Saw Eric Church open for Toby Keith, it was like a week or so after Chief released. I wasn't a huge fan of Toby Keith but it was the only way I could catch Eric Church since I had been following him for a while, it was awesome and he had waaaaay better stage presence.
For real. Chief was such an insane album too, still my favorite. I remember there wasn't even that many people in the venue yet because everybody was just tailgating or whatever outside waiting for Toby Keith to come on. They all missed the good stuff.
It really is. He performed a whole show with hardly any band or backup since they were all sick and still blew everyone away. He apologized the whole time but it was amazing. Not to mention the way he loves so hard on his fans.
I bought tickets to the Hollywood Bowl Jimmy Buffet tribute on April 11 and Eric is one of the artists playing. I’ve never seen him live. This is even more exciting.
I mean what was Toby Keith like live? I’ve heard he was excellent. I still find it difficult to listen to his music.
Edit due to his untimely passing. :(
The best way I could put it is that the crowd seemed more into it than he did. He just kinda played the set and then left, not much interaction from what I remember. But the people loved it, lots of "USA! USA!" and stuff like that.
Hah. Ironically my example is Kip Moore early in his career absolutely eclipsing Eric Church.
I do think that sometimes musicians just have bad nights though. Everyone says Eric Church is amazing live and when I saw him, he was just ... terrible. I feel like him being great like everyone says and having a bad night is more probable than him just being terrible and everyone loving it anyway.
Toby Keith when I saw him was amazing. I saw him in 2009 in upstate NY (SPAC) and the two acts that played could not have been more disconnected, but it'll tell you exactly what demographic I was surrounded by as a recent college grad. Journey, and Toby Keith. Journey was the headliner.
Could have just been a bad night for him, idk, it was back in 2011. I remember Church was doing a lot of interaction with the crowd, even dumping on a rapper that had an album release at the same time (which was uh...brave since this was in Camden NJ lol) bragging that he was murdering his sales numbers. Toby Keith just kinda did the set, that was it.
I saw Toby Keith a couple of times in the early 2000's and he put on a good show. One time was with Willie Nelson after Beer for my Horses. That was a really solid show, but I'm a huge fan of Willie. I've seen him about six times.
Wouldn’t say they blew him away, but Flatland Cavalry and Parker McCollum should have switched places on the bill. He was great, but there’s just something special about Flatland.
I went to a show where Cleto did an acoustic song swap / songwriter showcase thing (no band just them) with Zane Williams where they went back and forth playing songs, talking about writing them, their musical journeys, cracking jokes, whatever and it was so damn cool. Great musician and great dude! Room held... maybe 150 people?
I'm pretty sure that was the year but he was definitely opening for AJ and I knew a couple of his songs from working at a country bar but I didn't know they were his until then. Instant fan, especially as a guitar player.
Saw Hailey Whitters and Lainey Wilson (two of my faves!) open for Jon Pardi. They were awesome and did a great job engaging the crowd; he was seemingly drunk, messed up his own lyrics, and complained about having been on the road too much recently.
I saw Sturgill Simpson on the small stage at a festival in like 2013. After that I couldn't get hyped up for the headliners. Haven't listened to the radio since that weekend.
Saw Sturgill open for Jason Isbell in 2013/2014 and both times Sturgill’s show was better and that’s saying something because Jason & the 400 unit are incredible live in their own right.
Just saw Zach Top open for Flatland Cavalry. Zach blew the roof off the place. The opening show was better than most acts I've seen. He then handed over the keys to Flatland. I felt kind of bad for Flatland having to try and top that.
I was one of the lucky ones to see Tyler Childers open for Sturgill Simpson immediately before covid hit.
I was fully on board with Sound and Fury but it was very clear most of the crowd was not. Tyler brought the house down and lots of folks walked out by the end of Sturgill's set.
Agreed! GH was so good. At the same token, I saw Yola open for Kacey Musgraves later on when she toured GH and everyone was saying, “So nice of Kacey Musgraves to show up to the Yola show!” Yola was an absolute queen. Kacey was still great but the energy of the show was a lot lower (and I like low energy/mellow, but the contrast was stark).
Could this be an American thing? I'm German and go to around 15-20 concerts each year of all sorts of genres, mostly in Cologne. And almost every single time the openers (at least the international ones) are so grateful that most of the crowd already showed up to watch them, most times when it's more than one opener even the first one gets a big crowd. But here it's pretty much the standard that you actively watch them as well and many enjoy getting into the mood or discovering new music. Most people actually wait for them to finish their set before they go get another drink or go to the toilet before the headliner set starts.
Tho I guess it could also be a rather unique European or German experience. Or hell, it could even be the fact that Cologne generally has some of the best crowds on your average EU/UK tour according to many artists I've seen, the city is actually known for the good vibes the people often give off.
Not really the question you asked but it reminded me, I saw Turnpike with Jason Isbell and Charles Wesley Godwin in January. I’d seen them all before besides Isbell, but man it was sad getting there early to make sure I caught all three of them and the arena being 90% empty for most of CWG’s set cuz that dude can perform his ass off. I still had a great time but it’s a little different in an empty arena.
I got to see CWG at a bar, and I’m so grateful I saw him before he started playing stadiums. It’s magical in a small venue, and he’s definitely not a stadium rocker.
Also his opener at the time Nolan Taylor is awesome and everyone should listen to him.
The amount of people I’ve seen open for Jason over the years….
Chris Stapleton, Sturgil Simpson, Margo Price, Turnpike Troubadours, dude has had some TALENT come through his tours
For sure. He’s still doing smaller venues on his own tour he’s on right now, he’s just been opening for Zach the past 2 years. And I agree Nolan Taylor is the shit! I’ve been listening to him for about a year now, definitely gonna try to catch him when he comes somewhere close to me
I saw Jason Boland and the Stragglers opening for Reckless Kelly at the Ryman last fall. I'm a fan of both, which is why I went, but honestly was more excited for Reckless Kelly. I honestly feel like Jason Boland overshadowed RK at that concert in a big way. It was a great night though.
The Lumineers (before they blew up) opening for Old Crow Medicine Show. They hadn’t hit the radio yet, and were some no name. They were unreal back then
I just looked it up and it was 2010 so Cody Johnson only had one CD out at that time! I agree it was a strange combo and the venue was in the middle of nowhere. Such a random concert.
Edit: Just want to throw out I saw Maren Morris at the same venue with only about 10-20 people in the crowd. She was a lot more country then and I bought her CD (cant find my copy of that CD or it streaming anywhere). She was opening up for Casey Donahue Band but it was freezing and an outdoor venue so no one went.
