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Opening for Mogwai. They blew me away, and Mogwai were even better.

Yeah yeah yeahs supporting Jon Spencer at Brixton in 2002 (I think) also comes to mind.

Kelson going crazy.

Even further back Muse followed by Straw then Feeder at MDH. I preferred Straw! but Bellamy was obviously a star.

every time. no idea wo they were, came out, did colors in full. incrredible

supported red hot chili peppers - maybe 2003?

martin grech supporting oceansize.

Supported editors during end has a start tour in Glasgow.
Bought alligator next day!

amplifier supporting oceansize
mew supporting oceansize
mínus supporting biffy clyro

O'Death supporting Menomena
Owen Pallett supporting Arcade Fire
Dirty Projectors supporting Beirut
Loney Dear supporting The Boy Least Likely To
Monotonix supporting The Silver Jews
Peter Broderick supporting Efterklang

supporting Flower Corsano Duo

supporting Amusement Parks on Fire

and X is Loaded supporting Biffy Clyro

after that, I decided it was my duty to myself to catch as many of his performances as possible.

...supporting Seefeel.

Bought 3 albums at the gig. Love them.

Sylver Tongue supporting Bat for Lashes.

supporting Pulled Apart By Horses

Patrick Wolf supporting Adult in 2003
A childrens' magician supporting Mr Bungle in 2000
Spektrum supporting !!! in 2004
Micachu &The Shapes supporting Late Of The Pier in 2009

...and that was just him singing mournfully acapella!
Mercedes supporting The Unbelievable Truth - found their album in a charity shop t'other day, jolly nice too! Basically sounded like The Sundays.
Superstar supporting Radiohead
Youthmovies supporting someone or other...

1993
supporting Nirvana

supporting Tanya Donnelly at King Tuts in Glasgow, maybe 2002? Walkmen were up first, they looked like pretty twats and I was cynical. Then they opened with The Rat (which was then called Girls at Night) and blew me away. Mary Lorson was a revelation as well. Amazing songs, beautiful voice, I was sold. The Tanya came on and bored me to death. One of the very few gigs where I've walked out. She just couldn't top the supports.

seriously doubt SR would have ever broken throug if not for said tour

is up there. don't really like them on record, but the performance blew me away.

supporting Add N to X. 45 minutes of feedback and white noise with ominous bass rumbling, all played infront of a screen showing footage of astronaut tests, nuclear explosions and old science videos IE classic post rock fodder. Amazing. I think Appliance played at that show too.

and British Sea Power supporting the Flaming Lips

Couldn't believe how good they were. This was when there were two of them and they were more shoegazey.

NME brats show at the Astoria in 1996 - hadn't seen/heard either of them before but became a big fan of both (I think it was the night that Linkous ended up passing out on valium and fucking up his legs)
also, I think the first time I saw/heard My Bloody Valentine was supporting Pixies in 1988
and Hole were really good supporting Mudhoney in Manchester 1991

Within a week I'd gone out and bought everything they'd hitherto done.

In terms of seeing a support band who then went on to become massive, it was probably Muse, supporting 3 Colours Red, I wrote them off as Radiohead wannabes.

at electric ballroom. really didnt care about going but my sister had a spare ticket so i agreed. saw FF, found a new favourite band

supporting, I think, Interpol. Walked on stage, and just played. Didn't say a word. This was when their first album came out.

Then I saw them when they toured their second album, and they supported themselves. Never seen that before...

supporting Vampire Weekend, weirdly enough. It was at Kings College Student Union, and was pretty awesome to watch the rest of the VW fans stand there in complete confusion as to why a bunch of moody ladies were opening :D

Supporting A Place To Bury Strangers a couple of years ago in Manchester.

Bo Ningen and Toy were both absolutely incredible when they supported The Horrors in Bristol earlier this year.

Was also very impressed with Toro Y Moi when they supported Foals back in 2010, although I'm not a fan of their records. Also, Remember Remember, who supported Errors earlier this year, they were surprisingly good.

supporting Frightened Rabbit

supporting Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, on their Bad Moon Rising tour. I went out & bought the album the next day.

