Best You Ever Saw (Playing Support)

20 Apr 2010264
Lenny Kravitz, Interpol, Snow Patrol, Kasabian, Razorlight, The Fray, One Republic: depending on where you're seeing U2 this year, you'll also get to see one of the above. Last year you might have caught Kaiser Chiefs, Glasvegas, The Hours, Elbow or Muse.

And over the years some pretty fine bands have rocked the house just a few minutes before the main attraction took the stage - sometimes long before they became household names themselves.

(In fact we got so overcome at the memory of the great acts who've played with U2 that we pulled together this little gallery.)

Anyone see The Kings of Leon or The Killers on the Vertigo Tour ? Or Garbage or Stereophonics on the Elevation Tour? Public Enemy or Stereo MC's on ZOO TV ? BB King on Lovetown ? How about The Pretenders or Los Lobos or Lou Reed on The Joshua Tree Tour in the 1980's? Or Lone Justice when the band were touring The Unforgettable Fire. And, come to think of it, what about The Pixies, PJ Harvey, Patti Smith...



Was there an act you first discovered when they came out on stage before U2? Who was the best act you ever saw with them... and why? (Don't forget to include the tour or year of the show.)
Comments
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HARVEJO
Light a Big Fire and The Pogues
Best opening act were a great underated Dublin act called Light a Big Fire Croker 87 and then followed by the Pogues and the Dubliners
Liam7123
Are you out there?
Got to be Thin Lizzy, Slane 1981. Well, no one said who supported who!!! Ya gotta love the big 'U2' made out of plastic wavin pipes as the backdrop. ...from humble beginnings...
anjuna
slane ATYCLB
Best ever support was,for me,Coldplay and Chilli Peppers at Slane on All That You Can't Leave Behind. They were both so great that I forgot U2 were up next ,I couldn't believe the night could get any better and of course it did, U2 took it to the next level.Amazing gig.
gevans
Wembley 360
Elbow were actually ace! did you not here "one day like this"?? but you know.....no band can beat a particular four beat combo from ireland!
torverway
Cast Ya vote!
I loved Cast at Leeds Roundhay Park on the Popmart tour! Great Day. But the absolute worst were Elbow at Wembley on 360 tour - total morose, flat, uninspiring music!
the73cat
Beautiful Night
ZooTV - Public Enemy...as I walked toward the stadium from the parking lot, Public Enemy had already begun their set and it sounded CRAZY!! It was my first U2 show and the energy could be felt from the moment I got out of the car. Best show ever!!!! Every live show i've seen since then has to live up to that night. It was like the first time i ever made love!
hippiechick
Muse
I thought Muse was great!
goffy68
Barcelona 2005
Kaiser Chiefs,got that stadium well and truly rocking,before the dreary Keane came on to drag us all back down. And then the masters came on and did what they do!! So out of the many bands ive seen support the lads id say Kaisers. Cast were quite good at Leeds in 1997 also.
sginnett
Alarm, Alarm...
The 1983 tour of the Alarm and U2 was a dream tour. A band unfairly compared to U2! Simply put, the Alarm where 2nd to none when it came to a live show. They had a fire and energy that was truely amazing! It was a shame the band could not find to coexist with each other. Who knows what could have been for them...
heff
best support acts
simlpy put you will never see these three together again like in slane - coldplay / red hot chilli peppers / u2 - what a line up !!!!!!!!
Mofo976
Muse
MUSE!!!
Stacho
Pearl Jam
This is an easy one. Pearl Jam in Hawaii for the last show of the Vertigo tour. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!
Mieketiek
Snow Patrol
My first U2-concert ever.. last year in Amsterdam with Snow Patrol!!
PTL Devil
Garbage!!!!!! Ok BB King- Fun Lovin Crim
Garbage had to be the best opener!! BB King was actually the best but Garbage was awesome!!! Fun Lovin Criminals were also amazing and I wish they would come back to the US!!! Keane was quite good as were many of the bands listed below- Disposalble Heroes of Hipopracy were also a great opener, as was one of the Marley's too. Don't forget No Doubt and Lone Justice!!! Smash Mouth too... These were just some of the bands I saw with U2...
MissDeanna
The Dalton Brothers
The Dalton Brothers at the L.A. Coliseum show when Los Lobos didn't show up. Adam in a dress and wig and cowboy Larry..terrific!
DingosBreakfast
Stumbled onto the OASIS
June 18, 1997 at Oakland Stadium. I had heard about Oasis and knew two of their songs but was completely surprised by their opening set. It was tough to understand what the brothers Gallagher were saying between songs (except the profanity). Their music, on the other hand, was played briliantly and ROCKED the house. This must have been one of the rare occasions in 1997 when Liam and Noel played an entire gig w/o fighting.
Jimbob74
where do you start?