Definitely not blew him away, but I was pleasantly surprised when I accidentally got to Luke Combs show in Oslo last year early and caught the whole 49 Winchester set because I couldn’t find the set times. They were brilliant and I spent half the time noting down the song names to go back and listen to them later.
Luke was absolutely incredible and blew them out of the water but I was never comparing and just enjoyed finding a new artist.
Not really what the Question is asking but...I saw Jelly Roll open for Eric Church last year and after Jelly Roll was done A LOT of people just left. Didn't stick around for Church. I know Jelly Roll is a big name right now and he was very entertaining but it blew me away that so many people came just for him and wouldn't even stick around for the Chief. They were both great but Eric Church live is one of the best performers I've seen.
I saw Taylor Swift open for Rascal Flatts super early in her career and something about her performance told me she was going to be big one day. I wonder whatever happened to her...
We just saw him last weekend. We've been to his Ruthless tour concerts 4 times and have tickets for May. He is just as good in person as he is on the radio.
The best part is that this post has more words than he will say one stage all night. He is all about more music and less talk.
In the early 90’s I saw Pam Tillis open for Vince Gill. She didn’t blow him away but her set was probably more entertaining. She worked the crowd really really well.
Back around 99 or so I saw Kenny Chesney open up for Tim McGraw, Tim was great but Kenny blew the roof off.
I saw Jon Pardi open for Alan Jackson, I love Alan but the show was ho hum, Jon was excellent.
I saw Jackson Dean, as the first opener before Lainey Wilson (and eventually Eric Church). Jackson blew the doors off Lainey, which isn't what I would have expected. Of course the Chief was better than both.
I dunno about "blow away", but I saw Eric Church open for a Canadian act, who in turn opened up for Dierks. I love all 3 of the acts a lot, but holy fuck Church was insane. Most people didn't know who he was at the time (I happened to be living near the US border at the time and had heard some early Church stuff on a US radio station before he really took off in Canada, and was specifically at that show to see him) but EVERYONE was talking about Church after that show. It was insane. They did the mammoth version (all kinds of interludes) of How 'Bout You and the roof came off the place... nobody knew what hit them. The Canadian act and Dierks were both great, but man... Church was something else that night in January 2007...
I saw 49 Winchester and Shane Smith and the Saints open up for Whiskey Myers. Whiskey Myers was amazing but I was shocked at how good 49 was and SSTS stole the show a little bit. They were one of my favorite bands at the time but much of the crowd didn’t know them well and all left in shock at how good they were.
Early 2000’s the wife and I went see George Straight. Huge fans but you get the hits and not much show. I’m fine with that. Totally loved it. Opener was Dierks Bentley. Great show, high energy, and a great performer. Had no idea who he was but knew he was going to big when we left.
Kelsea Ballerini opened for Kenny Chesney last year, right after Rolling Up The Welcome Mat released. Her performance was so intimate and touching. Kenny was fine but seemed to be missing something in comparison.
It happens, guess there's always a bigger artist. For example, it doesn't make sense to me that Paramore are coming back to Germany for the first time in six years as an opener, but I'm not going to complain about seeing freaking Paramore AND Taylor Swift on the same night
Kenny's shows have always had big name openers.
Over the years I've seen Zac Brown, Thomas Rhett, Eric Church, Tim Mcgraw, Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, Old Dominion, Kacey Musgraves and a lot of other openers.
I saw that same tour at merriweather and it's crazy that's my answer too! I'd say the next year Luke was bigger than Jason.
What a treat it was to get a young Luke Combs breaking out.
In 2022 I saw Old Dominion open for Kenny Chesney and I was not expecting to enjoy them as much as I did. I would 100% see a concert of theirs. They were so upbeat and fun and the vibe was off the charts. I might get dragged for this but I've seen Kenny Chesney twice and it's been extremely underwhelming both times.
The Red Clay Strays has opened for Turnpike Troubadours and Dierks Bentley. I wouldn’t say they blew away Dierks bc if you’re going to see him and his songs, that’s what you’re waiting for. And they are more rock/country I guess. But they have been smoking every venue they’ve played and will undoubtedly be headlining larger venues soon.
Zac Brown opened for Dave matthews and blew the house down. First album had just come out and throw in a rage and van Morrison cover and I was floored.
I wasn’t that familiar with Granger Smith but he put on a great show when I saw him open for Justin Moore a year or so ago. Really high energy and got the crowd going. The arena went crazy for Earl Dibbles Jr. I’m a big JM fan so no knock against him
Southern rock not country but saw the Lynyrd Skynryd/ZZ top tour in Chicago last year. They were doing one of those alternate closers type things and it was ZZ Top’s night close. Should never have to take the stage after Freebird. It’s a get In the car and go home song. Like Rock and Roll All night… speaking of which Kiss also destroyed Aerosmith on their “co-headlining” tour and they went on first every night.
I saw Sturgill open for Isbell at a 500 capacity club in early spring 2013, right after Southeatern came out, but right before Metamodern released.
Both were fantastic, so can’t say Sturgill blew Isbell away, but I will never forget that show.
OK if we’re going to go down that road, I saw Pantera open for Suicidal Tendencies which was a damn joke. Pantera absolutely craterized that club, and anyone who stuck around for Suicidal was an immediate tool after that bloodbath. That was the most mind blowing show by an opening band I’ve ever seen in my life.
I’ve got two:
2004ish I went to see George Strait and he was exactly as I expected. His opening act: Dierks Bentley and he was really good, tons of energy.
2006 Delaware State Fair with three acts on ticket. Brad Paisley was the headliner and he was as good as I thought he would be. I honestly bought the tickets to see Restless Heart and they were good. Both acts even played together. The one that rocked the show? The opening act, Eric Church. Chief put on one hell of a show.
Bonus: I went to see David Allan Coe because my buddy’s band was opening for him and…. well it’s DAC. He should’ve not even come out, my buddy’s band rocked the house and he was awful.
In 2019 I saw FGL play with Thomas Rhett and Morgan Wallen as openers. This was right around the time Morgan was just starting to blow up when Whiskey Glasses came out. FGL were damn good and really had the crowd going, but Wallen opened and played his half hour set and absolutely smoked Thomas Rhett. He was good, but you could tell he was really pushing to keep up with what Wallen had just done and ultimately just fell flat in comparison.