Supporting Clem Snide at St Bonaventure's Parish club in Bristol. Just after Weather Systems came out. Backstage was a sofa at the back of the part of the pub that had been cordoned off to make a stage. Absolutely incredible and rendered Clem Snide's set entirely unnecessary.

Super Pattern were a brilliant new find. Dent May also supported, but i knew his stuff pretty well beforehand. One of the best gigs of the year, for sure.

supporting The Cooper Temple Clause in around 2001/02ish at Manchester Academy 3 (may have been called the Hop & Grape then). All three bands were brilliant.

The Stills and Franz Ferdinand supported Interpol at Academy 1 in summer 2003. Hadn't heard anything by either by that point.

Both gigs up there with the best I've ever been to.

though I did listen to a song or two in the run up to the gig and fell in love with Walking For Two Hours. Which they didn't play. :(

supporting Panda Bear. Having seen him play headline shows since then, it feels bizzarre to have watched him go first on to a half-full venue, he wasn't even the only support act. Think PB chose him personally.

Jim Noir supporting the Super Furry Animals
St Vincent supporting The National

As someone above has already mentioned Loney Dear supporting The Boy Least Likely To.

supporting ASIWYFA at their S/T album launch. Near the top of my list of favourite bands now

The Ghost of A Thousand supporting Reuben
Jonquil supporting Youthmovies

supporting Galaxie 500 &, I think, another band @ the Subterranea in '89. Pretty jaw-dropping at that point.

I was there at the first Can show in Cologne

I was there in 1974 at the first Suicide practices in a loft in New York City.

they were supporting Boris and totally blew them off the stage. The set was later released under the name 'A Roomful of Cunts'.

opening for Akron/Family springs to mind.

Adem supporting hope of the states
the god machine supporting silverfish

Barringtone supporting Thumpermonkey and Knifeworld at the next gig :D

supporting Pulp at Sheffield Leadmill. November 1993.

Supporting Beirut. In fairness throughout and for days after I couldn't figure out if I found them astounding or just shit. So I took a punt on them at a small headline gig in Whitechapel. Never looked back.

Also, not strictly support, but Tune-Yards late-late addition to ATP Breeders line-up. Reds Bar, 00.15am on the final night, crowd of 80. Everyone was eating out or Merill's hand within three tunes.

Still probably the loudest performance I've ever seen. They said they set out each night to hurt the audience, I think they succeeded...

Was at the front, and really enjoyed their set. and then after the set, but before the Spree came on, the singer Sam chap came through the crowd behind us to say thank you to us for appreciating their set. He seemed really chuffed and pleased.

And as I posted further up already, Sonic Youth supporting J&MC. Another vote for Mogwai too, this time supporting Yurasai Yatsura, on what was a double header tour I think. Does Palma Violets supporting Savages count? I won't linger on Coldplay supporting Terris, but I believe they went on to bigger and better things

I was with my brother and he thought they were dreadful. I remember saying - I hate to say it mate, but they'll probably be quite big.

Not that they were 'BIG' as such, but they did get 'big' at one point. Always thought they were a poor mans Blood Brothers myself.

but there has been the odd occasion where i've walked in and not know anything about the support.

Body Parts supporting Meursault at their 3rd album launch in Edinburgh. Jenny Reeve and Jill from Sparrow and the Workshop. Don't even know how to describe it. Reminded me of all the female harmonies in Dirty Projectors songs without the annoying male vocal.

Conquering Animal Sound, again supporting Meursault in Edinburgh. different gig though. this was the 2nd album launch.

Dutch Uncles supporting Bombay Bicycle Club in Glasgow about 3 years ago. Went home and listened to them, think they were loads better live.

Errors supporting Findo Gask. Tiny little gig in Nice n Sleazy's. Also saw a guy called Tangles supporting Findo. He blew me away, wonder what he's up to now.

NZCA/Lines supported Django Django earlier this year in Dundee. that was one of the best gigs I've been to all year.

The Phantom Band supporting Frightened Rabbit.

yeah, these were all pleasant surprises.

think it was at a HIFH gig in Bristol, Fleece.
Adam Gnade and Blood Red Shoes at Youthmovies.
Forward Russia at Editors.

supporting Truman's Water at the Old Trout in Windsor (RIP)
sparse crowd but they were pretty good

At MCR Academy 2. Saw them a couple of months later at Night and Day too.

