Who was the best opening band for U2 that you have seen?

Not sure if this has been a topic before...but U2 have had some fascinating opening acts over the years. Rage against the machine,PJ Harvey....the list goes on. I've only been to 2 shows and only one had an opening band, the Lumineers which weren't that great. So cast your mind back....

I enjoyed Glasvegas at Croke Park in 2009 much more than u2 that night.

They played with the kind of fire that u2 used to have.

I wasn't lucky enough to see PJ Harvey open for them, but for me she is obviously the best artist they have had - her discography for me is stronger than theirs.

The biggest deal for the crowd i think i have seen was The Killers opening for them in Cardiff in 05.....there was no real noticeable difference in how busy it felt between their set and u2's - personally i think The Killers are shite so I wasn't bought in, but the crowd really were.

Cast were really good at the great Roundhay Park Popmart gig.

On a sort of related note I have always found u2 crowds probably the least appreciative and supportive of the support acts generally out of the artists i have seen.

Arcade Fire, by far.

I've seen The Pixies (don't even remember their set) and Disposable Heroes of Hiphopcrisy (liked it, bought a CD after).

The Alarm
The Waterboys
Simple Minds (Croke Park '83)
The Comsat Angels

The only one I ever saw was Beck at JT30...and it was SO DAMNED LOUD that it was distorted. You couldn't even understand the words. My friend and I actually left our seats and went out to the concession area and then down some dark hallway just to avoid the noise. To say the least, we were very happy when U2 started...they were at just the perfect volume...loud, but not painfully distorted.

Beck
Garbage

The only one I ever saw was Beck at JT30...and it was SO DAMNED LOUD that it was distorted. You couldn't even understand the words. My friend and I actually left our seats and went out to the concession area and then down some dark hallway just to avoid the noise. To say the least, we were very happy when U2 started...they were at just the perfect volume...loud, but not painfully distorted.

The volume was off when I saw him too, but he still is one of my favorite openers of theirs.   

Quote from: riffraff on June 20, 2019, 09:36:32 AM

The only one I ever saw was Beck at JT30...and it was SO DAMNED LOUD that it was distorted. You couldn't even understand the words. My friend and I actually left our seats and went out to the concession area and then down some dark hallway just to avoid the noise. To say the least, we were very happy when U2 started...they were at just the perfect volume...loud, but not painfully distorted.

The volume was off when I saw him too, but he still is one of my favorite openers of theirs.   

That's cool. My friend and I were really disappointed, because we WANTED to see Beck...but it was just ridiculously loud. And, I LIKE loud music. But this was horrible!

Placebo (PopMart) & Kaiser Chiefs (360).

I was disappointd by the Velvet Underground (Zooropa) and Stereophonics (Elevation). Stereophonics sounded like they had 10 versions of the same song.

Utah Saints (Zooropa) really sucked. Bloody awful.

PJ Harvey
Lumineers


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Placebo (PopMart) & Kaiser Chiefs (360).

I was disappointd by the Velvet Underground (Zooropa) and Stereophonics (Elevation). Stereophonics sounded like they had 10 versions of the same song.

Utah Saints (Zooropa) really sucked. Bloody awful.

You saw Placebo with Popmart?  Nice.  I saw Fun Lovin' Criminals with Popmart and they weren't good at all.

One two of the shows that i've been to had an opening act and they were Smash Mouth (when they were still riding the high from their first number 1) and Lenny Kravitz.  I'm a fan of Kravitz's early albums but he gave a pretty bad performance in Seattle for 360- had to start one song over twice.

I enjoyed "Florence and the Machine" best on the 360 tour.

Yeah I saw Florence recently and she put on a stellar show. Some good openers in the comments so far.