Hey all, I was thinking about how psyched I am to see Pendulum open for Linkin Park in February and how lucky I feel to have seen opening bands like Silversun Pickups, Bloc Party and MGMT, which got me thinking... What is the worst opening act you've seen live at a concert? There's nothing worse than being at a concert and having to stand through a 45-minute set of music you just don't like. The impatience to see the headlining act only makes things worse. I can recall seeing Nine Inch Nails in November 2008, whose opening band was a Japanese psychadelic/experimental rock band named "Boris". The band's music was incredibly atmospheric and dream-like, which was probably great for those on acid in the audience, but it totally sucked the energy and mood out of the arena (for a brief time). I've never been to a concert with so many people standing around looking so confused and annoyed. It was agonizing having to wait through their setlist for NIN. Let's try and not do any band-bashing, mmk? Play nice.
I've only seen two opening bands. Passion Pit and Chiodos. Chiodos sounded really badass live. I was disappointed when I checked them out on Youtube later that night though. But they are still pretty good. Passion Pit really put me on tilt when I was standing in the pit to watch Muse. The instrumental work was actually pretty good, but the lead singer and their cheesiness in the songs was unbearable. Then I looked them up online and it was even worse. I'd never heard of them either until that night. Having said that, I'm going to have a hard time not blowing my load while Pendulum and Does It Offend You, Yeah? play before Linkin Park. Hopefully I'll have a backup for LP.
That's a tough question for me because the majority of bands I've seen live I've enjoyed, or at least tolerated. I don't want to criticise any that weren't downright horrible even if they weren't that good, haha. My least favourite gig all-round that I've ever been to was pretty easily 30STM about three or four years ago, so that's probably the easiest answer for me. I only went because a load of my friends were and the tickets were cheap, so it probably didn't help that I wasn't a big fan of them in the first place, but I didn't really enjoy them and I didn't really like their support either. They were called We Are The Physics or something and they were this really strange, spazzy sounding band that were pretty far removed from the headliners. To be honest I don't really remember it well enough to go into specific detail, but that's probably a criticism in itself, because I have memories from that night that were much more vivid than any of the actual music and there are other gigs I went to around/before then where that wasn't the case. In any case, I remember feeling as though it was really dull, and that hasn't really been surpassed since then, so I'm gonna assume that by proxy they are probably my least favourite support band that I've seen.
KISS reunion tour, 1996, opening band was D Generation. Yes, I was a couple days shy of turning 8 years old. Yes, they were THAT horrible that I actually remember them.
At the LP concert in Sydney they had Dead Letter Circus, while DLC are pretty good at the concert you could only hear their instruments not the vocals :O
the worst would be the opener for red hot chili peppers in 2006 Dortmund, germany..(Im asking google: oh wow DIZEE RASCAL WAS THE SUPPORT? haha it was soo terrible, we booed them off stage..) and on a side note these guys opening for LP this year (who was it again?) http://www.twitvid.com/IWXAE I literally freak out
I don't even know the band's name - they were opening for the Foo Fighters and the Red Hot Chili Peppers about 10 years ago (one of the best shows I've been to). The lead singer was some chick who couldn't sing worth a damn and was mumbling into the microphone. We couldn't understand her, but my friend and I were pretty sure in one of the songs she kept repeating "My clit" or something like that
i saw biffy clyro support limp bizkit in like 2003 and they were fucking awful. simon neil sounded like a cat being abused at both ends. but, i saw them again at leeds festival last year, and credit to them, they were excellent.
Shit. Something tells me Does it Offend You,yeah? is going to take this title but for right now it's a three way tie between Street Drum Corp and The Bravery(both at PR08) and Endless Hallway opening at Atreyu's most recent headlining tour with Chiodos,blessthefall and The Architects
I saw Motley Crue during the Carnival of Sins tour and the opening band was a group called Silvertide. Musically speaking, they weren't terrible, but I have never cared to hear them ever again. What made them the worst; the lead singer was actually asking, almost begging, the audience for marijuana promising that he would get them backstage if they delivered. It was pitiful. The funny/sad part, the rest of the band looked completely embarassed; although I would be to in their shoes. I looked them up and apparently they broke up a while after that tour or something. I can't say I'm surprised.
Best = Middle Class Rut when they opened for innerpartysystem Worst = Kinesis when they opened for LP back in 2003
The worst would have to have been a band from Belgium named About. I saw them while they were opening for 30 Seconds to Mars a few years ago, and my god they were absolutely horrible.
Let's see... The Mars Volta opening for RHCP in 2006 was fucking horrible. Alien Ant Farm opening for 311 in 2005, mas horible. At a festival, waiting for bands like Metallica, Rise Against, and Offsrping, I suffered through Flogging Molly, Atreyu, Scars on Broadway, and Raconteurs. All horrible. 2008. My Chemical Romance at PR07. What a horrible live show. *ahem* Julien-K as well *ahem* Placebo! Oh, and WORST by far was jello Biafra opening for Tool last year in San Francisco. My god.
I don't know the name of the band, but for Nightwish, there was this band that talked and sung like heavy metal pirates. God that was bad.
Ummm, I can't remember the name but DBS's first show at Gramercy the night following being on Letterman there was a band that couldn't have been any fruitier. They were promoting safe sex and throwing out condoms into the crowd. Weird. --RS
Well I can understand Alien Ant Farm sucking live, but I saw Passion Pit for a spring music festival at my school and they weren't great, but they weren't *that* bad... Anyway, I don't remember the name of the worst opening act I ever saw. They were so immemorable (sp?), and every single song LITERALLY sounded the same, to the point that I thought they were actually playing the same song over and over again: same chord progressions, same tempo, same drum fills, over and over and over again (for anyone who's heard of The Dear Hunter and their song The Tank, it sounded like the first section of that song). And the singer (I think?) roared and moaned like some drunk guy at a pub (a little like the style in Start Wearing Purple by Gogol Bordello, no disrespect to him but it got really grating after the first ten minutes, and also the singer of this band had a much deeper voice). Funny thing is these guys were opening for Passion Pit.