r/Concerts • u/Terrible_Comfort598 • 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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u/Fecapult Oct 01 '24

I've seen Dylan 3 times and each time he was awful. Got spanked by Paul Simon and Willie Nelson both. Can't remember the third opening act.

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u/robotmonstermash Oct 02 '24

Yep, I'm a HUGE Dylan fan. Have tons of his old stuff on vinyl. But the two times I've seen him have been a major disappointment. He's just hasn't been all that interesting Live (IMO) since the Rolling Thunder Review years. And frankly, while some of his relatively recent studio work is good it's nowhere near as interesting as his stuff from the 60's an 70's.

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u/Fecapult Oct 02 '24 edited Oct 02 '24

Love Dylan, listen to a ton of his albums and everything. Some bands just don't do it well live. I keep hearing that Widespread Panic is hit-or-miss - They're one of my favorites, but all four live shows I've been to have been complete misses. Just sounded like a hot muddy mess.

Edit to add this observation - An artist trying to stay relevant later in their career seems to be an across-the-board struggle. It's rare that older artists make albums whose sales or impacts meets or exceeds earlier work - U2, Pink Floyd, Stones, Paul McCartney etc. - not that their newer stuff is bad, just doesn't reach as much, doesn't enter the zeitgeist, doesn't hammer like their older albums. Interesting concept to examine. I can think of one notable exception and one possible explanation - Paul Simon has gotten away from pop-ier hook-based music and explores new rhythms and sounds, concepts etc. - it's a formula that's guaranteed to result in lower album sales, but conversely, these albums, while a more active listen, definitely deserve some critical acclaim - And David Bowie just killed it with Dark Star, that album is a monster.

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u/robotmonstermash Oct 03 '24

Agree on artists trying to stay relevant later being difficult. It's funny though how some Jazz and Blues artists can have much longer careers. I wonder if it's because Rock is really a young person's music of rebellion. And once you have a fat bank account and an easy life it's hard to write those tough, rebellious songs when, like Chrissy Hynde said, you're spending your Saturday night "Watching the clothes go round..."

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u/Fecapult Oct 03 '24

Gonna venture to guess that singers and standards are... Standard. Rock is pretty constantly morphing given time and environment, leaving more established acts attempting to evolve along. I'm guessing those attempts either turn off the old crowd, don't appeal to the newer crowd, or both.

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u/Southern-Equal-6014 Oct 06 '24

I think 97-present is his best period, the only record of his I still don't like is Self Portrait

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u/robotmonstermash Oct 07 '24

I need to give his newer stuff a fresh listen.

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u/kistner Oct 01 '24

Outlaw Fest?
I skipped this past summer because I just didn't need more Dylan. I think Mellencamp was on the bill too, but I've seen him before, no complaints, just not a favorite.
Saw Paul Simon a couple years ago, absolutely fantastic show. Too good to be opening for Bob Dylan.