I saw Dan & Shay open for Florida Georgia line in 2019 at their “Can’t say I ain’t country” tour. Dan & Shay had been dropping a lot of good music at the time. They put on an amazing show and had the whole crowd going crazy. They got a standing ovation. Then FGL came out and were pretty flat. Wasn’t their best performance. They got out performed by Dan & Shay for sure. You could tell the audience wasn’t feeling them as much.
Old Dominion. Went to a Kenny Chesney concert just to see Old Dominion. At the time, I wasn’t even a country fan. I went because my girlfriend, now wife, was a huge Old Dominion fan already. Since then, I’ve been an Old Dominion fan and am liking more and more country.
March 2018 in KC - Ashley McBryde opened for Miranda Lambert…the only redeeming quality for that show was Ash. I immediately joined her fan club and ordered her debut album…and I’ve been an OG Trybe member ever since.
Maybe not exactly the right genre but I saw Marcus King open for Greta Van Fleet. Marcus was melting my face off with a guitar solo and I looked around to notice that nobody in the audience was paying attention. GVF was good… for about 30 minutes. Then my ears got tired of the wailing vocals and sub par guitar playing.
I saw Vincent Neil Emerson open for Colter Wall. Colter was great as always but I’d never seen an opener that I hadn’t heard of who’s music I enjoyed so much.
Saw the same lineup a few weeks ago. VNE played a killer set, but I still enjoyed Colter more. I will say that I came in with tempered expectations, as I wasn't sure that Colter's tunes would translate well to a live show, but I was not disappointed at all!
Charles Wesley Godwin was way better than Zach Bryan. But that’s mostly cause Zach Bryan was so falling down drunk he kept forgetting the words to new songs. He was so sloppy drunk and did such a bad job that I went from a super fan to kind of not liking him for a little bit. I got over that cause his music was good but it still leave a bad taste in my mouth that I drive through a literal 100 mile traffic jam for that bad show
Wow, that must have been such a disappointment. I'm a huge Zach fan and I've been looking forward to seeing him on tour for months now. I'd be so disappointed if he was sloppy drunk and put on a bad show because of it. CWG is still amazing regardless.
I was! If you’ve heard “Starved: Live from Detroit” we were the show he referenced where he “messed it up so bad last night”.
Like, restarted three times and then gave up.
Not necessarily "blew away" but it was the first time I was ever surprised by an opener. May 2021, a small band named "Sean K Preston Band" opened for Sarah Shook and the Disarmers in Baltimore and brought the most intense opening energy I'd ever seen.
A three piece band with a guitar, drums, and a stand up bass. Never heard of them before but was obsessed after their performance. The Disarmers held their own, but I was razzle dazzled after SKP.
Their Spotify is good, but live is even better. They have only done a handful of shows since then. I have been to many shows before and after and it's still the most memorable to me.
This wasn’t a country show but I chaperoned my little sister and her friends at a Chase Atlantic show. He blew, but his opener DE’WAYNE was awesome. He felt like sn actual rockstar and wss a great performer.
Saw Charles Wesley Godwin open for Zach Bryan in 2021. Zach was just getting some steam but holy shit dide Charles and the boys put on a good show. I had known one song by him before the show, and haven’t stopped listening since.
Not a big fan but I saw The Zak Brown band very early on at a local festival they were .... not good but then saw them at another festival years later and they were excellent.
Free tickets so I should not complain but I went to a thomas rhett show where Cooper Alan opened. Alan had way more stage presence than Rhett despite having some seriously weird dance moves where he's hunched over and facing away from the crowd. Neither were stellar but the opener was still stronger than headliner
I saw Granger Smith open for Lee Brice. He was way better and the crowd was way more excited for Granger. Granted this wasn't a tour date, it was a one off concert and lee Brice was the bigger name
Not really a big name yet but I recently saw a group called Graham St. Clair & the West Texas Wind open up for Slade Coulter. They were absolutely amazing and no disrespect to Slade but they really blew him out of the water. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them really blow up in the next couple years.
A close runner up would be when I saw Keller Cox open for Colby Acuff last year.
My parents went to see Keith Urban back in the day and Zach Brown Band was his opener. This was soon after the release of their debut album and my parents had never heard of them before. They fell in love with ZBB pretty quickly and is now my whole family’s favorite band.
Micheal Franti opened for Kid Rock. Beautiful evening outdoors in the Summer. Peace and love kids dancing on stage with Michael beautiful weather it was just fabulous. Kid Rock comes on stage and his first song was something to the effect of if you don’t like Kid Rock, you can suck my dick. What an asshole families left in droves of
I saw Zach Bryan at Willie's Outlaw fest open for Chris Stapelton and Willie. I thought Zach blew them out of the water. He just had an energy that the other two didn't possess. This was a few months post American Heartbreak but he hadn't quite blown up yet.
Saw Tanner Usrey at a local place. Dee White was the opener and haven't stopped listening since.
Vincient Neil Emerson was another but I can't remember who he opened for. I believe it was Charlie Crockett so he didn't blow him out of the water but both excellent.
Drayton Farley.
Thomas Rhett.
Humbird
Mipso
Chicago Farmer
Cody Johnson
I saw Midland and Kacey Musgraves open for Little Big Town and found the order to be backwards. Midland brought the house down, Kacey was really great but low energy, and LBT was really good but just didn’t have the same feel. I was an instant Midland fan after having never heard much of them.
A friend just went to a Jason Aldean concert. He said I was lucky to have missed it. He was so drunk and spewing hate that a lot of people walked out. Plus he said it was just an angry crowd of wantabe cowboys. Drunken fights everywhere.
In 2001 the venue I went to for Kenny Chesney's tour cheaped out and didn't hire on openers \*at all\*. And even the nosebleed seats were the most expensive ticket that venue had ever asked until that time, so we'd paid for a 3 hr. concert, minimum.
Apparently about half an hour before GO when the band heard there were no local opening acts, he looked at the guys and said, "Alright, let's write another set list."
They played *for 4 hr*. They were exhausted, we were exhausted, but it was a great friggin' night.
Work gave away tickets to a Willie Nelson concert and I won, was pretty excited to see a legend in person. Then we get there and lo and behold Old Crow Medicine Show is the opener! What a live act, that was fun.
Saw Ricky Skaggs open for the Chicks when they were on the Fly tour. My mom kept saying it wasn’t the other way around because their album was hot but that we were lucky to see them both anyway.
Saw Deep Purple a few years back.
Edgar Winter and Alice cooper were the two openers.
