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Who is the best support band you have ever seen live?


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Most support bands suck and I haven’t seen too many that really blew me away, and I’ve been to scores of gigs over the years, but these 3 were amazing.

1979 - I went to see The Buzzcocks at Top Rank in Sheffield. BTW, that was probably the best gig I ever attended as Shelley and the crew were incredible and I wasn’t even on drugs or alcohol!

The support band were weird, really weird and not at all what you would expect supporting a punk band

The lead singer danced like he was demented and his vocals were sparse and haunting.

They had a great bassist though.

Yep it was Joy Division and I was transfixed.

1982 - In fairness I actually went to see this band supporting The Police as I was already into them.

Getting to see Sting and the gang was just an added bonus, at least that’s what I thought beforehand, but they sucked.

On reflection I think it was slap bang in the middle of their ‘let’s take loads of coke’ phase and they looked bored and had no energy.

The support band however had more energy than literally any band I have ever seen with the lead singer bouncing around the stage, climbing on the speakers and dancing with crowd members he beckoned up.

U2

1992 (I think) - There was a miners benefit (don’t ask me why when it was so long after the miners strike) with Primal Scream headlining.

Screamadelica is still one of my favorite albums of all time and I was pumped to see them perform.

I may have been slightly under the influence when the support band started because I’m pretty sure I spent 90-minutes just staring at the strobes, but I know I was enjoying myself.

40-minute long tracks with seldom a discernible start or end meant I was watching The Orb.

I also saw The Beat as a support band and they just killed it, but I forget who they were supporting now. 

Plus I saw Madness support The Specials, but I think they actually rotated who headlined from venue to venue on the Two Tone tour, so not sure they were really a support band.

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I saw Wilco supporting the Jayhawks in Wolverhampton around 97. The New Cranes and Blodwyn Pig supporting Jethro Tull at Tutbury Castle. Radiohead and Cranberries supporting R.E.M. in Milton Keynes in 97. The Cranberries should also have been the support for Crowded House in 93, but Dolores O’Riordan broke her leg skiing and had to drop out.

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Whilst their music is hit and miss, as a live band, I saw Reverend and the Makers supporting about 10 years ago and they were really good.

I remember Kasabian being a support act before they made it, then years later supporting Oasis, were pretty good too.

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12 minutes ago, richinspain said:

.......The New Cranes and Blodwyn Pig supporting Jethro Tull at Tutbury Castle.....

I have no idea who was on the support that day - but by the end of the evening we worked out we'd had at least 10 pints each (I would use the excuse that it was a hot day, but I always seem to be slightly worse for wear at outdoor Tull gigs - Theakston Music Festival was a case in point - though I do remember Marillion were one of the bands that weekend and were excellent...)

I remember Budgie being great when they supported Gillan at the Assembly Rooms and also Magnum who were far, far better than the main act - Def Leppard..

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30 minutes ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

Saw the Verve supporting Spiritualized in Wolverhampton about 25 years ago. Richard Ashcroft spent most of the gig lying down.

They were utter ***** but I just wanted to contribute to the thread.

Similar here - saw Oasis supporting BMX Bandits at the Wherehouse. They were a truly woeful Beatles/Stones copyists filtered through the Stone Roses baggy attitude. I was completely flummoxed when a couple of months later the world suddenly decided that they were ready for precisely that combination of musical dead ends. Ah well, at least history proved me right when they went on to release album after album of steadily worsening dross, before splitting and enabling themselves to produce double the rubbish at twice the pace

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, McRamFan said:

Don't go to see support bands, only turn up for the main event.

You haven't quite got the concept of this thread. ?

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3 hours ago, StivePesley said:

Similar here - saw Oasis supporting BMX Bandits at the Wherehouse. They were a truly woeful Beatles/Stones copyists filtered through the Stone Roses baggy attitude. I was completely flummoxed when a couple of months later the world suddenly decided that they were ready for precisely that combination of musical dead ends. Ah well, at least history proved me right when they went on to release album after album of steadily worsening dross, before splitting and enabling themselves to produce double the rubbish at twice the pace

 

 

 

 

I had the same feeling of confusion when I first saw the Verve on the telly 3 or 4 years later (that video where he's walking down the street and they had to pay 100% of the royalties - haha - to Jagger and Richards). How could this come to pass? Although they haven't hung around in the limelight as long as the egregious Gallagher brothers.

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45 minutes ago, McRamFan said:

I do, just not going to admit I didn't read the title properly, just going to try and spin my way out of it. shhh.

I’d have said Queen, Knebworth at their peak in my mind. Was in my element as supporting them was Big Country and Status Quo.

Remember looking around when they sang Radio Ga Ga, reckon I was in the front 20,000, to turnaround and see another 100,000 odd clapping in unison, something else. Never had so many hairs stand up on my body at a gig.

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1 hour ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

I had the same feeling of confusion when I first saw the Verve on the telly 3 or 4 years later (that video where he's walking down the street and they had to pay 100% of the royalties - haha - to Jagger and Richards). How could this come to pass? Although they haven't hung around in the limelight as long as the egregious Gallagher brothers.

They didn't just rip the stones off for the tune, they then ripped off Massive Attack for the video. 

Then Ashcroft went for the hat trick my molding his hair style and moody looks on Paul Weller.

Ashcroft had obviously had an integrity bypass operation.

 

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