Greatest concert opening ever??

alanohagan · October 2022

Pretty sure I got this idea from a Rick Beato vid but dang this gets my vote all day long

TheBigDipper · October 2022

It goes back a bit, but for me, the lat few minutes of The Firebird Suite over the PA. As the final chord is played by the orchestra, Rick takes over on the Mellotron and moves the music into the correct key for the band to kick in to Siberian Khatru. Job done! (Yessongs).

Dontgiveupyourdayjob · October 2022

First one that sprung to mind for me was this....

Second one that springs to mind is probably...

viz · October 2022

https://youtu.be/GWM5EBtxwNA

Not as epic as Metallica or Queen, but Yngwie is on fire. First guitar windmill of many at 1:17

viz · October 2022

And of course, The Cult’s best ever live performance, opening with their best ever song. Atmospheric and mesmerising.

https://youtu.be/O--BvsmhHF4

viz · October 2022

Also, does this count?

https://youtu.be/cZnBNuqqz5g

Tannin · October 2022

Any answer that isn't the Who is wrong. Next question please.

roberty · October 2022

@Dontgiveupyourdayjob the Nirvana at Reading entrance is dark as fuck. It's spooky how stark the stage is. I wonder why that was

BillDL · October 2022

I don't know if this was the concert opening or just the opening of that particular song, but I think it's one of the best I've seen. Shania Twain in Las Vegas 2014 - Man I Feel Like A Woman.

stickyfiddle · October 2022

https://youtu.be/5z_tf2FldVA?t=196

RocknRollDave · October 2022

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

First one that sprung to mind for me was this....

Second one that springs to mind is probably...

I came here to say the fast version of We Will Rock You, but it has to be One Vision, doesn’t it?

prowla · October 2022

BillDL said:

I don't know if this was the concert opening or just the opening of that particular song, but I think it's one of the best I've seen. Shania Twain in Las Vegas 2014 - Man I Feel Like A Woman.

That was good until she appeared.

prowla · October 2022

alanohagan said:

Pretty sure I got this idea from a Rick Beato vid but dang this gets my vote all day long
https://youtu.be/_W7wqQwa-TU

I like the American flags there!

axisus · October 2022

That Metallica in the OP, bloody hell it looks scary going out to play to a crowd like that!

DrCornelius · October 2022

prowla said:

BillDL said:

I don't know if this was the concert opening or just the opening of that particular song, but I think it's one of the best I've seen. Shania Twain in Las Vegas 2014 - Man I Feel Like A Woman.

That was good until she appeared.

Beg to differ but then again I find Ms Twain very easy on the eye

RocknRollDave · October 2022

Iron Maiden - Aces High?

cruxiform · October 2022

idiotwind · October 2022

It's a bit cliched now, but Elvis coming on to Also Sprach Zarathustra works for me

alanohagan · October 2022

idiotwind said:

It's a bit cliched now, but Elvis coming on to Also Sprach Zarathustra works for me

Not cliched at all - gotta love the King

viz · October 2022

https://youtu.be/QMvE0yFnR0I

barnstorm · October 2022

alanohagan said:

Pretty sure I got this idea from a Rick Beato vid but dang this gets my vote all day long

God, The Ecstasy of Gold is so, so good.

Different atmosphere, obviously, but I really liked EoG into Call of Ktulu from the S&M shows.

A personal one was Springsteen at the O2 right before Christmas (we got Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town to close) in 2007 – back when he could still write a roof-raiser and Clarence was still around.

I'd left the new record unopened on my desk for a couple of months, thinking it would be fun to hear the songs for the first time at the show.

Had left it late (relatively speaking) to book, so I was perched on a seat in the super-steep nosebleed section in pitch darkness – like sitting in outer space. 15,000 people below me Bruuuuuuuuuceing before the stage lights flashed up and the band ripped into Radio Nowhere. Sound was fantastic. Got a little teary-eyed.

prowla · October 2022

DrCornelius said:

prowla said:

BillDL said:

I don't know if this was the concert opening or just the opening of that particular song, but I think it's one of the best I've seen. Shania Twain in Las Vegas 2014 - Man I Feel Like A Woman.

That was good until she appeared.

Beg to differ but then again I find Ms Twain very easy on the eye

I didn’t mean she’s bad, just that it was going great and I was wondering how that version of the song would go and then they just stopped and the song riff seemed a bit lame.

Shrews · October 2022

Perrygoround · October 2022

I liked the Aerosmith opening in the Get a Grip tour, with the percussion intro, the band behind the courtain and it falling down when the riff starts. I liked the AC/DC ballbreaker tour with the demolition ball, that was pretty epic. Also the Rolling Stones when they used the video of the universe merging into the stadium they were playint attacking the chords of Jumping Jack Flash or Start Me Up... the classic KISS opening of "you wanted the best...." and then they showing up in the flying platforms is a classic. Or Motley Crue's in the carnival of sins tour, with the freaks going out of the box and then the band coming in in a storm of fire, that was quite epic too.

Jaycee · October 2022

BillDL said:

I don't know if this was the concert opening or just the opening of that particular song, but I think it's one of the best I've seen. Shania Twain in Las Vegas 2014 - Man I Feel Like A Woman.

Whoever came up with that must have been watching Floyd

Reverend · October 2022

WIth Metallica, the intro works much better going into Creeping Death than Enter Sandman.

I was at that Nirvana gig but they were not band of the day.

fretmeister · October 2022

axisus said:

That Metallica in the OP, bloody hell it looks scary going out to play to a crowd like that!

Amusingly - Metallica were the support band there.

AC/DC were headlining. It's their stage.

fretmeister · October 2022

Best one I saw was Prince at the O2.

He did something a bit different every night and I cannot find footage of the night I went.

Basically there was a column of dry ice smoke down from the ceiling. He had clearly climbed up through a trap door to stand in it.

The only lights that were on were UV. As the smoke rolled away he was wearing a white suit... and he was glowing in the remains of the smoke. He had his arms out in mix of crucifixion and Gozer. It was an amazing image.

The someone from the floor threw him a telecaster and slid a little pedalboard on the stage and he kicked into a brand new song at the time "Guitar".

It was a proper "I am the best and you damn well know it" moment. And for that night at least, he was right.

MtB · October 2022

Biased as I was there - 2003 Robbie Williams at Knebworth

Jonathangus · October 2022

Reverend said:

WIth Metallica, the intro works much better going into Creeping Death than Enter Sandman.

This. All the best Metallica shows I've been to open with Creeping Death.

The first time I saw Metallica was Donington 1991 (again, as @fretmeister says, supporting AC/DC), but we were well back from the stage and could only really see the famed bottle fight.

The first time I saw them properly was Milton Keynes 1993 with Diamond Head, The Almighty and Megadeth. TBH, I still wasn't a massive Metallica fan - I think I'd only heard the Black Album - but I liked The Almighty (great band) and a bit of Megadeth, so I tagged along.

One of our party took us down towards the front for Metallica. When they played the opening riff to Creeping Death, I just remember being picked up and dragged forwards. @onlyonebradders and I gave each other a look which said 'fuck this', and worked our way back to just behind the main crush.

They absolutely blew me away that day. My first day off after that, I was in HMV buying their entire back catalogue.

Enjoy:

(Oh, and Radio 1 broadcast it live. I got my Grandma to tape it. I'm sure she appreciated James's opening line...)

barnstorm · October 2022

Perrygoround said:

I liked the Aerosmith opening in the Get a Grip tour, with the percussion intro

I always liked the sound of that one on A Little South of Sanity.

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Greatest concert opening ever??

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