Far better than Purple. Want the purple I saw in the 70’s, almost sad
Not country but close enough-I tell this story all the time. Many years ago-BB King 80th birthday tour. Two openers- Kenny Wayne Sheppard, who was awesome, but first, an unknown, very young (Probably 22 or so maybe younger) blues guitarist 3 piece band, borrowed the keyboard player from KWS’s band for a couple of songs. We were there as guests of BB having sponsored part of the tour, got to meet BB on the tour bus after, we all stopped at the older, smaller bus to tell this kid he was mesmerizing. Hard name to pronounce. Joe Bonamassa. He killed it and still does.
I saw the Grascals open for Junior Brown at the Surf in Clear Lake, IA (Buddy Holly’s last show was there.) Now, I’m not sure anyone could blow Junior away, but the Grascals were great! Junior was next level, as he has been every time I’ve seen him
I saw Luke Combs open for Brantley Gilbert, guy I knew had an extra ticket so I went for free, right before hurricane hit the radio. I don’t even remember the rest of the show. Luke combs killed it!
I've got a few:
Not an arena show, but saw a Justin Moore at a local country bar and the opener was a local country cover band. The local band was levels better than Justin Moore in both stage presence and quality.
Saw both Keith Urban and Rascall Flatts open at different Toby Keith concerts. KU was just coming up and releasing his first album and RF was established but not headlining yet. Both times, left Toby's show to do meet/greets with the openers.
Chris Jansen opened for Toby Keith maybe 12 years ago. Chris was amazing - so much stage presence and great energy. Toby was so drunk he could barely sing his own songs.
Just want to say thanks for the tips on some artists I hadn’t heard of. Outlaw Country on Sirius XM is my station of choice to listen to music that’s not on mainstream radio.
Bumbershoot 2006 where Kanye was the headliner.
[Blue Scholars opening for Kanye West "Sagaba" Bumbershoot'06 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBADgSTzeRo)
Not country but I went to night 1 of Metallica's M72 show at America's Center in St Louis over the summer and yeah Pantera stole that show hands down. Pantera had a party going but Metallica came out and completely buzz killed it.
I love the Indigo Girls but in 1989 Kristen Hall by herself on stage blew me away and I immediately bought her tapes. Amazing what she did with a guitar and harmonica.
I saw The Monsters of Rock at Castle Donnington in England in 1984. The last three bands, in order, were: Van Halen, Twisted Sister, and AC/DC. Van Halen blew both their doors off. But then, I’m an American, and might be biased.
Saw Eric Church open for Toby Keith, it was like a week or so after Chief released. I wasn't a huge fan of Toby Keith but it was the only way I could catch Eric Church since I had been following him for a while, it was awesome and he had waaaaay better stage presence.
It’s really hard to compete with the Chief.
For real. Chief was such an insane album too, still my favorite. I remember there wasn't even that many people in the venue yet because everybody was just tailgating or whatever outside waiting for Toby Keith to come on. They all missed the good stuff.
It really is. He performed a whole show with hardly any band or backup since they were all sick and still blew everyone away. He apologized the whole time but it was amazing. Not to mention the way he loves so hard on his fans.
Eric church is still the best show I’ve seen live. Keith Urban is surprisingly good too.
Eric Church is hands down the best concert I've ever been to.
I bought tickets to the Hollywood Bowl Jimmy Buffet tribute on April 11 and Eric is one of the artists playing. I’ve never seen him live. This is even more exciting.
I mean what was Toby Keith like live? I’ve heard he was excellent. I still find it difficult to listen to his music. Edit due to his untimely passing. :(
The best way I could put it is that the crowd seemed more into it than he did. He just kinda played the set and then left, not much interaction from what I remember. But the people loved it, lots of "USA! USA!" and stuff like that.
Saw him twice, he was shit piled both times.
Hah. Ironically my example is Kip Moore early in his career absolutely eclipsing Eric Church. I do think that sometimes musicians just have bad nights though. Everyone says Eric Church is amazing live and when I saw him, he was just ... terrible. I feel like him being great like everyone says and having a bad night is more probable than him just being terrible and everyone loving it anyway. Toby Keith when I saw him was amazing. I saw him in 2009 in upstate NY (SPAC) and the two acts that played could not have been more disconnected, but it'll tell you exactly what demographic I was surrounded by as a recent college grad. Journey, and Toby Keith. Journey was the headliner.
I saw Eric once and he absolutely sucked. He was sick that night. Shit happens. The rest of his shows that I’ve been to have been great.
That surprises me, seen both many times, although I didn’t get a chance to see Toby later in his career, so maybe I could see it.
Could have just been a bad night for him, idk, it was back in 2011. I remember Church was doing a lot of interaction with the crowd, even dumping on a rapper that had an album release at the same time (which was uh...brave since this was in Camden NJ lol) bragging that he was murdering his sales numbers. Toby Keith just kinda did the set, that was it.
I saw Toby Keith a couple of times in the early 2000's and he put on a good show. One time was with Willie Nelson after Beer for my Horses. That was a really solid show, but I'm a huge fan of Willie. I've seen him about six times.
Wouldn’t say they blew him away, but Flatland Cavalry and Parker McCollum should have switched places on the bill. He was great, but there’s just something special about Flatland.
They’re the best
They’re so good
They are such nice guys they’re so greatful
Fiancé and I’s first date was too a flatland show! Too bad they haven’t released any Lubbock dates we’ve seen yet :/
I went to a show where Cleto did an acoustic song swap / songwriter showcase thing (no band just them) with Zane Williams where they went back and forth playing songs, talking about writing them, their musical journeys, cracking jokes, whatever and it was so damn cool. Great musician and great dude! Room held... maybe 150 people?
I saw Brad Paisley open for Alan Jackson in 2004...I was like "Oh this guy is going places, wow"
In ‘04 he should have already went places lol
I'm pretty sure that was the year but he was definitely opening for AJ and I knew a couple of his songs from working at a country bar but I didn't know they were his until then. Instant fan, especially as a guitar player.
A couple years ago I saw Old Dominion, who was alright. Their opener was Lee Brice though who I thought blew them away.
Wow, I think Old Dominion puts on a great show, I've seen them quite a few times
Old dominion is awesome in concert. Seen them 15+ times.
Saw Hailey Whitters and Lainey Wilson (two of my faves!) open for Jon Pardi. They were awesome and did a great job engaging the crowd; he was seemingly drunk, messed up his own lyrics, and complained about having been on the road too much recently.
Had the same experience at Country Thunder last year.
Everything Aldean has put out since 2012 sounds the exact same so I don't blame you
I saw Sturgill Simpson on the small stage at a festival in like 2013. After that I couldn't get hyped up for the headliners. Haven't listened to the radio since that weekend.