Biffy Clyro supporting Deftones (just before Vertigo came out)
Forward Russia supporting We Are Scientists
Holy Fuck supporting Foals
Stellastarr* supporting Ash
Twilight Sad supporting Smashing Pumpkins
Friendly Fires supporting Interpol

Just as Asleep at the Back (album) was about to come out.
Throwing Muses supporting Cocteau Twins. Showing my age a bit there.

Biffy Clyro supporting Inme
Idewild supporting Ash
Coldplay supporting Muse
Killers supporting Stellastar

Flat Earth Society supporting Fantomas
Bo Ningen supporting Drum Eyes

They were, and still are, nowhere near as good Shed Seven.

pure reason revolution supporting oceansize
mew supporting elbow
reuben supporting someone i cant remember

blown away

Astoria, 2000. Zan Lyons played too. God that was a good night.

They were way better than Maybeshewill. Tom Vek supporting Soulwax and Midlake supporting The Earlies are two older ones that come to mind.

elbow supporting new order
doves supporting new order
pixies supporting throwing muses
galaxie 500 supporting throwing muses
frightened rabbit supporting death cab for cutie
admiral fallow supporting frightened rabbit
2:54 supporting warpaint
a band of buriers supporting micah p hinson

thats about it

Supporting the Black Crowes in 92

supporting Bloc Party (circa Silent Alarm)

must have been 2003/04? Had never heard them before and found most of their set to be slightly bizarre, yet felt compelled to check out as much of their music as possible afterwards.

Brixton Academy 2004. They were really good! But quite often support acts there get completely lost as the crowd mills around, goes to the bar, plays frisbee etc. Saw Spoon supporting Interpol there too (I knew who Spoon were though), and the crowd barely registered their presence :(

but i saw franz ferdinand support Interpol at liquid rooms in edinburgh in 2003, can remember walking downstairs and take me out was playing, can remember the breakdown bit. There were about 20 odd people there. A year later they were headlining venues.

Friend took me along to see the prodigy who i did very much like, we got there just as the support band started, immediately i shouted 'fucking hell these guys are immense'
I asked the chap next to me who they were and he explained it was nirvanas drummers new band.
The prodigy were pish by comparison.

Dirty Three supporting Pavement, Collingwood Town Hall, Melbourne, July 1994. They remain my favourite band to this day.

Micah P Hinson supporting Joanna Newsome at Leeds City Varieties, 2004-ish. He finished with 'Day Texas Sank to the Bottom of the Ocean' (which I think is the only time I've seen him perform it live) and the room seemed to be stunned into silence at the end. I was pretty quiet, anyway.

David T Broughton: Holy Trinty Church, Leeds. Probably supporting A Hawk and A Hacksaw, maybe 2005 or 2006-ish. The first and still the best I've seen him.

They opened with AM180 which grabbed everyone's attention. Next day I bought Under The Western Freeway and an obsession was borne.

They were (of course) amazing.

St Etienne were a bit whatevs after that.

Sandwiched between Seam and Screaming Trees at Camden Underworld in 92. I'd heard the name but that was about it. They were wonderful and I had to wait until a gig at the garage in 97 to see them again.

Liars supporting Sonic Youth
Sigur Ros supporting Godspeed You! Black Emporer on the latters F#A# tour

Probably a few more

(I know, I know)

uresei yatsura in reading 98 werre awesome
only went in the tent cos it was raining

Alexander Tucker supporting Boris at The Garage
Birds in Row supporting Punch at The Grosvenor
Roy Harper supporting Joanna Newsom at the Royal Festival Hall
Duchess Says supporting Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Brixton Academy

Supporting Phoenix at the Mean Fiddler in 2004. Just before 'Let It Die' came out. Was pretty captivating stuff, just her and a guitar.

were great, a couple of times and before gorkys.
dump, the guy from yo la tengo supporting ylt on the wheel spin tour last year was really good.
a couple already mentioned from manc student union, i'd plus one- rilo kiley before bright eyes and spektrum before !!!
so easy to hear bands online now, it's rare to get a nice surprise of a support band.

