Hornsby opening for Bonnie Raitt circa 1995
John Hiatt opening for Jackson Browne in 1994
Sheryl Crow opening for the Rolling Stones in 1997
Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham opening for Nick Lowe in 1998

And I can't wait for:

The Pretenders opening for the Who in 2006.

[Paperback Writer]

Ricky Nelson before Roger McGuinn
Roger McGuinn before Bob Dylan
Marshall Tucker before the Allman Brothers
Heart before Jefferson Starship
Ike and Tina Turner before Creedence Clearwater

BUT................. probably toppin off all of those will be, in November in Oakland:

VAN MORRISON opening for The Rolling Stones!

[chris]

robert cray, buddy guy, and stevie ray vaughan opened up for eric clapton back in...(was it) 1990. i was there the day SRV died in a tragic helecoptor crash.

[maccastheman]

Great selections PW and Chris. Wow, you were there the day SRV died. That's unreal.

Van Morrison is bound to be great opening for the Stones. He was unbelievably great earlier this year here in Dallas.

I forgot to mention:

Dr. John and the Neville Brothers opening for B.B. King. That was a show!

[Paperback Writer]

MTM, Chris, those are all awesome!

I'm hoping Van and the Stones do a couple songs together. Prediction:

Van vamps with the Stones on Brown Sugar.
The Stones play back-up band on Gloria

[crossautographs]

I can't remeber the year, but Chicago opened for the Moody Blues in the 90's. Both acts were awesome.

KISS opened for Aerosmith a couple of years ago. I'm surprised Aerosmtih would want to come on after KISS! Both were great that night, but KISS edged them out by a hair.