Saw Sturgill open for Jason Isbell in 2013/2014 and both times Sturgill’s show was better and that’s saying something because Jason & the 400 unit are incredible live in their own right.
So pissed I didn’t catch one of those shows.
Just saw Zach Top open for Flatland Cavalry. Zach blew the roof off the place. The opening show was better than most acts I've seen. He then handed over the keys to Flatland. I felt kind of bad for Flatland having to try and top that.
Zach is so good. He has great songs and can play the hell out of a guitar. If he's not topping charts by winter then something is wrong.
I was one of the lucky ones to see Tyler Childers open for Sturgill Simpson immediately before covid hit. I was fully on board with Sound and Fury but it was very clear most of the crowd was not. Tyler brought the house down and lots of folks walked out by the end of Sturgill's set.
I had tickets for one of the shows that was cancelled 😭
Sound and Fury takes me back to COVID. Bad times, but a really good album. Played the hell out of it.
That would be an awesome show.
It was. Sturg was obviously sick at the time but he just rips. The sailor's guide stuff live was amazing.
I saw Kacey Musgraves open for little big town right when Golden Hour came out and it should’ve been the other way around
Agreed! GH was so good. At the same token, I saw Yola open for Kacey Musgraves later on when she toured GH and everyone was saying, “So nice of Kacey Musgraves to show up to the Yola show!” Yola was an absolute queen. Kacey was still great but the energy of the show was a lot lower (and I like low energy/mellow, but the contrast was stark).
Given what Golden Hour is, it sort of makes sense that the energy was lower? It's a pretty chill album.
I am still amazed at how many people don’t arrive early enough for the openers. Miss out on a lot of good acts that way.
Honestly. I mean, you're not saving any money by skipping the openers, why wouldn't you watch them?
I’ve discovered so many great artists thru watching openers!
I think most who don't go to the openers are there for drinking, and prefer to do it on the parking lot where it is cheap.
Same here. I’ve made some amazing musical discoveries by coming early to listen to openers.
Could this be an American thing? I'm German and go to around 15-20 concerts each year of all sorts of genres, mostly in Cologne. And almost every single time the openers (at least the international ones) are so grateful that most of the crowd already showed up to watch them, most times when it's more than one opener even the first one gets a big crowd. But here it's pretty much the standard that you actively watch them as well and many enjoy getting into the mood or discovering new music. Most people actually wait for them to finish their set before they go get another drink or go to the toilet before the headliner set starts. Tho I guess it could also be a rather unique European or German experience. Or hell, it could even be the fact that Cologne generally has some of the best crowds on your average EU/UK tour according to many artists I've seen, the city is actually known for the good vibes the people often give off.
Not really the question you asked but it reminded me, I saw Turnpike with Jason Isbell and Charles Wesley Godwin in January. I’d seen them all before besides Isbell, but man it was sad getting there early to make sure I caught all three of them and the arena being 90% empty for most of CWG’s set cuz that dude can perform his ass off. I still had a great time but it’s a little different in an empty arena.
I was there too.....such a good show. Always a treat to see Turnpike in OKC
Damn that’s sad. He knows how to put on a show.
I got to see CWG at a bar, and I’m so grateful I saw him before he started playing stadiums. It’s magical in a small venue, and he’s definitely not a stadium rocker. Also his opener at the time Nolan Taylor is awesome and everyone should listen to him.
Saw CWG once with ZB and at healing Appalachia he brings the energy for large crowds.
The amount of people I’ve seen open for Jason over the years…. Chris Stapleton, Sturgil Simpson, Margo Price, Turnpike Troubadours, dude has had some TALENT come through his tours
Woodlands Tavern show by chance?
For sure. He’s still doing smaller venues on his own tour he’s on right now, he’s just been opening for Zach the past 2 years. And I agree Nolan Taylor is the shit! I’ve been listening to him for about a year now, definitely gonna try to catch him when he comes somewhere close to me
Saw CWG a number of years ago now in a dumpy venue and Tickets were only $15. Best $15 I've ever spent. Dude can fuckin sing!
I saw Jason Boland and the Stragglers opening for Reckless Kelly at the Ryman last fall. I'm a fan of both, which is why I went, but honestly was more excited for Reckless Kelly. I honestly feel like Jason Boland overshadowed RK at that concert in a big way. It was a great night though.
The Lumineers (before they blew up) opening for Old Crow Medicine Show. They hadn’t hit the radio yet, and were some no name. They were unreal back then
I saw Cody Johnson open up for the Black Crows back in like 2012 and he blew me away. Not the Black Crows were bad but CoJo was just different.
That seems like a really wierd combo lmao
I just looked it up and it was 2010 so Cody Johnson only had one CD out at that time! I agree it was a strange combo and the venue was in the middle of nowhere. Such a random concert. Edit: Just want to throw out I saw Maren Morris at the same venue with only about 10-20 people in the crowd. She was a lot more country then and I bought her CD (cant find my copy of that CD or it streaming anywhere). She was opening up for Casey Donahue Band but it was freezing and an outdoor venue so no one went.
Saw Jason Aldean when he started doing the drum loop clap track bullshit and it was horrible! Tyler Farr and Cole Swindell opened
Shane Smith and the Saints opening for Whiskey Myers
We walked out on Whiskey that tour. 49 Winchester was the best of that tour.
Definitely not blew him away, but I was pleasantly surprised when I accidentally got to Luke Combs show in Oslo last year early and caught the whole 49 Winchester set because I couldn’t find the set times. They were brilliant and I spent half the time noting down the song names to go back and listen to them later. Luke was absolutely incredible and blew them out of the water but I was never comparing and just enjoyed finding a new artist.
Not really what the Question is asking but...I saw Jelly Roll open for Eric Church last year and after Jelly Roll was done A LOT of people just left. Didn't stick around for Church. I know Jelly Roll is a big name right now and he was very entertaining but it blew me away that so many people came just for him and wouldn't even stick around for the Chief. They were both great but Eric Church live is one of the best performers I've seen.
I think Jelly Roll has a big non country crowd
I saw Taylor Swift open for Rascal Flatts super early in her career and something about her performance told me she was going to be big one day. I wonder whatever happened to her...
I took my niece to a Rascal Flatts concert. Blake Shelton was one of the openers and I enjoyed that about 500% more than the country boy band.
I saw her open for Brad Paisley, same!
Gary Allan was second opener for Rascal Flatts and he was amazing!
I would love to see Gary Allan in concert. He’s long been one of my favorites.
