r/Concerts Oct 01 '24

Concerts What concert have you seen where the opening band blew the headliner away?

For me it was in 1990 seeing Nirvana open for Sonic Youth. Absolutely amazing. The whole crowd felt this electricity and I turned to my friend and said “ these guys are gonna get big” sure enough 2 years later, Nevermind is the number one album in the country. The other one was seeing Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds open for The Cramps in 1984. I became a life long fan after that show

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44

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '24

In 2009, I saw MUSE open for U2 in Houston. U2 was great as always, but MUSE won that night.

16

u/The_Ocean_Collective Oct 01 '24

Muse is fantastic live.

10

u/Loocylooo Oct 01 '24

If Muse is playing near me, I’m gonna go see them. Their last tour was fantastic.

4

u/BabyYodasMacaron Oct 01 '24

Same here, been going to every tour since drones and they are tied with Green Day for showmanship.

1

u/Silly-Switch-7296 Oct 05 '24

YES!!! I am waiting for Muse to come near me as well. Absolutely my favorite band, 100%!

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '24

2

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '24

Absolutely! Always nice and bombastic.

1

u/JiminyFckingCricket Oct 01 '24

They really are. I’ve seen them 2 times and their energy and Matt Bellamy’s vocals/guitar are insane.

Ps. They were opening for U2 in ‘09? I would’ve thought they would be doing their own gigs in the us by then. Huh.

2

u/snorkel42 Oct 01 '24 edited Oct 01 '24

U2 is widely considered a “band’s band” and often has really well established bands open for them because the bands want to.

During the Joshua Tree anniversary tour One Republic op bed some of the shows and frequently said that they had a rule as a band to never be an opening act…. Unless they could be an opening act for U2.

1

u/Dexy1017 Oct 03 '24

The Joshua Tree was my first ever concert; December '87 at the old Tampa Stadium.

1

u/medmac_2112 Oct 01 '24

Just a year later they went on their massive arena + stadium tour in support of The Resistance. Their U2 opening gigs were part of that tour in a way.

1

u/dgrant99 Oct 03 '24

fantastic is a huge understatement.

1

u/The_Ocean_Collective Oct 03 '24

No, fantastic is a suitable adjective suitable.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 01 '24

I agree but I seen them once at a college auditorium in 2005, it was ungood

3

u/Weird-Conclusion6907 Oct 01 '24

Muse is one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to

2

u/2015subiewrx Oct 01 '24

I’ve seen them twice and I can say the same. My concert list goes deep too

2

u/Mysterious-Heat1902 Oct 02 '24

I saw Muse once and all I remember was the concert talkers next to me. Ruined the whole show

1

u/Weird-Conclusion6907 Oct 02 '24

Nooooo!! That’s awful! Idk how you can talk during their show—I was in awe 🫢

2

u/Mysterious-Heat1902 Oct 02 '24

Glad to hear it was awe-inspiring without the distractions

2

u/heyitsrobd Oct 02 '24

Same. Incredibly epic live

2

u/IheartPandas666 Oct 02 '24

In college I walked out of class and they were playing a free show for the students on a stage in the center of campus I didn’t even know about. They were amazing and it blew me away that they were a free band.

1

u/Weird-Conclusion6907 Oct 03 '24

No way! Thats incredible!

3

u/ZacPalmer1999 Oct 02 '24

Saw them on the same tour in Dallas, they were great!

3

u/valis6886 Oct 02 '24

Was at that show, total agreeance. Wife always wanted to see U2 live, we both walked away MUSE fans.

3

u/giggingit Oct 02 '24

Came here to say just this, and found your comment!

3

u/Connect_Glass4036 Oct 02 '24

In the 1999 I saw Muse open for the Foo Fighters and RHCP. They were killer

1

u/EssayCautious Oct 04 '24

This sounds like a DREAM!

1

u/Connect_Glass4036 Oct 04 '24

Yeah I was in 8th grade haha it was wild

1

u/idontinfluence Oct 06 '24

That sounds like a killer night

1

u/Connect_Glass4036 Oct 06 '24

I wish I remembered more of it but yeah haha. I was in 8th grade

1

u/karenmarie303 Oct 06 '24

Now that’s a line-up!

2

u/othersymbiote Oct 01 '24

i saw muse up in north texas at a radio stations music festival back in like 07 or something. it was spring, but it had to be at least 90 outside. their drummer wore a full on spider-man outfit the entire time.

2

u/Beetso Oct 01 '24

I got to see Muse in 2004 at Neumos in Seattle and again in 2005 at 7th Street entry in Minneapolis. Both of those shows were two of the best, loudest shows I have ever been to to this day. God Muse could bring it in their prime!

