Best opening to a gig?

I was there for Kurt Cobain's wheelchair entrance at Reading and also for Axl's "drop your linen and start your grinning" at Milton Keynes around '93 but for me the best opening is this 

Muse at Australia's Big Day Out.. 

System of a Down also did a blinder here but this I think is how you do it.. even the standing in the cab for the outro vamp

Enjoy

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I was just a kid and in the Warwick Uni Student bar and went to the front when I saw this bunch of Marshall Stacks as I was curious who was booked  

I had no idea… these bunch of chancers came out and went straight into Cock Rock Shock at huge volume ins their ridiculous kit  great fun  

I’m seeing Muse on Sunday. First time in a decade, 5th (6th?) time overall and I cannot wait.

Though my instinct for best opening will always be U2’s ZooTV 

 

Beastie Boys at Brixton Academy - think it was the Hello Nasty tour. 

This is the same opening song filmed in Glasgow that tour -

April 95, Oasis in Sheffield plus ‘special guests’. The special guests came out and were Pulp. Amazing gig.  

munckee said:

April 95, Oasis in Sheffield plus ‘special guests’. The special guests came out and were Pulp. 

bummer

@blobb they stole my idea!

My most memorable was probably Marillion on their Fugazi tour '84 at a venue I really liked (St Andrew's hall, an old church building in Norwich). Tons of dry ice, the intro to Assassing starts up, you can just make out Steve Rothery through the mist and the crowd goes wild! Ahhh, wish I could go back ....

Needless to say, I wasn't there. However, Metallica in Red Square 1991 must be pretty hard to beat. Hundreds of Russian soldiers for marshals, army helicopters circling the venue etc. Absolutely wild!

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DesVegas said:

I was there for Kurt Cobain's wheelchair entrance at Reading and also for Axl's "drop your linen and start your grinning" at Milton Keynes around '93 but for me the best opening is this 

Muse at Australia's Big Day Out.. 

System of a Down also did a blinder here but this I think is how you do it.. even the standing in the cab for the outro vamp

Enjoy

?si=p2BIWweYO8hMeWst

Just such a brilliant song isn't it - melody, harmony, riffs, badass all the way through

This still gets me, especially rick doing Rick

Agree with Quo & Caroline.

Would also throw in Bon Jovi - Lay your hands on me from the New Jersey tour. Boom and there they are.

CountryDave said:

Agree with Quo & Caroline.

Would also throw in Bon Jovi - Lay your hands on me from the New Jersey tour. Boom and there they are.

I saw that, amazing gig with BJ at the top of their game. 

Some other special moments 

Manics opening with Motorcycle Emptiness at Victorious festival in 2016 was pretty special 

Def Lep opening with Stage Fright at Wembly in 88 was great 

DG opening the 88 Pink Floyd gig at Wembly stadium with Shine on you crazy diamond 

Green day starting the Carling Apollo gig in 2005 with American Idiot 

Speaking of Jovi this is epic too

 

And not epic but a stunning thing to witness was Springsteen in Hyde Park in 2012. No fanfare, no flash, just a piano and one of the best songs in the world with me, @guitargeek62 & @not_the_dj  in the crowd. I don't think there was a single dry eye that night. 

For me it was The Pretenders coming onstage at Leeds Uni (c.'80?) with the original cool-as-fk James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farnden lineup launching full pelt into TheWait: 

Can’t quite remember the year but Kiss in Sheffield coming on stage out of the mouth of a massive Egyptian Sphinx was pretty full on!! Danger Dnager supported them too. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

Needless to say, I wasn't there. However, Metallica in Red Square 1991 must be pretty hard to beat. Hundreds of Russian soldiers for marshals, army helicopters circling the venue etc. Absolutely wild!

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Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

Needless to say, I wasn't there. However, Metallica in Red Square 1991 must be pretty hard to beat. Hundreds of Russian soldiers for marshals, army helicopters circling the venue etc. Absolutely wild!

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True story.  After Pantera did their set that day, Dimebag walked past Kirk Hammett and said "follow that up, boy".

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Can you imagine standing at the front of the stage bashing out those power chords with Peart thundering behind you?

Saw Aerosmith at Wembley back in the mid 90's and they started out surrounded by a big Kabuki curtain, music building, the curtain drops and they launch into back in the saddle. That was a pretty epic opening.

There can be only one...
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DrCornelius said:

Beastie Boys at Brixton Academy - think it was the Hello Nasty tour. 

This is the same opening song filmed in Glasgow that tour -

I was at this Glasgow gig and it was outrageously good. I'll never go to a better gig in my life. Absolute eruption of sheer joyful mania when they sprinted on stage.

WYNIR0 said:

Saw Aerosmith at Wembley back in the mid 90's and they started out surrounded by a big Kabuki curtain, music building, the curtain drops and they launch into back in the saddle. That was a pretty epic opening.

Aerosmith did a very similar open then on the Nine Lives Tour in June 97..........big enclosed curtain/ music builds / curtain drop and off into Nine Lives.........as a side issue, I feel sure that the volume level did my ears in ...........tinnitus since. Huge volumes in an enclosed Wembley Arena............brutal but fun.

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of course.

Queen wembley 1986. Supported by The Alarm, INXS (they were proper loud even in an open air arena), Statues Quo.

It was raining a bit through SQ, then it stopped, got darker, stage black.......

Music and lights and Queen burst into life