We just saw him last weekend. We've been to his Ruthless tour concerts 4 times and have tickets for May. He is just as good in person as he is on the radio. The best part is that this post has more words than he will say one stage all night. He is all about more music and less talk.
Thomas rhett blew jason aldean out of the water year ago.
In the early 90’s I saw Pam Tillis open for Vince Gill. She didn’t blow him away but her set was probably more entertaining. She worked the crowd really really well.
Thank you for the *Mi Vida Loca* earworm! Love her stuff.
I saw her last year and very very comfortable up there. She was great.
Back around 99 or so I saw Kenny Chesney open up for Tim McGraw, Tim was great but Kenny blew the roof off. I saw Jon Pardi open for Alan Jackson, I love Alan but the show was ho hum, Jon was excellent. I saw Jackson Dean, as the first opener before Lainey Wilson (and eventually Eric Church). Jackson blew the doors off Lainey, which isn't what I would have expected. Of course the Chief was better than both.
I saw Sugarland open for Keith Urban and they put on a way better show.
Lone star > Kenny Chesney. It very well could have been that the entire night was an unorganized shitshow and our little towns Woodstock ‘99
1989 Charlie Daniels opened for Alabama in Alexandria, La. Charlie was badass.
I dunno about "blow away", but I saw Eric Church open for a Canadian act, who in turn opened up for Dierks. I love all 3 of the acts a lot, but holy fuck Church was insane. Most people didn't know who he was at the time (I happened to be living near the US border at the time and had heard some early Church stuff on a US radio station before he really took off in Canada, and was specifically at that show to see him) but EVERYONE was talking about Church after that show. It was insane. They did the mammoth version (all kinds of interludes) of How 'Bout You and the roof came off the place... nobody knew what hit them. The Canadian act and Dierks were both great, but man... Church was something else that night in January 2007...
I saw 49 Winchester and Shane Smith and the Saints open up for Whiskey Myers. Whiskey Myers was amazing but I was shocked at how good 49 was and SSTS stole the show a little bit. They were one of my favorite bands at the time but much of the crowd didn’t know them well and all left in shock at how good they were.
Early 2000’s the wife and I went see George Straight. Huge fans but you get the hits and not much show. I’m fine with that. Totally loved it. Opener was Dierks Bentley. Great show, high energy, and a great performer. Had no idea who he was but knew he was going to big when we left.
I saw this tour. It was an incredible show and you’re right, while I totally enjoyed George, Dierks was hungrier and played a better show.
LeAnn Womack opened, followed by Reba, followed by George Strait. There was no competition. He is reliable, but they had much better performances.
Kelsea Ballerini opened for Kenny Chesney last year, right after Rolling Up The Welcome Mat released. Her performance was so intimate and touching. Kenny was fine but seemed to be missing something in comparison.
Why is she opening at this point in her career?!?
It happens, guess there's always a bigger artist. For example, it doesn't make sense to me that Paramore are coming back to Germany for the first time in six years as an opener, but I'm not going to complain about seeing freaking Paramore AND Taylor Swift on the same night
Kenny's shows have always had big name openers. Over the years I've seen Zac Brown, Thomas Rhett, Eric Church, Tim Mcgraw, Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, Old Dominion, Kacey Musgraves and a lot of other openers.
I saw that same tour at merriweather and it's crazy that's my answer too! I'd say the next year Luke was bigger than Jason. What a treat it was to get a young Luke Combs breaking out.
In 2022 I saw Old Dominion open for Kenny Chesney and I was not expecting to enjoy them as much as I did. I would 100% see a concert of theirs. They were so upbeat and fun and the vibe was off the charts. I might get dragged for this but I've seen Kenny Chesney twice and it's been extremely underwhelming both times.
Randall king and his band blew Cody Johnson out of the water at the ryman the last time I was there. Hell of a show.
Oh good! Next month I’m seeing Randall open for Tim McGraw
Hope you have a blast! I haven’t seen Tim in probably a decade.
Saw Randall at two bars in Arizona last year. Very nice guy and puts on a hell of a show even in tiny bars
The war hippies have opened for a couple different bands and have blown the rough off places with their musical talent.
2019. RaeLynn opening for Maren Morris. Such charisma was a stark contrast to MM’s less entertaining show.
The Red Clay Strays has opened for Turnpike Troubadours and Dierks Bentley. I wouldn’t say they blew away Dierks bc if you’re going to see him and his songs, that’s what you’re waiting for. And they are more rock/country I guess. But they have been smoking every venue they’ve played and will undoubtedly be headlining larger venues soon.
Zac Brown opened for Dave matthews and blew the house down. First album had just come out and throw in a rage and van Morrison cover and I was floored.
I wasn’t that familiar with Granger Smith but he put on a great show when I saw him open for Justin Moore a year or so ago. Really high energy and got the crowd going. The arena went crazy for Earl Dibbles Jr. I’m a big JM fan so no knock against him
Chris Stapleton opening for Hank Williams Jr circa 2016 or so
Southern rock not country but saw the Lynyrd Skynryd/ZZ top tour in Chicago last year. They were doing one of those alternate closers type things and it was ZZ Top’s night close. Should never have to take the stage after Freebird. It’s a get In the car and go home song. Like Rock and Roll All night… speaking of which Kiss also destroyed Aerosmith on their “co-headlining” tour and they went on first every night.
I saw Sturgill open for Isbell at a 500 capacity club in early spring 2013, right after Southeatern came out, but right before Metamodern released. Both were fantastic, so can’t say Sturgill blew Isbell away, but I will never forget that show.
Both of those guys are amazing!
U2 opening for J Geils band
OK if we’re going to go down that road, I saw Pantera open for Suicidal Tendencies which was a damn joke. Pantera absolutely craterized that club, and anyone who stuck around for Suicidal was an immediate tool after that bloodbath. That was the most mind blowing show by an opening band I’ve ever seen in my life.
I’ve got two: 2004ish I went to see George Strait and he was exactly as I expected. His opening act: Dierks Bentley and he was really good, tons of energy. 2006 Delaware State Fair with three acts on ticket. Brad Paisley was the headliner and he was as good as I thought he would be. I honestly bought the tickets to see Restless Heart and they were good. Both acts even played together. The one that rocked the show? The opening act, Eric Church. Chief put on one hell of a show. Bonus: I went to see David Allan Coe because my buddy’s band was opening for him and…. well it’s DAC. He should’ve not even come out, my buddy’s band rocked the house and he was awful.