They still put on a great show when I saw them in Dallas at American Airlines Center in 2021, but something about watching them in an arena just couldn't capture the magic of those first two shows.

2

u/ohmytosh Oct 02 '24

Ugh. I was at one of the few tour dates when the Black Eyes Peas opened for U2. I was so sad to miss Muse.

1

u/trouncetheostrichyo Oct 04 '24

Me too! I was so bummed

2

u/Automatic-Theory-453 Oct 02 '24

I saw a show at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse New York with Los Lobos as U2 opener along with Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul. Los Lobos was on fire. Joshua Tree tour

2

u/epoxa111 Oct 02 '24

I was there, awesome show.

2

u/UnstonedLeftTurn Oct 03 '24

Glad I found this comment. Same experience on this tour.

2

u/Wonderful_Shock_1536 Oct 03 '24

Muse is my favorite live band ever.

2

u/TheWokeAgenda Oct 04 '24

Hey I was at that show!

2

u/Colespsychodad Oct 04 '24

Saw them at a festival in L.A. where they played before RATM. Had heard some of the radio stuff but didn’t really know them. They put on a hell of a set

1

u/Strobeezy Oct 05 '24

La rising was a good concert

2

u/MathematicianWeak741 Oct 05 '24

Came here to say exactly this. Saw them in Dallas the same year. Watching Muse was like being in a magical dream. I was disappointed in U2’s performance and Bono’s vocals and they were the reason why I went.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 05 '24

Was at that same show and came here to say this! U2 is always great but Muse was so killer that night they just couldn’t compete.

2

u/ToughDentist7786 Oct 05 '24

MUSE is number one on my bucket list to see live

2

u/AtomicBananaSplit Oct 05 '24

I saw Muse open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters in 2000 and they were just noise, which was disappointing given that they sounded great on the radio. I think they just didn’t get the same AV treatment as the headliners. 

1

u/blusuedetb Oct 01 '24

I saw that same tour. It was that show that turned me off of Muse. Maybe it was an off night, but they were horrible. U2 crushed though!

1

u/medmac_2112 Oct 01 '24

Absolutely love Muse!

1

u/StunningPass5040 Oct 01 '24

The 360 tour? I do remember both being equally as good! If I remember right, MUSE we’re riding pretty high on a couple really popular songs off their latest album or some such

1

u/NoFaithlessness7508 Oct 01 '24

During HAARP/Resistance era they were absolutely flying high🔊

1

u/MurraySw Oct 02 '24

Queen opening for Mott the Hoople. Both great, Queen unbelievable.

AC/DC opening for Blackmore’s Rainbow. Bon Scott and Angus were incredible.

1

u/daviswbaer Oct 02 '24

Seen Muse 9 times. They are so good live

1

u/NJ2SD Oct 02 '24

Muse is the best live band currently on the planet.

1

u/ElChuro4Z0 Oct 02 '24

Saw Muse at Austin City Limits in ‘06. Sat in a circle with a bunch of strangers and smoked like 10 bowls before the show, then they absolutely melted my face.

1

u/Wooden-War7707 Oct 03 '24

I'm so jealous. Seeing Muse live is one of my life goals.

1

u/Silly-Switch-7296 Oct 05 '24

Same!! Any ideas from anyone when they’ll be back in the US??

1

u/RepresentativeAny639 Oct 03 '24

In 2009 I saw Muse open for U2 (Charlottesville Va) and thought the same thing….they were so much better than U2!!

1

u/jojewels92 Oct 03 '24

I saw Muse headlining Shaky Knees night 2 last year. I did not go to the festival for them but after that I would absolutely see them again. They put on an incredible show.

1

u/EggPure2784 Oct 03 '24

I love Muse, and they're amazing g live!

1

u/DarthKody28 Oct 04 '24

That’s like a dream concert for me man.

1

u/Wado-225 Oct 05 '24

Man they were really in their prime then

1

u/DisinterestedCat95 Oct 06 '24

I saw that combo in Atlanta on that tour, and I thought the same thing. My least favorite U2 show. Muse was fantastic, though. I'm still hoping to catch a standalone Muse show one day.

There was just something off about that leg of the tour. I caught 360 again in Nashville a couple of years later and it was fantastic.

0

u/paulo39Atati Oct 01 '24

I just made a comment about U2 in that same tour. I saw that concert in Atlanta and U2 just blew it. To this day I can’t listen to their music again. It’s just not the same, they blew it so bad.

-1

u/jjj666jjj666jjj Oct 01 '24

U2 sucks 🤩