Last year I went to a tiny local venue knowing only that Cursive were headlining, but I didn't know who they were, either. Second act was a post-shoegaze rock trio from Austin, TX called Ume. Totally blew me away. I was so satisfied with their performance that I just bought their CD and left at the end of the set (plus I had to work in the morning).
Two weeks ago I did the exact same thing. Ume were opening for Toadies and Helmet. Stayed for Ume and a third of Toadies' set, went home satisfied (had a long drive). That's right. I didn't stay for Helmet. :O

that was pretty decent.

supporting Darwin Deez (ho, ho, ho)

Never seen a support band get so many people dancing.

Also never seen a support band with strobe lights, a disco ball, dancers and a glitter cannon

supporting A Place to Bury Strangers in 2008

in Edinburgh three or four years ago. Immediately went out and bought the album next day. Seen a few decent supports but that's the one that springs to mind.

Must have been a good year, Pavement supporting Sonic Youth and Mercury Rev supporting Ride.

Also, in 1993, not the best support band but Oasis supporting Saint Etienne at the Birmingham Institute, a few months before they released Supersonic. Just remember standing at the bar and thinking that they were just T-Rex/Beatles mimics and that NME/MM must be mad if they think this band are going to be big!

Although seeing Drop Out Venus at Roundhouse Studios back in February has informed my entire subsequent gig going year.

Had never heard of them. They were amazeballs as the kids say.

Probably tops it. Big Pink supporting Muse before ABHoL came out. Shame that, bar 1313, Future This wasn't great.

in Brighton in 2009 springs to mind. Or twilight Sad supporting brakes at the great escape the same year.

Supporting Dinosaur Pile-Up a few years ago.

(I think it was Tenebrous Liar, it was definitely Steve Gullick's band, at least). I think it was in 2006, maybe 2007.

Anyway

FUCKING HELL.

I have seen the vast majority on this list multiple times as a result of seeing them support first from the list below

23/05/1990 - Warrior Soul supporting Metallica @ Wembley Arena
14/07/1993 - Tribe After Tribe supporting Pearl Jam @ Brixton Academy
06/02/2000 - The Tea Party supporting Queensryche @ Brixton Academy
05/09/2000 - Sona Fariq supporting The Sisters Of Mercy @ The Forum
29/04/2005 - The Duke Spirit supporting Kasabian @ Brighton Centre
21/05/2005 - The Soledad Brothers supporting The Duke Spirit @ The Astoria
26/05/2005 - The Longcut supporting The Music @ The Astoria
31/05/2005 - Archie Bronson Outfit supporting The Duke Spirit @ Oxford Zodiac
15/08/2005 - Amplifier supporting Oceansize @ Camden Barfly
23/09/2005 - Josh T Pearson supporting Archie Bronson Outfit @ Camden Barfly
03/11/2005 - Dolittle supporting Miles Hunt @ Half Moon, Putney
15/12/2005 - Viarosa supporting Archie Bronson Outfit @ The Elbow Rooms, Islington
30/03/2006 - Model Morning supporting Mark Gardener @ The Luminaire
19/04/2006 - The Boxer Rebellion supporting Pure Reason Revolution @ Islington Academy
20/04/2006 – Jawbone supporting Archie Bronson Outfit @ The Spitz
24/08/2006 – The Tamborines supporting Fields @ The Legion
11/09/2006 – Spotlight Kid supporting Amusementparksonfire @ The Luminaire
26/10/2006 – Kid Harpoon supporting Fields @ The Borderline
06/02/2007 – Wolf & Cub supporting Wolfmother @ Hammersmith Apollo
19/02/2007 – The Early Years headlining over Wolf & Cub @ The Luminaire
15/05/2008 – Sian Alice Group supporting The Black Angels @ ICA
30/05/2008 – Eat Lights Become Lights supporting Vessels @ Queen Of Hoxton
02/09/2008 – Sh*t & Shine supporting Faust @ Cargo
11/09/2008 – 93millionmilesfromthesun supporting Spc Eco @ Buffalo Bar
16/12/2008 – Babel supporting Frightened Rabbit @ Brixton Windmill
18/12/2008 – The Brothers Movement supporting The Black Angels @ ULU
13/01/2009 – David Hope supporting The Duke Spirit @ The Lido, Berlin
16/02/2009 – The Joy Formidable supporting Secret Machines @ Islington Academy
06/04/2009 – Dead Confederate supporting A Place To Bury Strangers @ KCLSU
07/04/2009 – Magna Saga (now Crystal Head) supporting Dead Confederate @ the Victoria, Mile End
03/09/2009 – Monsters Build Mean Robots supporting Sian Alice Group @ The Freebutt, Brighton
10/09/2009 – Bo Ningen supporting Anchorsong @ The Lexington
03/10/2009 – Jesus Deluxe, Delta Mainline & Guile all supporting Exit Calm @ Queens Hall, Nuneaton
03/11/2009 – Phantom & Daniel Land & The Modern Painters supporting The Tamborines @ Queen Of Hoxton
06/11/2009 – Galchen supporting Frightened Rabbit @ The Lexington
22/11/2009 – The Blood Choir supporting Viarosa @ The Slaughtered Lamb
29/04/2010 – Dark Horses supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ Concorde 2, Brighton
21/05/2010 – Teeth Of The Sea @ The MacBeth (Stag & Dagger Festival)
01/07/2010 – Koolaid Electric Company supporting Elephant Stone @ The MacBeth
02/10/2010 – The Fauns supporting Phantom @ Camden Barfly
16/03/2011 – Woodsmen @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (SxSW Festival, Austin, Texas)
01/05/2011 – Toba Caldera supporting Jesus Deluxe @ Inspire, Coventry
17/05/2011 – The Yams supporting Our Mountain @ The Rainbow, Birmingham
25/05/2011 – The Computers supporting The Duke Spirit @ King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
06/06/2011 – The Creatures Of love supporting The Winchell Riots @ Old Blue Last
31/08/2011 – Fallulah supporting The Creatures Of Love @ The Old Queens Head, Islington
22/02/2012 – Thee Piatcions & The Anteloids supporting Koolaid Electric Co @ Corsica Studios
24/03/2012 – The Lost Rivers supporting Domino State @ Brixton Windmill
17/05/2012 – IO Echo supporting PINS @ Birthdays
13/09/2012 – City Seventeen supporting A Place To Bury Strangers @ Junction 2, Cambridge
29/09/2012 – Mugstar @ Liverpool Psych Festival