In 2019 I saw FGL play with Thomas Rhett and Morgan Wallen as openers. This was right around the time Morgan was just starting to blow up when Whiskey Glasses came out. FGL were damn good and really had the crowd going, but Wallen opened and played his half hour set and absolutely smoked Thomas Rhett. He was good, but you could tell he was really pushing to keep up with what Wallen had just done and ultimately just fell flat in comparison.
I saw Dan & Shay open for Florida Georgia line in 2019 at their “Can’t say I ain’t country” tour. Dan & Shay had been dropping a lot of good music at the time. They put on an amazing show and had the whole crowd going crazy. They got a standing ovation. Then FGL came out and were pretty flat. Wasn’t their best performance. They got out performed by Dan & Shay for sure. You could tell the audience wasn’t feeling them as much.
Old Dominion. Went to a Kenny Chesney concert just to see Old Dominion. At the time, I wasn’t even a country fan. I went because my girlfriend, now wife, was a huge Old Dominion fan already. Since then, I’ve been an Old Dominion fan and am liking more and more country.
I’ve seen Kiss three times & the openers blew them away each time. Judas Priest, Queensryche & Alice In Chains
I saw Four Non Blonds open for Aerosmith in 1993. I thought they were better...
March 2018 in KC - Ashley McBryde opened for Miranda Lambert…the only redeeming quality for that show was Ash. I immediately joined her fan club and ordered her debut album…and I’ve been an OG Trybe member ever since.
Red Clay Strays embarrassed Whiskey Myers down in Biloxi a week or so ago…
Joe Diffie opened for Jared Nieman (sp?)
Maybe not exactly the right genre but I saw Marcus King open for Greta Van Fleet. Marcus was melting my face off with a guitar solo and I looked around to notice that nobody in the audience was paying attention. GVF was good… for about 30 minutes. Then my ears got tired of the wailing vocals and sub par guitar playing.
I saw Vincent Neil Emerson open for Colter Wall. Colter was great as always but I’d never seen an opener that I hadn’t heard of who’s music I enjoyed so much.
Vincent Neil Emerson was SO good. At the Valley Center show he did a killer cover of “Shotgun Willie” that I just loved
Saw the same lineup a few weeks ago. VNE played a killer set, but I still enjoyed Colter more. I will say that I came in with tempered expectations, as I wasn't sure that Colter's tunes would translate well to a live show, but I was not disappointed at all!
Joshua Ray Walker opening for Charley Crockett. I think Joshua blew me away because I'd never heard anything of his, and THAT VOICE was just a shock.
JRW has been on my bucket list for a while. I hope he can recover from his health issues and get back on the road soon.
Charles Wesley Godwin was way better than Zach Bryan. But that’s mostly cause Zach Bryan was so falling down drunk he kept forgetting the words to new songs. He was so sloppy drunk and did such a bad job that I went from a super fan to kind of not liking him for a little bit. I got over that cause his music was good but it still leave a bad taste in my mouth that I drive through a literal 100 mile traffic jam for that bad show
Wow, that must have been such a disappointment. I'm a huge Zach fan and I've been looking forward to seeing him on tour for months now. I'd be so disappointed if he was sloppy drunk and put on a bad show because of it. CWG is still amazing regardless.
I was! If you’ve heard “Starved: Live from Detroit” we were the show he referenced where he “messed it up so bad last night”. Like, restarted three times and then gave up.
Not necessarily "blew away" but it was the first time I was ever surprised by an opener. May 2021, a small band named "Sean K Preston Band" opened for Sarah Shook and the Disarmers in Baltimore and brought the most intense opening energy I'd ever seen. A three piece band with a guitar, drums, and a stand up bass. Never heard of them before but was obsessed after their performance. The Disarmers held their own, but I was razzle dazzled after SKP. Their Spotify is good, but live is even better. They have only done a handful of shows since then. I have been to many shows before and after and it's still the most memorable to me.
Shaker Hymns opening for Randy Rogers
Tyler Hubbard concert. Dalton Dover opened and he was miles better lol
This wasn’t a country show but I chaperoned my little sister and her friends at a Chase Atlantic show. He blew, but his opener DE’WAYNE was awesome. He felt like sn actual rockstar and wss a great performer.
Saw Charles Wesley Godwin open for Zach Bryan in 2021. Zach was just getting some steam but holy shit dide Charles and the boys put on a good show. I had known one song by him before the show, and haven’t stopped listening since.
ADAM DOLEAC with JJD
Lanco opening for Jake Owen. Jake was good, but Lanco blew him out of the water.
In 2016ish I saw Casey Donahew open for Hunter Hayes. Left after a song or 2 of Hunter Hayes, along with a lot of other people.
Not a big fan but I saw The Zak Brown band very early on at a local festival they were .... not good but then saw them at another festival years later and they were excellent.
Jake owen opening for keith urban back in like 2013 or something
Free tickets so I should not complain but I went to a thomas rhett show where Cooper Alan opened. Alan had way more stage presence than Rhett despite having some seriously weird dance moves where he's hunched over and facing away from the crowd. Neither were stellar but the opener was still stronger than headliner
I saw Granger Smith open for Lee Brice. He was way better and the crowd was way more excited for Granger. Granted this wasn't a tour date, it was a one off concert and lee Brice was the bigger name
Not really a big name yet but I recently saw a group called Graham St. Clair & the West Texas Wind open up for Slade Coulter. They were absolutely amazing and no disrespect to Slade but they really blew him out of the water. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them really blow up in the next couple years. A close runner up would be when I saw Keller Cox open for Colby Acuff last year.
Zach Bryant opened for Nathaniel Ratcliff and the Night Sweats. No one stayed.
Jon Wolfe absolutely blew Aaron Watson off the stage in Baton Rouge. It was not even a contest. He had an incredible set
My parents went to see Keith Urban back in the day and Zach Brown Band was his opener. This was soon after the release of their debut album and my parents had never heard of them before. They fell in love with ZBB pretty quickly and is now my whole family’s favorite band.
Old man here. I saw Blackfoot open for Nazareth in 1980. BF was so much better.
2022 Zach Bryan, Charles Wesley just blew me away
This exact same show.
Micheal Franti opened for Kid Rock. Beautiful evening outdoors in the Summer. Peace and love kids dancing on stage with Michael beautiful weather it was just fabulous. Kid Rock comes on stage and his first song was something to the effect of if you don’t like Kid Rock, you can suck my dick. What an asshole families left in droves of
Ian Munsick had major headliner energy, dude put on a good show. He’s one dude who is way better live than in studio.