I feel so lucky to have seen the Chili Peppers, Coldplay, The Killers, Stereo MCs, Starsailor, Fatima Mansions and and many more support U2 over the years.. one that really sticks in my mind was Cast at Leeds Roundhay Park in 1997 - it rained like I'd never seen rain before which somehow added to the sheer abandon of their performance. The Killers in Cardiff on the Vertigo tour were brilliant too. I agree about Jon Carter that was a mad night at the Astoria.. Would have loved to see The Alarm back in 83 (great band saw them live a few weeks ago) and the Pogues in 87 but was too wee at the time. There's been a few shockers over the years too - maybe that can be another article on U2.com !
cappadizzy
Primus
I'd have to go with Primus from the ZOOTV outdoor broadcast in Saratoga NY- however, just to correct a small point in another post, the show was at the Saratoga Raceway (harness track) not the performing arts center.
u2sparky
slane
what can i say about slane 1 coldplay, red hot chili pepers an then u2 one of the best line ups ever. But second best Snowpatrol!!!!! and skunk anansy in rotterdam Great few on biting the guitarists nipple during playing by skin
tijuana
The Ramones & Jon Carter
The Ramones at Milton Keynes bowl. 1985, a few weeks before LIve Ia I seem to remember. I was 15 years old and standing next to 4 very drunk Ramones fans. They were p*ssing into each others hands and at the start of each song they would shout the obligatory - 1, 2, 3, 4! On the 4 the p**s was thrown into the air. You've never seen a space appear so fast in a crowd. Jon Carter at Astoria 2001. Such excitement to being seeing U2 in this really small venue. Every tune he played just enhanced the atmosphere. But then he dropped Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks as the volume tripled, they were gonna be on after this one. Man what a feeling, I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it now. amazing.
bigian
Wigans Finest!
From Wigan pier to the Eiffel Tower,for me Starsailor completely rocked the Stade de France on the Vertigo tour
chip
PJ Harvey
Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, May 6th, '01. Opened with Rid of Me solo with an electric guitar and brought the place to its knees.
cluttercoco
Muse and Snow patrol
Muse was absolutely amazing, so they were the best opening act EVER for me. I have seen them on their own tour since, and they are INSANE!!!!! Next to U2, best live act ever. They don not interact with the audience, so where u2 shows feel like a huge bear hug by the band, Muse just attacks you with their music. Snow patrol was my second favorite opening act. i really love that band!! Just not as spectacular, but a very good live band, and so likeable!!! Snow patro is more a 'hugging" kind of band like U2. we tried to see Snow patrol in Ny when U2 was there as well, but the date that did not overlap with U2 was sold out...
Loranz
No Brainer Pear Jam & Green Day
Pearl Jam's 90 minute set in Hawaii followed by a Pearl Jam, Part of Green Day, and U2 finale to Neil Young's 'Rockin' in a Free World' ~ I've been to a lot of shows and this one beats them all for opening band, finale, encores, etc...etc...
Yogi McLaughlin
'09
The Script in Dublin was grand and the opening night in Dublin Damien Dempsey was really good.
smacfoo
too many to count
the first i saw was the bodeans, but the best was a tie: public enemy and the sugarcubes OR rage against the machine.
The Alarm in "83
They didn't get to play Red Rocks with U2 but they were at the rescheduled show on June 6 with the Divinyls. The Alarm came across with defiance and anger in the waning days of Punk. They were perfect with the conciousness raising of Sunday Bloody Sunday and drove home that we should never forget and never accept the wrongs of the world and that you can be profiled for your youth as well as your race.
NealH
Strange question
Until this year, I was always so disapointed. Snow Patrol was the best I have seen. In my life as a U2 fan, I was unfortunately given The Red Rockers on UF, Lone Jusice on JT, Smashmouth on Pop (truely horrid), P.J. Harvey on Elevation, the washed up dude from Bush on Vertigo (twice), and finally a decent act with Snow Patrol on 360. At least Lone Justice had a very cute singer in Maria McKee. It seems to me that over the years,the support acts have been more about promoting bands on the same managemeng or record label, rather than acts that make a great and coherent show.
bwittman
SPAC '93
Primus opened for them and it was such an awesome show...middle of the summer, outside at SPAC!!! GREAT SHOW!
TanRick
Rage against the Machine - LA . Popmart
Great band, got the crowd to say "f*#K you! I won't do what you tell me!" and made the stage their own. Worst for me was the Sugar Cubes at Dodger Stadium for the Zoo TV Tour. Bjork's voice was torn up through the proformance.
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