I saw Pure Reason Revolution support themselves 1st time out at Camden Barfly 12/01/2006. I liked the name of the band, but I'd never heard a note)

I do go to gigs to see support bands, so sometimes I have never heard the headliner. The Early Years gig above is up there amongst my Top 20 gigs of all time. Simply stunning.

They blew Rev so far out of the water they ended up somewhere on the Mongolian Plateau.

I'd never heard the Lips before. It was at UEA. Think it was the day before SB released. They had the gong, nun puppets, blood, eye ball operations. I never saw them in such an intimate venue again. Such an amazing surprise.

opened for The Datsuns (stop it, we saw any "garage" band back then). Black Keys were the middle band on the bill. EES were boss.

supporting Texas

has mentioned the Strokes supporting Trail of Dead in 2001, some of you have mentioned this in the past?

Forget Cassettes supported Trail of Dead in 2005 (apt as ToD had a long running trend of stealing band members from the former over the years!) and they/she were like a punk rock Tori Amos, their album Salt gets a spin at least once every couple of months as a result.

Superchunk always used to have great supports, they re-introduced me to the Beatnik Filmstars and had Idlewild (around the time of the Chandelier single) supporting, one of the best sets I've ever seen, and a credit that Superchunk were just as good.

A clunky angular band called Elevate were perennial supports in the mid-nineties, first saw them support Cable and then tried to see them as much as possible, very Fall/Gallon Drunk-ish and great.

Oh, also, Cat on Form supporting Part Chimp's first ever show at Silver Rocket, I felt like my face had been torn off and handed back to me it was so intense!

Supporting Smog at the Conway Hall back in 2004-ish. Half the crowd were going "What the hell? This is rubbish" and the other half were going "What the hell? This is amazing". I was in the latter category, and her opening song (Bridges and Balloons) is possibly the highlight of my gigging career.

RM Hubberd supporting Twilight Sad the other week in Dingwalls. Funny, sad, and happy to call people talking at the bar rude names.

Sam Amidon supporting Laura Veirs at Union Chapel a few years ago. Fantastic.