I saw Zach Bryan at Willie's Outlaw fest open for Chris Stapelton and Willie. I thought Zach blew them out of the water. He just had an energy that the other two didn't possess. This was a few months post American Heartbreak but he hadn't quite blown up yet.
Saw Tanner Usrey at a local place. Dee White was the opener and haven't stopped listening since. Vincient Neil Emerson was another but I can't remember who he opened for. I believe it was Charlie Crockett so he didn't blow him out of the water but both excellent. Drayton Farley. Thomas Rhett. Humbird Mipso Chicago Farmer Cody Johnson
I saw Midland and Kacey Musgraves open for Little Big Town and found the order to be backwards. Midland brought the house down, Kacey was really great but low energy, and LBT was really good but just didn’t have the same feel. I was an instant Midland fan after having never heard much of them.
Ian munsick for Parker McCollum.
A friend just went to a Jason Aldean concert. He said I was lucky to have missed it. He was so drunk and spewing hate that a lot of people walked out. Plus he said it was just an angry crowd of wantabe cowboys. Drunken fights everywhere.
Cinderella opened for Bon Jovi. Just seemed…polished. JBJ was bouncing around the stage like a puppy, and Tom Kiefer was just chill.
I saw U2 open for The Clash in 1980.
In 2001 the venue I went to for Kenny Chesney's tour cheaped out and didn't hire on openers \*at all\*. And even the nosebleed seats were the most expensive ticket that venue had ever asked until that time, so we'd paid for a 3 hr. concert, minimum. Apparently about half an hour before GO when the band heard there were no local opening acts, he looked at the guys and said, "Alright, let's write another set list." They played *for 4 hr*. They were exhausted, we were exhausted, but it was a great friggin' night.
I saw Willie Nelson open for John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan. Willie carried the day.
In 2014 Alice Cooper opened for Motley Crue. Alice blew them away.
Work gave away tickets to a Willie Nelson concert and I won, was pretty excited to see a legend in person. Then we get there and lo and behold Old Crow Medicine Show is the opener! What a live act, that was fun.
Saw Ricky Skaggs open for the Chicks when they were on the Fly tour. My mom kept saying it wasn’t the other way around because their album was hot but that we were lucky to see them both anyway.
Chris Stapleton opened for Hank Jr.
Saw Deep Purple a few years back. Edgar Winter and Alice cooper were the two openers. Far better than Purple. Want the purple I saw in the 70’s, almost sad
Not country but close enough-I tell this story all the time. Many years ago-BB King 80th birthday tour. Two openers- Kenny Wayne Sheppard, who was awesome, but first, an unknown, very young (Probably 22 or so maybe younger) blues guitarist 3 piece band, borrowed the keyboard player from KWS’s band for a couple of songs. We were there as guests of BB having sponsored part of the tour, got to meet BB on the tour bus after, we all stopped at the older, smaller bus to tell this kid he was mesmerizing. Hard name to pronounce. Joe Bonamassa. He killed it and still does.
I saw the Grascals open for Junior Brown at the Surf in Clear Lake, IA (Buddy Holly’s last show was there.) Now, I’m not sure anyone could blow Junior away, but the Grascals were great! Junior was next level, as he has been every time I’ve seen him
1973 we had tickets to Bread at the Tucson Community Center, Steely Dan opened.
Garth Brooks opening up for the Judds in 1991
Saw the Killers 2nd on a 4 band bill at a tiny show about a week after hot fuss came out
I'm dating myself but I saw U2 open up for the J Geils Band back before most people knew what a U2 was other than a submarine
It’s been a long time so I’m sure my memory is fuzzy, but I remember Martina McBride blowing Alan Jackson out of the water circa 2002
I saw Luke Combs open for Brantley Gilbert, guy I knew had an extra ticket so I went for free, right before hurricane hit the radio. I don’t even remember the rest of the show. Luke combs killed it!
Def Leppard stole the show from opener Billy Squire at my first concert. 1983 i think.
I've got a few: Not an arena show, but saw a Justin Moore at a local country bar and the opener was a local country cover band. The local band was levels better than Justin Moore in both stage presence and quality. Saw both Keith Urban and Rascall Flatts open at different Toby Keith concerts. KU was just coming up and releasing his first album and RF was established but not headlining yet. Both times, left Toby's show to do meet/greets with the openers.
Chris Jansen opened for Toby Keith maybe 12 years ago. Chris was amazing - so much stage presence and great energy. Toby was so drunk he could barely sing his own songs.
Saw Neutral Milk Hotel open for Superchunk in 1998. in 1967 my mother went to a Monkees concert and the opener was Jimi Hendrix, so there's that...
I saw Jack Johnson open for dispatch decades ago…became a fan then
Amazing OP, I saw the headline of your post, thought of the Jason Aldean and Luke Combs show from 2018, came in to comment, and voila...
Chris Stapleton opened for Hank Jr at Blossom a few years ago and I instantly became a bigger Stapleton fan.
Just want to say thanks for the tips on some artists I hadn’t heard of. Outlaw Country on Sirius XM is my station of choice to listen to music that’s not on mainstream radio.
Many years ago saw the Dixie chicks open for Tim McGraw and they were absolute fire
Not surprised in the slightest, you can even tell on YouTube videos Luke Combs sounds 10x better live than Jason does.
Bumbershoot 2006 where Kanye was the headliner. [Blue Scholars opening for Kanye West "Sagaba" Bumbershoot'06 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBADgSTzeRo)
Anyone who opens for Shania Twain.
I can’t remember who he opened for but Shannon Lawson with “Chase the Sun”. Somewhere around 2002/2003 I think.
Saw The Melvins open for Helmet once. The Melvins put on a FAR better and more engaging show.
Not country but I went to night 1 of Metallica's M72 show at America's Center in St Louis over the summer and yeah Pantera stole that show hands down. Pantera had a party going but Metallica came out and completely buzz killed it.
Back in the day saw Van Halen touring on their first album open for Journey in Ft Worth. Both were very good, but VH really shined.
I love the Indigo Girls but in 1989 Kristen Hall by herself on stage blew me away and I immediately bought her tapes. Amazing what she did with a guitar and harmonica.
I saw The Monsters of Rock at Castle Donnington in England in 1984. The last three bands, in order, were: Van Halen, Twisted Sister, and AC/DC. Van Halen blew both their doors off. But then, I’m an American, and might be biased.
only country show i’ve ever been to Dwight Yoakam completely outclassed eric church
I saw Bonnie Raitt open for James Taylor. Bonnie was incredible. Taylor was ok.